Blog – Page 41

Top 5 Ways Homeowners Shoot Themselves in the Foot When Selling Their Homes

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

Home selling. It can be a chore. Sometimes the problem isn’t the market, the agent or the buyers. Sometimes the problem is you, the homeowner. Most don’t try and be a problem, but there are several things that homeowners do, or don’t do, that basically shoot themselves in the foot when selling their homes.

When selling your home, your asking price is too high. If you don’t price at market value, you won’t sell, period. The days of getting well over asking are behind us, and while some markets are seeing it creep back, overpriced homes won’t sell.

Deferred maintenance is another issue. Leaving annoying little things for the buyer to do is obvious. It means buyers will go find another seller who is a little more considerate. Make sure you complete projects and do inexpensive fixes like new paint and caulking the bath or kitchen. That includes damage from old, but fixed problems too.

If there are big things to fix, don’t expect top dollar for your home. So if you want top dollar, make the fixes. By big we mean serious systematic issues (heat, plumbing or electrical), roof, holes in the walls, or foundation issues. If you don’t want to, or can’t make them, make sure you price the home accordingly.

As homeowners selling their homes if they refuse to stage their homes they can’t expect the best price or for people to see past their things and clutter.

Buyers won’t be able to picture themselves in your home because it looks like YOUR home. As your realtor probably told you, box up your stuff and get it out. Make your home look bigger and less messy. If you did stage it, keep it that way. Do not expect that staged or not, you can leave a mess and have people look past it.

Don’t be a difficult seller. Your realtor will be ok with working around some scheduling things, but be open and able to show your home almost at any time. Requiring 24 hours notice to show the home is another bugaboo. People don’t want to be put off. If they have the time to see your home now, they might not be able to the next day. Be a flexible homeowner and be willing to bend when selling your home.

Home Seller Tips – What Are Home Sale Contingencies

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

If you’ve ever bought or sold a home, you have an idea of what a home sale contingency is, but if you haven’t they are probably a mystery. So what are home sale contingencies?

A home sale contingency is a clause in a real estate contract. The contingency is a condition that is placed on the contract. Completion of the contract is dependent, or contingent, upon the conditions being completed. If they aren’t completed, or something goes awry, the settlement, and the sale of the home doesn’t take place.

There are two types of home sale contingencies pertaining to the seller: sale and settlement contingencies; and settlement contingencies. A sale and settlement contingency is a condition that the buyer sells his or her existing home. It’s used when the buyer hasn’t received or accepted an offer to purchase their current home, and allows the seller to continue to list their home, in case the contract contingency falls through. Part of the contingency clause says that if the seller receives another offer, the buyer can either agree to purchase without the contingency or back out of the contract and allow the seller to take the other offer.

A settlement contingency is used when the buyer already has a contract on their property and a settlement date is scheduled. Since a sale isn’t final until settlement, this protects the buyer if their settlement falls through. This contingency also prohibits the seller from accepting other offers on their property for a period of time.

Other kinds of contingencies protect the buyers. These deal with having inspections done. They provide the buyer’s an out if the home inspection or other inspections like well and septic or pest inspections are not good. They usually specify an amount that the seller may be responsible to pay to fix problems, and each side has the out if the problems are more expensive than the contingency provides for.

So how can a seller not get burned on a sale and settlement or settlement contingency? First, make sure the buyer has a home and it is listed for sale. Next, make sure it is listed at the best market price, and see how long it’s been listed. In other words, do your homework on their listing like you did for your own.

Home Buyer: How Much Home Do You Need?

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

Home Buyer: How much home do you need? It’s a question that you have to ask yourself when you decide that you want to buy a new home. If you are selling and buying a new one, do you need to upsize or downsize? If you’re a first time home buyer, it will determine what you are looking for. It’s one of the first questions that your Realtor will ask you. So, how do you decide?

So how do you decide how much home you need? Ask yourself some questions. First, what size is your family? Are you a couple first starting out? Do you plan on having a child or more children? Do you want each child to have their own bedroom or will they share?

Next question: what is your budget? That will certainly determine the type and size of home you can look at. Regardless of family size, if you have a small budget, you can’t afford a huge house in great shape.

What square footage will it take to fit your lifestyle? Do you need a lot of storage? Do you have hobbies that will require a lot of square footage? So how much home do you need?

One thing to keep in mind is the difference between what you want and what you need. Asking yourself these questions can help you determine the difference. Of course we all want the biggest and best, but budgets can make that difficult or even impossible. However, there are ways to get what you need and make it into what you want. Discussing all these things with your Realtor will help him or her narrow the search down to exactly what you need, can afford and make it into your dream home.

So home buyer, how much home do you need? Only you can answer that but with a Realtor’s help you can make a good decision.

Lucky Charms – Why burying a St. Joseph’s Medal in Your Back Yard Works!

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

So are there really lucky charms? Can you use something like a St. Joseph’s medal to hurry the real estate selling process along? Well, it certainly can’t hurt, so let’s look at some of the more well-known lucky charms of real estate. Selling your home takes a lot of things. It takes good strategy. It takes a lot of patience. It takes finding a great Realtor who has a consistent track record. It also takes luck!

St. Joseph is known as the patron saint of real estate. Not a bad place to start! There are many who believe that burying a statue or medal of St. Joseph in the yard will help sell their home. Does this lucky charm work? Well, some homeowners and Realtors swear by it. As soon as the “for sale” sign goes in the yard, St. Joseph goes in the ground. Believers know of incidents where homes don’t sell and then someone buries St. Joseph on the property and the offers flood in. What can it hurt?

Not a big believer in the power of saints? Well, what about numbers? An even bigger real estate superstition is about numbers. So which numbers? That depends. Some are general some are culturally specific. There is a general superstition about these numbers: 13, 3 and 7. Some people actually fear the number 13. The scientific terms is “triskaidekaphobia.” It is a common phobia, worldwide. From Christianity (Jesus and the 12 Apostles added to 13) to other faiths or just generally, people will avoid 13. Friday the 13th anyone? To avoid issues many builders will number floors of buildings every number except 13. At the very least, many people believe that the number 13 is unlucky. Now the numbers 3 or 7 are another story. For various reasons these two numbers are considered lucky charms not just in real estate but other areas of life as well.

In other cultures other numbers are lucky or unlucky. For the Chinese, 8 is lucky because it is pronounced very similarly to the same word for wealth and prosperity, but 4 is unlucky, because it sounds like the Chinese word for death. The Chinese have other superstitions for real estate as well. Door color, which way the home faces and other things inside that relate to Feng Sui.
So, be smart, but try some lucky charms too! Who knows, it could work!

Home Sales Tips – Selling to Snowbirds

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

Home sales tips for Florida means selling to snowbirds. Snowbirds are people who come from a northern snowy climate for the sunny weather of Florida in the winter.

The snowbirds are coming! The snowbirds are coming! And they are looking for a home to buy. So selling yours makes sense. Home sales in the fall, selling in the “off selling season” makes a lot of sense just because of snowbirds.

No, snowbirds aren’t actually birds. The term was coined as a play on the idea of migratory birds who head south when the weather farther north turns cold. That’s exactly what “snowbirds” are: people who head south for the winter. They are typically retirees or business owners who have a second home in a warmer location. If they own a business it may be a seasonal one in the colder climate; think business on the boardwalk on the Jersey Shore, or whose business can be easily moved from place to place; think direct sales or something similar.

While some RV it for the winter, most rent or buy a second home in the warmer place. While snowbirds used to be more wealthy people, today because of taxes, they sometimes move and make their “permanent” residence in the state with the most beneficial tax code. For whatever reason, there are a lot of them! If they don’t already have a home, they will be looking for one.

This is where the benefit of a snowbird comes in for you, the seller. If you are considering upsizing, keep in mind many snowbirds are downsizing. They want smaller, less work so they can be more relaxed over the winter. That is the biggest thing for you, the seller, to keep in mind. They generally want a project free home. So, fix things, update and sell it!

A home sales tip for you means that NOW, before and during Thanksgiving and Christmas, is the time to list. Many stay “home” with family for the holidays and then head south. Having your home available as they arrive can be the difference between selling and waiting until next year.

Why Do Real Estate Markets Swing Between Buyers or Sellers Markets?

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

Real estate markets change. Sometimes a buyer’s market, others a sellers. So why does it change? There are a lot of reason why it could.

Real estate markets swing between a buyer’s market and seller’s market. When there are a lot of houses for sale and not a lot of buyers, the buyers have the upper hand and it’s their market. When there are a few sellers and a lot of buyers, the sellers have the upper hand and it’s their market. It’s a cyclical thing and it changes from time to time.

The biggest factor in changing the market from one to another are economic factors. The perfect example of this was before, during and since the real estate bubble burst. Before, the markets everywhere were strong sellers markets. There were a lot of buyers with access to easy financing, and home values soared. Then the bubble burst. Suddenly homes weren’t worth what they had been. Financing became harder to get. While the market was bad for both buyers and sellers, buyers had an edge. For a long time it stayed a buyer’s market. Sellers were desperate to sell but there weren’t enough buyers. Now that things have improved the markets in some places have changed again. Home values are improving and sellers are again getting the upper hand.

Things like jobs can make a difference too. If a new employer moves into the area, then people come for jobs and homes become a need. If an employer leaves the area and takes jobs away, then the market switches over again.

A buyer’s and seller’s market is a fluid thing. If you are looking to sell your home, or buy one, knowing which market is hot in your area is important. Knowing what contributes to each is important as well. It can help you not only decide if now is the time to sell or buy, but whether a market change is coming.

The Deb Ward Team