What to do! – Page 2

Go for the Green – Get More Money for Your House with These Tips

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

You’ve decided that you need to sell your home. Of course you want to get more money for your house, so what can you do to make sure you get the most? What tips can you use to go for the green? Pretty simple ones.

First things first, make sure your home is clean. Use your time before the listing goes up scrubbing it from top to bottom. Move furniture and appliances and clean under them. Pack up clutter and put it in storage. Put excess furniture there as well. Soap, water, dusting and decluttering should be your mantra.

That will lead you to the next tip: repair. Fix broken hinges, leaky plumbing, and all those little jobs you’ve been putting off. Do them now. Re-caulk old windows and door frames. Bathroom and kitchen fixtures also need it. Not only does it spruce it up, but it seals out drafts and water leaks. If you have bathroom or kitchen tiles that are loose or cracked, replace them. Re-grouting is also a good idea. Again, it freshens up and makes the room look like it was recently updated.

Update. Yes, if you can afford it, update the biggies: kitchens and baths. Talk to your Realtor and ask their opinion about what, exactly, you should replace. Carpeting should also be professionally cleaned or replaced. Repaint walls. You need to make your home as project free as possible.

Replace appliances. You need to do this especially if you are planning on taking the ones you already have. Who wants to spend top dollar on a house where they will have to immediately buy a refrigerator or washer and dryer?

Have a friend walk through your house and tell what it looks like to them, gloves off, no holds barred. You may get a much better idea of
how others view your home and figure out what to improve. The point is to get more money for your house so put on your thick skin and then put the sweat equity in and go for the green! That check at the settlement table will be your reward!

DO Rely on the Luck of the Irish – Pick a Great Irish Realtor

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

If you need a Realtor who might just bring along a little luck o’ the Irish with her, then you might just want to go find Deb Ward, the Irish Realtor!

Finding a good Realtor when you want to buy or sell real estate is a good idea. A Realtor is trained and educated to know exactly how to navigate the complicated world of buying and selling real estate. You’ll need one with knowledge of the area and the type of real estate you are looking to buy or sell. If you are looking to buy or sell waterfront or water view properties throughout Pinellas County, Florida, including St. Petersburg, Tarpon Springs Dunedin, Belleair, Palm Harbor, Clearwater Beach, Indian Rocks Beach, Largo, and all the surrounding towns, Deb knows how to help.

Deb, the Irish Realtor, is the lead listing Realtor at The Deb Ward Team and affiliated with Keller Williams Realty a nationally recognized firm. If you are moving from another area and know the Keller Williams name, you know that Deb is a great choice. She specializes in the great water front homes and communities in the area. She has 21 year of experience helping people to buy their dream home and sell the one they have. And did we mention she’s Irish? She moved to Florida from Ireland in 1995. She even speaks Gaelic!

Buying and selling real estate takes know how and experience. It also takes a little bit of luck as well. Knowing you have hired the one person who has all three should mean you’ll be selling your home and moving into your dream home in no time! So use the luck of the Irish and use Deb Ward, the Irish Realtor!

To see all Deb’s tips, tours and properties, visit her youtube channel: youtube.com/debward

Should You Buy a Fixer Upper Project?

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

Should you buy a fixer upper or project home? If you’ve ever watched any of the home improvement shows they make the idea of buying a “fixer-upper” look incredibly easy. Even the “problems” are minimized. Well, in real life a fixer-upper can be a nightmare if you don’t go into buying it with your eyes very wide open.

Buying a project home or a fixer-upper as they are often called can be a great way to buy more home than your budget will allow. If you have a smaller budget and need more space, it could be the answer. What you need to keep in mind is that the lower up front cost isn’t the end. Fixing up the space can be expensive. There are two ways to handle the improvements that need to be made. First, you can hire a contractor to do the projects. Or, you can do it yourself. Either way, you should have a home inspection done so that you know what issues there may be with the home.

The inspection will probably tell you issues, but don’t count on it telling you everything. Be an educated buyer and know what to look for as you tour the home. Is the wall crack just from settling or does it mean foundation issues? Does that water stain mean there was a leak or there is one? Rely on your Realtor too. They should know the difference between cosmetic issues and structural disasters.

No matter whether you plan on having a contractor fix the fixes, or doing it yourself, you should have some basic home improvement skills. Painting, fixing drywall holes and a few other basics will be a time and money saver in the long run. Even with a contractor doing big projects, if you can paint, you can fix other rooms up yourself.

Remember too, no matter if you do the work or pay someone else to do it, it will cost more money. Yes, those improvements add value to the home, but remember that it’s not money in your pocket until you sell the home. Be wise in the fixes you do, and enjoy the process.

Who Will Buy Your Home?

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

Who will buy your home? Why is that important? Well, you want to make your home as appealing to your target market as possible. Now you have to stage it to sell. So, figure out who will buy your home.

How to figure that out depends on a few different variables. Things like your location and your price. Location is the biggest factor. Where is your home located? Is it in a city? A suburb? An up and coming neighborhood? An aging out neighborhood? Waterfront? Look around your neighborhood. Who do you see the most? Here’s how it all factors out. In the city you will probably be selling to young singles. In a suburb to families. In an up and coming neighborhood it could be either or young marrieds. In an aging out neighborhood either older couples, or young families. Waterfront to more affluent couples or families or boat lovers. Once you think it through, then you stage it appropriately. Singles or young marrieds, stage for things like entertaining space. For families, stage it to show how a family could use the space or to enhance the space for a growing family. For affluence, stage it to emphasize the high end upgrades. How you market your home matters.

The other consideration is the price you are asking for your home. Obviously you should price it appropriately for its market value. That said, if you want to market your home to get a particular kind of buyer, price it to attract them. If you want an affluent buyer, make sure you have the updates necessary, then price it in a bracket they will see. If you want singles, young families or first time buyers, then price it accordingly. Again, do so within the market value of the home, but if bumping it up just slightly to get a higher end buyer, or down to make it affordable for a young family, married couple or single, you can do that.

You can help determine who buys your home, just by thinking it through and staging it to appeal to that demographic and market your home correctly.

Are You Buying a Family Home?

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

Are you buying a family home? Great! So how do you decide what home you should buy? That depends on where you are in your life. Much like what size home you need, what kind of home will depend on the questions that you should ask yourself, and also share with your Realtor.

When you are buying a family home consider what kind of home you need. Well, where are you in life? How big is your family? Do you plan on having more kids? Are your children older and moving out for college or on their own? The answers to these questions will help you decide if you need more space or less. It might mean you need a single family home, or maybe a condo or small town home or duplex. Here are some considerations too: does one of your family members play a loud instrument? A multifamily type home may not be a good idea. Your lifestyle helps determine the type of home you need.

Do you have elderly parents? Is it possible they will move in with you? You might want to look for a home with two master bedrooms, or a home with an in-law suite. This may also determine house type too. With elderly people in the mix, will you want a home with multiple floors, or a ranch style with no steps? Would a larger condo fit the bill so you can have a life with little maintenance and enough space for your whole family?

What you need when buying a family home should be determined by where your family needs will take you in the foreseeable future. Be realistic about it. If you have high school aged children, will they be leaving to live at college? Is it likely they will be moving back home after college? Will your parents need supervised living that you will provide in your home? Don’t go into your home search with rose colored glasses on, be very realistic. Ask the hard questions and answer them honestly.

So what kind of home do you need? Work with your Realtor and find out.

Selling Your Home In December

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

Thanksgiving has come and gone and December is here. Time to sell your home. Yes, really. December is a great time of year to sell your home. Selling your home in December means fewer homes for sale, more people from out of town looking and better chances for you.

December is a great month to sell your home

People are busy, but not too busy to house hunt. If someone is in the hunt for a home, using time waiting in line Christmas shopping to look online for homes to see is probably how they multi-task. The fact that the holidays are busy will work to your advantage another way. Who has time to just look? People looking will be serious buyers. If they are going to take time out of their busy holiday schedule to look, that means they are buyers to take seriously. That means that your Realtor will show to well qualified, pre-qualified buyers who are serious. Aren’t you busy at the holidays too? No wasted time for you either.

I bet if you asked others about listing in December they told you it was nuts. “No one ever lists in December!” Exactly, that means less competition. But buyers are still looking. New listings in December are few and far between, so it gets buyers looking jazzed. Now think about them looking at your home. How does it look this time of year? Decorated and at its best. Perfect!

Sales Ready

Getting your home sales ready in December is really much easier than you think. You are already making room for decorations and a tree, probably packing a few things away for the duration. So, use the opportunity to declutter and pack. Then tastefully appoint your home with holiday cheer.

Selling your home in December works to your advantage. So decorate, and get ready to move after the New Year! New Year, new home. Sounds good, doesn’t it!