Real Estate Tips
Home Sellers Tips
April 30, 2009 by natalya · Leave a Comment
Getting Ready to Sell Your House
Disengage Your Emotions
When talking to real estate agents, you will often find that when they talk to you about buying real estate, they will refer to your purchase as a “home.” Yet if you are selling property, they will often refer to it as a “house.” There is a reason for this. Buying real estate is often an emotional decision, but when selling real estate you need to remove emotions.
You need to think of your house as a marketable product. Property. Real estate. Your goal is to get others to see it as their potential home, not yours. You need to de-personalize it. This page will explain the process of selling your house, give you some tips and ideas to get your house sold faster for more.
Preparing the House for Showings
After leaving in a house for a long time, it gets cluttered, and people get used to it, and they are very emotional about all their belongings. To get your house uncluttered might be a very hard thing to do because of the emotional attachment to things. After years of living in the same home, clutter collects in such a way that may not be evident to the homeowner. However, it does affect the way buyers see the home, even if you do not realize it.
Clutter collects on shelves, counter tops, drawers, closets, garages, attics, and basements. You want as much open clear space as possible, so every extra little thing needs to be cleared away. Take a step back and pretend you are a buyer. Let a friend help point out areas of clutter, as long as you can accept their views without getting defensive. Let your agent help you, too
Repairs, Costs of Repairs
Do not do anything expensive, such as remodeling. If possible, use savings to pay for any repairs and improvements do not go charging up credit cards or obtaining new loans. Remember that part of selling a house is also preparing to buy your next home. You do not want to do anything that will affect your credit scores or hurt your ability to qualify for your next mortgage.
Plumbing and Fixtures
When looking at a house, prospective home buyers often do not really know what to do. So they play with things. They flick light switches. They open everything with a handle. They turn on all the faucets and flush all the toilets. Having nice shiny fixtures makes an impression.
All your sink fixtures should look shiny and new. If this cannot be accomplished by cleaning, buy new ones. If you don’t buy something fancy, this can be accomplished inexpensively. Make sure all the hot and cold water knobs are easy to turn and that the faucets do not leak. If they do, replace the washers.
It sounds like hard work, but it’s pretty easy — even for the inexperienced.
Check to make sure you have good water pressure and that there are no stains on any of the porcelain. If you have a difficult stain to remove, one trick is to hire a cleaning crew to go through and clean your home on a one-time basis. They seem to be wonderful at making stains go away
Odor
Make sure it smells pleasant in your house. How would you like to walk into a potentially your next home and find out that it smells horribly. It is an automatic turn-off for most buyers.
For those who smoke, you might want to minimize smoking indoors while trying to sell your home. Actually, it is best to move smoking outside. You could also purchase an ozone spray that helps to remove odors without creating odor.
Apologies to pet owners, but pets come with odors. You may have become used to them, but they are immediately noticeable to those with more finely tuned senses.
For those with cats, be sure to empty kitty litter boxes daily and use plenty of baking soda. For dog owners, keep the dog outdoors as much as possible, even those adorable lovable little dogs. You might also try sprinkling carpet freshener on the carpet on a periodic basis.
You could also buy candles and turn them on right before showings. They spread a very pleasant smell fast throughout the house.
Pricing Your House
Make sure you don’t overprice your house. The first several months are crucial, as your house is going to be fresh on the market, so it is going to attract a lot of new buyers. Agents are always looking for new inventory. So this is the time when you want to do everything right. If you overprice your house to begin with, then after several months, people are going to have different suspicions why your house is still sitting on the market. If your home is initially priced right, you are in the best position to attract the maximum number of buyers. Ask a real estate agent to do a “Comparative Market Analysis” for you. Most agents would do it for you for free. You can request a free Comparative Market Analysis from our site.
Why should you work with a Realtor?
Working with a professional Realtor to sell your house is a good idea for several reasons:
Marketing Your House
Marketing can be extremely expensive. Agents spend thousands of dollars to get houses advertised in different newspapers, magazines, MLS, print advertising, professional brochures and flyers, professional networking, agent tours, targeted direct mail, yard signs, TV exposure, interactive phone information, open houses, and the Internet. The combination of all of these marketing elements working together has helped thousands of sellers to successful sales.
AN OFFER
When you have a home for sale, eventually a prospective buyer will make an offer. As the seller, you basically have three options: you can accept the offer, reject the offer or give a counter offer. A counter offer usually will encourage a buyer to continue their negotiations. You may also receive multiple offers. You may prefer to take slightly less for your property from someone who is willing to pay cash, versus someone who needs to sell their current home first. Contingencies, move-in dates, and financing are all things to consider when weighing an offer. If things seem a bit overwhelming, rely on your experienced real estate professional, who can go over the various points with you, and help you choose the best offer.
Getting to the Closing Table
Once you’ve accepted an offer on your property there’s a number of details that still need to be finished. There will probably be an inspection of your home by a professional who will determine the condition and integrity of your property for the buyer. The contract should state who is paying and up to what amount on the repairs. The buyer’s mortgage company will order an appraisal. The title company will warranty that there are no liens or existing encumbrances which would restrain a transfer of title to the buyer. First time sellers and buyers often feel more comfortable to have the paper work reviewed prior to signing. If you have a real estate agent, she/he will review everything with you. You can always rely on your real estate professional to make sure the entire home selling process goes smoothly.
Got a Question?
You can contact me directly from this website or by phone at: 407-383-8180
House Hunting Hints
January 23, 2007 by natalya · Leave a Comment
Once you know how much you can afford, area where you would like to live, and all other qualities of your future home, you can start the search for your dream home. Once you have the list of your favorite homes, contact an agent, and we will be able to schedule all showings.
Thoughtful preparation in the beginning of your home search will help you find the home of your dreams that also fits your family?s needs.
Here are some tips how to find the house for you:
Why should you work with a Realtor?
January 20, 2007 by natalya · Leave a Comment
Working with a professional Realtor to buy your home is a good idea for several reasons:
- They’ll analyze your financial situation to help you determine how much you can afford.
- They’re familiar with the process of buying a home and can explain things to you.
- They can easily access information on all properties listed for sale by Realtors in your area and help you in your search.
- They can set up appointments for you to see homes that interest you.
- They’ll help you complete all the necessary paperwork when it comes time to make an offer.
- They’ll help you arrange financing.
- They’ll be there at closing to answer your questions and make sure everything runs smooth.
- The best part for the buyer is that all these services are free for the buyers, so why not to use all these advantages.
Ready to Buy a House?
January 19, 2007 by natalya · Leave a Comment
The very first step you need to do before buying a home is to figure out how much you can afford. You can get a pre-qualification letter from most mortgage companies within several minutes.
Down payment
Most buyers do not have enough cash available to buy a home, so they need to obtain a mortgage to finance the purchase. Since you will probably make your purchase contingent upon obtaining a mortgage, the seller has the right to be informed of your financing plans in order to evaluate them. That is one of the major reasons that financing details are included in your offer.
As part of your offer, you will need to disclose the size of your down payment. Once again, this allows the seller to evaluate your likelihood of obtaining a home loan. It is easier to get approved for a mortgage when you make a larger down payment. The underwriting guidelines are less strict.
Interest rate
Another reason for including financing information in your offer is to protect yourself. If interest rates suddenly become volatile and rise quickly, as sometimes happens, you may looking at a mortgage payment much higher than you anticipated. By putting a maximum acceptable interest rate in the offer, you are protecting yourself from such an occurrence.
At the same time, the seller will probably want to see that you have some flexibility in the financing terms you are willing to accept. If interest rates are currently at eight percent and you indicate this is the highest rate you will accept, you would be able to cancel the contract without penalty if interest rates rose past that point. The seller would suffer because they have lost valuable marketing time and may have made their own plans based on successfully closing the transaction.
Benefits to owning your own home
January 18, 2007 by natalya · Leave a Comment
1. It is probably going to be the best investment that you’ve ever made in your life
2. You are going to have income tax savings. Because of income tax deductions, the government is basically subsidizing your purchase of a home. All of the interest and property taxes you pay in a given year can be deducted from your gross income to reduce your taxable income.
Property taxes are deductible, too. Whatever property taxes you pay in a given year may also be deducted from your gross income, lowering your tax obligation.
3. When you rent a place to live, you can certainly expect your rent to increase each year or even more often. If you get a fixed rate mortgage when you buy a home, you have the same monthly payment amount for thirty years. Even if you get an adjustable rate mortgage, your payment will stay within a certain range for the entire life of the mortgage and interest rates aren’t as volatile now as they were in the late seventies and early eighties.
Imagine how much rent might be ten, fifteen, or even thirty years from now? Which makes more sense?
4. You are going to build equity. Some people are just lousy at saving money, and a house is an automatic savings account. You accumulate savings in two ways. Every month, a portion of your payment goes toward the principal. Admittedly, in the early years of the mortgage, this is not much. Over time, however, it accelerates.
Second, your home appreciates. Average appreciation on a home is approximately five percent, though it will vary from year to year, and in some years may even depreciate.. Over time, history has shown that owning a home is one of the very best financial investments.
5. Freedom and individualism. When you rent, you are normally limited on what you can do to improve your home. You have to get permission to make certain types of improvements. Nor does it make sense to spend thousand of dollars painting, putting in carpet, tile or window coverings when the main person who benefits is the landlord and not you.
Since your landlord wants to keep his expenses to a minimum, he or she will probably not be spending much to improve the place, either.
When you own a home, however, you can do pretty much whatever you want. You get the benefits of any improvements you make, plus you get to live in an environment you have created, not some faceless landlord.
How to Determine the Price and Make an Offer
January 17, 2007 by natalya · Leave a Comment
Once you’ve chosen your dream home, it’s time to make an offer. When you prepare an offer to purchase a home, you already know the seller’s asking price. But what price are you going to offer and how do you come up with that figure?
Determining your offer price is a three-step process. First, you look at recent sales of similar properties to come up with a price range. Then, you analyze additional data, such as the condition of the home, improvements made to the property, current market conditions, and the circumstances of the seller. This will help you settle on a price you think would be fair to pay for the home. Finally, depending on your negotiating style, you adjust your “fair” price and come up with what you want to put in your offer.
Gathering and analyzing information from comparable sales helps to establish the range of prices you should consider when making an offer to buy a home. More weight should be given to the most recent sales, but even so, you need to do a bit more analysis before setting upon the price you will offer. That is because you also need to consider the condition of the property, improvements, the current market, and the circumstances behind the seller’s decision to sell.
Once again, it is a very good idea to work with an agent, as your agent will guide you through this process, and prepare for you the “Comparative Market Analysis” for free, so you definitely know the fair value of the property. Also your real estate agent should explain to you the condition of the real estate market. If it is a “sellers’ market” then there is not too much room for negotiation, but if it is “buyers’ market”, then you definitely should negotiate a lot.
There is a lot of legal paperwork involved in making an offer, but your real estate agent will be providing you with a contract, all necessary disclosures (there are quite a few), obtaining all necessary disclosures from the sellers, handling all offers and counter-offers
Buyers Tips
January 10, 2007 by natalya · Leave a Comment
Buying a Home can be one of your most significant investments in life. Not only are you choosing your dwelling place, and the place in which you will bring up your family, you are most likely investing a large portion of your assets into this venture. The more prepared you are at the outset, the less overwhelming and chaotic the buying process will be.
House Hunting Hints
Once you know how much you can afford, area where you would like to live, and all other qualities of your future home, you can start the search for your dream home. Once you have the list of your favorite homes, contact an agent, and we will be able to schedule all showings.
Thoughtful preparation in the beginning of your home search will help you find the home of your dreams that also fits your family’s needs.
Here are some tips how to find the house for you:
- Determine your priorities. Before going look at the houses, determine what your family truly needs in a new home. Prioritize your list and decide what features are a must have and what can be sacrificed. This is a very good way to start your list.
- Get a mortgage pre-approval. A pre-approval will give you an idea of what you can afford to spend on your new home; you will know what houses you should be visiting. Plus, having a pre-approval will shows that you are a serious buyer to sellers.
- Location, location, location. Location is fundamental when searching for your home. Only you can decide which location is best for you. A few considerations include: How far do you want to travel to your job? Are the community schools highly rated? Do you need nearby neighborhood services such as public transportation, shopping and senior resources? You should also think about the location?s impact on the resale value of the property if you are thinking about selling in the next few years.
- Search the Web. One of the best ways to start your home search is on the Internet. On Web sites you can search for properties, determine mortgage payments, research communities and find out a lot of useful and important information about those properties. You can also request any information you would like to know about the houses.
- Request professional help. Realtors are experts in the real estate industry and can help you with everything from gathering community information to taking you to look at the houses, handling all the paperwork for you to finishing your transaction at closing table. There is no one better who can help you find the home of your dreams. Plus, Realtors can greatly reduce the amount of pressure you feel during this stressful time.
- Make notes. While looking at homes, write down a few notes about things you particularly like in the home and others that you may not. This way, when you assess the homes you have visited, you will have the pros and cons of each.
- Take a camera. We all know “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Taking some photos of the houses you see while on a home tour will give you a visual at the end of the day. Just remember to jot down which photos go with which notes.
What’s driving the Orlando Florida market?
June 12, 2006 by natalya · Leave a Comment
There seems no end in sight for the growth in Orlando Florida. Over 1.35 million people have made Florida their home over the past 4 years. There were 400,000 new arrivals in 2004 alone! Whats driving this unprecedented expansion?
Some might think its retirees and others may think its the growing job market. In this case both would be right, including a few factors you may not have realized:
First: More jobs! Florida experienced strong job growth opportunities during recent
years. Not only the growth but the variety of jobs has been very broad. Strong job growth led to good income gains with personal income going up 8.4% during the past year. This kind of employment market has attracted job seekers from other states, resulting inyou guessed it, more people!
Second: We are experiencing the result of retiring baby boomers. The aging of the generation born between 1945 and 1965 has fueled an increase of retirees, second home buying and homeownership.
Third: The ever constant fact, a warm climate attracts people who want a vacation, a nice place to retire or nice atmosphere for raising a family.
So where will all the new arrivals in Central Florida live? With the latest statistics showing approximately 1000 people per day moving to Florida, it might seem that another housing shortage will occur. While there is no shortage of homes currently, the market will always be active as families move in or out for various reasons.
There has also been a huge increase in the purchase of secondary homes or vacation homes. Vacation homes make a significant portion of home sales annually. However, the owners of those homes might surprise you as many are foreign investors. In fact the
National Association of Realtors showed 15% of homes sales in 2004 were
made by international home buyers.
When you combine all of these factors with previous years low interest rates you get an interesting result. Home prices went up, way up! Florida experienced dramatic gains in home prices with the median price going up 105% over the past 5 years. For example, a house bought in 2001 for $100K is worth about $220K or more right now.
New and larger homes sales also skyrocketed as people realized they could afford more home for their money. This was especially true starting in 2003 when record low mortgage rates fueled a new home development craze. Investors and private owners were able take advantage of affordable financing and increasing home values.
As a result, The Orlando area has a higher than average amount of available homes in inventory today. This is a great situation for home buyers who are facing higher interest rates and need to bargain their way into affordability by nudging the sales price down.
This bargaining will slow home appreciation values but it will not cause a drop in overall home prices. Why? Because the constant demand for homes is not decreasing. The market is simply slowing temporarily with thousands more each year looking to make Central Florida their home because of the warmer climate, attractions and job opportunities.
Where is the real estate market going in Orlando area?
June 8, 2006 by natalya · Leave a Comment
A lot of people are wondering about the stability of the real estate market in Orlando, Florida. The two main cycles that real estate market goes through are expansion and recession. The cycle of expansion started in 2002 and it was at the highest point during the summer-autumn of 2005. That period registered record high sales for 4 consecutive years.
Today we are experiencing an oversupply of real estate. This causes prices to adjust. The market will continue to cool; price appreciation will still be positive but very slow. Depending on the area in central Florida, there is a housing supply capable of lasting somewhere between one to three years. Thats a lot of For Sale signs! Houses in $100-$200K price range are still in high demand but homes in the $300K+ range may not sell even after 4 to 6+ months on the market. A lot of sellers are already experiencing this cold reality.
There are several factors that caused the cooling of the market. Mortgage interest rates have been going up which raises the monthly payments associated with buying a home; therefore, eliminating some potential buyers. Raising rates can also result in higher delinquency and foreclosure rates. For example, a traditional 30 year mortgage rate is around 6.7% for those with immaculate credit. If rates go above 7%, some areas will experience price softening. Housing prices continue to rise which further complicates the issue. In summary, increased interest rates combined with rising home prices have made housing unaffordable for prospective buyers.
Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Yes! Based on the number of people moving to Florida and constant demand for housing, the market should bounce back by 2007. The rest of the country may see a slower trend but Sunny Florida continues to attract home buyers interested in warmer climates
I believe in high quality customer service. My promise to you as a Realtor is to give you the highest level of service and always be accessible to you. My guarantee to you is every aspect of your transaction is going to be handled with honesty, professionalism, diligence, and care. I am looking forward to working with you. Feel free to call or e-mail me, so we can discuss your real estate needs 