REBuying&SellingSampleMag2

RBuyEingA& SLelliEngSGTuAidTeE Advice and Resources for Before, During and After the SaleA RE Pro in Your Corner Prepare Your Home for SalePlan Early for Mortgage Approval Is Home Staging Right for You?Pre-Qualifaction vs. Pre-Approval Make These Two Vows to Sell NowBuy & Sell with Confidence with Your Real Estate Experts

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Prepare to Show Your HomeOnce you’ve decided to sell your home, you may feel ing your home for sale with less work ing hardwoods are a big selling feature like the last thing you want ahead. Leave your closets organized and for buyers. Brighten up with lighting.to do is spend money to spruce the at least half empty by boxing and stor- “Every room should have at least threeplace up. But, to get the best return ing the extra. Full closets will suggest to points of light,” says Alison Draper, De-on your investment, you’ll need the buyer that there is not enough stor- signer with Halstead Property. Use anto make sure your house looks its age space in the home. Don’t forget to overhead fixture with two table lamps,very best when it hits the market. de-clutter and clean the garage too. or a floor lamp, table lamp and taskMany updates and improvements Most realtors and stagers will agree that lamp, for example.can cost little or even nothing at all. along with de-cluttering, de-personal- 5. CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEANTo save you time and money, focus ization is also a good idea. Removing Give your home a deep cleaning whichyour efforts in places that will make family pictures helps the buyers to pic- includes windows inside and out, andthe most difference in your home’s ture their own family in the home. don’t forget inside and outside of yourappearance. 3. NEUTRAL AND SIMPLE appliances. Make sure your home notPut on your buyer’s hat and walk Repaint tired and bold colored walls only looks clean but also smells clean.through your home like it’s the with neutral tones of tans, grays or blues Be aware of odors in your home.first time. Be as objective as pos- that will appeal to a wide range of buy- 6. REPAIRS AND IMPROVEMENTSsible as you take notes on what you ers. Make your décor simple as well by Get as many done as possible, focusingwouldn’t like as a home buyer, then removing unneeded or bulky furniture on the repairs that are most obvious.make the changes that fit into your to make the space feel larger. If you look For example, some must-dos may be:budget and make the most impact at your carpets and think, “Hmm...I repairing missing roof tiles, leaks any-on the appeal of your home. wonder if I they are dirty enough to re- where in the home, holes in walls, etc.1. CREATE CURB APPEAL place?”, you’ve got your answer. Taking the time, effort and investingTighten up your landscaping with 4. BRIGHT AND SHINY some money into preparing your hometrimmed shrubs, weed-free beds, fresh If you have wood floors, have them re- for sale will help you to sell quicker andmulch, and all edges nice and tidy. Add finished. It can cost upwards of $1,000, get the best return on your investment.some color (when the weather is warm depending on the room size, but gleam-enough) with potted and planted flow-ers. Your front door gets high visibility,so paint it a fresh color that complimentsyour home along with a wreath as well, ifthat fits your home’s style.2. CLUTTER-FREE ZONENo clutter means not just in the im-mediate visible areas, but also in clos-ets and cabinets. The best way to tacklethis one is to start eliminating what youdon’t need way before your home goesup for sale. If you’ve been in your homefor 15 years and you start with 15 yearsworth of clutter to organize and elimi-nate, you’ve got quite a headache ahead.If you start months before by takingon small “cleansing” projects that takejust 10 minutes, or an hour if you havethe inclination, you can begin prepar-

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REAL ESTATE Selling: Someone Wants What Your Home Has! Every home has features that make it special to thePRO right buyers. Your realtor knows how to accentu-C in your ate the best aspects of your home and find buyersO that will appreciate them. So your home has twoR Whether you are buying or selling a master bedrooms? A great pool? A large property?N home, it can be quite an adventurous Maybe it’s small and cozy. Matching unique homeE journey. Employing a Real Estate Pro- qualities with buyers is what realtors do so well!R fessional to lead you through the ins and outs of Pricing Experts: a real estate transaction can save time and stress Searching for homes and wondering if the sales as you move through the process. If you’ve ever price on a particular home is on target for today’s considered going it alone, consider the following market? While anyone can spend a few minutes great reasons to have an experienced realtor on online and pull information on sales of comparable your side. houses, real estate agents are in the market every- Buying: Finding the Needle in the Haystack: day and can give insight to the latest pricing trends You can scour the internet and go to every open that an internet search may not reveal. With a fin- house to find the home that checks off as many of ger on the pulse of the housing market in your area, the items as possible on your wish list, or you can your realtor has the experience to know whether a let your realtor steer you in the right direction and specific house is overpriced, underpriced or right save time and effort. A good realtor is very familiar on target. The same holds true when selling your with the homes for sale in your marketplace, and home; your real estate professional can advise you he or she has likely visited most of them already on a sales price that gives you the best return on by either attending a realtor’s open house or show- your investment while keeping your home at a ing them to other clients. Moreover, your ideal competitive sales price for your market, which can home may be out there, but you may not see it on go a long way towards a quick sale. the internet! Although most homes for sale can Inspections and Repairs: be found on Multiple Listing Service, some sellers You’ll want to avoid any unhappy surprises after prefer to not have their home sale advertised, and your home purchase, so after finding the home in that case, only real estate agents would be aware you’d like to purchase, you’ll want to make yourself these homes are for sale. “Sometimes people don’t aware of any issues that may exist with the home. want it advertised actively,” says Elizabeth Men- Your realtor can often recommend home inspec- denhall, the 2011 vice president of committees for tors that they have worked with in the past. the National Association of Realtors. “Maybe it’s Upon obtaining your home inspection you can of- for a personal reason that they don’t want their ten be handed a lengthy report. Here again your neighbors or friends to know that their house is for realtor’s experience can be a big help as he or she sale. Sometimes health problems, financial prob- may be able to help you identify which issues war- lems or divorce is a factor”. Either way, working rant a request for remediation from the seller prior with a real estate agent gives you access to homes to closing and which issues are too minor to ad- you might otherwise miss. dress with the seller. Often, the touchiest part of a real estate purchase involves the delicate dance of requesting repairs. It can be an uncomfortable dialogue for the buyer who is purchasing without the help of a real estate agent. If the house is in reasonably good con- dition, requests for repairs can break a deal. The agent will have a good sense of what is reasonable to request and what is excessive.

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MAKE THESE TWO VOWSTO SELL YOUR HOME NOWIf you’ve listed your home, you’re meets their crite- SOLD looking for a buyer now, not ria, they want to months from now. So, mak- see it. Take advan- Foring these two vows will help. tage of that sweet Sale1. Get Realistic About Your Home’s spot by pricing theValue. It’s natural to think your home is house competi- You’ve completed your deep cleaning,priceless, or hope it’s worth at least more tively right out of de-cluttering and de-personalizing,than when you bought it. As such, many the gate. now keep your home ready to show at asellers make the epic mistake of placing a 2. Get Ready, moment’s notice by removing everydaypie-in-the-sky price on their home with Stay Ready. clutter, everyday. Especially concentratethe hopes that some buyer somewhere It’s hard to keep your place picture-per- on the kitchen and other gathering areaswill bite. But the reality is, overpriced fect for buyers all the time, but it’s well in the home. Get your family on boardhomes tend to languish on the market. worth the pain and suffering. Your buyer so they are cleaning up after themselves.Your largest number of showings will oc- may be the one who is in town for just a Keep a vacuum, mop, cleaning spray andcur in the first two to three weeks. One short time, sees your home while in the paper towels handy for a quick spruce upreason is the MLS (multiple listing ser- neighborhood, and asks your realtor to in the kitchen and bathrooms.vice) systems and the Internet tend to set up an appointment for a last minutedrive the majority of showings. Many showing. Develop a five minute cleanupbuyers are plugged in electronically, so plan for those buyers who want to comethe minute something new pops up that right now. SpenceHouse Painting ProfessionalsSpence Pro Painting Interior & Exterior1234 ProPaint Blvd No Job Too Big or Too Small757-856-9565www.SpencePaints.com Satisfaction Guaranteed

Plan Ahead for Credit SuccessYour mortgage pro can walk you to a free copy of your credit report one If you have a low FICO score it may through the pre-approval process, time each year. What you may not be be possible to raise it up over time de-but there are some things you should do aware of is that the free report that the pending on the cause of your low score.prior to contacting a mortgage company. law says you are entitled to, does not Consult a credit repair specialist to learnEven before the idea of homeownership include your FICO scores from the more about raising your FICO score.is on your radar, being conscientious three major credit bureaus: Experian, Back to your actual credit report. Uponabout creating and maintaining a healthy TransUnion and Equifax. A small fee is receiving your free annual report, you’llcredit profile. A good credit score is charged to see these scores, but it’s worth want to look at it closely to be sure thatimportant for obtaining credit for any- every penny. If you think homeowner- all open debt, like credit cards, car loans,thing from car loans to credit cards, but ship may be in your future, you’ll want student loans etc. are actually yours. Theobtaining a mortgage is usually the most to monitor this score over time by sign-important credit most of us will ever same holds true for any derogato-apply for. When you have the need or FICO SCORE RANGES ry history that may show up like taxdesire to purchase a home is definitely liens, late payments, bankruptcies,not the time to begin to start worry- CATEGORY RANGE etc. Sometimes someone else’s historying about your credit score. Do it be- can show up on your report. This es-fore homeownership is even on your Excellent 750 & Above pecially can happen when two peopleradar screen and you can avoid a lot share the same name, like a father andof heartache, headaches and you may Good 700 - 749 son, for example. To have it removedeven enjoy a better interest rate. you’ll need to contact the credit bu-Mortgage lenders will look at a mea- Fair 650-699 reau that is showing the error. Talksure of credit worthiness called a FICO to your mortgage professional if youscore. This score ranges from 300 to Poor 550-649 know of errors on your report.850. Although it is not the only aspect It can be a long process to remove orof your total history that the lender Bad 550 & Below correct errors. An explaination and /will look at, it is mighty important. or affidavit stating the situation mayNot only will a low credit score make it ing up for one of the credit services that suffice in the event that you are unableless likely to be approved, but also lower allows you to check your score regularly to get those corrections to appear beforecredit scores usually mean higher interest for a monthly fee. Unless, of course, you you apply. Consult your Mortgage Pro-rates and higher credit scores may receive are a FICO score rock star and you are fessional.lower interest rates. very confident that won’t change any-You may be aware that you have the right time soon. In that case you may want to save those few bucks each month. Premier Mortgage Premier Service Fast Approvals Your Financing Source For Good, Fair and Poor Credit. FHA & VA Loans Available Up To 100% FinancingVillager Way, Pleasantville | 668-5200 | www.PremierMortgage.com

Pre-Qualification or Pre-Approval?So you’re ready to get your home financing plan under A pre-approval tends to be much more involved. You’ll complete way? You’ll want to be aware of the difference between a an official mortgage application (and usually pay an application mortgage pre-qualification and a pre-approval. fee), then supply the lender with the necessary documentation to perform an extensive check on your financial background andGetting pre-qualified is generally fairly simple. You supply a current credit rating. From this, the lender can tell you the spe-bank or lender with your overall financial picture, including cific mortgage amount for which you are approved. You’ll alsoyour debt, income and assets. After evaluating this informa- have a better idea of the interest rate you will be charged on thetion, a lender can give you an idea of the mortgage amount loan and, in some cases, you might be able to lock in a specificfor which you qualify. Pre-qualification can be done over the rate.phone or on the internet, and there With a mortgage pre-approval, youis usually no cost involved. Loan When chosing between two will receive a conditional commit-pre-qualification does not include equal offers, the seller is more ment in writing for an exact loanan analysis of your credit report amount, allowing you to look for aor an in-depth look at your ability home at or below that price level.to purchase a home, therefore, it is Obviously, this puts you at an ad- vantage when dealing with a po-inclined to accept the buyer whonot considered a reliable indicatorof your ability to receive a mort- as been pre-approved by a tential seller, as he or she will knowgage approval, but it can be a good lender. you’re one step closer to obtainingplace to start to get an idea of how an actual mortgage.much you can afford.Tulane Restore Carpet Cleaning Mortgage Unique 4 Step Process! Soap FreeFor all Your Non-ToxicHome Financing HypoallergenicNeeds ReturnTulaneMortgage.com Old, Tired458-8565 Carpets to Like New Condition RestoreCarpet-Cleaning.com 524-5846 David

HOME STAGING Right for You?Staging your home may or may not be right for you. It helps to consider some advice and some facts fromthe pros in making your decision. Eitherway, the better you present your homeand the more buyers it appeals to, thebetter for your home selling adventures.In the old days, a standard deep cleaningwould suffice, but today it is more likelyyour home will be competing with oth-er staged homes since today more homesellers are seeking the help of profession-al stagers. Factor into the equation, too,that the huge popularity of HGTV showsover the past few years has heightenedthe expectations of potential buyers.According to the National Association ofRealtors (NAR) 2015 Profile of Staging ers offer more for staged homes (32% great blank canvas for a stager to come inReport, buyers’ realtors reported 81% of think they offer 1% to 5% more; 16% and do some serious magic to the space.their clients felt that staging helped them put the increase at 6% to 10%; 4% put DIY YOUR STAGING:to imagine the property they were view- it as high as 20%). Nineteen percent of Staging may not be the way for you, anding as a future home. And good staging the realtors didn’t feel staging had any a DIY approach may work. Especially ifis meant to do just that, as well as; it impact on a home’s selling price. Home you’ve recently bought furniture, yourshould show off the home’s good features Staging Resource, an organization that home was decorated by an interior de-and hide its flaws; turn awkward spaces offers training and resources to stagers, signer, or you have great taste that ap-into useable spaces; create a mood; and is even more bullish on staging (as you’d peals to a wide audience. Even if nonemake the home look significantly better expect): Its website states that in a survey of the above applies to you, many sellersin photos. of 3,500 staged homes, 46% sold for 10% can work well with what they have byIn addition, the NAR report found that more than they would have un-staged. following some preparation guidelines52% of buyers’ realtors believe that buy- EMPTY HOUSE STAGING: we’ve laid out in “Prepare Your Home to Here’s a great reason to get staged. Emp- Show” article. ty rooms actually HOW MUCH WILL I SPEND ON seem smaller, not STAGING?Customized Nutrition Delivered! to mention cold The price to stage a home varies great- and uninviting. ly from a few hundred dollars upwardsEasy Weight Loss Without any fur- to 1% of the sales price. It all depends Great Nutrition niture for a sense on the number of rooms to be staged, of scale, it is diffi- whether you will rent furniture, and howPersonal Meals Delivered Daily cult for a buyer to many hours the staging pro will spend Prepared by a Master Chef estimate how their on your project. Get an estimate from a pro with details on what will be done. Order online or call furniture would fit.CustomizedNutrition.com On the other hand, www.nar.realtor/sites/default/files/reports/2015/2015- an empty home is a profile-of-home-staging-2015-01-27.pdf 857-9532

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