Staging For The Spring

It's Spring ! It may not feel like spring just yet, but mother nature will be getting with the program in the next few days bringing us some warmer weather! All those homeowners who have their homes on the market, and those who are getting ready to make their debut here are a few tips to get your home ready for the spring rush of buyers !

Update Your Pictures - If your home was listed in the winter you will want to update the pictures this way it showcases your homes spring look ! This is not only important to keep your listing from looking outdated, but if your anything like me I love my outdoor space and buyers should get the opportunity to see it too !

Create Your Outdoor Space - Having an inviting outdoor space whether it is a inviting front porch, or a great entertaining space in your backyard can really set you apart from your competition.  Here are a few quick tips for creating that space !

• Decks/Porches/Railings always look a bit nicer with a fresh coat of paint or a good power washing ! 
• Inexpensive solar lighting to help light walk-ways not only make things safer, but also gives you great curb appeal ! 
• Brightly colored potted plants add to your curb appeal, and the best part is even someone without a green thumb can maintain these with very little work ! 
• Update your outdoor furniture, if your moving into your new home and were going to upgrade this furniture this season take the time and do it now. Since it will be going with you to your new home it will help showoff what that space offer to your buyers ! 

Lighten Things Up - Many people enjoy switching out their winter attire when the spring arrives you should do the same for your home !  Many people overlook the fact that we tend to use darker heavier fabric on things like our bedding and curtains so giving your home a new "wardrobe" for the spring is a great idea ! 

• Sheer curtains will allow the extra day-light to stream into your home, which tends to also make your room look larger and more inviting.  Sheer curtains are also a great alternative for those who have large sliding doors, it allows you to keep your privacy but let the buyers see the outdoor space combined with indoor space ! 
• Removing your darker colored linens (ex:bedding, throw pillows, blankets) also work wonders for changing the feeling or the atmosphere of a room, and again these items are coming with you to your new home ! 

Give Your Home A Spring Cleaning - This is the perfect time of year to make any of those minor repairs or changes to your home, if your anything like me the last thing you want to do in the winter is pull out the paint, or spend hours cleaning when you can't open up the windows.  Any home can show a bit better with only a days worth of work ! 

• Touch up your paint - white moldings often change color a bit a fresh coat of white high gloss paint give the room a fresh/clean feel ! 
• Letting the air in is of course important so your home doesn't feel stuff, but don't forget cleaning those windows can really showcase a picture or bay window ! 
• The best part of spring is obviously the fresh air and flowers, but you want to be careful because of allergies during this time of year.  Burning a light scented candle before your home is shown is always a nice idea especially if you have pets ! 
• A fresh coat of paint on your front door, new house numbers, or replacing broken window screens is another great way to increase your curb appeal.  

If your unsure what you should be doing to stage your home for the (hopefully) nearing spring season, take the time to call your Realtor.  Many times we will see things that could be improved simply with a bit of re-arranging or much simpler fixes than you may think ! 

Value VS Features In Real Estate

As promised from last week it is time to explain what are things that you can add an actual value to your home verse others in your area, and what items are more of a feature that doesn't necessarily add "value" to your home.  Keep in mind when I refer to the word "value" in this blog it is strictly about the price of your home or the ability to have a higher price because of the "valued" item.

Let me start by giving you a quick overview of what things add "Value" to your home:

• Renovations Or New Construction 
• Legal Add-Ons (EX: Basement, Extensions, Dormers)
• Bulkhead/Private Beach/Docking Rights
• Property Size 
• Number Of Rooms (EX:Bedrooms, Baths) 
• Heating System Upgrades Or Conversions

Now let's talk about features, you might be surprised even if you are a buyer what some are:

• Pools, Heated Pools, Sauna's, Hot Tubs  
• 3 Car or more garage
• In Ground Sprinklers, Brick Pavers, Lighting, Elaborate Fencing & Gardens
• Fireplaces, Hi-End Appliances, Wood Floors, Imported Flooring

There are of course some exceptions where the rules will change slightly, it is not always as simple as adding and subtracting based on this "value", "feature" criteria because each homes value is based on the comparable homes in the area.  

Here are some examples: 

1. When comparing homes in a specific area if a home has bulkhead or docking rights, you can not add an additional value above those in the same homes in the area.  If the surrounding homes have bulkhead, and yours only has water view you can not take the added value of those that have bulkhead there will be a slight difference in the "value".
2. There is also an interesting twist with bulkhead, you can add value for someone who has recently upgraded the docking space, this is a big question for homeowners who are trying to decide to repair or leave bulkhead as is after the devastation of Hurricane Sandy.
3. If your comparing homes in an area that the majority do not have basements/garage you can not reduce the value of a home because it also does not although you still can add value for it.  This is common in certain areas of the village of Babylon where basements are not common South of Montauk.  
4. Renovated and new construction homes are homes where the all the items are truly new and never been used.  New construction will rarely ever be comparable to a home that was updated 10 years ago, you must add value to the new construction build but you can not penalize an updated home for not being new construction if the majority of the homes in the area were built or updated in earlier years. 

When it comes to updating your home many homeowners wonder how far should they go with the renovations so they don't "lose" money when they decide to sell.  The best rule of thumb is to keep the kitchen and bathrooms up to date by using common items not necessarily renovating every time a new appliance or building material comes onto the market.  

It is always good idea keep an eye on your market and your neighbors even when your not selling.  Even reading the sold section of your local online paper this will give you a good idea of the condition and upgrades that homes in your area have done, and you can invest wisely in upgrades for your home! 

What Is It Really Worth ?

WHAT DO YOU OFFER FOR THAT HOUSE!

Let me start off by saying it is YOUR choice what you offer, but you want to put in a strong offer, it requires research and analysis by your Realtor. This is why you must always work with a buyers broker, this is where you believing in there abilities and trust is important. 

A home is not always worth what it is listed for, but on the other hand if the listing Realtor is a reputable agent than the list price will normally be accurate to what the neighborhood and the home is worth.   A low offer is not always the way to go, make sure your offer is fair!

When pulling these comps your agent will try to get it as close to a match as possible but you will still need to tweak these comps accordingly.  Here are some key points to remember when your agent is going over these with you. 

NEW VS UPDATED

NEW appliances have never been used, this means normally you will have the paperwork for the warranties, and they have been put in within 6 months of the home being listed.   

UPDATED appliances have been used by the current homeowner or tenant, these updates have been done usually within 5 - 8 years of the home being put on the market.  So that updated kitchen could already be 5 years old. 

For a home that is able to boast that it has been completely remodeled, with everything new can add value of anywhere from 8% - 10% compared to other homes that are simply updated.  

MAIN RD VS BUSY RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD

This is normally quite the debate, I could name many roads that I would consider main roads in a town but when a bank appraiser comes in will not agree, and therefore they will make no price adjustment. This is a time when trusting your Realtor and seeing the comparison is very important, especially if you are not from that specific area. 

Let me also say this, if a location does not work for you for any reason you should never feel pressured to still buy it from your Realtor, they should offer to show you homes in the same area away from your objection area.  Some examples of this can be homes that have busier traffic patterns, sumps, or simply the privacy aspect to your neighbors. 

This will be your home and you will be the one living there for the next 15 years not your Realtor. 

WHAT IS THE BASEMENT REALLY WORTH ?

Let's say someone has a fully finished basement, with no CO, well unfortunately it is worth nothing, because it is not legal.  For an average size home, with a finished basement with proper permits, the value is surprisingly low they may only raise the value by $5000.  

If your looking in an area that does not have basements you can not reduce the price of the home because of it lacking a basement, because all of the comps do not have them either.  This is often a surprise to those who are looking to live closer to the water, most homes will only have crawl-spaces not basements, and there is no reduction that would be considered reasonable. 

THE MAN THAT WAS GIVEN A HOUSE NOT JUST A ROOM   

The garage typically you will have atleast 1 in some cases 2, and in the rare occasions 3 or more. 

When this happens I call it "The man that was given a house", and I unfortunately have to break the news to them that yes I personally appreciate their 5 car garage, painted floors, and custom shelving, but that means nothing to the bank or a buyer it doesn't add anymore value than a nicely maintained 2 car garage. 

WHAT IS A FEATURE WORTH ?

Unfortunately I wish I could put a value on what a feature is worth, but it is practically impossible.  Every feature will have its pros and cons to an individual buyer.   Some features will be worth alot to a buyer, and others will be a drawback. 

My best advice to home-owners is keep in line with your neighborhood when it comes to features.   Do not go overboard because you can not guarantee you can re-coup the investment you made adding features, but you can be sure that your home has similar characteristics as your competition does, so that buyers will be comparing apples to apples so to speak.   

For many home-owners their features are not added initially to keep up with the neighborhood, but because they were personal wants and needs for the individual.  If you choose to upgrade your home extensively more so than your neighborhood calls for,  I advise you to stay as conservative as possible because it could be helpful or hurtful in a home that has been updated, and is not able to be categorized as new. 

What To Look For When Buying A Renovated Home

So I am sure those buyers who are out there looking have noticed the abundance of renovated homes that are currently on the market.  I am finding there are two very extreme opinions about these renovations, either the buyers absolutely refuse to even look at them, or they will look at nothing other than a renovated home. 

I would never tell anyone to not consider a renovated home, because there are some definite advantages to buying a home that has been renovated.  At the same time there are some very specific things you will want to take a look at when it comes to buying one of these homes. 

•  How long did the renovation take? Your buyers broker will be able to tell you when the home sold to the investor, from the day it closed to the day it came back onto the market is what you want to focus on.  If it was flipped within a short period of time (30-45 days) you will want to have a very thorough home inspection.  The reason for this is because in that short of a time period it was more than likely a cosmetic renovation.  
• What was done during the renovation? Certain things are quite obvious, but just because the home has new baseboards it does not mean that the heating was upgraded, you want to check the boiler/hot water heater/oil tank.  It could be that they did not require being replaced but the only way to know for sure is to let a home inspector look at it.  Don't ever assume that just because a light switch was replaced, that the electrical system was upgraded, most investors will upgrade the electric to 200-amp service, which is ideal for a remodeled home.  
• How many homes has the investor renovated? More and more people are choosing to take advantage of all of those short sales by buying them and re-selling them.  Many investors are well known in the Real Estate community, you may not know them but your buyers broker will be able to find that information out for you just by talking to the listing agent.  Do not attempt to find this information out on your own, call your broker! I personally have a investor who has been doing this for 15+ years, and I have investors who have been doing this for 2-3 years but I only work for those who do quality work.  
• What kind of warranty is provided? It is very common that new construction builds that they provide some sort of home warranty, but you always should ask if this exists on a remodeled home.  Some investors will simply give you the warranty paperwork that is provided by the manufacturer of the items the put in the home; others will offer you added warranties about the work that was done by their contractors.  It is not very common but you should still ask the question because it is a definite plus if they do! 

Those 4 questions on the most important questions you will want to know the answers to before you put in an offer on a renovated home.  Not every investor throws together remodels, but these homes are not for everyone.  If you are an avid to it yourself, or even have friends that are contractors many times you can do the same cosmetic work over the course of a season as the investor did.  I would like to think of myself as pretty handy, but I could never come close to what any of my investors do as far as quality of work.  So let's look at a few of the perks of buying a renovated home.  

The obvious perk is you are getting a turn-key home, that you will be the first to live in and will include some 

sort of warranties that you ordinarily would not have.  

 Investors now are smart and in order to move their investments instead of rushing through the renovation they

price the home a few thousand dollars UNDER market value that means your paying less for a better home.  

The reality is the renovated home came about because of an estate/short/foreclosure sale, which means the investor

has done all of the dirty work for you this is a very big perk for those areas that were really hit when the economy

went because the majority of the homes your looking at will be these renovations. 

Here is an example of a renovation, mainly cosmetic but the electrical was upgraded, plumbing as well and an extensive rehab done to the property itself including the retaining wall in front.  

BEFORE 

AFTER 

A renovated home is not for everyone, take the time to talk with your Realtor about your wants/needs as well as your price range.  If your working with a buyers broker they will be able to guide you on what kind of home is best for you.  I always try to reinforce the importance of having a buyers broker working for you but it is a absolute must if you are planning on buying one of these homes.  Only a buyer broker will be able to do the kind of research this home will require, the listing agents are legally obligated to get the best possible deal for the investor, not for the buyer.  If you are planning on looking specifically at renovated homes I would suggest going one step farther and working with an agent who is knowledgeable on these kinds of homes, not only selling them but listing them and working with investors they will know right away what questions to ask, and what answers you want to hear !!