How Does A Seller Decide Which Offer To Accept ?

The market has definitely perked up this spring already and we are seeing more multiples offer than before.  With multiple offers on homes it has changed the dynamic of how buyers are and should be submitting offers.  Not every home with multiple offers will result in a bidding war, so I want to take the time and explain give you a quick overview on what factors of your offer will be taken into consideration by the seller.

Financing:

• Cash Deal: This has more than one benefit to the Seller, but normally the offer will be significantly lower than what the list price is because of the simplicity of the deal.  First it can close right after the title has cleared because there is no bank involved.  Second, it is usually in "Sold As Is" which means no work will be done to it.  The buyer is still permitted to do the home inspection but you will be much less likely to have anything repaired or replaced. 

• Conventional Loan: This refers to the terms, there will be a larger down payment with this loan and the appraisal might be a bit easier. Since there will be no PMI included in the mortgage payment it will increase what the buyer can afford by monthly payment.  From a sellers point of view the term itself is better because the buyer is putting down a large amount down of 20%.  

• FHA Loan: This again refers to the terms, with a smaller down payment this is often where we see buyers asking for a "Sellers Concession".  For a buyer with this loan there will be PMI that will need to be accounted for, and the appraisal must be handled carefully so that the loan to value comes in where it is needed to.  

• VA Loan: This is a tough sell for a Seller because the buyer does not have to put any money down.  When I have a buyer who is using a VA Loan I suggest still putting down the same amount as what would be due for an FHA Loan to show the Seller your commitment, and you can receive that money back after closing.  

Additional Financing Terms:

• Sellers Concessions: The easiest way to explain this term is it just like taking a cash advance from the mortgage to have your closing costs included.  There is 2 points of view for a seller with this.  First is if the home is going to appraise for $10,000 - $12,000 more why shouldn't they find a buyer willing to pay that.  Second is that what if the home does not appraise will their buyer still be able to purchase the home, or will the deal go bust! 

• Using Gifted Funds: This is something very common with first time buyers, they will count on "gifted funds" from friends or family.  Buyers must check the guidelines of the bank in which they are using about what amount of money can be gifted, and what information they will want and need from the "gifter".  Many times buyers think it can simply be written as "gifted" and that be it, but each bank works differently you should let your agent speak with your Mortgage Representative to be clear on those terms.  

Conditions: 

• Buyers With Homes To Sell: When a buyer has something they need to sell, it puts the seller at risk.  First the funds from the buyers are more than likely coming from proceeds of their sale.  This means that not only does the seller need  things go smoothly with their home, but they are dependent on an agent who is not working for them to push the other deal through quickly and smoothly.  Secondly, timing with this kind of sale is very important because the buyers will only have about a week window after one home closes to get into the other which puts the sellers in a position where the buyers timeline is much more important than theirs.  

• Buyers With Nothing To Sell: Obviously it is better because the sale is not dependent on any major factors aside from their homes appraisal going smoothly.  It also means that the timeline will have less in the way of deadlines aside from the normal mortgage commitment time which is usually between 30-45 days from contract.  

• Home Inspections: First let me say no matter what the case is, spend the time and money to get a home inspection no matter how many offers are on a property.  It is your way of knowing exactly what your getting yourself into, if you want to move quickly and don't want to spend the money ($500 - $750) at least have a licensed contractor check it out.  Depending on what repairs or replacement you want done, can change the mind of a seller on which offer to take.  If another offer comes in $5000 less they may go with it simply because of what conditions the offer is based on.  

The most important piece of advice I can give anyone who is starting their search is to make sure you have an agent who is working for you.  If the home is aggressively priced they should know it and be able to point you in a direction that will get you an accepted offer the quickest so that you don't lose out.  To see more about how to decide on what to offer, and what the process is look here. 

The Top 5 Tips For First Time Homebuyers !

I decided to spend a moment and focus on buyers for a moment.  I have a lot of information for my sellers, but when it comes to working with buyers I would have to say first-time home buyers are my favorite.  Perhaps I like the "challenge" but it is a different kind of reward when you hand someone the keys to their very FIRST new home ! 

Get Your Finances In Order

Before you start working with a buyer broker, getting a mortgage pre-approval is a must.  I have seen too many homebuyers starting looking before they find out what they can afford.  The result is disappointment that you may have looked at some wonderful homes that turns out does not fit into your budget.   Most licensed brokers will have reliable, and attentive mortgage brokers they work with that they will be able to refer you to. 

Know The Language 

Know the terminology of real estate, you want to understand what brokers are talking about.  Short sales vs Foreclosure, there is a very big difference.  You want to be sure even when you are looking without an agent you have a good understanding of what everything is.  You need to understand the difference between Listing Agents, Buyers Brokers, and disclosure.  Listing agents obviously list the house, and work for the sellers.  Every first time home buyer should work with a Buyer Broker, they will provide you with information about the homes in the neighborhood your looking for, make sure everything the seller is representing is true !

Find A Good Buyers Agent

This is the most important part for a first time home-buyer, you are going to be depending on this person to help you make a life changing purchase.  You need someone who is okay with having to “hold your hand” so to speak during the process, not because you need it but it is a resource that is available to you.  I once stayed in a closing with my first time buyers for 5 hours, it was a short sale and the bank was having its own issue with paperwork which held us up.  Before leaving the attorney, pulled me aside to thank me for staying and explaining what was going on to his clients.                  

Decide What You “Must Have” And What You Would “Like To Have”

I had a home buyer once tell me that she would never purchase a ranch they would never give her the space she needed.  For the most part she was right, almost every single home that was a ranch would not meet what she needed to have.  Before we began looking I asked her to make me a list of her “must have”,  and “like to have list”.  Must haves are the number of bedrooms, a school district, or a price range.  These are things that if they did not have them it would be impossible to move to that home.  Fireplaces, pools, central air, these are all things that you would like to have but, you could live without.  These lists are different for everyone, in this clients case the home she purchased ended up being a ranch.  If we had limited the search she would have missed out on her “perfect home”. 

Should I Spend The Money To Have A Home Inspection?                                                                                                                                  

Absolutely. The $200 to $500 that a professional home inspection costs could be the best money you ever spend on your house. Not only does the home inspection seek out any defects (and gives you some peace of mind), the home inspector will often give you tips on maintaining and repairing your house. See the section on Home Inspections for tips on what to look for and how to choose a home inspector.

For more information on Buyer Brokerage Take a look at my virtual presentation ! 

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 ! 

Setting The Price Of Your Home To Sell

I think it is that time again to write about the topic of what you should be using to determine the price of  your home, and what kind of pricing options you have !! This is extremely important because the more homes that go onto the market, the more competition you will have, you want to make sure your listing stands out and gets sold before we have another sudden rush of new inventory ! 

How Real Estate Agents Determine The Value Of Your Home 

All real estate agents should be bringing a Comparative Market Analysis of your home when they come to meet with you to list your home.  Real Estate Agents use a similar system to what the banks will be using to determine your value these are the main characteristics in importance order that you will want to be using.  

• Homes within 1-2 miles of your home that recently sold within the past 90-120 days.
• Homes of the same style (EX: Ranch, Hi Ranch, Cape, Expanded Cape) or similar square footage if there is a lack of comparable style homes.  You can not compare your home to one of an opposite style just because you think your home is just as good, the bank won't allow it.  
• Rarely will you see homes with the exact same amount of bedrooms, baths, or even property size this is where you need to adjust the comps accordingly.
• Take a look at what homes are currently on the market, and compare how your home stacks up to theirs, these homes are your competition.  

In my opinion, if you meet with an agent and they do not bring with them a Comparative Market Analysis than they are not putting in very much effort to help you sell your home since determining the price of your home is really the very first step before listing it.  I always say my job is not to list your home, but to get your home sold ! 

The 3 Styles Of Pricing Your Home 

• Overpriced Home - This type of pricing is not only a waste of your agents time but yours as well.  You are putting yourself behind and unnecessary roadblock, and guaranteeing you will be having the dreaded price adjustment talk sooner than later.  Many homeowners will say "But I am flexible, just bring me an offer!" - There is only one problem with that, and it is that we can not relay that to all of those buyers who aren't a- looking at homes $20,000 above their budget or b- tell those buyers who are in that range that you are flexible.  Remember most buyers find their home online, so presentation including price is a very important factor and we can not write on your listings that you are willing to hear all offers ! 

• Market Priced Home - This is an educated homeowner who has taken the time, and hopefully the advice of their real estate agent and is priced in the same area of those comparable of the recently sold homes.  This kind of pricing will get you showings, and hopefully an offer within 6 months of being listed.  As other homes sell their might be a need to adjust the price of your home to stay in line with what homes went from contract to sold once you were listed.

• Action Priced Home -  Before I explain, let me say this action price does NOT mean pricing the home as if you were giving it away.  When you use this style of pricing you first base it on the comparable homes in the area that sold, but your focus is shifted to those homes that are currently on the market (those that are priced at market value, not of those that are overpriced).  You look at your direct competition and price it anywhere from $8000 - $10,000 below that of your best competition.   Normally on a market priced home once you have received an offer that $8000 - $10,000 is the wiggle room of where you would accept an offer.  What you do by pricing it that bit lower is your drive much more traffic and increase your chance of multiple offers, almost every home that is "action priced" will sell for either the listed price of the home, or possibly more because you have increased the buyers perception of value !   

There are a few things you will also want to keep in mind when you are thinking about where you want to price your home.  The most important questions you should be thinking of when determining the list price of your home are 

1. How much will you need to be able to walk away from your home after the mortgage payoff, brokerage fees, attorneys fees, title transfer fees. If after you total these things up if what you would need to list it for is significantly higher than what your home is worth it is always better to leave it off the market until your in a position to sell rather than have it listed and sit on the market making buyers wonder once wrong with it.  The exception to this is when you are avoiding foreclosure by doing a short sale.  
2. How quickly do you need or want to move ? If you want to move quickly than your best option is to really have your home priced at the "action priced" point so that you can move things along without any delay and a guaranteed end in sight ! 
3. How many times has your home been listed, if your home did not sell chances are it was overpriced which means at the very least you must get in-line with the current market value of your home.  Re-listing it at the inflated price again is working against yourself and buyers will begin to disregard your home because "there must be something wrong with it", and not even the best agent can overcome that ! 

If you are interested in having a Comparative Market Analysis done on your home, please contact me directly.  I will be writing another blog that goes into the specifics between things that will add value to your home verse things that are more features of your home, which can affect the overall listing price of your home in an upcoming blog ! 

                                                                                      

Home Sweet Home Improvement

If your thinking about putting your home on the market, and you want to get top dollar from your home the saying you need to spend money to make money is often the last thing you want to hear.  There are plenty of inexpensive ways to help improve your homes chance of selling, you don't necessarily need to spend thousands of dollars by doing a complete overhaul but certain key changes can really change the overall appearance of a room ! 

• Kitchen makeover. The kitchen is the most popular room in the house to remodel. Most in the industry will tell you money spent upgrading a kitchen produces the highest return on investment. One of the best things you can do in a kitchen is replace the countertops, sink, and appliances.  Depending on the size of your kitchen you can get remnant pieces of granite, or another great option is butcher block counters they always give a kitchen a great clean look ! 

• Bathroom fixer-upper. Upgrading a bathroom is another sound choice and will often provide a significant return on investment, as large bathrooms typically top the list for those seeking a new home. A quick change of a vanity, toilet, lighting, and fresh paint can cost under $500 and give your bathroom a great facelift ! These are simple things that can really give a buyer a fresh look at your space ! 

• Flooring updates. Many homes on Long Island have hardwood floors if they were built in the 60's or 70's whats amazing is the builders than covered them with carpeting ! If you have hardwood floors pull up that carpeting and show them off ! If you have bright colored carpet trade it out for more neutral colors this can help the buyer visually picture their furniture instead of thinking about what exactly would match your carpet ! 

• Create Outdoor Living Space. This is another great trick, and the best part is normally you will get to take your upgrades with you.  If you have a nice patio you can buy some new furniture, solar lighting, and a few potted plants can show the buyer the potential in even the smallest yard plus that new patio set will come with you to your next home ! Solar lighting and bright colored plants are also a great option for your front yard to help your curb appeal ! 

Whether or not you choose to update your home there are some things you should do and I can not stress this enough but de-clutter your home.  Pack up what your not going to be using (seasonal clothes, holiday decorations ect.) and put them into your attic or storage facility ! I can't tell you how many times homeowners de-clutter the home but put it all into their closets and than we have an avalanche when the buyers open them up ! You want the buyers to have the space in your home to see what it will look like with their furniture and their family living there ! Almost every buyer whom I have had buy a home, always took the time to figure out where there things would fit before making the final decision ! 

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. 

Garage Sales Made Easy !

Real estate agents often talk to homeowners about clearing out some of their belongings from their home before putting it on the market, and many people will decide to try the yard sale route.  This sometimes works great, but alot of people who decide to go that route are often disappointed by the outcome selling things for $1 or $2 after spending the better part of their day pulling things out than having to put it back into their house.  Some homeowners, including myself don't even get to that point I've been planning my garage sale for the past 5 years !

Trust me I can understand why it is such a daunting task, and because of some much needed renovations to my home and a "suggestion" from my contractor I was put in a position that either A. this garage sale I'd been planning needed to happen or B. My garbage men and neighbors were about to hit the jackpot!

I still couldn't see myself spending a week pulling everything I didn't want out to get prepared for the garage sale, and than spend an entire day trying to sell it with my son underfoot. I looked into the Ebay store route but it still involved packing it all up in my car and taking it to the store for them to sell it.  Even doing normal Ebay, than I would be going out and having to ship and weigh everything and than pay for it to be advertised on the site whether it sold or not.

After a bit of brainstorming, I realized that I could have a "Virtual Garage Sale" with a little bit of help of Facebook, Craigslist, & EBay.  It would be a garage sale everyday for as long as I wanted, plus it would cost me minimal time and effort plus I would sell alot more in 3 months than doing a 1 day garage sale.

Here are the steps to making your "Virtual Garage Sale" successful !

• The first step is of course deciding where your storage area for your items will be.  If your like me there is not 1 area of the house to put everything you don't want or need anymore and be able to navigate thru it on a daily basis, I unfortunately do not have a basement.  If you are lucky enough to have one than that will usually make your life a bit easier.  I borrowed some fold out tables from friends and families and decided to set shop up in my garage lining the garage walls with the tables.  

• The next step is deciding what you are going to sell in order to make the most of your time, you don't necessarily want to put 50 different items online because maintaining the ad can become time consuming and you will stop keeping up with it because it will become tiresome.   Instead you will want to consider starting with something like 10 ads with 3 or 4 different categories, or think about grouping them so they cross advertise one another.   If your selling things like DVD's your best bet will be to sell them in bulk, putting up the full list of what you have available and sell them in lots of 5 letting the buyers choose which 5.       

• You will want to decide what the best kind of site you want to advertise on.  An Online Ebay Store was a bit much for me to undertake, so I opted for the Craigslist route.    When you use Ebay you will need to decide if you want someone to be able bid or buy immediately with their Buy It Now feature, you will also need to set up a PayPal Account in order to receive payment.  Ebay also allow you to re-list without having to redo the entire ad week after week, but they do charge you to advertise on their website whether the items sells or not. 

• Another option is Craigslist, which is the route which I chose because I was more comfortable not having to be responsibility of making sure the items got delivered.  The upside to Craigslist is the fact that you are not charged per ad, but the downside is you will get quite a few bogus buyers who have no intention of buying.  This site also allows you to simple renew your ad with one simple click, bringing you back up to the top of the list.  

• You will want to share what your selling, you never know who knows someone looking for items for cheap.  I created an entire facebook album where I have what I am selling, and I have sold a few things to friends of friends because of it. 

• Once you have your area set up, and your ads are running you simply sit back and collect your profits ! Because your only running a handful of ads, after you have items sold simply put up whatever you would like to sell next.   

Now, there is some safety & privacy precautions you will want to take if your using Craigslist, which is usually best for large or heavy items.  

• Never believe anyone who offers you a money order because they are "out of the country" or "buying for a relative", they are scams ! 

• Never allow someone to go into your home when they come to pick up the item unless it is absolutely necessary .  

• Always have someone in the house with you, or offer to meet them in an area that you know during the daytime! 

• Do not put your actual home address in the "location" area, just put the town, and never give them your home phone number always use your cell ! 

I've been doing my Virtual Garage Sale, via CraigsList for about 2 weeks and I've sold about $200 worth of items with less than 3 hours worth of work to get it done, and the only reason it took that long was because I had alot of small items I need to sort and group before posting my ads.  I've sold things from an old microwave for $10 to $75 for a old video game system ! Happy Selling !   

                                                                                                                                            

What You Must Know When Selling Your Home !

Many homeowners listed their homes back when our spring market started, which was early this year around February when we started seeing alot of buyer activity.  With the summer market quickly approaching those same homeowners are starting to wonder why their home may not have sold yet.  Now some of you may be thinking that is has only been 4 months since buyer activity picked up, but with a home correctly priced we will normally see them go under contract within 60 days.  There are only 3 things you & your Realtor have control over, and if your home is not selling than you should look at those 3 things first and foremost !!

Price

• When a person is searching for a home with the same characteristics as yours (bedrooms, baths), where does your home fall in the list? Look at the homes as if you are a buyer, if you are finding all the homes are priced below yours offer more you may want to consider adjusting your price. 
• Ask your Realtor to pull recent comps, meet with them and discuss market conditions.  This is also important because your Realtor will need to have these to support the price of your home once you have accepted an offer.  

Myth: Not all homes are created equal, sometimes your home may not be selling as quickly as you would like not because of price but because it is for a particular kind of buyer.  An example of this is if the home your selling is a cottage, or a high-end home because there is a smaller buyer pool for that kind of home.  The most important part of selling a home with a small buyer pool is making sure that you have the best exposure, and easy availability to make sure your don't lost out on any buyers.  

Tip: If your home is priced above market value, it will be impossible for your Realtor to get potential buyers to come and view your home.  Many homeowners will agree to taking a much lower offer than the listing price, but there is no way to convey that to buyers who are viewing your house online, they will rule it out simply because of the price.

Availability

• If your home has very strict restrictions on when potential buyers can come and see it, you may want to reconsider how/when you are showing it.  If you are unavailable to show your home during the week because of your work schedule, you should speak with your Realtor about allowing them to accompany showings during the week to take the burden off of you, and allowing more buyers to be able to get in.  
• This next one is something that not all Realtors agree with, but I am a big believer in open houses.  I schedule all of my open houses for the month in advance because I want to give buyers an open invitation to come in and see your home the moment that they see it online.  
• Taking it a step farther you will want to make sure your Realtor is getting back to those that are inquiring about your home in a timely manner. Sometimes it is not always about how quickly buyers can see your home, bu how long it takes for your Realtor to get back to them! 

Myth: Some sellers believe that by requiring 48 hours for their home to be shown gives them a better chance of preparing their home to make sure it shows well.  Unfortunately, not all buyers give their Realtors 48 hours notice that they want to see your home, it is better to ask for a reasonable amount of time to prepare than possibly lose that buyer. 


Tip: When potential buyers are viewing your home whether it is a private viewing, or an open house do not follow them around.  Often times buyers will feel as if they are intruding on the homeowners by being there, you want to give them space to take it all in! 

Condition

• First thing you should do is look at  your pictures, if you took pictures before the spring flowers and grass became green you should ask your Realtor to update your pictures.  Remember you need to sell the house first via the pictures to get the buyers to want to come and see it in person.  
• Spruce up your curb appeal, give the front door a fresh coat of paint or add some solar lights and plants.  Buyers spend their weekends driving around looking for open houses, even if your home is not having one you still want to catch their attention!  
• If you have broken screens/doors/cabinets/tiles take the time the time and replace them if it is not a huge expense those are the things that make buyers look at your home and think of "projects" although they have quick fixes.  

Myth: Many homeowners think fixing up your home is a waste of time and money when you are attempting to sell it. Now this is only somewhat of a myth, doing major renovations may not be the best idea, but doing small projects to fix or update your home is normally recommended to help your homes chance.  

Tip: Take the time to look at your home objectively, remember although you can not make every buyer happy you can help the chances of your home selling quickly by doing some small projects.  The best place to start is by doing all those things that were on your "honey do list" that you hadn't had time to get to! 

There are so many different factors that come into play when getting your home sold, but these are the top 3 that are the most important ! Over the next few weeks I will be blogging more about some tips for sellers, but as always if you have a question I did not cover please feel free to comment or email me directly! 

Fire Safety Tips For Homeowners

It is time for us to touch on some more safety tips, after the brush fires that we have been having over the passed 2 weeks I want to take the time to not only speak on fire safety but some important things for first time home-buyers to look out for.  Most people know that when you buy your first home that you want to make sure that your smoke alarms, and carbon monoxide detectors are working properly but there are more precautions you can take to ensure your family is safe.  

Doors 

This is often over-looked by many homeowners but you should try to be sure that all the doors in your home are solid doors rather than hollow.  This is Fire Safety 101, a solid wood door will keep the fire out of a room !  If you can not have them in all rooms your bedroom doors should be the first ones you change ! 

Fireplaces

Now if you are purchasing a home with a fire place there are many different kinds but the safest fireplace be in my opinion is a coal fire place.  This is because when the coal burns it turns into ash, and will not have any embers to fly out while you are keeping warm and cozy! Many coal fireplaces will also have a "burn setting" that allows you to safely use this fireplace to heat your home, throughout the winter.  

You will also want to know if your fireplace is "Radiant Heat" or "Convection Heat".  Radiant heat is where the heat radiates out from the fireplace and will warm all things close to the fire.  This will often cause the fireplace itself to get very hot, the hearth, even walls or surrounding furniture.  To be safe you will want to make sure that this fireplace has a proper screen and you have surrounding furniture a safe distance.  Convection heat is the common kind of heat you will get from a coal fire-place it takes longer to heat a room this way but it is much safer if you will be using it as a main source of heat.  This kind of heat will cause the air itself to get warm, and pulls the cooler air closer to the heat source - this allows it to heat the entire space while avoiding specifics areas becoming dangerously hot as it may with radiant heat.  

When you have your home inspection done, they will always check the fireplace but it is also important that you have it checked annually once you have moved into your new home.   A chimney could have build up causing improper ventilation, a build up of a flammable substance called creosote, or a loose chimney cap could allow animals, rains or leaf build up in your chimney.  

Garage

Now this is usually some debate for people, because how do you keep a garage safe when it is used to store all those things that you don't want to risk having in your home (ex: spray-paint, propane, sealers, gas).  If you do not have a shed to put these items in you want to make sure that you set aside a specific area to store these items, be sure that they are in a secured non-flammable cabinet.  You can find these kinds of "lockers" and your most Home Depot or Loews stores.  You should also always keep a fire extinguisher handy anywhere you are storing these kinds of items! 

If you are buying a home with a garage that was added-on or newly constructed you can ask them if they had fire-grade Sheetrock installed, many garages are constructed with full brick wall  to ensure the attached home is protected if a garage fire were to happen.  I would always recommend if you do not have a shed, and you have the fund to purchase one to do so, that is the best way to protect your home from any mishaps !

Outdoor

If you will be using your outdoor shed to store all of those things that could potentially ignite or fuel a fire the most important thing is the location of where you will be putting the structure.  You want to be sure that it is built on a cement slab, and not in close proximity to the home.  The safest place to put your shed is in one of the back corners of your yard, with enough room that it is not right on top of your fence, be sure to check your towns zoning to see how large of a shed your allowed, and what restrictions they have on placement.  

Whether you are storing these items in your shed or garage you should make sure everything is properly marked, and clean out the area annually.  

Outdoor fire pits are also becoming a big back yard amenity that many people like to have.  There are some very important things you should remember before using your fire-pit.  First is to make sure that it is a level surface ideally you want this on a patio to ensure any embers that fly out of the fire are on a solid safe surface.  You want to also make sure that it is at least 10 feet away from any flammable structure such as your home, swing sets, or sheds.   Most important is when you are lighting a fire in this you do not want to use any additional igniters such as gas or lighter fluid, you can pick up easy start logs that have small igniters to make getting your fire going very easy! 

You should also be sure that your outdoor water lines are hooked up properly.  Ideally you want to make sure that you have a hose in not only the front of your home, but the back as well.  Whether the fire is small or large always call your local fire department, even though you may think a fire is out it is best for them to come and be sure.  

There are a few other precautions you should take in your home to be sure your family is protected to find out more you can check with your local library or fire-stations they often have classes or seminars to help keep you informed.  

85 East 5th Street, Deer Park

This Beautiful 5 bedroom, 2 bath Colonial is an example of a homeowner educated on fire-prevention. 

• All Solid Wood Doors 
• Metal Fire Door in Garage.  
• Fire-grade Sheetrock In Garage . 
• Pea-Coal Convection Fire Place 
• Accessible Water Lines In Front/Back Home 
• Fire Pit A Safe Distance From Objects & Properly Placed On Level Surface 
• Shed For "Flammable Chemicals" At A Safe Distance From Home 

This home is currently on the market, for additional pictures of the inside of the home please check my Current Listings!  

I am currently working on holding a Fire Prevention Seminar to go over some other safety tips for all homeowners.  

If you would like to attend please contact me directly for additional information ! 

Home Sweet Home Improvement

Home sweet home improvement – the Coldwell Banker^® Network offers tips for upgrading your home and increasing property value

Whether you are planning to add more rooms, upgrade your kitchen or want to put your home on the market, the Coldwell Banker Network offers some essential home improvement tips to increase the value of your home.

Kitchen makeover. The kitchen is the most popular room in the house to remodel. Most in the industry will tell you money spent upgrading a kitchen produces the highest return on investment. Hot makeover trends include adding dual sinks, cooking stations, bigger dishwashers, under-cabinet lighting, warming ovens and wine coolers. Also consider upgrading all major appliances.

Bathroom fixer-upper. Upgrading a bathroom is another sound choice and will often provide a significant return on investment, as large bathrooms typically top the list for those seeking a new home. Adding skylights, sunken whirlpool baths, or larger showers are other attractive selling features.

Cosmetic touch-ups. A paint job, new double-paned windows, or new carpeting will increase the price of a house virtually dollar-for-dollar. It is important to make sure your home standards are in-line with other houses in the neighborhood. Neutral colors and no clutter make a world of difference! It is vital to look after minor problems such as a leaky faucet or a loose cabinet to guarantee your house doesn't experience any long-term damage. As soon as you notice a problem, fix it sooner than later to help avoid a larger expense down the road.

Home improvement professionals for hire. Whether you need an architect, gardener, interior designer or contractor, it is always important to do a background check prior to hiring a professional. Get references from family or friends and then interview your selection. Important qualities to look for are trust and experience, not initial price.