by Jeff Pittman | Feb 24, 2015 | Sellers
Spring is coming and now is a great time to put your home on the market. Before you jump on the market however, there are some finishing touches you should consider completing in order to make your home even more valuable once it hits the market. One of the best ways to increase your home’s value is to make it more aesthetically pleasing (AKA bump up the curb appeal), so grab your favorite tools or call on a professional to help. Here are 6 finishing touches to complete before listing your home: Paint the exterior The exterior of your home needs to be renovated the most since it’s the first thing that potential buyers will see. Whether your home looks a bit neglected or outdated, a fresh coat of paint will make a huge difference in its appearance. However, you need to be very selective. Overly bold shades will likely do more harm than good. It may be best to repaint your home in a color that complements surrounding homes. Upgrade doors and windows Shoddy doors and damaged windows do more than just hurt your home’s curb appeal, so give them an upgrade. Energy-efficient windows are proven to be excellent alternatives because they help reduce utility bills in the long run, and they make the indoor environment more comfortable and intimate. As for your doors, you should replace them with modern ones that are more robust. Such doors will go a long way toward making your home safer and exceptionally appealing. Work on the yard Buyers really do care for a well-kept yard, so take measures to enhance the appearance of the...
by Jeff Pittman | Feb 23, 2015 | Sellers
Ways to prepare for a move when you’ve lived in your home for a decade or longer. Selling your home and moving to a new house takes time and planning but it is a whole different beast if you’ve been living in the same home for a decade or longer. You’ve had years and years of accumulating stuff and no need to downsize. Perhaps it has been a while since you last organized, de-junked, or even cleaned certain areas of the home. While this can make the task of moving feel even more overwhelming, this also presents a good opportunity for you to get a clean slate upon moving into your next house. As you prepare to move, you can shake off the dust and prepare for a new chapter in your life. When you have decades of life to move, the key is preparation. 1. Time to Downsize When you’ve lived in your home for a very long time, you tend to collect a lot of things that you no longer need. There is no reason to move with these things, so now is the time to donate the toys and clothes that your children have outgrown. If you have collections of things that are no longer interesting to you, then you should put them on consignment. Clean out the attic and closets for stuff that you haven’t seen in a long time, and you should make it a point to quickly decide to keep it, sell it, donate it or trash it. 2. Estate Auctions In the event that you are moving because you’ve reached retirement age, your...
by Jeff Pittman | Feb 23, 2015 | Sellers
The real estate market is cyclical. Sales slow in winter, begin to heat up in spring, and hit their peak in usually late summer or fall. You can see the seasonal flow in the chart below. It is a snapshot of the Southern California real estate market (Orange, LA, Riverside and San Bernardino counties) over the last two years. Keep reading for 5 reasons to hop on the real estate market before Spring. The best time to list and sell your home is before the spring rush. March 20th marks the first day of spring and that means you’ve got to kick your little cottontail into gear if you want to take advantage of all the perks of listing early.Here are 5 reasons to hop on the real estate market before Spring: 1. Demand is ramping up As you can see from the chart above, demand is starting to ramp up now that summer is near. And with a slew of new programs to help homebuyers, there are more people than ever eligible to buy. Listing now while mortgage rates are still low lets you take advantage of all this new buyer activity on the market. 2. There’s less competition – but not for long According to Trendgraphix, Southern California was at 3.9 months of inventory this January, up from 2.7 months in December. So supply is coming up, however we’re still under the 6 months’ supply that qualifies as a balanced or normal market. This means there are not enough homes for sale on the market to satisfy the number of buyers. Many homeowners have been waiting for the right...
by Jeff Pittman | Feb 11, 2015 | Sellers
5 Really Good Reasons To Work With A Real Estate Agent – Selling your home is a big step and it takes a big commitment to do it right. Sure you could opt for the DIY home sale and do For Sale by Owner (FSBO), but is it really worth your time and money? While you’re weighing the benefits of working with a real estate agent or not, don’t forget to consider all of details of a home sale they help out with including paperwork and contracts, marketing, negotiating and more. If you’re ready to start looking for an agent to work with then check out our tips for how to choose the best one. And if you’re still on the fence about whether or not you want to go it alone, just consider these 5 Really Good Reasons To Work With A Real Estate Agent. Handling the paperwork and tricky contracts Selling your home requires a large amount of paperwork. If you don’t fill out all of the paperwork correctly you can lose a buyer or worse – face legal action. There is the sales contract, property disclosures, tax records, homeowners insurance, escrow paperwork, pre- and post-occupancy agreements and more to get in order. Take a look at these 9 surprising things home sellers need to disclose and you’ll start to understand that not all of the paperwork is self explanatory. It takes an experienced professional to know everything you need to prepare for your home sale. A real estate agent is trained to deal with real estate contracts, paperwork and the legal jargon. They’ve filled out the papers time...
by Jeff Pittman | Feb 4, 2015 | Sellers
Keeping Your Cool | 3 HVAC Basics for Homebuyers and Sellers A home’s HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system is an important consideration in all home sales. Whether you are buying or selling the home, you should be prepared to discuss the age of the HVAC system, the warranty status, and the general performance. The answers to these questions can affect the value of the home, so buyers and sellers should be prepared to shift their expectations regarding an offer based on the state of the system. 1. An HVAC inspection is not optional. Sellers A service technician, not just a home inspector, should go over a home’s system before it is placed on the market. For sellers, this is essential information you can either use as a selling point or to prepare for negotiations, depending on the results. Buyers For buyers, getting a thorough report on the age and condition of the system lets you get a good idea of how long it will last after you buy the house. If a system is going to struggle to make it through the next season, that affects the value of the home in a much different way than a state-of-the-art high-efficiency system. 2. HVAC systems should be replaced all-at-once. Sellers For many homeowners, replacing two major appliances at once is a significant financial burden that they prefer to avoid. Be mindful of systems mixing new and old equipment. You will likely be at the mercy of the older equipment when it comes to determining when you replace everything. Buyers If the home you’re looking at has a five-year-old...
by Jeff Pittman | Jan 23, 2015 | Sellers
Here are a few prep tips for keeping safety first! 1. Start packing early Getting a jump in packing is not only a responsible thing to do, it’s safe! The more you get out of the way and set to leave, the less you have to do once moving day rolls around. Plus things like your valuables and personal information will already be put away before anyone stops by for an open house. 2. Get a temporary storage unit If you’ve already started packing, renting a temporary storage unit just makes it easier to get those valuables and personal items out of the danger zone entirely. You can put large pieces of furniture in storage as well to protects them from bumps and scrapes when you have large open house crowds coming through. Putting unnecessary furniture and clutter away can also help sell your home quicker. The emptier your home is, the larger and more appealing it looks to potential buyers. 3. Keep up your curb appeal Taking the time to clean up your curb appeal keeps your home safe from the hazards listed in the infographic above. Plus while you’re clearing your driveway and sidewalks of debris and clutter like pet toys, ice or stray shoes, take some time to power wash the drive way or trim your bushes. Curb appeal keeps you safe and your home looking irresistible to buyers. 4. Work with a real estate agent A real estate agent is a great buffer between you and the public when selling a home. An agent will be there to walk through your home with potential buyers and keep...
