If you’re a devotee of television real estate shows, you’ve no doubt heard the word “staging” tossed around here and there. Many popular home selling shows talk about staging a home before buyers come through, and – often – the staging involves rearranging the entire house and replacing the owner’s belongings with others that make the house look more attractive to potential buyers.
But not everyone has an unlimited budget for staging or can afford to hire a “stager”, nor is it practical to do this if you have an active family that needs to “live” in the house while it’s being sold.
In actuality, you can stage your home without spending a fortune. Even professional stagers admit that there are a number of small, inexpensive items you can buy that
Whether you're listing your home during a hot buyer's market or at a time when the market favors the seller, there are several things you need to do to make your home appeal to those who might be interested in purchasing it. Lots of small changes can make your home more enticing.
Conversely, there is plenty of so-called faux pas you can commit while getting your house ready for the market. Below, we've compiled our list of top 10 things that will make buyers think twice about purchasing your home or – worse yet – will have them immediately heading for the door. Read them carefully if you're considering a sale in the near future.
1. A dirty house – You might think this would go without saying, but you might be surprised at the
Spring is the best time of the year to sell a house. It’s been proven time and again that this lovely season of blooming flowers and mild weather is the ideal time to put your home on the market.
There are a number of reasons why spring is the perfect time to sell a home, not the least of which is that it allows families who are buying a new home time to get settled and adjusted before their children start school in the fall.
In addition, the buyer who makes a decision about a home purchase in spring can do so without the distractions of summer, which include vacations as well as kids who are home from school and need undivided attention. In other words, the less-busy days of spring can be the ideal time to take your time to look carefully at
It seems that everything is about DIY these days. Fix your own car. Remodel your own kitchen. Organize your own vacation.
You get the picture.
But how about buying or selling a home? Myriad television shows will tell you that it’s okay to do it on your own. So will a plethora of websites that are devoted to helping FSBOs (For Sale By Owner) negotiate the process and that strive to encourage buyers to believe they’ll get a better deal if they skip over the “hiring an agent” part of the process.
Indeed, it sounds tempting when they describe it. Sellers can avoid commission, and buyers will likely have a better chance at negotiating without the middle man…or woman. Right?
Maybe not.
And then there are those mobile apps that can lead you to
You’ve done your research. You found a realtor you love. It seems like the right time for you and your family to make a move. So, you’ve signed that listing contract, and the sign has gone up in the front yard. It’s time to sell!
But wait! What’s that in your next-door neighbor’s yard this morning? Is that a For Sale sign? Can’t be! How dare they! They can’t sell their house at the same time you’re selling yours. It’s just not fair! Can they do that?
Of course, they can! There are certainly no hard and steadfast rules about two homes beside or near each other going up for sale at the same time. As a matter of fact, it may be all your fault! Perhaps your sale sign prompted your neighbor to take the action they’ve been contemplating, and so they
Our world has changed a lot during these last several weeks. Our freedom is severely restricted. Our schools and stores are closed. And, in many places, we’re told not to venture outside after a certain time of day.
So, if you’re one of the thousands of people who placed their house on the market before the surge of the coronavirus began, chances are your first thought is to cancel your listing and proceed with life in your current home. If you have the opportunity to do that, go ahead.
Unfortunately, however, not everyone can put the brakes on their home sale. There are homeowners out there who must sell now or within the next few weeks or months – for some reason or another – and those individuals must continue to try to sell their property.
Many of us are still deeply ensconced in winter, up to our eyeballs in snow, dodging icy rain, or just fighting temperatures that are far colder than usual. Likely, most people aren’t yet thinking about spring yet – except perhaps dreaming of warmth and sun – even though it’s technically only about six weeks away as far as the calendar is concerned.
However, those who are considering putting their home on the market soon are probably thinking ahead towards March and April, knowing that the spring season is often an excellent time to find an interested buyer. Spring brings not only renewal to the earth but also a renewed invigoration to most humans, who are eager to welcome the trees and flowers, the start of baseball season, and a time of year when
As we’re just about 60 days into the new year, many of us have already begun plugging away at those New Year’s Resolutions. Some of those plans were personal, but, often, others tend to be related to our homes.
How many of you have said, “This year, I’m going to renovate the powder room” or “In the spring, I’ll think about getting new carpets”?
Indeed, we all want to live in the nicest environment possible. But if you’re thinking about selling your home in the not-too-distant future – maybe 2 to 5 years – you should know that there are some improvements you can make that will help you earn extra cash and others that likely won’t add anything to your sale price.
So, if selling soon is a consideration for you, you’ll want to spend your money on
A startling number of consumers have had bad experiences with moving companies. We’re not talking merely inconsiderate or clumsy movers who break an item or two but, instead, those companies that scam trusting clients out of extra money, holding your treasured household goods hostage until you pay them what they want, which is often hundreds of dollars more than what was quoted.
It sounds scary. But, sadly, it happens all the time, and most people pay the money just to get their stuff back. Even if it’s reported later, there’s no guarantee the funds will be returned.
So, to avoid such scenarios, it’s necessary to follow a series of steps when choosing your mover. If you do these things, chances are moving day will go off without a hitch, and
When you purchased your home, you had to choose how you were going to pay for it. In some cases, if you’ve been in the market for a while or are perhaps scaling down to a less expensive house, you may have paid cash for your new home.
However, in the year 2017 – according to the National Association of Realtors – 88 percent of all home buyers took out a mortgage of some sort when they made a home purchase. It may have been a “conventional” mortgage, or it may have been an FHA or VA loan. Regardless of the type, however, money for a home purchase was borrowed by nearly 90 percent of all those who made a home purchase that year. That’s a lot of loans!
Mortgages are certainly a convenience…but they’re also expensive, and it usually takes decades to
