Georgia Mountain Home Seller’s reVIEWS Category
Decluttering Your Georgia Mountain Home Is Crucial
When a home is listed for sale, its “clutter” can be the difference between a rapid sale and no sale at all.
Clutter, in its strictest sense, is defined as anything untidy; or in a disorderly state. In real estate, the term is broadened to include unnecessary furniture pieces; unwieldy artwork or collections; stacks of papers and/or magazines; and anything that otherwise restricts the open flow of a home’s floor plan.
In other words, clutter is anything that distracts from your home’s natural footprint.
As a Home Seller in Hiawassee or Blairsville, understanding how your home’s clutter can affect a buyer is paramount to helping your home sell faster, and at a higher contract price. First, there’s the psychological angle. A potential home buyer may see clutter and think “mess”. Few people want to buy a house they find messy or otherwise disorganized. Second, there’s the practical angle. A home that appears full of “things” also appears as if its lacking in storage space. This, too, can turn off buyers. Read the rest of this entry »
Considering A Short Sale? Answer These Questions First
While you may have heard that selling your home as a short sale can be a long, frustrating, and sometimes futile process, the tide may be turning as lenders have become increasingly more amenable to short sales. Many lenders, says real estate professional and educator Gee Dunsten, are viewing short sales in a more favorable light after suffering through failed loan modifications and countless foreclosures.
Before embarking on the short sale process, however, talk to a REALTOR® who is experienced in the area of distressed properties. Dunsten asks all his clients to start by completing the following questionnaire. One of the top reasons short sales fail is because the home seller never actually qualified for one in the first place. Answering the following questions accurately and thoroughly will determine whether your home is eligible for a short sale: Read the rest of this entry »
Closing At The Start Of September? Watch Out For Labor Day.
Home sales have heated up, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.
More homes are going under contract this summer than went during the winter or spring seasons. Many of these homes are scheduled for late-August/early-September closings.
If your home is among them, plan ahead.
Like for the rest of the U.S. workforce, Labor Day is a popular vacation time in the real estate, title and mortgage industries. Closings come together more slowly when the parties involved are on holiday. In addition, when issues arise, they are often slower to resolve because not everyone is “present”.
Therefore, if you’re under contract to buy or sell your home, or have a refinance in-process with a lender, get proactive with your home and your loan. Finalize your approval as quickly as possible.
Here are some tips to help your loan clear faster:
- Prepay your first year of homeowners insurance, effective your closing date. Provide proof of payment to your lender.
- Document and deposit all gifts and retirement withdrawals to be used at your closing as early in the process as possible.
- Get Power of Attorney forms signed by all parties, and lender-approved, if applicable.
- When your lender makes a paperwork request, fulfill the request within 24 hours.
There are steps you can take to make your closing go more smoothly, too.
First, if your transaction is purchase, don’t leave your walk-through for the last-minute. Schedule it for as early as reasonable. This way, if there’s an issue, there’s ample time to resolve it. Remember, it’s harder to solve problems when one or more parties to the transaction is away on vacation.
Second, if you have planned time off between now and your closing, make it known, and be reachable in the event of emergency by phone, email or both.
Lastly, if possible, avoid scheduling your closing for the Friday before Labor Day or the Tuesday after. Real estate, title and lender offices are notoriously short-staffed and overworked on these two days. Routine tasks take longer than usual.
You can’t stop people from going on vacation, but you can plan for it. It would be foolish not to.
Is Your Home For Sale Standing Out From The Crowd?
According to the National Association of REALTORS®, there are more than 3.7 million homes for sale this month. If your home is among them, are you doing what it takes to stand apart from the crowd?
This 4-minute piece from NBC’s The Today Show pulls no punches. It’s titled “5 Mistakes Sellers Can’t Afford To Make” and it covers falling home prices, buyer mentality, and the need to be smart when faced with that first offer.
Some of the tips include:
- Why you should list your home at a price within 5 percent of its “true value”
- How to turn “low-ball” offers into legitimate ones
- How to interview and select a real estate agent to sell your home
In addition, based on the truth that “people shop with their eyes” and then review home details, the video includes advice on using great photographs and making the most of an online listing.
It can be tough to find buyers in any market. But if you follow the tips outlined above, you can get more showings, and do more with them.
What To Fix Before Listing Your Mountain Home
With housing prices down across the country, there are a lot of homeowners in Blairsville and Blue Ridge, GA. that are lucky to break even on their respective home sales. Some are even losing money.
You may find yourself in that position, too; wanting to sell, but worried about bringing cash to your own closing.
It creates an interesting dilemma. You want your home to “show nicely” relative to comparable properties, but you don’t want to invest big dollars that may never be recouped into upgrades or renovations. So what do you do?
The answer is simple. Do the bare minimum.
From an advice piece in the Wall Street Journal, we learn of 10 basic home improvement projects that will help your home have better showings. The advice requires almost no technical skills, and the projects be tackled in a weekend.
The theme? Handled your home’s delayed maintenance.
- Repair or remove screen doors with holes and tears
- Pressure wash windows, sidewalks, and siding
- Paint your front door and polish the doorknob
- Pull weeds, seed bare spots, and lay down mulch
- Touch up holes, dings and cracks in paint
- Clean grout and re-caulk sinks, bathtubs and showers
- Buy new cabinet hardware
- Fix leaky faucets and toilets
- Spray lubricant on squeaky doors
- Get clutter into storage and out of the way
Now, you’ll notice that none of these projects can be considered “major”. By contrast, each is minor; they’re the items you’d add to your to-do list for work on “another day”. However, they’re extremely important for a home that’s about to be listed.
Here’s why. A prospective buyer doesn’t notice that the above repairs were made. He only notices if they weren’t made. When a buyer sees ripped screens or chipped paint in your home, it makes him wonder what else hasn’t been cared for. This is the why you should also hire an exterminator prior to selling your home. If a buyer spots a trail of ants in your home, it’s unlikely you’ll get an offer.
You don’t need to spend big bucks to get your home ready for sale, but you may want to use a little elbow grease. The good news is that time spent up-front can be worth it in the end. Homes that show better tend to sell faster, and at higher prices.
