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| Beautiful New England location with great commuter access! Just under 3 acres of privacy in an area of nice residential homes in the country. Close to Rhode Island and easy access into Worcester. Check out your dream location today! *Plot Plan Attached to Listing* | ||||
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Month: April 2014
Keep Your Home Sale from Falling Apart
StandardAfter finding a buyer, all you have to do to make it to closing is to avoid these five traps.
Finding a buyer for your home is just the first step on the home-selling path. Tread carefully in the weeks ahead because if you make one of these common seller mistakes, your deal may not close.
Mistake #1: Ignore contingencies
If your contract requires you to do something before the sale, do it. If the buyers make the sale contingent on certain repairs, don’t do cheap patch-jobs and expect the buyers not to notice the fixes weren’t done properly.
Mistake #2: Don’t bother to fix things that break
The last thing any seller needs is for the buyers to notice on the pre-closing walk-through that the home isn’t in the same condition as when they made their offer. When things fall apart in a home about to be purchased, sellers must make the repairs. If the furnace fails, get a professional to fix it, and inform the buyers that the work was done. When you fail to maintain the home, the buyers may lose confidence in your integrity and the condition of the home and back out of the sale.
Mistake #3: Get lax about deadlines
Treat deadlines as sacrosanct. If you have three days to accept or reject the home inspection, make your decision within three days. If you’re selling, move out a few days early, so you can turn over the keys at closing.
Mistake #4: Refuse to negotiate any further
Once you’ve negotiated a price, it’s natural to calculate how much you’ll walk away with from the closing table. However, problems uncovered during inspections will have to be fixed. The appraisal may come in at a price below what the buyers offered to pay. Be prepared to negotiate with the buyers over these bottom-line-influencing issues.
Mistake #5: Hide liens from buyers
Did you neglect to mention that Uncle Sam has placed a tax lien on your home or you owe six months of homeowners association fees? The title search is going to turn up any liens filed on your house. To sell your house, you have to pay off the lien (or get the borrower to agree to pay it off). If you can do that with the sales proceeds, great. If not, the sale isn’t going to close.
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Keep Your Home Sale from Falling Apart
After finding a buyer, all you have to do to make it to closing is to avoid these five traps. Read
Visit houselogic.com for more articles like this.
Copyright 2014 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
If You Were Selling Today, Would You Have the Home That Buyers Want?
StandardKnowing what appeals to today’s homebuyers, and considering those trends when you remodel, can pay off years from now when you sell your home.
Two new surveys about what homebuyers want have me feeling pretty smug about my own home choices. Maybe you’ll feel the same.
Privacy from neighbors remains at the top of the most-wanted list (important to 86% of buyers), according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS’® “2013 Community Preference Survey.” Privacy is no doubt the best feature of my mid-century ranch home, since I can only see one neighbor’s house and it’s a couple hundred feet down my driveway.
It may not be practical to move your neighbors farther away (although I’m sure many people wish they had that superpower), but you can increase your home’s privacy (and therefore its resale value) by planting a living privacy screen of trees and shrubs or by physically screening off your patio.
Related: Trees Contribute to Property Value, Energy Savings, and More
3 More Takeaways for the Next Time You Remodel
1. More and more generations are living together. Another NAR survey, the “2013 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers,” found 14% of buyers purchased a home suited to a multigenerational household due to children over the age of 18 moving back into the house, cost savings, and the health and caretaking of aging parents.
I did that back when my parents were still alive, and it worked out great for everyone. I didn’t have time to let my infant daughter nap on my shoulder all afternoon, but my mom did. She couldn’t drive to church meetings at night, but I could take her. And neither of us liked cleaning the gutters, but my husband didn’t mind that chore.
Even if you’d rather live in a cardboard box than with your mother, you might want to consider the multigenerational living trend when you’re remodeling. For instance, opting for a full bath when finishing the basement could offer more convenience for you now and boost your home’s resale value by making it more appealing to a multigenerational family.
2. On average, homeowners live in their home for nine years. That’s up from six years in 2007. Since you’ll be in your home for a long time, it makes sense to remodel to suit your taste but also with long-lasting marketability in mind. After all, you don’t want to have to redo stuff. For instance, you can go for trend-defying kitchen features, like white overtones and Shaker-style cabinets, which work with a variety of styles.
I feel compelled to caution against going so far out of the norm for your neighborhood that it’ll turn off potential buyers even nine years from now. (It never hurts to get your REALTOR®’s opinion on your remodeling plans.)
Related: Home Upgrades with the Lowest ROI
3. Homebuyers love energy efficiency. Heating and cooling costs were “somewhat” or “very important” to a whopping 85% of buyers. If your home could use an energy-efficiency upgrade, go with projects that have a solid return on investment, like sealing your air leaks and adding attic insulation. You’ll save money on your utility bills now and when you’re ready to sell, your home will appeal to buyers looking for efficiency.
By the way, to take back your energy bills, you need to do at least four things. One to two fixes won’t cut it, thanks to rising energy costs.
About two-thirds of survey respondents also thought energy-efficient appliances and energy-efficient lighting were important. Tuck away your manuals and energy-efficiency information when you buy new appliances and lighting. When you’re ready to sell (in nine years) you can pull those out and display them where buyers will see them.
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If You Were Selling Today, Would You Have the Home That Buyers Want?
Knowing what appeals to today’s homebuyers, and considering those trends when you remodel, can pay off years from now when you sell your home. Read
Visit houselogic.com for more articles like this.
Copyright 2014 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
Can You Really Get Business From Social Media
StandardI get asked the question all of the time – Do you really get business from social media? YES!! ABSOLUTELY!!
The question that comes next – HOW??
I’ve had great success with social media for business by making sure to keep it fun & informative, but making sure everyone knows what I do. I get lots of agent referrals because I interact with them. I get prospects that message me with real estate questions and call me when they’re ready to buy or sell because I’m approachable in social media.
I think the main things to remember are to be yourself, show off your strengths with your personality and be giving. When you share and are giving of information people naturally are drawn to working with you. And don’t forget to HAVE FUN!!!
-Your Social Media Girl 🙂
JUST LISTED – 5 Bedroom 2 Bath Home For Sale in North Brookfield
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FREE PDF Editor – Merge or Separate Pages Fast
StandardEver have too many separate pages to send on an offer or receive one large file with a copy of a deposit check NOT compliant with security laws from an agent? Want to know how to take out unnecessary pages or group them all together?
Here is a great FREE PDF editor we learned about in our Business Builders Class yesterday:
http://www.cutepdf-editor.com/edit.asp
You can merge PDFs together or separate them apart like magic! The best part….it’s FREE!
Kathleen Cooper REALTOR® 