Staging the Perfect Home

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If you are in the market to buy or sell a home, chances are you spend some time watching HGTV reruns of House Hunters.  Ever notice the look on prospective buyers’ faces as they walk through the really dumpy properties?  The fact is that so many people neglect to prepare their properties before showing it to potential buyers.  Overstuffed closets, stained carpets, dirty bathrooms, dull kitchens and family rooms with so much junk scattered all over the place that the buyers can barely see the space – all these things are a huge hindrance to selling successfully.

This week we just listed a home for one of our clients and the way they set up their space is perfect.  As you can see in the video, the homeowners have taken the time to arrange furniture in a way that highlights the home’s gorgeous features and open floor plan.  Plenty of tasteful accessories have been used to dot the space with color, interest and life.  There are even some touches of their personal life, though not overdone by any means. 

The key to preparing a show-ready home is to put yourself in the buyers’ eyes.  Going back to House Hunters episodes – how many times did buyers’ eyes light up when they walked into an open, well-lit home that was obviously cared for by its owners?  And if you pay attention, you’ll notice that more often than not, the homes that don’t seem to cared for by their owners are usually the ones that get passed up.

Tips on How to Make Sure Your Property Shows Well

MAKE SURE THE HOME IS CLEAN

Nothing turns off buyers more than a home that is dirty.  As they walk through the house they are imagining living there but dirty bathrooms, unclean windows, or unkempt rooms are unattractive.  Rather than risk buyers only remember that aspect of your home, make sure you clean the space, have carpets professionally steam cleaned, power wash windows, clear up driveways and make the home presentable.

REMOVE ALL CLUTTER

Clutter acts as an obstacle that does not allow buyers to see the actual features of your home.  If possible, box up things like extra shoes, overflowing closets, unkempt toys or messy areas in the home.  Keeping the space clear of clutter will not only make the space inviting, it will also allow the prospective owners to imagine their own things in the space.  A common turnoff that many sellers neglect to take care of before showing their home is a fridge filled with personal notes, pictures, schedules and other traces of the current family’s life. 

EMPHASIZE POSITIVE ASPECTS

If your home’s best feature is the great room, be sure to emphasize it bylighting it well and clearing all to and from areas for easy flow through access.  If the large backyard is a favorite selling feature, remove all leaves and landscaping clutter.  It is important not to ignore maintenance details such as mowing the lawn or tidying up the hedges.

DEMONSTRATE PRACTICAL USE OF SPACE

How you set up your home will have a major impact on how it is received.  By setting up the furniture and arranging other items in a way that highlights the desirable aspects of your home while working with the space encompassing the area, buyers will want to see more.

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Imagine your home is going to be photographed for a magazine.  What would you do to prepare before the photographer arrived?

Are Bi-Weekly Mortgage Payments Worth the Time and Effort?

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In most cases, yes! It’s essentially a process by which you make extra payments on your mortgage. That way, you save interest costs and pay off the loan faster.

How Does It Work?

You make a payment to your lender every two weeks instead of once a month. This means that each payment is equal to half of the monthly amount due. The result – you’re paying the equivalent of 13 full payments rather than the usual 12.

It gets even better! The full amount of the extra payment is applied toward the principal. And because the principal balance is the amount on which interest is calculated, paying down principal results in a reduction in accrued interest!

Let’s look a traditional payment monthly schedule vs. a bi-weekly schedule so you can see exactly how it works.

Example 1: Traditional monthly payments

Let’s assume you have a loan balance of $250,000 with a 6 percent interest rate and a 30-year loan term. In this example, your monthly payments are $1,498.88. So, over the life of the loan, you’d pay a total interest of about $289,595.

Example 2: Bi-weekly payments

Using the same loan balance and terms described above, the difference would be the following:

• $749.44 paid every two weeks

• About $225,490 paid in total interest

• This results in a savings of more than $64,000 in interest!

• In addition, the loan is paid off in 24 rather than 30 years

Bi-monthly payments are still a good strategy if you’re an individual who doesn’t plan to keep your house for 24 or 30 years. Why? Because bi-weekly payments still reduce principle, even over a short period of time.

For example, in the first year, the principle is reduced by nearly $1,600. And, at the end of the fifth year, the principle amount has been reduced by about $9,000!

How Do I Arrange Bi-Weekly Payments?

The first task is to contact lenders to find out if they do offer a bi-weekly payment schedule.

If they offer one, ask what the participation requirements are. In typical situations, lenders require you to have payments automatically withdrawn from your bank account since they dislike processing checks every two weeks.

Often, it’s the case that a one-time fee is charged for this service. The fee can be minimal or be in the several-hundred-dollar range, depending on the lender.

So, after all these benefits, how can there possibly be disadvantages to bi-weekly mortgage payments?

Well, the first disadvantage relates to a situation I mentioned above - the lender’s fee is very expensive for the service provided. In such a case, the costs may outweigh or cut down your overall savings.

A second disadvantage occurs when paying bi-weekly is too hard on your budget. Upfront, you need to make sure that you have the money available for the increased payments.

The final potential disadvantage relates to the length of time you plan to stay in your home. That can affect your overall savings on interest.

I recommend that you weigh the pros and cons of bi-weekly mortgage payments by using one of the many online calculators. Just enter your numbers and the calculator will give you a comparison.

If you’d like the assistance of an expert on the subject, contact us immediately!

Home Maintenance Does More Than You Think

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For some, the phrase “home maintenance” might sound like a great way to spend a weekend, while to others it might seem like a dreaded, even avoided, task. However you view routine home maintenance, the fact of the matter is that this somewhat simple task, if done consistently, can increase your home’s value over time.

Increased Property Value

Benjamin Franklin once said, “An ounce of prevention is worth of a pound of cure.” This is certainly true when it comes to your home. In fact, proactive maintenance is essential to preserving the value of your home. If you ignore this important task, your home could actually lose 10% of its value over time.

There are a number of benefits you can expect from just making sure you home is kept in decent shape with occasional maintenance. For one, your curb appeal is improved by just simple acts of routine upkeep from time to time. Ultimately, your home reflects your attention to detail, or lack thereof.

Neglecting a home can greatly bring down the value of any property. Things like a house with chipped or fading paint, sagging gutters, or worn carpeting leads to a problem when it is time to sell. Not only does the work accumulate over time, so do the costs. A few simple fixes every year can add up to an increased home value over time.

Cost vs. Value

It’s easy to look at the cost of regular home repairs as a burden that might be able to be avoided. However, it is important to look at the value that you are placing in your home by performing the regular costs of upholding a well-built and maintained home.

A study out of the University of Connecticut and Syracuse University suggests that home maintenance can actually increase a home’s value by about 1% each year. Instead of viewing the routine tasks around a home as “chores,” these tasks should be looked at as a money maker. When you sell your home, you will reap their rewards.

Dr. John P. Harding, Professor of Finance and Real Estate at the University of Connecticut’s School of Business and an author of the study said, “It’s like going to the gym. You have to put in the effort to see the results. People and houses are somewhat similar – the older they are, the more work is needed.”

Some years what needs to be down may be more expensive than others, but it is the overall strategy to keep a “fit” home that should be the ultimate goal.

Proactive Maintenance Strategies

Budgeting for home repairs each year will prevent them from seeming like a burden each year. Knowing there will be a certain amount of money going to home repairs and upkeep makes them a regular part of your annual routine. They won’t be a source of financial devastation they can be for many families.

Other things to keep in mind to take the burden out of home maintenance include:

Play offense, not defense. Being proactive is vital in preventing a small problem becoming a mountain of problems. By having a regular inspections and creating a maintenance schedule, you are in control, for the most part, of home expenses, instead of the other way around.

Focus on a room a year. If you home is generally in good order, you may be at a loss of where to start. By targeting a room each year, you can inspect each and every item in that particular room and know where improvements can be made. This prevents an overwhelmed feeling with you looking at your entire house, scratching you head of where to start.

Keep track. Maintain a notebook or computer file to keep track of all of the maintenance and upgrades you perform is important. Also, either keep a physical file of paper receipts or a file on your computer where can put your scanned receipts. This helps you keep track of what you have done and also helps you prove to a potential buyer exactly what you have done to the home. It also shows you are a conscientious homeowner who has paid attention to the details of your home.

Home maintenance is an important task that should not be overlooked. Not only does it maintain a nice home while you live there, it also helps increase your home’s value when you are ready to sell.

For more on home maintenance visit Bob Vila's home maintenance checklist here!