Julie Morris

DRE: BR117557000


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7 Tips For Staging Your Home

Posted On: April 8th, 2015 6:13PM

Beyond Cleaning and De-Cluttering: 7 Staging Tips You Haven’t Heard 

Any homeowner who is planning to sell their home has heard the mantra: Clean and de-clutter. Here are seven things to do in addition to cleaning and de-cluttering that will help sell your house:

1. Spend your money where you can see it.

When you go to sell your house, you normally have a long list of things to do to get it sale-ready. Some of these are fixes, some are updates and some are replacements. If anything is broken or damaged or not working properly, you need to get it fixed. Otherwise it will show up on the inspection report and could end up costing you the sale or dragging out the negotiation. But beyond the fixes that are absolutely necessary, you need to be strategic about what you do and where you will get the most bang for the buck. Spend your money on the things that the buyer will see. Don’t replace the hot water heater (unless it’s broken) or put on a new roof (unless it leaks) or buy high-end bathroom fixtures – because the buyer won’t know the difference between the $150 faucet and the $800 one.

Instead, spend it on repainting, or on new knobs to replace the dated hardware on your kitchen cabinets. Spend it on curb appeal: mulching and edging the beds, planting flowers, painting the front door. Spend it on the things that will help your house win the beauty contest. Spend it on the things that will make buyers feel good.

2. Don’t offer credits.

Short of remodeling the kitchen or putting on an addition, don’t expect your buyer to do anything you don’t want to do. In a nutshell, your buyer doesn’t want to trade their dirty carpet for your dirty carpet. And they will have a hard time imagining that a house with peeling paint and stains on the carpet could be the kind of house they want to pay good money for. They’ll reject your home and move on to the next one. There are plenty to choose from right now. Besides, you will probably end up spending more on credits than you would if you went ahead and got the work done yourself…and the buyer will still make their offer based on the current condition of the house. So you pay twice.

 

3. Find one purpose for each room and stage it accordingly.

No combo family room/office/play room. No combo guest room/office/junk room. Whatever you may have used the room for, figure out what your target buyer will likely use it for and turn it into that room. Young families? Turn that third bedroom/office back into a child’s room. Did you replace your dining room table with a pool table so you could get more use out of that room? Time to turn it back into a formal dining room. The new buyers may not end up using it as a dining room any more than you did. But they THINK they will.

4. Make sure each room has a focal point

Then arrange the room so that this is the first thing someone notices when they walk in the room. In the living room the focal point is often the fireplace, sometimes the view or sometimes a major piece of art. In the dining room it should be the dining room table. In the bedroom it should be the bed. In every case, make sure the focal point is staged to draw attention and wow the viewer. Doing this will also help distract the eye away from less appealing features in the room.

5. LightenUp

Light and bright houses are universally appealing. They make people feel happy and happy people want to buy. To maximize the light in every room, do the following:

  • Paint rooms with low natural light a warm, light color like Benjamin Moore Windham Cream (HC-6)

  • Trim bushes and trees that are covering windows.

  • Open curtains, blinds and shades. If you have heavy and dated draperies, remove them.

  • Change the light bulbs in every lamp to a higher wattage. And make sure every room has enough lamps.

  • Make sure your windows sparkel.  If you have sun screens on them, take them down to let more light in. Store them in the garage.

  • Make sure all blinds and shutters are cleaned and open to let the sunshine in.

6. Blend and weave (some of) the same colors throughout the house.

I’m not saying to paint every room the same color. That would be boring and forgettable, which is the death knell for a sale. What I’m saying is carry at least one or two some of the same colors into every room, whether in the paint color or the furniture and accessories.

7. Be neutral without being blah

Home stagers always say to go with neutral colors.  And you should, for the walls and large pieces of furniture. But don’t go overboard on the neutrals. You don’t want your home to be blah and boring. Be sure to add back some color to each room in the form of accents and accessories.  Artwork, pillows, flowers and other accessories can add a punch of color that will make the difference between blah and brilliant. One of the easiest and cheapest ways to add color is with a bowl of brightly colored fruit like lemons or oranges.

A final tip: put one of the lemons down the garbage disposal right before your open house or showings and it will give your kitchen a fresh and natural scent.

 

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Home Renovations

Posted On: April 7th, 2015 8:56PM

Housing Confidence Up, More Americans Renovating

 

This past week, both Home Depot, Inc., and Lowe’s reported high fourth quarter gains, with profits beating their own revenue projections as well as analysts’ estimates, according to a recent Bloomberg Business article.

With sales at both home ­improvement chains advancing over 7 percent, and more expensive purchases (ranging from 500 to 900 dollars) surging 10­13 percent, it would appear homeowners are back to building.

What does this mean for housing? With job and market confidence rising, homeowners are picking up renovation projects they may have been putting off in previous years, when the market was stalling and the economy low. A fourth quarter survey by the National Association of Home Builders showed the number of companies seeing increases in major projects and committed work for the next three months are at all-time highs.

While only time will tell for sure, these improvements could lead to more homes on the market this spring.  

 

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What Are Closing Costs?

Posted On: April 6th, 2015 10:38PM

Closing costs are a mystery to Millennials

 Charisse Jones, USA TODAY1:48 p.m. MST March 25, 2015
 
 

When it comes to buying a home, many Millennials are in the dark about closing costs, a key figure when calculating the prices they'll ultimately pay.

That's according to a national survey released Wednesday that found roughly 2/3 of potential home buyers between the ages of 18 and 34 don't know that they'll have to pay that final bundle of fees before they close the deal.

"If they go and are looking to purchase a home for $200,000, they probably understand there's a down payment and interest rate, but outside of that, they're not really educated on the other fees they'll have to pay,'' says Brad Chmura, senior vice president of ClosingCorp, sponsor of the survey and a provider of residential closing cost data and technology to the mortgage and real estate service industries.

The poll of roughly 1,000 adults , taken between Dec. 11 and 14, also found that it's not just Millennials who lack such knowledge. Among all prospective home buyers, regardless of age, 34% said they are "not very'' or "not at all'' aware of closing costs.

Those fees, due at the end of the home-buying process, before the property title is handed over to the new owner, can add up. They encompass fees such as title and escrow, lender fees, and the price of an appraisal, which can vary widely according to the location of the property and the loan type. The closing costs can be paid by either the purchaser or seller.

Not having a total grasp of those fees, is just one of the hurdles Millennials face on the path to home ownership since many are also dealing with student debt, constrained financing and difficulty getting a foothold in a still recovering economy, Chmura says.

When potential home buyers do learn about that final tab, it's often from realtors, or by doing their own digging for information, according to the ClosingCorp poll. But such vital details should come from a variety of voices, Chmura says.

"The Millennials, who are typically more tech savvy than their predecessors, are still getting the main source of information from the real estate agent,'' he says. But "it's a complex process to follow and so we feel that the consumer should be educated from multiple ... sources. Everyone from the real estate agent to lenders, to family members as well who've been through the transaction.''

Eric Roberge, who founded his financial planning firm in Salem, Mass., to specifically serve Millennials, has found that many are unprepared to buy a first home.

One of his clients, for instance, wants to buy a home but doesn't have the money to cover the down payment, closing costs and any emergency financial needs that might crop up after purchasing a house.

"That happens a lot,'' he said of Millennial buyers. "They're not taking into account the entirety of the cost. They're just looking at the down payment.''

Such knowledge should be taught to young adults wherever they work, he says.

"Nobody is getting home-buying education in school so where do they learn?'' he says. "From reading articles. From parents. From trial and error and that's bound to cause issues. ... Those companies that employ a lot of Millennial-age professionals, it should be their responsibility to provide them with education.''


For a list of closing costs, view below:

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Owner-occupants get first crack at Fannie, Freddie REOs

Posted On: April 2nd, 2015 11:34PM

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CFPB Launches ‘Know Before You Owe’ Tool Kit

Posted On: April 1st, 2015 5:52PM

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau debuted a new tool kit this week that sets out to turn home buyers into smarter mortgage shoppers.

 

The tool kit is part of the CFPB’s “Know Before You Owe” mortgage initiative and allows home buyers to use the new Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure forms, which lenders will be required to provide starting Aug. 1.

The CFPB is requiring creditors to provide the tool kit to mortgage applicants when they apply for a mortgage, but the agency is also urging real estate professionals to point their customers to it as well.

“This tool kit is a great resource for consumers navigating the homebuying process, and will help consumers make well-informed decisions about the biggest financial transaction of their life,” says CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “The new mortgage disclosure forms coming in August will help consumers comparison shop for mortgages and avoid surprises at the closing table. We are releasing this tool kit well in advance of the effective date to help the mortgage industry come into compliance with the new rules.” 

 

The updated tool kit, which includes interactive worksheets and checklists, aims to help home buyers understand the costs of a real estate transaction, defines what affordability could mean to them, and provides tips on how to shop for the best mortgage.

 

Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

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