Real Estate Information Archive

In this economy, houses aren't selling like they used to. If you have a house on the market, or are considering selling yours, there are some ways to improve your chances. Here are seven tips that will make it easier to sell your house and make a smooth transition from one owner to the next.

1. Maintain neutrality
Customizing your home is great if you plan to stay there, but extreme colors and themed rooms can scare off potential homebuyers. If you have customized every room with extremely bright or dark colored paint, wallpaper or wall fixtures, you may want to consider toning it down a bit. Using neutral colors on the walls can help prospective buyers create their own vision for the house, and will also leave them with less work to undo if they buy the house.

2. Less is more
Even though you have not moved out yet, removing some of your furniture can help the house move off the market. If you take pictures for your listing, having less furniture can help the home appear more spacious. When potential homebuyers arrive, having less furniture can also provide clear walkways.

3. That new house smell
Honestly, the new house smell isn't always the most pleasant, but at least it is new. In preparing to show your home, you should avoid strong smells. To avoid odors, make sure to take out the trash and clean the refrigerator regularly. It’s also good to be mindful of what you cook in the days leading up to a showing; certain foods have strong scents. If you have pets, keep an eye on the litter box. Any smell that is too strong could send potential homebuyers running out the door.

4. Pay attention to the details
It’s not a good idea to make major renovations when you are ready to sell your home; you may not recoup your investment. If you never got around to starting or completing that total kitchen or bathroom makeover, then you can make some small, inexpensive changes to spruce things up. Replacing the hardware on cabinets is a quick way to improve the appearance of older looking fixtures. Upgrading small items such as light switch and outlet covers can add a nice touch.

5. Maximize your "curb appeal"
The front of your home is the first thing prospective homebuyers will see, so keeping it presentable is a must. If there is a yard, keep the grass to a reasonable height and, if there are trees, be sure to keep the branches under control. The path to your front door should be a clear and welcoming one, not an obstacle course.

6. Don't get too personal
Upon entering your house, everyone will know it is lived in, but they do not need to see all the evidence. Get rid of excess clutter such as newspapers, magazines and mail. Be sure to put away your laundry and shoes. It may also be a good idea to put away some other personal belongings, like pictures on the refrigerator or mantle. For you, the pictures may make a house a home or display your personal touch. For the new homeowner, it may appear too personal.

7. Take care of repairs
Waiting to make repairs until after you find a buyer can be tricky. Depending on the nature of the repairs, you may not be able to find a buyer. Depending on how fast the buyer wants to close on the house, you may not have enough time to make the repairs. Save yourself some time and potential trouble by making repairs before you list your home. The repairs will have to be made anyway, so it is better to get them out of the way sooner rather than later.

First impressions can make the difference between a sale or no sale. Keeping things simple can give you a leg up on similar houses on the market and get your home sold quickly.

We are often asked if this is a good time to buy a home. Some clients are concerned that home prices may fall down the road, while others are convinced that home prices will go up.

Home prices are one factor in determining your cost of ownership, but so are interest rates and financing availability. Even though interest rates have fluctuated, they are still near historic lows. Since your monthly mortgage payment is a combination of paying down your principal and paying the interest owed, a one point rise in interest rates could cost tens of thousands of dollars over the life of your mortgage!

While a home is a major investment, it is also the center of your personal life. It's important to live in a home that reflects your taste and values, yet is within your financial "comfort zone." To that end, it may be more important to lock in today's relatively low interest rates while they are still available.

Please give a Morse Real Estate Realtor® a call if we can be of any assistance in determining how much home you can afford in today's market.

Mike Morse
Broker & Owner
(402) 677-6356

From the beginning of your home search through closing escrow, there’s an awful lot to think about and do.

It’s not unusual to make a mistake along the way. But with the financial stakes so high, a false move can end up costing you a lot of money.

Here are five common home buyer mistakes, with tips on how to avoid them.

You expect to get the price down after making an offer
The real estate market is heating up across the country. In many markets, homes are selling for more than asking price.

Some buyers win the bidding war by going over asking — only to try to negotiate the price down by asking for credits during escrow.

This strategy may work sometimes, especially in a weak seller’s market. But we’re in a competitive market for buyers now, so don’t count on it.

The seller most likely will have a backup offer from another buyer who really wants the home — and who is hoping your deal falls through.

If you start asking for unwarranted credits, the seller may simply go with the backup offer, leaving you out in the cold.

A better strategy: Make your best offer, and don’t assume you can negotiate it down later.

You wait until the eleventh hour to ask for credits
In Houston, a seller had put his house on the market with full disclosure that it had termites. A buyer made an offer and went into contract with the seller.

After further inspections, and at the eleventh hour, the buyer demanded an unreasonable amount be deducted from the sale price.

The buyer assumed that the seller, not wanting to put the house on the market again, would agree, just to close the deal. But that’s not what happened.

The seller agreed to reduce the price, but not by the full amount the buyer wanted.

The buyer ended up walking away from the deal. The house sold soon after at a higher price than what was negotiated with the first buyer.

Of course, you should ask for credits if an inspection turns up potentially costly repair work you didn’t know about when you made your offer.

But even in a buyer’s market, don’t assume you can get sellers to cave in to unreasonable demands at the last minute.

You chase a deal at all costs
Everyone wants to save money, especially on a high-ticket item such as real estate.

Unfortunately, this causes some would-be buyers to make lowball offers in hopes of getting a “deal.”

Or, potential buyers lose out on homes they might have been able to get otherwise, which ends up costing money in the long run.

For example, a renter in San Francisco spent three years looking for the best “deal” she could possibly get, passing up many good opportunities.

Eventually, her landlord wanted to sell the place she was renting. This forced her to finally buy, but under pressure. She ended up buying at the top of the market.

If she hadn’t held out for so long in hopes of scoring an amazing deal, she’d have saved herself a lot of money and time. She’d even have built up some equity in a home over those three years.

In a strong real estate market, the deals are in homes that have been overpriced and haven’t sold as a result, and/or properties that don’t show well because they need work.

If the home you want is well-priced, in a good neighborhood and doesn’t need much work, the best strategy is to make a solid offer and be prepared to go over asking if necessary.

You think you can do it all yourself
With so much information about homes available online today, many people, such as tech-savvy Gen X and Gen Y home buyers, may assume they can buy a home without a real estate agent’s help.

But this strategy often backfires.

First of all, the real estate agent’s role isn’t just about finding listings. With Internet access, buyers can easily find listings themselves.

The agent’s role today is more about presenting your offer to the seller’s agent in a way that will help get it accepted and making sure it sticks through an escrow.

A savvy agent knows the ins and outs of the local market better than an uninformed buyer with a full-time job and family.

A good agent will know the back-stories behind the comps, for example.

He or she will know that a comparable home sold for 5 percent less (than the home you’re considering) only because the sellers were divorcing, or the property had a retaining wall problem.

Without an agent, you’d simply see that the comparable home sold for 5 percent less.

You might ask the seller of the home to match that 5 percent reduction — and you’d be surprised when the seller says, “No thanks.”

Also, experienced agents have a strong network in the local market, which can give you an added edge. Good agents like to work with other good agents.

And if nothing else, keep in mind that a listing agent might not even consider working with an unrepresented buyer.

Finally, the seller pays the buyer’s real estate commission, so having an agent for your home search costs you nothing anyway.

Most importantly, there’s bound to come a time during the complicated real estate transaction when you have serious doubts or big questions.

Your agent can be the trusted adviser you need to walk you through the maze.

You don’t think like a seller
Most likely, at some point in the future you’ll need to sell the home you’re about to buy. That’s why it’s important to think like a potential seller as well as a buyer.

Case in point: In 2005, a buyer in San Francisco bought a home with no garage.

The house was on multiple transit lines, he used his bicycle to get around and he knew he’d have access to a leased garage space if he needed it. So he felt he didn’t need a garage.

Three years later, the market was slower, but the owner had to sell.

He didn’t feel his home should be priced less than a comparable property with a deeded garage because his house was so centrally located. Plus, he had that leased garage space to offer.

The problem was, many buyers drive to work, and they don’t want to risk losing a leased garage space.

The result was that many buyers wouldn’t even look at his home’s photos online, let alone go to the open house — because it lacked a garage.

So when you’re buying a home, put yourself in a potential seller’s shoes. The last thing you want is to buy a dream home that becomes a nightmare when it’s time to sell.

“The Top 5 Mistakes Home Buyers Make — And How to Avoid Them” was provided by Zillow.com. 

It’s that time of year when families consider moving to get their children into a good school district. At realtor.com we recently conducted a back-to-school survey to see how much weight schools have in the home-buying decision. The results show that school-district boundaries do impact the buying decision for more than 60 percent of realtor.com home buyers.

We also found that home buyers are willing to pay more and give up certain features for a home located in their district of choice. These buyers are especially willing to give up access to shopping and nearby parks and trails, among other amenities, to reside within the school-district boundaries of their choice.

A majority of the home buyers surveyed said that school-district boundaries will have an impact on their buying decision:

23.59 percent would pay 1-5 percent above budget
20.70 percent would pay 6-10 percent above budget
8.98 percent would pay 11-20 percent above budget
40.33 percent would not go above budget
For home buyers who said that school-district boundaries will have an impact on their decision, the majority rated the boundaries as an “important” consideration:

90.53 percent said school-district boundaries are  “important” or “somewhat important”
2.04 percent were “neutral” about the importance of school-district boundaries
7.43 percent said school-district boundaries are “unimportant” or “very unimportant”
A new house can mean more space, great neighborhoods and good schools. Follow these five tips to find your dream home near the right school:

Know your family’s needs. Is your family growing? Is square footage the most important factor, or a large backyard? Make a list of exactly what you need in your family’s new home.
Search for homes by the best schools with the realtor.com mobile app. Only realtor.com lets you search for the home you want near the ideal school or school district.
Review school information in the app. The Schools tab provides detailed information about the grades taught at each school, including the student-teacher ratio and the GreatSchools rating.
Look for parks and play areas in the map view. View your search results on a map and narrow results by homes that have a place for your kids to get the wiggles out. You can also look for other things that matter to you, like how far away it is from a baseball diamond. Draw your own search boundary with your finger, if a specific area really matters to you.
Make a list of questions for your Realtor. When you’re ready to tour the homes on your short list, be prepared with the questions that will help you make the best investment. Ask about things that matter specifically to you and your family but also what matters for the home’s future value. Your Realtor will be able to guide you to find the right home, in the right location, near the right school.

Provided by Realtor.com