Simple Ways to Boost the Value of Your Home

Whether you have owned your home for two, five, or 20 years, you want to earn as much on its sale as you possibly can. Many elements like the climate of your local real estate market and amount of remaining mortgage debt will impact how much you profit from the sale of your home, but there are many simple strategies you can adopt to boost the value of your home before putting it on the market.

Whip Out the Paint

Paint is one of the most cost efficient ways to improve the appearance of your home. A freshly painted room has the ability to completely transform a potential buyer’s perspective of the quality of your home, and that positive perspective can translate to a rather large sum of money! Considering that a gallon of paint only costs $20 to $30, it’s well worth the investment. Stick to neutral colors that will appeal to a wide range of people, and don’t forget to touch up the baseboards and crown molding as well. Read more

What is the Best Way to Negotiate Your Home’s Sale?

Selling your home is a huge decision, especially if you’ve spent many years paying your mortgage in order to use the proceeds from the sale as your nest egg, retirement, or next down payment. You don’t want to undercut yourself, but you also don’t want to be too greedy and lose a reasonable sale offer. Here is how you should handle negotiations.

Price Isn’t The Only Consideration

First of all, the price set to your home isn’t the only detail to consider. The purchase contract and other terms and conditions might make it too difficult, even if the price is fair. For example, some contingencies leave so many loopholes that the deal collapses, like contingencies that link the escrow closing date to the buyer’s sale of their current home. Read more

Tips and Tricks for Selling Your Home During the Holiday Season

house-christmasThe holiday season, for all of its cheer and goodwill, is incredibly overwhelming and stressful for most people. If you are trying to also sell your home during the holidays, you are probably feeling an extra burden of stress that threatens to dampen your spirit, but don’t worry! There are plenty of great ideas to help you harness the best elements of the holidays to help your home sell quickly.

Use Holiday Decor

Though you’ve probably heard that “less is more” when staging your home for walk-throughs, a few subtly placed holiday decoration pieces can help, not hurt. Simple additions such as an evergreen wreath, pinecone-scented candle, and candy cane centerpiece will help the potential buyers walking through your house feel more comfortable. The more comfortable they feel, the easier it will be to imagine themselves living there, and the more likely the sale will become. Read more

The Secrets of Closing for Buyers and Sellers

housing-marketOwning a home is a major landmark in any person’s life, but it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the seemingly infinite number of tasks required to make that ownership a reality. Even after you sign a contract, get approved for a mortgage, and hire your movers, there’s still closing day to contend with. Though closing day might seem like a formality to exchange keys and sign on the dotted line, it can actually turn into a disaster without the right preparation. As a buyer or a seller, use these tips to ensure your closing goes smoothly. Read more

4 Tips for Efficiently Marketing Your Home

Just as in business, the way that you market your home can make or break your sale. The more exposure the better, but only if your home is in the type of condition you want hundreds of prospective buyers to see. These following tips will help you plan to successfully market your home for a quick and easy sale.

Write Your Listing Ad Strategically

As you write the description of your home that will accompany its pictures, remember that you’re not writing an essay. You must be short and precise while still being thorough. This means you need to stick to the facts, such as the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and any key features that will appeal to prospective buyers. Read more