Start With Curb Appeal When Selling

There are a lot of different ways that sellers can increase the curb appeal of their home and at a relatively low cost. One that has a big impact is a fresh coat of paint on trim, windows, or wood siding. Although some painted areas are small and often hard to see from the street, unsightly chips in window trim or worn and discolored paint on window shutters often alert potential buyers to how poorly a home has been maintained no matter how green and weed-free the grass or how well-trimmed the walkways are.

 

 

 

 

 

The first thing to do is to make a visual walk around the exterior of the home, which can take a few minutes but should be thorough and not rushed. Sellers should use the same mindset as buyers and look for any possible things buyers will use to negotiate a lower offer on the home. For example, water damage around door frames and windows can often indicate a problem, even if the problem has been addressed and repaired.

Water-damaged wood may not need to be replaced but it certainly needs to be cleaned and painted. 

 

Mold and mildew can also leave telltale signs that a simple clean-up and a fresh coat of paint can remedy. Even well-maintained homes will show their age over time and dull or discolored paint can be easily covered with a new, fresh coat.

 

Once identified, sellers can determine if a professional painter can do the best job or if it only requires a little extra elbow grease – whatever fits the household budget. If they choose to use a contractor, homeowners should get references and specifics as to length of job and all additional charges. Ideally, all costs and job specifics should be in writing. But in most cases, simple paint jobs won’t require a contractor. Most homeowners can be “do-it-yourselfers” with a can of paint, paint roller, paint brush, some tape, and plastic tarps – and a lot of patience. Any painting tips are readily available online or at local hardware stores.

 

A beautiful lawn, new garage door, flower bed or neatly trimmed shrubs can all add to the curb appeal of a home. But an unsightly, peeling window sill can quickly negate all of the good physical attributes. If homeowners want a quick “SOLD” sign on their lawn, a fresh coat of paint can go a

long way!

 

 

 

 

Nancy Puder is a real estate broker on the Central Coast of California. If you would like a free assessment of your home before selling, call Nancy at (805)710-2415 or email Nancy@NancyPuder.com She always loves hearing from you! You can also follow Nancy on Facebook. Go to www.facebook.com/NancyPuderRealtor and click "like".

 

How to Sell Your Home and Buy Another at the Same Time

Selling your home and buying another can be tricky in today’s market. Although most transactions close successfully, there is no guarantee that your new home will close at the same time as your existing home. Selling and buying at the same time is a delicate dance, but it is doable. There are a few ways to pursue this plan:

 

1. Sell first, then buy. This is perhaps the safest plan, but it calls for multiple moves. In this scenario, you list your home and complete the transaction before purchasing another home. When your home sells, you would put your belongings into storage and live in a temporary rental or, if possible, arrange to rent back from your home’s new owner. This is an ideal situation if the buyer of your home is willing to let you stay until your new home has closed escrow.  

2. Buy first, then sell. This strategy minimizes disruption. You can move into your new place at your leisure and then take time to prepare your home for sale. The major disadvantage is that, depending on how fast your old home sells, you could be shouldering the burden of two mortgages for some time. You are also responsible for maintenance and security on the vacant home. This scenario works best if your first home is already paid off.

 

3. Sell and Buy simultaneously.  In this situation, the seller first puts their property on the market. After the buyer has removed their investigation contingencies, the seller makes an offer on a new property subject to the successful closing of the old one.  The downside to this is that if you are trying to purchase a property that everyone else wants, you may get beat out by another buyer who is ready to go forward and is not waiting for a home to close.

 

There is no right answer in choosing any of these scenarios. However, much depends on your financial stability, as well as your tolerance for risk or disruption.

If you have questions about how this would best work for your own particular situation, give Nancy a call at (805)710-2415 or email Nancy@NancyPuder.com. She always loves to hear from you!  Nancy Puder is a real estate broker on the Central Coast of California. www.NancyPuder.com.  Follow Nancy on Facebook! www.facebook.com/nancypuderrealtor

 

 

 

5 Ways to Increase Your Credit Score

 

Your credit score is calculated  from information in your credit report and is a measure of how good of a risk you are to the creditor.  If you are thinking about buying a house or even trying to rent one, it is important that you are aware of how your credit score will affect your ability to buy or rent.

It's important to know that any lender to whom you apply will obtain your score and provide it to you. As noted below, however, inquiries by lenders may have a negative effect on your score, whereas inquiries by you do not. Hence, it is a good idea to find your score before you apply, so you can make an informed decision on whether you want to apply at that time. 

You can obtain your score from many firms in the business, including www.equifax.com, www.transunion.com, www.experian.com and www.myfico.com. 

Here are some tips on how you can improve your credit score using data from your credit reports.

 

Pay on time: The core rule is to meet your debt obligations on-time, EVERY time. If you have had payment lapses in the past but your habits have improved, time is on your side. The credit scoring rules weight recent experience more heavily than older experience. 

 

Correct mistakes in your credit report: Your score should not be reduced by reporting mistakes, which are all too common. Detach yourself from the "wrong vendors": Because finance companies lend to relatively poor risks, the credit score of any borrower owing money to a finance company is lower than it would be if the creditor was a bank. By the same logic, borrowers who have credit cards of department stores are penalized, relative to what their score would be if they had cards issued by banks. 

 

Reduce balances on revolving credits to less than 50 percent of the maximums: A high utilization ratio is read as a sign of weakness and potential trouble, reducing your score. Credit cards are the most important type of revolving credits, but HELOCs belong in this category as well. A HELOC used to purchase a house or to refinance a mortgage, where the initial utilization ratio is 100 percent, will jolt your credit score.

 

Note that utilization ratios can be reduced by getting the maximums raised, as well as by paying down the balances. In many cases, credit card issuers are willing to raise the maximum at the borrower's request. 

 

Minimize the number of "hard inquiries": Hard inquiries are requests to a credit agency for your credit score from a credit grantor, insurance company or other entity to which you have applied and to which you have entrusted your Social Security number. "Soft inquiries" made by you or by firms looking to sell you something for which you have not applied don't require your permission and don't impact your credit score. The credit-scoring systems may or may not penalize borrowers who shop multiple credit grantors within a short period -- unfortunately, you can't be sure.

 

The credit agencies tell you that multiple inquiries within a 15-day period count only as a single inquiry, but in fact inquiries for mortgage, auto and student loans would probably count as three inquiries, and even three mortgage inquiries could count as three inquiries, depending on how the credit grantors are identified to the credit scorer. 

 

The bottom line is that in applying for credit, find your own score that you can deliver to the vendors you are shopping who need the score to set the price. The vendor you select will verify the score through his own inquiry, but it will be only a single inquiry. 

 

Pay off collection accounts: This may actually reduce your score in the short-run by converting the account from an older entry with a low weight to a new one with a higher weight. However, you can't get a loan with a collection account on your record, so you must pay it off -- the sooner the better. 

 

Nancy Puder is a real estate broker in Arroyo Grande, CA.  For answers to your questions, contact her at Nancy@NancyPuder.com or (805)710-2415. She always enjoys hearing from you!