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!

 

Housing Recovery Slow Down

  

The housing recovery appears to be slowing down after booming over the past several months.  Lower home prices and interest rates along with fewer properties for sale, caused many buyers and investors to enter the market and create bidding wars which drove prices up.

 

 
Home prices are now higher than they have been in years.  Along with the increase in prices, mortgage rates have also gone up steadily.  As a result, some buyers have had to step out of the market.  In addition, some investors are now choosing to step away.  This has led to what is, most likely, a short term stall in the housing recovery.


The sudden and rapid increase in real estate demand caused many to be concerned that we might be heading for another bubble.  This fear can actually cause people to act irrationally.  We need to remember that the bubble did not burst because people wanted to buy homes and were willing to pay a little more this year than last year.  There were many other factors that contributed to the collapse of the real estate market.  Home values increasing over time is a normal and healthy scenario.  When there are extreme changes in the market, however,  it is not sustainable. The market's recent "cooling off" is good example of this.

 

As investors looking for quick or dramatic returns on their investment are withdrawing from the market, they are being replaced with buyers who want to purchase a home to live in for many years.  As this exchange of buyers takes hold, it will help to continue the stabilization of our market and cause it to return to a more normal state.

 

If you have any questions concerning your real estate needs, please call Nancy Puder directly at 805-710-2415 or email Nancy at NancyPuder.com.  She always loves to hear from you!  Nancy Puder is a real estate broker on the Central Coast of California.  

Mistakes Buyers Make with Lowball Offers

After the financial crisis five years ago, there were definitely deals to be had. But the economy has recovered a bit and housing inventory is tightening up, especially in metropolitan areas such as New York City, San Francisco and Atlanta. 

 

Assuming that someone’s going to be thrilled that you make an offer on their house (even a lowball offer) is not the case. When bidding wars break out, sometimes buyers have unrealistic expectations and end up being the one who lost.

 

Here are the most common mistakes that buyers make with lowball offers.

 

1.  Aggressive negotiating - This will usually get you nowhere.  There is no reason to start negotiations with a wildly lowball offer and to make outrageous demands.

 

2. Refusal to pay asking price. The idea that you should never pay the asking price isn’t realistic. Sometimes the house is worth exactly what the seller has priced it at. It's OK to pay that price.  

 

3. Ignoring the needs of the seller - Sometimes buyers are shocked to find that a seller accepted an offer for a lower amount than they had submitted.  Most buyers assume that price is the only consideration.  The truth is often a seller is more concerned about how much time they will have to move out, once the sale is completed.  In another scenario, a seller may take an offer where a buyer is not asking for any repairs even after the inspections are done.

 

Bidding wars can be invigorating or devastating for a buyer. You can end up the winner or you can be the loser. The sellers and the seller's circumstances should be taken into consideration at all times during the negotiation process, the more you understand their needs, the greater the chances are you will end the winner.

 

Nancy Puder is a real estate broker at Signature Properties, a prestigious real estate firm in Arroyo Grande, CA. You may contact her at Nancy@NancyPuder.com or (805)710-2415. She always enjoys hearing from you!

What Your Realtor May Not Tell You

When buying a home, a good Realtor is a valuable resource, especially if it’s your first time. They can guide you through the neighborhood and the homebuying process, which can get complicated. They know mortgage brokers, inspectors and sometimes even listings that the rest of the public does not.

Many people like to consider themselves armchair experts when it comes to real estate, but the business is a nuanced one, best navigated by a professional. Here is something that most Realtors are too polite to tell you.

 

Qualified clients are my priority: If you have been preapproved for a mortgage, know how much you can put down and understand debt-to-income ratio, then any broker will be happy to spend day and night finding you the perfect home.

 

If you’re just getting your feet wet to either rent or buy a new place or don’t quite have the cash to start the process, then go to open houses as opposed to a private outing with a broker. Open houses are designed to let people look and ask questions without wasting a Realtor's time. Along the way, you may find a broker you want to work with who can get into specifics for your budget and needs, when you’re ready to pull the trigger.

 

Generally, brokers will ask you upfront if you’ve been preapproved for a loan. If you haven’t, they may ask you to call back when you have all your paperwork in order.  This is because for a Realtor, time is money.  At the end of the day, everyone hopes to be paid for a job well done.

 

If you are just getting started, a good Realtor will provide you with clear direction on how to begin the process and will continue to be available to answer questions along the way.

 

Nancy Puder is a real estate broker at Signature Properties, a prestigious real estate firm in Arroyo Grande, CA. You may contact her at Nancy@NancyPuder.com or (805)710-2415. She always enjoys hearing from you!

Get Roofs & Heaters Inspected Before Winter

Warm and sunny days in October makes it hard to believe that summer is really over and that soon we will be well into the winter season.  Even in California, it is wise to make preparations before temperatures drop and the rainy season is upon us.  

 

Here are some tips on how you can sail through the winter without some unexpected and and too often unpleasant surprises.

 

Roofs - Now is the time to get your roof inspected.  For a surprisingly low cost, you can have your roof inspected to see if you have any existing issues that could cause a leak during the next rain.  A few dollars spent today could save you thousands later in water damage.  

 

Heaters - An inspection of your furnace on a regular basis is important, not only for safety reasons, but also to prolong the life of your furnace.  You may be surprised to find how low the cost is to have an inspection done.  The gas company will sometimes come out and inspect free of charge.  A licensed HVAC person will also clean and evaluate your heater for you.

 

Roofers and HVAC vendors are swamped with calls as soon as the weather changes.  Heaters that haven't been turned on in months, all of a sudden don't work.  Rainy days bring leaky roofs.

 

Waiting until the "emergency" happens, may result in having to wait a few uncomfortable days before a repair person is able to show up to address your problem.

 

Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!  

 

Nancy Puder is a real estate broker at Signature Properties, a prestigious real estate firm in Arroyo Grande, CA. You may contact her at Nancy@NancyPuder.com or (805)710-2415. She always enjoys hearing from you!