Home Selling Tips

How to get an offer on your home

August 6, 2010

Selling your San Diego home can be much easier if you follow a few basic guidelines. Even in a slow San diego real estate market you can get a good offer in a minimal amount of market time if you are a realistic seller.

The most important factor in getting a good offer on your San Diego home (in my opinion) is to price it right from the get go. Set a price at the lower end of your property’s realistic price range. Pricing your San Diego real estate at the upper end of the property’s price range “hoping to leave room for negotiating” can deter potential buyers from viewing your property if there are similar lesser priced property’s in your neighborhood.

Prepare for visitors. Get your San Diego house market ready PRIOR to listing it in the MLS and showing it. You want your home to be ready to show the day it hits the market. Listing your San Diego home in the MLS and stating it cannot be shown for a week due to clean up will only frustrate potential buyers and lead them to believe the home  is in poor condition.

Be flexible about showings. It’s often disruptive to have a house ready to show at the spur of the moment but the more amenable you can be about letting people see your home, the sooner you’ll find a buyer. Having a lockbox on the property, even if you want to be present during every showing is also a big plus. A San Diego Realtor who is preparing a list of properties to show their client may choose to skip your property if they think it will be difficult to show due to not having a lockbox present. 

Anticipate the offers. Decide in advance what price and terms you’ll find acceptable. A quick response back to the potential buyer will keep them interested in the property.

Don’t refuse to drop the price. If your San Diego home has been on the market for more than 30 days without an offer, you should be prepared to at least consider lowering your asking price. Despite declining prices, there are still a lot of San Diego home buyers out there. If you have little to no showings and no offers with-in the first 30 days, your list price is most likely too high.

: Carlsbad Real Estate, Home Selling Tips, Oceanside Real Estate, San Diego Real Estate
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HAFA Provides Help for Short Sale Properties

August 5, 2010

The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program became effective on April 5, 2010. This program is funded from the federal government’s $75 billion stimulus program and is designed for homeowners who are in financial trouble but don’t qualify for a mortgage modification. The objective is to speed up the short sale (properties with less value than the mortgage balance) process and prevent lenders from filing deficiency judgments against the home seller. The program could improve or at least minimize the foreclosure crisis. It may provide relief for an estimated 70 percent of San Diego homeowners who have mortgage balances larger than the value of their home. Lenders are on board with the HAFA program and are prepared for an expected onslaught of inquires.

HAFA will be offered after a lender declines a homeowner’s request to modify their existing mortgage. The lender will send out solicitation letters regarding the HAFA program shortly after the decline of a modification. Participation in the HAFA program will shorten the time to process a short sale approval once the homeowner enters into a purchase agreement with a buyer.

Click here for a list of participating lenders and loan servicers.

: Carlsbad Real Estate, Home Selling Tips, Oceanside Real Estate, San Diego Real Estate, Short Sale
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The importance of curb appeal

July 23, 2010

Curb appeal can make the difference between a sale and no sale when marketing your home for sale in today’s market. Most home buyers over estimate the cost to clean up, repair, or replace a homes undesired exterior features so it’s important to take away that factor when marketing your home. When a potential home-buyer is viewing homes in a neighborhood they are constantly comparing every home they view against each other.

I had a client once who was searching for homes in a certain school zone. There were quite a few to choose from but this couple fell in love with one particular model. There happened to be 3 of this particular home model available for sale all with different features. I will call them Home A, Home B, and Home C. Home C was on a standard lot with neighbors on both sides and Homes A & B were on corner lots which was appealing to the buyers. Homes A & B had identical features and amenities inside, aside from the color schemes. The front exteriors were landscaped in a similar fashion but Home A had a permitted but unfinished patio cover and no rear landscaping. Home B did not have a patio cover but had a simple but well maintained rear yard but was priced almost 100K more than home A. Guess which home did they chose (against my advise)?

Home B! The overpriced property with the well maintained yard. Their reasoning…the color of the paint on the inside and they thought the rear yard was going to be too much to landscape and finish! Mind you these were 7000sf lots, not half acres or anything. The cost to finish the patio and landscape the rear yard in Home A in a similar fashion to Home B would have been well under $8000 if done by a professional. Interior paint job by a professional would have been less than $6000 and they could have chosen their favorite colors. Essentially, they paid roughly $86,000 for a $16,000 job.

Now, I’m not suggesting you list your San Diego home $100,ooo more than the guy down the street because your landscaping is better, I’m just making a point that curb appeal makes a huge impact on buyers. This is a very rare circumstance that happened.

If you’re looking to sell your San Diego home, here are a few suggestions for making your home more appealing for potential home buyers with these quick and easy tips:

Trim bushes, so they don’t block windows or architectural details.

Mow the lawn, and turn on the sprinklers for 10 minutes prior to a showing to make the lawn sparkle.

Put a pot of bright flowers (or a small evergreen in winter) on the porch.

Edge the grass around the walkways and trees.

Keep your garden tools and hoses out of sight.

Clear toys from the lawn – front and back.

If your mailbox looks untidy, replace it.

Upgrade outside lighting.

Make sure the doorbell works and is clean.

Replace the doormat for the outside of the front door.

Clean the windows, inside and outside.

Polish or replace your house number and make sure it is visible from the street. Even in the evening time.

Place a seasonal wreath on your front door.

: Home Selling Tips
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Some Things to Know About Title Insurance

July 19, 2010

Title insurance protects the homeowner from any losses sustained from defects in the title. It’s required by most mortgage lenders. Here are five other things you should know about title insurance.

It protects your ownership right to your San Diego home, both from fraudulent claims against your ownership and from mistakes made in earlier sales, such as mistake in the spelling of a person’s name or an inaccurate description of the property.

It’s a one-time cost usually based on the price of the property. It is customary in San Diego county that the Buyer pays for the “Lender” policy and the Seller pays for the “Owners” policy but can be negotiated differently.

There are both lender title policies, which protect the lender, and owner title policies, which protect you. The lender will probably require a lender policy.

Discounts on premiums are sometimes available if the home has been bought within only a few years since not as much work is required to check the title. Ask the title company if this discount is available.

If you are purchasing a piece of San Diego real estate as an investment purchase with the intent to sell the property shortly after the purchase, be sure to ask the title company for a “binder” with your policy as this will save you money when you go to resell.

: Home Selling Tips
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Good Smells, Bad Smells

July 17, 2010

How does your San Diego home smell? It might be worth an extra sniff because buyers certainly will take notice.

Sensory research shows that the smell of a home can affect a person’s mood, according to Terry Molnar, executive director of The Sense of Smell Institute, a New York – based organization that focuses on the importance of smell to human psychology, behavior, and quality of life.

A light floral fragrance can put people in a more pleasant mood, while citrus scents, such as lemon and grapefruit, tend to have an energizing effect, he says. “Vanilla is one scent that’s universal around the globe,” Molnar says. “People find it comforting and relaxing.”

But be careful: When you add smells to  your San Diego home, it can be viewed as an attempt to cover up a bad odor. And if that’s the intent, it can make the problem worse.

So what if you do need to get rid of a bad smell? Here are some ideas from home staging professionals:

Take the trash out. It’s simple, but it can make a big difference. When your San Diego home is being shown, empty the garbage often.

Snuff out the smoke. Eliminate all smoking inside and even outside, particularly when the doors or windows are open. An ionizer can help remove smoke smells.

Watch the cooking. The smell of lamb, broccoli, garlic, fish, and eggs can stick around long after the food has been eaten.

Wash Fido. Pets can be a big source of smells. Limit the pet to an outdoor area or a certain room in your house that can be regularly cleaned. Also, clean the pet’s bedding regularly and if you have cats be sure to clean the litter box.

: Home Selling Tips
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