Listing & Selling

Freshen up your home with neutral colors

Most home sellers know it’s a good idea to “freshen up” their house before they put it on the market. And they probably know that one of the least expensive changes they can make that produces positive results is painting. There’s nothing like a fresh coat of paint to really make a room look fresh and new.

But be careful. While you may have exquisite style, your potential home buyer probably has their own sense of style. In fact, they will most likely personalize and paint the rooms to their own preferences regardless of what you have done.

That’s why real estate agents and home staging professionals highly encourage using neutral colors like white, cream and beige. Yes, these colors are a bit boring. And yes, your home could probably look even better if only the dining room was painted in “baking stone” red. But color is subjective, so if you’re going to put in the time and effort to paint your home, it’s best to stick with neutrals.

Keep in mind we all have different visions, and many buyers have specific furniture in mind when buying. So neutral colors make the best match. They also reflect the most light and make most rooms appear larger.

What is Your Shrubbery Saying About Your Home?

Unkempt shrubbery and greenery can give a potential home buyer the impression that your home has been neglected. Even if they don’t outright notice it, there’s a good chance it left a negative impression at some level.

An even worse scenario for a home seller is a potential home buyer who observes your unkempt shrubbery and greenery and doesn’t even bother to view your home because they assume the rest of the property has not been well-maintained. Your home could be a “10″ on the inside but no one will ever know because the outside said “don’t bother.”

To make sure this doesn’t happen to you, keep your shrubs and other greenery trimmed and well-shaped so the overall impression you make is that your yard and home have been well-maintained. For an eye-pleasing affect, try to groom the shrubbery so it visually lines up with other plants, landscaping and other yard decorations.

If your shrubbery and greenery becomes so overwhelming that it makes entering the home a challenge, or makes the interior of the home dark, you should consider removing it altogether. Over-sized shrubbery and plants can dwarf the home and make it look smaller, and even create safety concerns.

You can probably spruce up your yard’s shrubbery and greenery over the course of a single weekend, and you should do this. If you can’t do it yourself, hire a professional to do it. They’ll probably charge from $25 to $50 per hour, but this small investment will help get your home sold.

Just keep in mind an attractive and well-maintained property will get sold faster. And note that many buyers will not even consider a property that has obvious maintenance problems even before they make an offer. A little effort up front can make all the difference.

Garage Doors Important to Home’s Curb Appeal

One thing you can do to really give your home curb appeal is to update or upgrade your garage doors, especially if you have two or more stalls. On many modern designs, garage doors are up front and central, and often a focal point due to the fact that they can take up a significant portion of the front exterior of your home.

Unlike days of old, garages are now built to match the style of the house. The garage is an important aspect of the home, whether it’s attached or detached, so getting this right can really improve the look of your property.

Fortunately, there are beautiful replacement doors for most popular types of doors, including sectional, roller, side-hung and up-and-over doors. The prices vary, so it’s best to consider how you plan to use the garage before replacing the doors. For example, if you plan to have a workshop in the garage, you may want to consider a door with insulation, and possibly windows. And, of course, you need to determine how much room you have as some doors require more space to operate.

Garage doors are usually made of steel or wood, and common styles include raised panel, recessed panel, ranch and flush designs. In addition, you can order smooth or grooved panels, decorative inserts and standard glass inserts, as well as custom or architectural designs. Obviously, the more custom the door, the more it will cost. But, if your garage is highly visible from the street, it may be worth paying a little more.

Steel garage doors are available in thousands of colors, so you should be able to find a suitable match. You have even more options with wood doors, allowing you to match the type of wood, color, style and finishes. Note that wood doors will require more maintenance than steel doors. In either case, the right garage doors will greatly enhance your home’s curb appeal.

3 solutions to your closet nightmare!

Is your closet so full and disorganized that it has essentially become a useless waste of space? Do you have shoes or clothes from the last century stored away in there? Do you waste a lot of time looking for things in your closet because it’s so messy?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you’re not alone. For many people, the closet becomes a dumping ground for anything and everything, and soon becomes so disorganized you don’t even know what’s in there. Well, fortunately you can clean up the situation with these simple solutions.

But first, if you don’t have an adequate closet organization system — such as shelves, shoe stands, hooks, baskets or drawers — go invest in what you need. It doesn’t have to be expensive, just functional. Now, depending on the size of your closet and amount of clutter, choose the best closet solution for you and get to work.

1. Take everything out of the closet, slowly go through it, and after careful consideration only put back things you really want or need. If you haven’t worn clothing or a jacket or a pair of shoes in the past 12 to 18 months, you probably don’t need it. If it’s broken and you haven’t repaired it yet, take it to a repair shop or get rid of it. Sure, there are certain items you don’t use often but still need, such as a rain coat or umbrella, but for the other stuff — sell it, donate it or throw it away.
2. If you have a very large closet or storage room, tackle the problem in sections. Visually break up the closet space into four sections, and go through each section — one at a time — as described above. By using this method, you can take care of a big chore over several days and end up with a well-organized closet.
3. Make organizing your closet part of your house cleaning regimen, just like vacuuming, dusting and cleaning the bathroom. By adding “organize the closet” to your chore list, your closet will stay functional and won’t turn into a wasteland for the unwanted.

By keeping your closet organized, you will save time, get better use out the items you keep, and spare yourself the frustration that comes from a cluttered lifestyle. Just because something is “still good” or “barely worn” doesn’t mean it has to clutter up your closet. Just let it go now — and in a few short days, or less — you won’t ever think about it again.

If you have any friends or family that need a real estate agent in the Lewisville, Flower Mound, Highland Village , including the general Dallas area, any referrals will be greatly appreciated.

Check out this staging video. Good Info for sellers!

Here is a new Home Office Makeover

5 Tips to Staging Your Home Like a Professional

Are you considering putting your house up for sale, but not sure where to start? Afraid it will take too long to sell, or that you won’t get the price you want? If this is the case, you should definitely think about “staging” your home — or in other words — setting the scene for immediate buyer interest. Following are five tips to get you started:

1. De-clutter — This is one of the most important things you can do. It might be easier to think of de-cluttering like this: You’re moving anyway, so why not start packing now?
2. Storage — Pack up everything you don’t need and store the boxes out of sight in the garage, or better yet, an offsite storage facility.
3. Organize Your Closets — Put similar colors together, pants together, skirts together, shirts together, etc. Why? Because an organized closet looks bigger, and you want your closets to look as spacious as possible.
4. Make It Look Like a Model — You want to de-personalize as much as possible so potential buyers can imagine themselves and their own belongings occupying the space in your house. That means minimizing – putting away everything you don’t need or use. Clear off the kitchen counter and stash all appliances you don’t use on a daily basis.
5. Your the Buyer — Imagine yourself as a potential buyer looking at the property for the very first time. What impressions are you getting? Would you buy the house? What would you like to see changed before you put an offer on it?

Don’t worry about spending a few hundred, even thousands, of dollars to get your house ready to sell – you’ll likely get it all back, even more, when your home sells. Proper staging helps you sell your house in a shorter time and at the price you want.

How Much Should You Invest to Prepare Your Home

Most home sellers realize how important it is to properly prepare their home before putting it on the market, but with all the TV shows emphasizing cleaning up, remodeling and home staging, it might leave you wondering how much you’re going to need to spend.

The quick answer: Invest as little as possible to prepare your property for sale. Of course you should de-clutter, clean up and repair everything that needs fixing, but what about remodeling the bathroom? Or, putting new flooring in the dining room? Or landscaping? Yes, those upgrades will make your home stand out and help get it sold, but will they put more money in your pocket at close of escrow? Probably not.

The idea is to make your home as presentable as possible without spending any money that you won’t get back. If you invest $50 to thoroughly clean a bathroom, put new fixtures on the cabinets, and paint it, you’ll likely get that back plus some.

But, if you spend $15,000 on a bathroom remodel, only to get $12,000 back, that’s a losing proposition. You not only lost money, but you wasted time and effort with the remodel. And, even worse, a potential buyer may not like the choices you made.

When the time comes to sell your home, keep in mind you don’t have to spend a ton of money to make your home presentable. Just make each dollar count!

Common Closing Costs

If you have ever bought or sold a home, you’re probably aware of the costs associated with a real estate transaction. If you’re a first-time buyer, however, you might want to know what “closing costs” to expect. Keep in mind costs and fees vary from state to state, and there may be unique costs to your locality, but the following are pretty common:

* Escrow fees
* Property taxes
* Interest
* Loan origination fee
* Loan discount points
* Title insurance
* Survey fee
* Recording fee
* Document preparation fees
* First payment to escrow account for taxes
* First payment to escrow account for insurance
* Homeowners insurance
* Homeowner association fee
* Home inspection report
* Property appraisal

Once you pinpoint the home of your dreams, ask Phil and he will be able to give you a good estimate of anticipated costs.

Remove Any Favorite Items Before Listing

Obviously, sellers want their home to look its best when an agent is showing it to a potential buyer, but be careful not to put too much emphasis on anything that is not included in the sale price, for example, custom window coverings, chandeliers, audio-video equipment, the backyard playhouse, pool table, or the high-end washer and dryer you just bought a week ago.

If you pack up and store any important personal property before your home buyer knows about them, it won’t become a negotiable item, or worse, a deal breaker. So, before the showings begin, take a look around and consider what furnishings you want to keep. If it’s something you definitely want, remove it.

If your home doesn’t show as well because you removed the fancy light fixture over the dining room table or the kitchen looks empty because you took all the appliances, you might want to consider renting or buying an inexpensive replacement to fill the void.

Next Page »