Ask Chris
Chris Hallmark
The People's Home Mortgage
908-461-0865
challmark@peopleshomemortgagecorp.com
May 2009: First Impressions are Worth a Thousand Dollars.
So, I'm a clutter freak. I can admit it. I collect all types of things and when I go home, I think about how much I would have to put away if I ever put my house on the market. As a realtor, I see a lot of houses in different shapes, sizes, and in different locations, yet one thing remains constant in my industry: A Clean House Sells. I cannot tell you how important it is to put your best foot forward when you are thinking about listing and marketing your home. A buyer's first impression is often the impression he or she relies on when making a decision to buy.
Let's start with curb appeal: Trim the hedges; keep the lawn trimmed, remove garbage, clean the windows, power wash the siding, plant new flowers, and brighten up the door with seasonal themes. Do whatever it take to welcome the buyer. It almost feel like this is a no brainer, but I say it day in and day out to more than one seller. Yes, selling your home is a daunting task. That's just one of the reasons you hire me. To make things easier on you.
Second, remove the clutter. Since I am a clutter prone, I know what it looks like: mail stacked up into neat piles, folded clothes outside of the closet, shoes around and underneath the beds, big furniture, book busting out of bookshelves, or simply not enough walking space and too much stuff everywhere and anywhere that doesn’t exactly go together like the clock from your trip to Iceland next to your African collection of dolls. It just doesn't go together. Even if your organized mess makes sense to you, it may not appeal to the next person looking to buy your home.
Then, remove the furniture that overwhelms or prevents easy flow. These are the furniture pieces that even you have to maneuver around or if you’re like me, you’ve crashed your baby toe one or to pieces one too many times. You’re supposed to be moving, so pack up only what you need to survive (Space Balls) and put the rest in storage.
Some people overreact when they hear the word staging. They think that staging encompasses a lot of work and for some people it might depending on what they do and how much atmosphere they are trying to create that doesn’t already exist. De-cluttering is a form of staging.
It's the one that I recommend because it is simple and cheap to do. De-cluttering won’t break your back. But, if you want top dollar for your home, start with a clean home. Remember first impressions are worth a thousand dollars.
April 2009: Values Changes Based On Market Confidence: 3 Motnhs is the New 6 Months
Is it 3 months or 6 months? If you are purchasing an owner occupied residential 1-4 family home and financing the purchase by mortgage, your bank or mortgage broker will require an opinion of real value often refered to as an appraisal, which could be different tha market value of the home.
Property valuers, appraisers, often use the sales comparison approached when evaluating 1-4 family owner occcupied homes, which is to say they look for comparable sales of similar homes up to 1 year or 12 months in the past to determine value.
That's how appraisals were done 1 maybe 2 years ago, not so now. Now the new benchmark number is 3 or possibily 6 months of sold inventory (houses) depending on the mortgage company. These days, it's typical to hear that this "comp" (comparable sale) is too old or no longer applies or it can no longer be used to establish value.
What this means to you and me as real estate professionals is that the mortgage market is making what some argue, a necessary adjustment to correct the ailing housing market. Rather than assess property at last year's prices or even prices from 6 months ago, banks are crutinizing each mortgage application and price opinion.
What this means for the seller and the buyer is that in order to have a meeting of the minds, if there is a mortgage involved, you'll have to satisfy the property appraiser as well with the most recent information. No two properties are identical and location is always different yet style, number of rooms, bedrooms sizes, number of bathrooms and where bathrooms are located in the home can play a key role in determining value.
For example, assuming you have two similar homes suchs as 3 bedrooms, 2 baths each within reasonable distance from each other and in the same side or section of town, bathroom location can make one home ore valuable than another. Consider this:
Home 1 has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, one on the 1st floor entry level and one on the second floor landing.
Home 2 has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, except one of the full bathrooms is in the basement.
An appraiser might suggest that house number 1 is more valuable than house number 2 because house number 2 has a below grade bathroom, which is less likely to be used. Morale of this story is market value changes and when it does, banks will make adjustments.
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