How to sell a home in 2008

How to Sell
A Home in 2008


By Amy Hoak
From MarketWatch
If you're planning to sell a home in 2008, it's time to start thinking about how to make that home stand out from the rest.
But beware: Homeowners aren't able to recoup as many improvement costs as they did in recent years, according to a recent study by Remodeling magazine. In selling a home, "it's more important that it's neat, it's clean and it looks spacious, rather than making sure it's the top of the line," says Cheri Kuhn, owner of Waters Realty in Minnetonka, Minn.
"The thing I find with sellers -- if they do a lot of remodeling -- they will take the cost of the remodeling and add it to the cost of the home and ask the buyer to pay for it," she says. But often they're not going to get that higher price.
To keep costs down and remodel wisely, consider the following tips:
Ask for advice. When Ms. Kuhn first meets with clients -- sometimes six months before listing the home -- she'll make a list of improvements that will make a difference. Cleaning the carpets, painting the walls and removing wallpaper are common fixes -- if they're needed.
But prior to any remodeling, declutter your home and rent a storage unit if necessary to hold extra stuff while the home is on the market, says Shannon Aldrich, a Realtor in Maine and New Hampshire with Keller Williams Coastal Realty.
Dig deeper. It also could pay to look below the surface by getting a home inspection before listing the property. That way, problems that could hold up a sale are addressed in advance, says Dan Steward, president of Pillar to Post, a Tampa, Fla.-based home-inspection company. Some estimate that for every dollar of perceived defect, buyers want a $2 to $3 discount, Mr. Steward says. If that's true, it might pay to spend $2,500 replacing an old furnace.
If there's a problem with an essential element of the house, Ms. Kuhn says, a buyer might think "if that was neglected, what else was?"
Look outside: Pay attention to exterior details such as the condition of siding and windows, Ms. Aldrich says. According to Remodeling magazine, a wood window replacement recovers an average 81% of cost at resale and a siding replacement recovers an average 83%, some of the best payoffs in the survey.
Spend time in the bathroom. Freshening up the bathroom doesn't have to be expensive, but can be important. "People will put up with a lot of cosmetic challenges in a house if they know they could use the bathroom right away," Ms. Aldrich says. It's important for the bathroom to be clean, but also consider replacing cracked tiles, as well as the sink and the toilet -- if they need it, she adds. A toilet, for example, can cost less than $250.
Keep it small in the kitchen: Remodeling magazine found that homeowners could recover 83% of the cost of a minor kitchen remodel at resale compared with 78% of a major kitchen remodeling. Ms. Kuhn cautions her clients not to replace refrigerators, stoves or dishwashers. Buyers considering remodeling the kitchen will likely have their own preferences.
Along those same lines, replace a countertop if it's crumbling but not if its only fault is that it's outdated, Ms. Kuhn says. Even then, seriously consider material costs -- there's no need to update to granite unless the competition has granite countertops as well

Ocean Shores, Washington - A Family Resort

Ocean Shores Washington – A Family Resort.
Ocean Shores, Washington began as a highly touted real estate development, but over the years it has settled into a fine family resort town on the central coast of Washington State.
The 6,000 acre peninsula is just 75 miles west of the state capitol of Olympia and only 132 miles to Seattle and 165 miles to Portland Oregon. Ocean Shores is Washington’s most visited seaside destination.
This recreational paradise offers 6 miles of accessible sandy beaches completely open to the public, a 5-mile fresh water lake with 23 miles of interconnecting canals, community club with an indoor swimming pool, 6 parks with 2 outdoor swimming pools, hotels, restaurants, shops, 18-hole championship golf course & driving range, small airport and several Washington state parks nearby. All properties feature water, sewer and power in the streets
The ocean is cold and the riptides are legendary, as are the 12 foot tidal surges that typically sweep the shore in July and December. The dramatic seascape is incredible, particularly during winter storms and, even though swimming is out, beachcombing is most definitely in at any time of the year. This is the place for bird-watching, and for collecting agates and sand dollars.
Ocean Shore’s other claim to fame is the Vegas-style Quinault Casino, compliments of the northwest Indian tribes indigenous to the area, it offers not just another casino, but a full-fledged Ocean Shores hotel with a family-friendly resort atmosphere, spa, several dining options and some of the best live entertainment offered in western Washington.
Olympic National Park and the Rain Forest is just a day trip away, making Ocean Shores the ideal headquarters for your road trip to the Pacific Northwest.

Home Buyer Mistakes to Avoid

Home Buyer Mistakes to Avoid
By Robert J. Bruss
Content provided by
Today, a house or condo purchase is not just the acquisition of your own home. If you do everything right, you will probably buy your best investment ever.

In other words, a home purchase should be both a place to live and a great investment. For most people, their home purchase is their largest lifetime investment.

But many home buyers make major, costly mistakes. Here's how to avoid the most significant errors:

Home buyer mistake #1: Shop for a home before you shop for a mortgage.
According to a recent National Association of Realtors survey, more than 70 percent of today's home buyers start their search on the Internet, usually at www.realtor.com. Those searches lead to contacts with local real estate agents.

Another way many home buyers begin their quest is visiting weekend open houses held by listing agents. Buyers also contact realty agents about homes advertised in the newspaper.

While it's fun to shop for a home using these methods, the smartest home buyers first shop for a mortgage to finance their purchase. Then they know the maximum home loan they can obtain. Surprisingly, many home buyers can afford to buy a better home than they anticipated.

Mortgage lenders are eager to issue written pre-approval letters or certificates to prospective home buyers. Usually, there is no charge. The reason is lenders know after you have their mortgage pre-approval, you are unlikely to shop among other lenders.

Expect the mortgage lender to carefully check your loan application, including obtaining a credit report, FICO (Fair, Isaac and Co.) credit score, and checking income before issuing a mortgage pre-approval. Most pre-approvals are contingent on appraisal of the home you want to buy and re-verification of your credit and income.

But don't confuse a written mortgage pre-approval by an actual lender with a pre-qualification, which is just an opinion that you probably can get a mortgage. Pre-approvals are only issued by actual mortgage lenders, such as banks and mortgage bankers, but mortgage brokers can obtain these pre-approvals from a variety of lenders.

Home buyer mistake #2: Rush to buy a home without carefully researching the local home sales market.
Real estate agents love working with out-of-town home buyers who are in a hurry to buy a home to relocate for employment. These buyers often make quick decisions, to their later regret, because they didn't carefully check neighborhood alternatives, school district quality and local crime rates.

Home buyer mistake #3: Buy a home with an incurable defect.
Whether you are considering a brand-new house or condominium, or a resale home, no residence is perfect.

I learned that truth many years ago from a city building inspector. After we became friends, he revealed some of the defects he saw in brand-new houses that weren't building code violations so he had to approve those properties.

Fortunately, most homes don't have incurable defects. These obvious problems (called "economic obsolescence" by appraisers) include a bad floor plan, poor location (such as near a noisy freeway or adjacent to the city dump), heavy street traffic and lack of adequate parking.

Home buyer mistake #4: Failure to have your own buyer's agent
Most home buyers don't understand the importance of having their own real estate agent looking out for their best interests.

Many buyers meet a home listing agent when they inspect a weekend open house. If they purchase that house, the listing agent obviously represents the home seller, although the agent can also act as a "dual agent" for both buyer and seller. But that is an inherent conflict of interest.

A far better alternative is for each home buyer to have his/her own agent looking out for the buyer's best interests. Any licensed real estate agent can act as your buyer's agent (unless that agent works at the same brokerage as the listing agent). Some buyer's agents require signing an exclusive buyer's agency contract. However, most do not.

Home buyer mistake #5: Failure to insist your buyer's agent prepare a comparative market analysis (CMA) before you make your purchase offer.
Before making a home purchase offer, the smartest home buyers insist their buyer's agents prepare a written CMA.

This form shows recent sales (not asking) prices of comparable neighborhood homes, asking prices of similar nearby homes now listed for sale, and even the asking prices of recently expired listings of neighborhood homes that didn't sell (usually because they were overpriced).

The CMA form is the same information the listing agent presented to the seller when the asking price was set. But the local market values may have gone up or down since then. You can be sure, when your purchase offer is presented to the home seller, your buyer's agent will use the new CMA to justify your offer price.

Without the facts in an updated CMA, any purchase offer you make is a blind guess. It might be above market value, or it might be below current market value.

Home buyer mistake #6: Failure to include reasonable contingency clauses in your purchase offer.
Some home buyers, especially in a very competitive local market, are told by their buyer's agents not to include any contingency clauses in their purchase offers. This well-meant advice can be very risky for the buyer.

At a minimum, home buyers should include in their written purchase offers contingency clauses for (a) a satisfactory appraisal of the home for at least the offered purchase price, and (b) a professional home inspection. Additional contingency clauses might provide for customary local inspections, such as a termite (pest control) inspection clearance, building code compliance, energy efficiency and radon test.

Conclusion
Buying a house or condominium is a major personal purchase as well as a long-term investment. Home buyers who understand how to avoid major mistakes will feel confident and make sound decisions.

7 Ways to Get Rid of Pet Odors

When a house you’re trying to sell smells like a pet, there are some tactics that can improve the odor situation. Don Aslett, owner of Varsity Contractors, offers up these tips for identifying the source of the smell and then eliminating it:

Use a fluorescent black light (pet-supply stores sell them), to expose odor-producing spots on the carpet, couch, floorboards and even on drapes.

Remove all solids and blot up as much liquid as possible with a clean towel. Apply an appropriate odor neutralizer or cleaner according to directions.

Never use ammonia, which takes on the smell of what it's supposed to be cleaning, can trigger more accidents.

Choose the best product to remove the problem. On water-safe surfaces, try Simple Solution stain and odor remover. The problem area must be thoroughly soaked and left to dry.

Bramton's Oxy Solution Pet Stain and Odor Destroyer can remove odors and stains from surfaces that won’t withstand soaking, but test first in an out-of-the way place.

The most effective and safest disinfectant for use around pets is Chlorhexidine, which is sold under such names as Nolvasan, Chlorasan and Chlorhex by veterinarians and medical-supply outlets. Use these for problems that demand deep cleaning.

When all else fails, temporarily neutralize odors using a product such as Fresh Wave.
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sarah Casey Newman (03/10/2007)