12 Quick Tips On Selling Your House

Thank you for visiting the official blog of CashNowForYourHome.com. If you are new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed by clicking the link in the upper right-hand corner of this page that says, "Subscribe to this Blog". Thanks for visiting us!

Posted by O Donnell T

You’re going to sell your home. You could go at it bald-headed, or think for a bit. Imagine you were a potential buyer; what would be foremost in your mind?

Here are some simple and inexpensive ways to get the best price possible:

1 - Determine the fair market value for your house.

The best way to sell your home is by having the right price. Buyers will be looking for a deal. You might be looking to make some money but don’t over-price your home. Doing so will ensure you don’t sell it right away. A home that sits on the market too long is unappealing. This makes people afraid to buy it.

2 - The front of the house is where the first impression starts.

If you want to sell your home, make the front look perfect. Start with the outside. Lawns should be well mown and landscaped. There should be nothing to distract the eye from its best features. Tidy, clean, uniform and pretty should be your watchwords. The first look will sway buyers towards or away from your home.

3 - Remove your personal items.

Most lived-in homes have pictures and items of sentimental value. Remove them when the home is being shown. Buyers don’t want to be attached to your memories. They will want to see the quality of the walls, not your pictures of your family or your knick-knacks.

4 - Clear out clutter.

Every home has clutter. If you’re showing your home, do your best to remove yours. Remove anything you don’t need. Pre-pack and place the packed items in storage. Then buyers can have a better look into their potential property.

5 - Keep colours neutral.

Spruce up a home before sale by painting it. Paint your home in neutral colours. People will shy away from a home with highly coloured walls. They may not like your colour choices. Buyers do not want to paint the minute they move in. Most look for colours they can live with or mould around their decorations.

6 - Keep your kitchens and bathrooms in good shape.

Homebuyers pay special attention to these two rooms. They must be spotless. Keep the rooms well lit. If you have newer appliances and plan to leave them, have buyers check them out. They will be more interested in these special incentives.

7 - Never apologise for your home.

Your home is what it is. You should not apologise for that. By apologising, you give the buyer a reason to consider another home. If you are not proud of your home why would they want to be? If your home has problems, then offer solutions. Never apologise for what is yours.

8 - Work with your agent, not against them.

Help your real estate agent to sell your home. Give them the information they need and step back. Don’t go behind their back and try to sell your home. All showings should go through the agent. They have the experience to get the job done. If they didn’t you would not have hired them.

9 - Only show by appointment.

If you want to see serious buyers you should have them screened. Many sellers only allow showings to pre-qualified buyers. Your agent can set this up. They will weed out the dilettantes. If a buyer shows up without an appointment, give them your agent’s card. Have them set one up.

10 - Sell before you need to.

No one can give you a definite time frame to sell your home. You should put it up for sale before you plan to move. Putting the home up for sale three to six months before you plan to move gives you leeway. Once you have a serious offer you can begin looking for your new home. You won’t have to worry about trying to offload your home quickly. You will get the price you deserve, not the price you must settle for.

11 - Advertise.

This should be your realtor’s job. He should have an advertising plan. Find out what it is before you sign a contract. Make sure your home is listed in as many places as possible. A good price won’t help sell your home if no one knows it’s for sale.

12 - Remove emotion from the sale.

You have fond memories of your home. The buyer will not. They will notice every flaw. They will not care about your reason for selling. They will care about making a deal. Make sure when you look at offers you do so rationally. Don’t let emotions rule your sale.

In your mind, have already kissed your house goodbye, and take your wonderful memories with you. This will make the sale easier. In the end, realise that a house is a material thing, and that all such things are transient.

Article source: ContentLog.com

Author Description
T. O’ Donnell runs entrepreneur, real estate, and webmaster sites in London, UK.

Receive a hassle-free offer on your property today!

Bookmark this page:

How Do I Figure Out What My House Is Worth?

Thank you for visiting the official blog of CashNowForYourHome.com. If you are new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed by clicking the link in the upper right-hand corner of this page that says, "Subscribe to this Blog". Thanks for visiting us!

Posted by Loucks Jason

Ever wonder how much your house is worth, but is overwhelmed by the process? Don’t worry, you’re not alone.

I’ve gotten the exact question so many times, that I’ve decided to answer the question as thoroughly and completely as possible.

The easiest way to figure out the value is to check the "comps" — or comparable properties that have sold recently. That is- how much have similar (comparable) homes sold for recently?

One great resource is Zillow.Com- it’s a great site to check what homes have sold recently, and Zillow.Com will even give you their own "guess" as to what the property is worth, even show you an aerial picture.

But be careful- DON’T TRUST ZILLOW’S VALUE! Just use them to tell you what other homes have sold for recently. If there are plenty of sales, all within a particular price range, then apply this little formula:

Comps Formula

1. Houses that have sold within 1 year
2. Houses that are within 20% of the same square footage

Now simply average the remaining sales, and voila- you have your comparable value! Now, without actually seeing the "comparable" houses, you don’t know if it’s actually comparable- you’ll have to go look to be absolutely sure, but this is a simple "guideline" price.

If you have a property where the comps vary in value by a LOT, you have to do one additional step. Here’s the breakdown of how to determine the value of a property with values all over the map (like the one you’re dealing with).

First, get a list of recent sales within 1 mile of the subject property. Here’s one I pulled from zillow for a student’s property. It might be a little over a mile, I had to guess from looking at a map):

The result:

XXX Leeward Ln 3 2.0 1,386, 1969 SF 09/01/1992
968 Leeward Ln $32,752, 3 2.0 1,386 — 1981 SF 10/05/2006
9393 Windy Ct $110,700, 3 2.0 1,922 — 1976 SF 12/28/2006
9396 Ridgewood Ter $120,000, 3 2.0 1,640 — 1986 SF 09/21/2006
767 Four Winds Ln $114,600, 3 2.0 750 — 2000 SF 01/12/2007
9429 Citrus Ct $102,000, 3 2.0 1,515 — 1985 SF 01/30/2007
9479 Bywood Ct $86,000, 3 2.0 1,484 — 1986 SF 12/14/2006

Ok, so now, you have to eliminate anything more than 20% bigger or smaller than the subject property. That means, for this 1386sf example, 1,108 - 1,663 square feet are the comps.

So that leaves:

The result:

XXX Leeward Ln 3 2.0 1,386 — 1969 SF 09/01/1992
968 Leeward Ln $32,752, 3 2.0 1,386 — 1981 SF 10/05/2006
9396 Ridgewood Ter $120,000, 3 2.0 1,640 — 1986 SF 09/21/2006
9429 Citrus Ct $102,000, 3 2.0 1,515 — 1985 SF 01/30/2007
9479 Bywood Ct $86,000, 3 2.0 1,484 — 1986 SF 12/14/2006
9530 Autumn Ct $105,900, 3 2.0 1,536 — 1986 SF 02/05/2007
9274 Brown Rd $235,975, 3 1.0 1,414 766,656 1953 SF 02/21/2007

From 21 properties, now we’re down to eleven. Now, take the highest and the lowest sales price, and eliminate them. That means the $32,752 sale and the $235,975 sale are gone, so we’re left with:

The result:

XXX Leeward Ln 3 2.0 1,386 — 1969 SF 09/01/1992
9396 Ridgewood Ter $120,000, 3 2.0 1,640 — 1986 SF 09/21/2006
9429 Citrus Ct $102,000, 3 2.0 1,515 — 1985 SF 01/30/2007
9479 Bywood Ct $86,000, 3 2.0 1,484 — 1986 SF 12/14/2006
9530 Autumn Ct $105,900, 3 2.0 1,536 — 1986 SF 02/05/2007
9583 Briar Creek Ln $132,000, 3 2.0 1,408 — 1983 SF 01/26/2007
9581 Washington Cir $161,600, 4 2.5 1,140 — 1999 SF 02/05/2007

Now, two things need to happen. First, average all of these, and you’ll have a pretty good estimate of value. In fact, this is just about how an appraiser would start.

Average Sales Price: $126,500

Second thing that needs to happen now, is you would need to go look at the so-called comps, and see if they are actually comparable. That’s what an appraiser would do.

Now, for purposes of knowing whether or not to follow up on a deal, you don’t have to do that. Just run the comps, + or - 20%, knock off the highest and the lowest, and average them.

But, once you decide to do a particular deal, AFTER you sign up the deal with the seller, while you’re still in the neighborhood, go look at those addresses and decide which are true comps.

So, let’s imagine that Sedgwick Dr, Castlebrook Dr and Washington Cir are NOT comparable because they are much newer, built in the last 8 years instead of 1969 like the subject property.

Then the average value of the older homes, once those three are removed, would be:

The result:

XXX Leeward Ln 3 2.0 1,386 — 1969 SF 09/01/1992
9396 Ridgewood Ter $120,000, 3 2.0 1,640 — 1986 SF 09/21/2006
9429 Citrus Ct $102,000, 3 2.0 1,515 — 1985 SF 01/30/2007
9479 Bywood Ct $86,000, 3 2.0 1,484 — 1986 SF 12/14/2006
9530 Autumn Ct $105,900, 3 2.0 1,536 — 1986 SF 02/05/2007
9583 Briar Creek Ln $132,000, 3 2.0 1,408 — 1983 SF 01/26/2007
823 Four Winds Ln $120,000, 3 2.0 1,594 — 1984 SF 01/03/2007

Average Value (Eliminating Newer Homes): $110,983

Of course, that last example is a hypothetical, you won’t know until you go and look, but you can do just the true "comps search" FIRST, just to see if there’s any reason to even get involved.

Article source: ContentLog.com

Author Description
Jason Loucks, following conventional wisdom, built up a significant portfolio of rental properties, and very quickly mastered the art and science of retailing properties for Cash NOW through his 7 Day Sale Guy system. -http://www.7daysaleguy.com

Receive a hassle-free offer on your property today!

Bookmark this page:

Bankruptcies surge despite law meant to curb them

Thank you for visiting the official blog of CashNowForYourHome.com. If you are new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed by clicking the link in the upper right-hand corner of this page that says, "Subscribe to this Blog". Thanks for visiting us!

AP Enterprise: Bankruptcies are surging despite law that made them tougher and more expensive

Mike Baker, Associated Press Writer
Monday April 13, 2009, 6:40 pm EDT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- The number of U.S. businesses and individuals declaring bankruptcy is rising with a vengeance amid the recession, despite a three-year-old federal law that made it much tougher for Americans to escape their debts, an Associated Press analysis found.

"There's no end in sight," said bankruptcy lawyer Bryan Elliott of Hickory, N.C., who is working seven days a week and scheduling prospective clients a month in advance. "To be doing this well and having this much business, it is depressing. It's not a laugh-a-minute job."

Nearly 1.2 million debtors filed for bankruptcy in the past 12 months, according to federal court records collected and analyzed by the AP. Last month, 130,831 sought bankruptcy protection -- an increase of 46 percent over March 2008 and 81 percent over the same month in 2007.

Bob Lawless, a professor at the University of Illinois College of Law, said bankruptcies could reach 1.5 million this year and level off at 1.6 million next year -- around the same time economists expect an economic recovery to begin.

Congress voted in 2005 to make bankruptcy more cumbersome after years of intense lobbying from the nation's lenders, who complained that people were abusing the system. Before the move to change the law, bankruptcies were running at what was then an all-time high of about 1.6 million per year.

The tighter requirements initially appeared to work, with bankruptcies plummeting from a record-shattering 2 million cases in 2005 -- a total that reflected a rush to file before the new law took effect -- to 600,000 in 2006. But now bankruptcies are booming again.

"You wouldn't get this large of a rise without serious problems in the economy," said Lynn LoPucki, a UCLA law professor who researches bankruptcy.

The bankruptcy rate is climbing as well. In the past 12 months, about four people or businesses for every 1,000 people in the country filed for bankruptcy, according to the AP analysis. That is twice the rate in 2006, and close to the average of about five for every 1,000 in the decade leading up to the change in the law.

Lawless said the shame of bankruptcy may have eased somewhat in recent years, but added, "It's still a very stigmatizing, traumatic event for most everyone who files."

Previous recessions also drove people to bankruptcy court, though those increases were more moderate. Bankruptcies went up 19 percent amid the economic contraction in 2001, and about 15 percent during the recession of the early 1980s, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

Bankruptcy is considered a lagging economic indicator, since it is generally a last resort. The filings compiled by the AP illustrate the places where the economic meltdown has hit hardest.

In March, bankruptcy filings jumped the highest across the West. In Arizona, filings rose 91 percent from a year ago. They were up 84 percent in Idaho, 82 percent in California and 79 percent in Nevada, though those were trumped by Delaware, home to many large corporations, which saw a 127 percent jump.

Emory Clark, an Atlanta bankruptcy attorney who has been in the business for 25 years, said he is seeing more affluent people, many who have lost their jobs.

"There's something about human nature or American culture, but people hate filing for bankruptcy," Clark said. "It really is a stamp of failure. Nobody wants to come in here and pay us money to file. They are forced in because of circumstances."

Kathy Stevens of Vista, Calif., opened a tea and coffee boutique in August 2007, and it grew steadily. Then enrollment started to fall at a nearby mom-and-tot gym her customers frequented, and her business took a hit. The gym finally closed in the fall.

Stevens and her husband spent more than $35,000 to keep the boutique afloat, drawing on their own money and donations from family. After working from 6 a.m. until almost 10 p.m., seven days a week for months on end, Stevens realized her store would not survive. The couple filed for bankruptcy two weeks ago.

"You feel bad, because you never set out to do this," Stevens said. "We're trying to put it behind us and lick our wounds and move on."

Under the 2005 law, Congress imposed higher fees on those seeking bankruptcy and began requiring credit counseling sessions and a means test to assess debtors' ability to pay what they owed.

Lawless, the Illinois law professor, said his research found that the law simply increased the cost of filing by 50 percent and led many more people to cling to false hope longer.

Many filers take a credit counseling class just a day before turning to the courts.

Also, the law's test of a person's ability to pay off debts appears to have failed at one of its goals: steering debtors from Chapter 7, which allows people to sell off their assets to repay what they can and start again debt-free, and into Chapter 13, which places the filer in a repayment plan that can last for years. Chapter 7 cases accounted for 69 percent of all filings in the past year, compared with 71 percent in 2004.

Lawless argued that only a tiny number of people were abusing the system before the 2005 shift, and that the law punishes those who genuinely need help.

"The point of the bankruptcy system is to give the honest but unfortunate debtor a fresh start," Lawless said. "The fact that people are waiting longer to file shows just how mean-spirited the law is."

Receive a hassle-free offer on your property today!

Bookmark this page:

MakingHomeAffordable.gov

Thank you for visiting the official blog of CashNowForYourHome.com. If you are new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed by clicking the link in the upper right-hand corner of this page that says, "Subscribe to this Blog". Thanks for visiting us!

The government set up a website to help people who are behind on the payments. The name of the website is MakingHomeAffordable.gov.

Receive a hassle-free offer on your property today!

Bookmark this page: