With the coming of Spring is an increase in the number of people putting their home on the market. Some of them decide to go it alone at first — for those people, I offer these tips [originally by John Mayfield]  for selling your home smoothly.

1. Make a “I’ll Miss List!” There are several items you’ll probably miss when you leave your house.  These items are normally excellent marketing features to promote to potential buyers.  Take time to make note of the things you enjoy and will miss when the sale is completed and you’ve moved from your house.  Items you appreciate are items someone else will enjoy too! (This also gives you a good idea of what to look for in your new home.)
2. Know the Facts! Most buyers will have questions about taxes, lot size, utility costs and other pertinent information about your property.  It’s always a good idea to know the facts and to have this information available for potential consumers looking at your real estate.  Take time to research this information and have it readily available for buyers and or real estate agents.
3. Document Recent Repairs.  Most borrowers need to know about any recent updates or repairs or additions you’ve made to your home.  For example, a new roof, furnace or central air, hot water heater are all important to note.  If so, what was the cost, when was it installed and who did the work are all note worthy features to have for buyers and agents while selling your property.  Any items of repair or newly added during your tenure should be listed on a separate sheet if at all possible.  It’s also a good idea to furnish copies of paid receipts if you choose on the items repaired or installed with the property to validate these costs.  Sometimes placing this information in a binder is a good idea and marketing feature to show buyers and agents.
4. Replace Light Bulbs. Changing light bulbs to a higher wattage can be an aid in brightening rooms and giving a more spacious feel to your rooms.  Always check the light fixture and the maximum wattage and do not add bulbs above the recommended usage.  You can also add a drop of vanilla extract to bulbs on lamps to aid in providing a fresh smell to rooms if needed. It’s a little thing, but little things mean a lot.
5. Remove Any Heirlooms or Keepsakes. Many times sellers will want to keep certain items that have sentimental value to them such as a light fixture or wall mirror that has been affixed to the real property.  If you have an items that you plan to replace so you can keep then you should do so prior to any showings.  Once buyers visit your property and begin making offers to purchase on your property it’s generally hard to negotiate these items off of the offer to purchase.
6. Clean the Gutters and Add Extensions Where Needed.  You never know when your property may be shown and if it’s a day that is raining the last thing you want to portray is a house where the water is gushing over the gutters and downspouts.  Making sure the gutters are cleaned and extensions move the water away from your foundation is always a good idea for continued maintenance of your home and shows buyers your commitment to caring for your home and keeping it in tip top shape.
7. Hire a Building Inspection.  Let’s face it, you want to sell your home.  If so, it’s probably not a bad idea to have a building inspector look at your home and make a list of repairs or items they feel need to be fixed prior to marketing your property.  After all many homebuyers will have a home inspection too so this type of pre-inspection will help to get any potential problems a future inspector might have corrected in advance.  Many buyers will also get “cold” feet if the inspection shows too many needed repairs on their report.  By fixing these issues in advance you can ward off these potential future problems. (Don’t forget to save those receipts — see #3 above)
8. Don’t appear to Anxious! Many sellers will sometimes point out too many facts or features about the home and often sound too anxious or the need to sell quickly.  This attitude can hurt you with your negotiating with the buyers and often cost you several thousands of dollars.  You might note that this is one reason many sellers feel the need to hire a real estate agent to help with the negotiations with the buyers.
9. Know your market. Homes in Parkwood sell differently than homes in Woodcroft or Hope Valley Farms. Because of that, it’s a good idea to have a third party, such as a REALTOR perform a market analysis of your home and your local market.  This way you’ll know and feel certain that you are getting top dollar for your home.  According to the National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Buyers and Sellers, 2009 Edition, most for-sale-by-owners could have sold their homes for more money if they had been assisted by a real estate agent.
10. Contact Me If You Have Questions. If you do have any questions or concerns that arise in the near future please don’t hesitate to give me a call or email.  Although I am limited on what advice or help I can provide under our state real estate license law and rules and regulations I will be glad to assist on small or minor questions that are permissible.  If you decide to list your home in the future, I would love to help there too, just contact me!

As some of you know, I like to go to yard sales on Saturday morning. The weather was really nice this morning, so my son and I went out to see what we could find.

There were a lot of signs along the main roads [Woodcroft Parkway, Revere Road in Parkwood, Roxboro Road in Hope Valley Farms]. When we saw a sign, we would turn into the development to find the sale. All too often we would drive down to the end of the road and not see anything. That’s right, the address on the original sign was supposed to guide me all the way to the “big sale.”

Open Houses are a lot like yard sales. They are both “one time only” events that largely depend on signs to bring traffic in. A key element of the Weichert recipe is eight directional signs with balloons. We put them on the main road and make sure there is a part of signs that leads you right to the big event. For example, when I hold an Open House in Woodcroft, I put a sign at each end of Woodcroft Parkway [at Fayetteville Road and Hope Valley Road], a couple signs at the traffic circle, and a sign at every intersection between Woodcroft Parkway and the listing I was selling. I imagine you could get lost along the way, but it would have been really hard — we did everything but roll out a carpet for our prospects.

If you would like to hear more about a Weichert Open House, or just about how Weichert can help you sell your home quickly, for the most money, and the least hassle, please email me. Our Neighborhood Expertise is waiting to work for you.

One of the ways the Federal government is trying to reform the housing industry is by adding more structure to the closing transaction. In particular, HUD is requiring two new forms for all closings after January 1, 2010. Those new forms are;

The Good Faith Estimate. When one applies for a mortgage, the lender is expected to provide an estimate of the expenses and fees involved in getting the new mortgage. Starting in 2010 those estimates will be given on a standardized form – the Good Faith Estimate. This form lays out all the charges related to the loan and note which charges can not change, which can change a small amount, and which have no restrictions. By doing this, HUD hopes to make comparison shopping easier and to help consumers understand the loan they are applying for.

The second form is a revised Settlement Statement or HUD-1 form. The HUD-1 is given to the buyer and seller by the closing attorney prior to closing [supposedly 24 hours prior - usually about 30 minutes prior] and is the official record of where all the money comes from and where it ends up. The new form has a new section which compares the actual settlement costs to the Good Faith Estimate and a final section which spells out the details of the mortgage in relatively clear English.

Overall, these changes are pretty positive. They make good strides towards making the money trail in a closing clear and in making the estimates given by lenders mean something. They certainly aren’t perfect — for example the Good Faith Estimate doesn’t actually tell the borrower what the mortgage payment is — but I expect a couple of quick revisions will take care of the main points.

For a great review of the new forms, including some sample forms, take a look at the Virginia Association of Realtors website. Since the forms are Federal, their comments should also be valid here in NC.

[Thanks to Tina Merritt and the Trump Blog for pointing out the VAR site]

I’m experimenting with a marketing idea, and I’d like some feedback. I took some time this evening to make a blog for my house. You can find it here. Basically, it’s a place I plan on posting to maybe once a month or so as events happen. For example, I might post some pictures of the first [or only] snowfall this year, and some pictures of the Christmas tree and so on. I’ll also make sure to post some pictures of any major repairs/improvements.

The idea here is twofold. first of all, it lets me document all the repairs that went into the house. So when I want to sell the place in 2015, I won’t have to remember when I had that water heater replaced — I can look it up! Secondly, if I do it right, it can tell a good story. Think about it — how many times have you seen total crud sell on EBay for three or four times what it is worth because the seller told a good story about it? Now I have a product that is worth something, and a backstory that spans years.

So what do you think. Would a series of blog posts like make a home in Woodcroft or Hope Valley stand out? Could it call attention to those developments that don’t see a lot of sales like Villages of Cornwallis or Penrith? Or is this just a waste of time and self-indulgence? I’d like to hear your thoughts.