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Getting Your Luxury Home Ready To Sell in Frisco TX

Getting Your Luxury Home Ready to Sell 

You would never dream of inviting guests to your house without making certain preparations, so don't invite potential buyers without first making the necessary updates by preparing your home to sell. If you are like most sellers, you want to get as much as possible for your home and you want to do it as quickly as possible.

Letting Go

After you've lived in a house, it becomes much more than four walls and a ceiling. It's a home and it has a lot of good memories. Your first step to preparing your home to sell is to realize that you will take these memories with you wherever you go, but you won't be taking the house. It can be difficult to let go, but the task will be much easier if you start to think of it as a new beginning rather than an ending.

Cleaning House 

An important part of getting your home ready to sell is in staging the decor for potential buyers. When you stage a home, you create an environment that is free of any personal items, such as photos and/or anything that stands out as being customized for you or your family. When a potential buyer walks through your home, they need to envision their belongings and decor without being distracted by yours. While these items may be special to you, they could possibly prevent the buyer from being able to imagine their own style complimenting the home.

In addition to removing any personal items, make sure that you remove any clutter from the home. A clean home seems larger and more inviting, whereas a lot of stuff lying around could give the impression that the home is too small or cramped for storage. Pack up any knickknacks, remove your children's drawings from the refrigerator and clean up your counter space in both the kitchen and bathrooms.

Staging Your Home

Now that your house is clean, it's time to put the finishing touches on the staging process. A solid, neutral shade in a tablecloth should be selected for the dining room table. Depending on your decor and wall coloring, a solid white, sand or ivory covering will work well. In the center of the table, a vase with fresh cut flowers (or silk, if you have allergies) will add a nice accent. Did you know that the kitchen and bathroom are two of the main selling points to any home? Keep this in mind when preparing your home for potential buyers.

The living room should have one focal point, whether it be a fireplace or breathtaking view of the outside world. If you have too many features screaming out at potential buyers, they may feel overwhelmed, so focus on one aspect and make it shine. If you have a mantle, line it with three candles that match your decor in color. Place a large candle in the center with one smaller one on each end, which will be reminiscent of a perfectly matched bookend set. A home with a stunning view should have window dressings that accent the positive, instead of hiding it. If your furniture has a design of any kind, mask it with a solid slipcover to compliment the flooring or wall color. Some homeowners also add a fresh coat of paint to their home, which will bring life back into a fading color. Turn on the lights and open the blinds and draperies to create a bright and inviting environment throughout your home.

Where To Store Your Stuff 

Now that you know how important it is to remove any clutter and oversized or bulky furniture, you need to know where to put it. If you already have a new home, you can simply move it there. Otherwise, you can put it into storage until you are ready to move. It's important to leave some essentials in your former home for potential buyers to see, such as a dining room table, a sofa and chairs, bed, etc. Any additional furnishings that seem to interrupt the flow of your home, or make it feel cramped, should be removed. You do not want potential buyers to feel as though the house is too small.

Details, Details, Details . . . 

As a final strategy to prepare your home to sell, make sure that you have any carpet stains removed, windows cleaned, fresh linens placed in the bedrooms and bathrooms, etc. You would be surprised how many people pay attention to even the smallest of details, so be sure to fix any small repairs that could be a turnoff for buyers. Last but not least, make sure your home looks just as good on the outside as it does on the inside. This means that your lawn should be cared for, flower beds must be maintained and any outdoor clutter must be removed.

Please feel free to give me a call at 214-234-6901 or email me at Grant@grantHowell.com. You may also visit my Web site www.BrokerMyHouse.com for additional information on the real estate services I provide. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

 

Selling A Luxury Property With Pets At Home

Selling A Luxury Property With Pets At Home

When we have pets, they quickly become a part of our family. But when it comes to selling your home, potential buyers may not be impressed by the presence of your four-legged family member. Whether it's due to allergies or a simple case of not being a lover of animals, many buyers shy away from a home with pets. The good news is that there are strategies you can employ to sell your house without a ruff time.

A Foolproof Solution

If you worry about potential home buyers being scared off by the presence of your pet, find an alternate location for them while you are showing the home. Perhaps a neighbor, family member or friend could watch your pet for a few hours. Otherwise, consider boarding your pet temporarily. Without the discomfort of an unfamiliar animal, buyers will be free to tour your home and envision their own belongings in it without having any distraction.

If All Else Fails . . . 

If you cannot find a way to temporarily relocate your pet, place him/her in a pet carrier when buyers are touring your home. Animals should not remain in this type of unit for more than two hours at a time, but this should give buyers enough time to see the home and ask any questions. If you have an outdoor kennel or exercise pen, your pet may be satisfied here until the tour is over. Your main focus is to keep him/her from interfering with the tour and/or disturbing your potential buyer.

What's Left Behind 

As every pet parent knows, animals often leave little surprises in some unapproved places. If you find yourself with carpet stains or pet odors, hire a professional cleaning company. If this fails, replace the carpet or consider installing hardwood floors. Buyers will see stains or smell the presence of an animal and may form an early opinion, which isn't likely to be favorable, before even giving your house a chance. Once your pets are out of the house, remove their litter box or training pad(s) and clean the area thoroughly.

Staging

Many sellers are already aware of this term because staging a house is essential in the real estate business. If you have pets, remove any photos or other goodies, including toys and furniture, when showing your home.

Picture Perfect 

When you sell a home, your REALTOR® will take photos for the listing. These images may appear in advertisements and/or on the REALTOR'S® Web site, which means they should represent everything that is wonderful about your home. Avoid any photos that show your pet, his/her toys or bed. Buyers are not looking for a pet, but rather a house that they can call home.

Legal Matters 

Your local law may require that you inform potential buyers that a pet lives in the home. Nobody likes to see pet hair on the carpet or see a dirty litter box, but they do have the right to know everything about the house, including any pet presence.

Please feel free to give me a call at 214-234-6901 or email me Grant@GrantHowell.com. You may also visit my Web site www.BrokerMyHouse.com for additional information on the real estate services I provide. I look forward to hearing from you. 

Forming a Successful Real Estate Rehab Team in Frisco TX

Read My Articles On Rehabbing Properties
House Flipping - Make Your Money On The Buy In Frisco TX

In order to become a successful real estate investor you need to formulate a team.  When I was looking into rehabbing properties, I wanted do everything myself, and I found out real fast that I did not have the money nor the experience to be successful in this industry.  So, having a background in construction, I partnered up with a friend of mine and we worked together rehabbing and selling numerous properties in Washington, DC. I handled the property acquisition and construction aspects and he handle the money.  Everything, works so much better with a team, a project that would have taken a single person months to do only took us weeks.

Second, have contractors or handymen you can trust do the work. As a rehabber, you need to be out finding deals and working at getting the property sold.  Hire out the labor portion of the job. This was the hardest lesson for me to learn. The first project I worked on took over 3 months because I tried to do all the work myself. After that, the lesson had been learned and I hired out almost all the labor on the second project and everything was finished and we had an open house within 3 weeks.

Third, the lowest price is not always the best deal. Ask the Federal Government and you will be told the former is totally true. Our dear old government has spent trillions of our tax dollars doing the same project twice because they took the lowest bid. As a result, the government implemented a rating program that all contractors must adhere to get government contracts. If you get too hung up on the dollar aspect of project, you will definitely lose in the quality department. I have an acquaintance that will fight to the finish to save a nickel, but then is ok going back and paying more to fix substandard work. This job is stressful enough without adding unnecessary torment to the equation. Rehab is more profitable when you have long standing relationships with contractors and handymen. They will work harder and do you favors when you really need it. You can't keep your good workers by being a cheapskate. Starting over will only cost you more money.

Fourth, have an awesome realtor. Realtors are a dime a dozen, but you need to look for the diamond in the rough. The hard worker that wants to get your property sold, not just stick it on the MLS and wait for a call. A good Realtor is constantly staying on top of everything that relates to your house and getting it getting sold.  Also, a good Realtor will let you know if you are going to pay too much for a house, or if you are asking too much for the property you are trying to sell. A Realtor with construction experience can save you thousands of dollars and provide you prospective and insight. These are things that can be easily lost by you when you are elbows deep in a project.

If you can put together a team that works for you I believe you will be more profitable and less stressed in the long run.

Please feel free to give me a call at 214-234-6901 or email me at Grant@GrantHowell.com. You may also visit my Web site www.BrokerMyHouse.com for additional information on the real estate services I provide. I look forward to hearing from you.

How Much Will You Make On The Sale of Your Frisco TX Home?

Most people in Frisco, TX look to comps in their area to come up with the listing price for their property. This is logical, but you also have to focus on the bottom line. 

How Much Will You Make on The Sale of Your Property? 

It happens more often than you might imagine. A homeowner decides to sell and goes about figuring the best price to sell. They may set a price off of the cuff or do a little research to ascertain the best price that will result in a sale within a specific time period. What many do not take into account, however, is the ultimate amount the will get from the property. This can lead to brutal surprises when the ultimate amount is much less than expected - a concept known as seller's remorse. 

In reality, the decision to sell your property should only be made after determining what you can objectively get out of it, in other words, your bottom line.  Most people, however, tend to eyeball this amount. Whether you have a lot of equity in the property or even if you don't, you better start calculating or you could be in for a bad shock. 

The first place to start is the estimated price you will sell for minus the outstanding balance on your mortgage. This gives you a rough estimate of your equity, but should not be relied upon as the final cash out figure. Instead, you have to sit down and start calculating the other costs such as: 

1. Mortgage pre-payment penalties. 

2. Property taxes for the portion of the relevant year in which you are selling.  

3. Any costs associated with repairs to the property to get it in shape to sell. 

4. Attorney's fees if a lawyer is required to be part of the process in your state.

5. Incidental costs associated with the sale as agreed to in the purchase agreement with the buyer. Items can include title insurance premiums, survey, seller contributions, recording fees, inspection fees, warranty insurance, escrow fees and so on.

6. Moving costs. 

7. Closing costs to purchase another property.

One area people completely forget to factor in is the Realtor commission. A typical 6 percent commission on the sale of a $300,000 home is $18,000.  Considering that an experienced Realtor will command 12 to 20 percent more for your property then most people who try to sell on their own, means you just saved 6 to 14 percent and avoided the headache and legal exposure. Reasons to sell the home as a "by owner" are really not worth listing here as they would have more to do with personal reasons than those that are financial. It is a bitter truth for the "by owner" that almost all the "by owner" deals end up using a listing agent.

Making the decision to sell is an emotional one. It should, however, also include a hard, cold look at the financials involved and whether doing so makes sense. 

A good Realtor will prepare a seller's "net sheet" showing what your expenses will be. This will aid you in determining who pays what and when and can help you to focus on the details of the sale. 

Please feel free to give me a call at 214-234-6901 or email me at Grant@GrantHowell.com. You may also visit my Web site www.BrokerMyHouse.com for additional information on the real estate services I provide. I look forward to hearing from you.

Purchase Contract Clauses That Can Save Your Butt

The real estate purchase agreement is more than just a casual offer. The moment you and the seller sign it, it is a legally binding contract. Since you can put what you want in your offer, why not include some of the clauses that smart buyers use to protect themselves and save money? Some suggestions follow. 

Six Purchase Agreement Clauses 

A better earnest money clause. You can put a small earnest money deposit down and still be taken seriously, if you include a clause like this: "$100 earnest money deposit, to be increased to $2,000 upon acceptance of this offer." You could also have it increased "when all contingencies are met." This way, if there's an argument about you backing out because the inspector found foundation damage, for example, you won't have your money tied up while this is being resolved. 

Inspection contingencies. Ask an agent about the wording, but basically you want something like this in the purchase agreement: "Contingent upon a home inspection and buyer's approval of the results; inspection to be done at buyer's expense within ten days." Now you the right to have an inspection done, and if anything negative is found, you can refuse to "approve" of the results, and get your deposit back, or you could re-negotiate a lower price. 

Assignation. If buying with a partner who isn't there to sign the offer, or if you want to "flip" the deal to another investor, or if you may need to involve a partner for purposes of funding the deal, be sure that the purchase offer gives you that right. Putting "and/or assigns" after your name on the offer is usually sufficient, but ask the real estate agent what the local custom or language is. This lets you add another buyer to the deal, or assign the whole contract to another. 

Let the seller pay. Specify that the seller pays for the closing fee, the title insurance, the recording fees, and even the points on your loan. Sellers often just want the sale at a given price, and don't care about the details. What if they do care? You have given yourself some negotiating points. Get something for dropping each of the costs you included, like maybe a reduced interest rate if the seller is financing part of your purchase. 

Basic financing contingencies. Suppose the loan doesn't come through, and you can't buy the home. You'll lose your deposit, unless you have something like this in the agreement: "Subject to buyer obtaining a firm commitment for suitable financing within ten days." If the seller balks at the vague language, you can specify what "suitable" means in terms of interest rate and such. 

Spouse's approval clause. This could be as simple as "Subject to a walk through inspection and approval of home by wife (or partner - state their name) within two days." Now, if your wife says no within two days, you can back out of the deal and get your deposit back. If you want the seller to agree to this one keep the time frame as short as you can. 

The above clauses are often called "weasel clauses," because they give you ways to back out, or "weasel out" of a real estate agreement. Don't worry about the label. A seller has the right to say no to your offer in any case. You, on the other hand, have the right to use these purchase agreement clauses to protect yourself. 

By law, only an attorney can provide you legal advice - not a real estate agent or broker. The suggestions above are just that, suggestions. Please seek the advice of an attorney for the exact legality and wording of any clause you may choose to incorporate into a real estate purchase contract. 

Please feel free to give me a call at 214-234-6901 or email me at Grant@GrantHowell.com. You may also visit my Web site www.BrokerMyHouse.com for additional information on the real estate services I provide. I look forward to hearing from you.

How Appraisals and Assessments Differ In Frisco TX

Read My Other Articles on Appraisals in Frisco TX
Planning For Your Home Appraisal in Frisco TX

Many people think appraisals and assessments are the same thing or at least that they should be for the same amount. The truth is they can vary greatly. Let's look at each of them. 

Appraisals 

An appraisal is an estimate of market value. An appraiser can use many methods for coming up with this estimate. For income producing property, the appraiser may capitalize the value of the income stream. (It would take "x" dollars of capital invested at a "y" rate of return to produce an income equal to the rental income generated by this property.) For other properties, an appraiser may use "replacement value." (It would cost "x" dollars to build this structure if it were being built today.) 

Appraisers usually use "comparable sales" when evaluating the market value of a home. They look at nearby properties with similar characteristics, which have sold in the recent past to see at what price they sold. They typically give the most weight to the property they deem to be most like the property they are appraising. 

Buyers and sellers generally encounter appraisals when the buyer's lender has an appraiser make an evaluation of the market value of the property being sold. The lender wants to be sure of the value of the collateral for the loan. An interesting feature that comes into play in this situation is that one indication of value is at what price two unrelated parties will agree to buy and sell the same property. In other words, what is the contract price the seller and buyer of this property agreed on (if they are not relatives). 

Assessments 

An assessment is the value your local government puts on your property for the purpose of taxing it. How this value is derived varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Some communities say the value is the same as market value. Some say the value is a percentage of market value. Some appear to actually do what they say they do, and some do not. 

I was once a partner in an investment property that we were offering for sale at the time the county re-assessed it. Imagine my annoyance when the assessment came in at one hundred and forty percent of the offer price. We weren't dummies. My partners were real estate professionals. I appealed the re-assessment, but my appeal was turned down. I offered to sell the property at the assessed price to the appraiser the county had hired to handle the appeals when he was telling me why he could not reduce our assessment. He did not take me up on my offer. Our property sold at the listed price months later. We had paid six months' taxes on the property at a higher than market value. 

On another occasion I helped some elderly people sell a farm they'd lived in all their adult lives. The farm sold for a price a great deal higher than the value at which it had been assessed. 

I believe the two examples are fairly typical. Many jurisdictions will "puff up" assessments for businesses and investors and "low ball" assessments for people who have lived in their homes for a long time. Sometimes there are formulas for doing this. "Land use" is one such concept, i.e., the property is taxed at its value as a farm and the fact that it is ripe for dense residential and commercial development is ignored or deferred. Sometimes there are no formulas. It is just done. 

For these reasons, it is usually not a good idea to put too much credence in the assessed value of a property when you are trying to figure out market value. They may be the same. They may be vastly different.

Please feel free to give me a call at 214-234-6901 or email me at Grant@GrantHowell.com. You may also visit my Web site www.BrokerMyHouse.com for additional information on the real estate services I provide. I look forward to hearing from you.

Planning For Your Home Appraisal in Frisco TX

Read My Other Articles on Appraisals in Frisco TX
How Appraisals and Assessments Differ In Frisco TX

A critical part of selling a home is the appraisal. Here's how to plan for it. 

You have a contract to sell your home and now the appraiser is coming. The appraisal needs to come in at a good price in order for your buyer to get his loan. What should you do? 

The Appraiser Says 

Appraisers typically tell people not to do anything special before they come. They tell the owner they see lots of houses and they can look past a little clutter and dust. "Don't be nervous," they counsel. Appraisers are sincere people. I'm sure they mean what they say.

I Say 

On the other hand, appraisers are human. They respond to cleanliness and order and to good maintenance the same way buyers do. If you've let your hair down, get your home back into "show" condition before the appraiser comes. 

Everything you know about a tidy approach to your home, well mulched flower beds, door knobs that are attached firmly and work smoothly, lack of finger prints, lack of clutter, and all the rest applies. Take a look at a "Uniform Residential Appraisal Report" form if you doubt me. The age of the home and the "effective age" are asked for under the "General Description." Don't you think how well your home appears to be cared for affects the number that appears under "effective age?" 

The Uniform Appraisal Report requires information about materials (and their condition) used for floors, walls, trim and finishing elements, bathroom floors and wainscots, and for interior doors. Appraisers train themselves to notice these details. If yours are dusted, polished, and free of scratches and fingerprints, don't you think you might be giving your appraisal a nudge in the right direction? 

The Report also asks about kitchen equipment (refrigerator, range and oven, disposal, dishwasher, fan and hood, microwave, and washer and dryer). Do you think it'd be a good idea to have them clean and purring? 

The Report asks about amenities such as fireplaces, patios, decks, porches, fences, pools, and sheds. If an appraiser is going to take special note of such things, shouldn't they be swept, cleaned, and have paint in good condition? Also, clean out the gutters if they need it. If it should be raining on the day your appraisal is done, you want your house to handle the rain water well. 

Let me share the "comments" section of an appraisal which got the owners what they wanted. I think it'll give you a good feel for what you need to do. "The subject is well maintained and no physical, functional or external inadequacies were noted. Marketability is enhanced by hardwood flooring throughout a majority of the home, an updated kitchen, fresh interior and exterior paint, transom windows, built-ins, a front porch, a rear patio, a large storage shed, 4 fireplaces, etc." 

The appraiser is a human being. Make sure you do everything you can to appeal to them and you'll get a good appraisal.

Here's how contracts and comparable home sales impact the appraisal. 

Your Contract 

One of the indications of value an appraiser takes into consideration is the contract that exists between unrelated parties for the sale and purchase of the home. As odd as this may sound, sales between relatives often downgrade an appraisal amount. So if you're not selling your home to a relative, make a nice clean copy of your contract, and give it to the appraiser who appraises your home. 

Comparable Sales 

In general, when you are selling your primary residence, the person buying it is going to make it his primary residence, too. An appraisal done in that situation usually gives the most value to what similar houses have sold for in the same neighborhood (or nearby) recently, and doesn't pay much attention to the ability of the property to generate rental income or to what it would cost to replace it. 

Therefore, the appraiser is going to be looking for homes which have sold in your area in the past few months. If you know of a sale of a similar home at a good price, tell the appraiser about it. Make sure your information is accurate first, however. Don't just share neighborhood gossip. Check the sales price at the courthouse. 

Be careful how you handle these last two suggestions. You want to come across as quietly helpful and factual. You do not want to convey to the appraiser that you question his ability to do his job well.

Please feel free to give me a call at 214-234-6901 or email me at Grant@GrantHowell.com. You may also visit my Web site www.BrokerMyHouse.com for additional information on the real estate services I provide. I look forward to hearing from you.

A Short Sale Might Be Your Best Option

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As dreams of home ownership are taking newer turns, so are our efforts to realize them. It is only natural for anyone to dream of a home of one's own, where one can live with one's loved ones and cherish all the dreams that one had regarding a home, sweet home. And to acquire this, one can actually do anything starting from laboring day in and day out to pay that sky-high mortgage, even compromising on several aspects of daily life. But what happens when you miss one installment? The lender often threatens foreclosure. However, unlike most things, you can decide the fate of your own home. If you're facing a financial hardship that you know will decrease your income and you are you getting behind on your mortgage and you're not sure if you can catch up, a short sale might be your best option.

Why would you do that?  Simply put, a short sale means selling your property at a value less than what you owe your bank or the lender, that is, less than the loan balance, which is secured against the property. In a short sale, the lender must approve and accept less than what they are owed as a full payoff (this means they may settle for $200,000, even if you currently owe them $300,000...). Pursuing a short shale can save your credit from the "foreclosure ding", keep you from filing bankruptcy and relieve stress that this financial burden has become.

Why would it interest the lender? A very obvious question arises here as to why your lender would be interested in such a transaction where it is receiving less than what you owe them. The answer to this is simple, indeed. By compromising on a section of its due balance, the lender is basically saving a lot expenses that they would have to spend otherwise in conducting a lot of paper works, by carrying out the legal procedures of foreclosure, refurbishing the property, marketing it, finding the suitable investor and so on and so forth. Just the simple organization and execution of the property foreclosure auction could cost the lender as much as $50,000, which is not a sensible investment.

The question that follows is why any investor would like to buy a short sale property. The answer to this is simple enough - a short sale property usually sells at very down to earth prices, which at times can get as low as 60% of the actual worth of the property. Moreover, with the increasing rate of foreclosure and the subsequent rise of property short sales, the real estate industry is booming all over the United States and is showing much promise to interested US and overseas investors.

We've all had our ups and downs in life and a lot good people can find themselves in very tough spot. We all agree that we're in the middle of a national mortgage crisis and that, in many cases, homeowners who have bought or refinanced in the last few years have been affected by unethical lending practices.

If you want to find out more about the short sale process, I am available and well prepared to assist you in reaching your real estate objectives.  If you are ready to move forward, you can reach me at 214-234-6901 or by email at Grant@GrantHowell.com. You may also visit my Web site at ww.BrokerMyHouse.com for additional information on all the real estate services I offer.