Posts from — March 2008

They say that the 3 most important aspects of selling your home is LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. Obviously, location is a key factor in the sale of a home. However, once you own a property, you can’t move it! So, you gotta deal with it. The first key factor is price. Let’s hope that between you and your real estate agent that you have priced the home at a fair market value.

The second key is the PRESENTATION of your home. This is where the 5 P’s come in. PROPER PREPARATION PREVENTS POOR PRESENTATION. So, what the heck does that mean? When you get ready to sell a car, you typically start with the decision to detail the car. But, you first have to ‘prepare the car”. I mean, ya gotta get rid of the gum wrappers, the coke cans, the McDonalds sacks, the kids’ toys, and whatever else might be growing!

The same applies to your home! YOU have to prepare the home for sale. That means DECLUTTER and DEPERSONALIZE!! Selling a home is not exactly a fun process. People are are going to be looking in your closets, opening your kitchen cabinets, and looking who knows where! Remember this, you want them to see the house, not the pictures of your great aunt or your collection of coffee cups from around the country. (I once showed a home that had several hundred coffee cups hanging around. The only thing the potential buyer remembered was the mugs from the ALAMO and SEA WORLD SAN ANTONIO. Needless to say, that is not the house that they bought!)

Here’s the deal. You’re goin’ to move anyway. Start packing up the 20 years worth of “important stuff” and storing it, or better yet, tossing it! Guys, I’m sure that one day you intend to fix that chain saw that doesn’t work or organize your garage and arrange all those important tools that have two inches of dust on them! Gals, what about all those magazines that you intend to read when you get around to them or better yet, how about all the dishes and glasses in the kitchen. I have never figured out how you can use 50 plates, 30 coffee cups, 40 drinking glasses, and do you really need 15 frying pans or 18 cooking pots? Now, I’m not saying to get rid of all those pots, pans, cups, plates, or glasses. Just cut back to the basics and make your home look as attractive as possible.Rent a storage building for a while until your home sells. This is called “DECLUTTERING” (My wife Barbara who of course is also a Realtor will tell me that all this stuff is important and has a special use on special occasions. I can’t argue because I have the broken chain saw and tools that are hidden by the dust, but were I selling my house, I would follow my own advice. )

Okay, let’s talk about the personal stuff. We all have pictures of our family around the house. Just remember, we want buyers’ to PICTURE THEMSELVES in the house, not pictures of your 6 kids and 30 grandkids. Pictures should be minimized to show the home. The best way to explain this is to put yourself in the shoes of a buyer. Go look at homes on the market. Compare to yours. The more you do to prepare your home for sale, not only will you sell it faster, you will optimize your price. PROPER PREPARATION PREVENTS POOR PRESENTATION!

HUD announced today that the loan limits have been increased thru the end of the year. In Bexar and Comal County, the limit was raised from $200,000 to $332,500. In lieu of the extreme pressure on the mortgage industry due to the high delinquency rate of subprime loans (leading to high foreclosure numbers as well), this announcement should offer a much needed boost to the real estate market. While this is only thru the end of the year, it is anticipated that Congress may permanently raise these limits.

The FHA program gives potential homebuyers many advantages, including the following: low cash investment (3% down payment), not credit score driven (allowing for less stringent credit requirements), extremely competitive interest rates, and now limits high enough to provide more choice in home sizes, locations, neighborhoods, and potentially higher quality construction and features. This move will obviously see an increase in FHA home loans and home sales, taking up some of the slack left by the disappearance of the subprime market.

In addition to this news, FHA also allows for seller funded down payment assistance programs, giving buyers an even greater opportunity to buy a home with little or no down payment, interest rates that are as competitive as any in the market, and relaxed credit requirements. Between now and the end of the year, Buyers have the ability and the chance to buy more house than in the past. We also have more inventory to choose from because of the slowdown in the market which gives buyers more leverage in negotiating a more attractive price.

With all that FHA has to offer, with the condition of the current market, and with interest rates as low as they are, it is hard to come up with a reason not to buy a home AT THIS TIME! If we can answer any specific questions, please let us know.