Some tips for getting mom’s home ready to sell

Posted on by Teresa Boardman
green carpet
Green sculpted carpet

Over the years I have sold three homes for my family.  One of the challenges of selling a home that is or was owned and lived in by an elderly person is making it look as appealing as possible to younger home buyers. Sometimes the homes look as if time stood still.

The first hurdle can be getting the owners to give up some decorating choices they made long ago. My mom doesn’t know that I had the wallpaper border removed from the kitchen, and repainted or she would be upset about it.  Often “grandma’s” house is in good repair and is an excellent opportunity for first time home buyers to fix some of the cosmetics and build equity.

As a seller, I don’t want to put any more money into the home than I have to. Here are some of the things I did that were fairly inexpensive that helped sell grandma’s house:

1. Clean everything

2. Repaint in light neutral colors.

3. Replacing old drapes with sheers in shades of white.

4.  Replacing any window shade or blind that was anything other than white or just remove them.

5. Buy new shower curtains, towels and coordinating rugs for the bathrooms for staging. 

6. Replace light fixtures and shades.

7. Remove wallpaper and paint walls.

8. Remove worn carpeting to expose hardwood floors. It is better to have wood floors that need a little work than worn carpeting.

9. Remove worn linoleum and replace.

The list isn’t really prioritized by importance but it is in order of how much the project is likely to cost. It is important to have a budget and to stick with it. If the improvement won’t help sell the home faster or for more money it isn’t worth doing. The smallest improvements that give the greatest payback. Cleaning and painting have the highest ROI.

Removing a wallpaper border can have a tremendous impact. Putting a new backsplash in the kitchen can also have a high return on investment. Consider new switch plates and don’t forget t clean light fixtures.

It is also a good idea to have furnace or boiler serviced and have any repairs were done that are needed. As a rule, anything that leaks should be fixed and there are usually other obvious repairs too.  Sometimes small maintenance issues result in low offers.

Buyers expect to haggle a little

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

Buying a home isn’t like buying most other items. Home buyers expect to negotiate with the seller for acceptable terms. It is actually fairly rare that a property sells for the exact amount it is listed for in the MLS.

Lately sellers have started rejecting offers on their homes without negotiating if they offer isn’t exactly what they had in mind. Last month I had an offer rejected with no negotiation. After a week with no other offers we were able to get the seller to negotiate.  It was a slow painful process but ultimately the seller ended up with close to the asking price and the buyers were happy with the terms.

Last March one of my clients made an offer on an over priced property. The sellers rejected the offer with no negotiations. The property is still on the market and after all these months and the price has been lowered twice. The buyer has moved on and closed on a similar property about a month ago.

It is very easy to counter an offer that a buyer has made. It takes little effort and doesn’t cost a dime. It doesn’t even take that much time. I can not think of any reason why a home seller should not negotiate. I can think of all kinds of reasons why a seller should negotiate if they are interested in a faster sale and a higher offer.

yellow flowers
Brown eyed Susans

Urban legends, mythology and the FHA loan

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

FHA loans have been an alternative loan for first time home buyers since the 1930’s. FHA stands for “Federal Housing Administration” Simply put an An FHA loan is a mortgage insured by the Federal Housing Administration.

The loans have advantages. Buyers only need a 3.5% down payment and there are other advantages. First time home buyers in particular should ask their lenders. The FHA loan might just be the best or only way to get the money to buy a house.

Buyers and sellers should not believe everything their real estate agent tells them about these loans. FHA appraisals are different than appraisals for other types of loans.

When a home buyer is getting a loan to buy a property the lender they are getting the loan from has to send out an appraiser to make sure the property is worth as much as the buyer is borrowing. The home becomes collateral for the loan.

The FHA appraiser determines the value of the property and also inspects it to make sure the it meets ” HUD’s minimum standards for health and safety” That kind of appraisal isn’t done for conventional loans. VA (veterans administration) loans also require a safety inspection as part of the appraisal process.

The FHA inspection is where much of the mythology comes from that surrounds these loans. I have had real estate agents tell me that all sorts of things will not pass an FHA inspection . . yet they do. If something does not pass an FHA inspection often a repair can be made so that it will pass. As a result home buyers sometimes do not make offers on houses they really want to buy, and sellers say no to FHA financing miss out on having the largest possible pool of qualified buyers.

FHA is not particularly picky about windows or the age of a boiler. They are picky about peeling paint that may contain lead and they will ask that a handrail be places along stairways. Leaky roofs won’t pass and neither will heating plants that don’t safely heat the house. Bedrooms must have egress windows and windows must open and close. While it is expensive to add egress windows it isn’t that big of a deal to repair a window so that it opens and closes.

HUD’s primary concern is the health and safety of the home buyer who will actually live in the house. Thus, most of their appraisal / inspection checkpoints have to do with health and safety aspects of the property. Above all, the home must be habitable and comfortable, without any potential hazards to the occupant.

HUD standards have changed over time but many real estate agents have not kept up. It doesn’t hurt to ask your lender or  read the guidelines. As a home owners myself I want my home to meet minimum safety requirements and would be inclined to make repairs for a new owner. After all we bought the house using an low downpayment FHA loan ad a forgivable silent second mortgage that helped with the closing costs.

Cleaning off the top of the fridge

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

It is Friday and Fridays are for fun. I have been super busy the last few weeks chasing after homes that are only on the market a day or two for my clients and listing some homes. Usually activity starts to slow a bit in July but that isn’t happening this year. Normally I would be on vacation right now but I am walking acreage in 90 degree heat and showing houses during rush hour instead, which is like a vacation from winter.

I did manage to find some time to clean off the top of my refrigerator. Yes I know that doesn’t sound very exiting but it does need to be done. No matter what I do I can’t seem to keep the top of the fridge free of stuff. Spot the wonder cat decided that it is a great place to take a nap.

Cat

Homes that are for sale by owner, but not for sale

Posted on by Teresa Boardman
Porch

I write about this periodically. Every home that is for sale is being sold by the owner but some home owners choose to sell without the help of a Realtor. I don’t have a problem with that at all but I have buyers who ask about these properties. When I do a little research I sometimes find out that the for sale by owner home was sold six months ago, or the owner was just kind of testing the water or the owner will sell if someone will pay an outrageous amount of money for the place.

Some are advertised with a sign and a phone number that is never answered. Calls go to a voice mail that is full or one that is apparently never checked. There is no way to know how much the seller is asking either.

I looked up the property that my clients were interested in that is being sold by the owner and it has a value of around $375,000 but the owner as it listed for 900K and has had it listed for a long time.  The property was being advertised on some obscure for sale by owner web sites that most people wouldn’t know to look at. I doubt the seller is serious about selling but would sell if someone wants to pay 900K.

One for sale by owner let me show his condo and then told me that he really wasn’t that interested in selling but that he was kind of trying it out to see if people would be interested in buying. I can almost relate to that as I live on and own a home that is very unique. I see hundreds of homes each year but have never seen one like my own. I often wonder how a home buyer would react to it.

Sometimes when I show homes that are for sale by owner I end up listing the home. I think sometimes putting a for sale sign up is a strategy for meeting and interviewing Realtors.

Occasionally I find a home that is being listed by the owner that is a perfect match for my clients. I call the owner and they let me show the property and if my clients like it we make an offer and if all goes well the owner says yes and I get paid too.

Most homes that are listed by real estate agents are really for sale although I have to say I have run into some sellers who don’t seem like they really want to sell. I can tell when the home is on the market for much longer than any other in the area and has been at the same price for months or years and they have switched agents a few times.

I encourage my clients to let me know if they are interested in a home that is being sold by the owner. I’ll work with anyone and I am not afraid to knock on a door or two if a buyer likes a home that isn’t on the market.