My impression is that the real estate market is good right now. When I speak to others in the industry, they often make similar statements. If you hear the news, you can find stories of an improving housing market. The real estate industry is upbeat. That is great, but does this translate to good news for sellers? Over the last year, I have seen more homes in my own neighborhood become rental properties. This is not always a good sign. There are several factors which induce owners to become landlords, so this might not be a standard to observe. I began paying attention to homes in neighborhoods that I frequent, and I felt that there was one trend that I spotted which could explain why a home is not selling: neglect.

    You want to sell your home, but you have already moved to your new home. You have your home listed with a real estate agency. Sometimes you think there is good interest in your home, since the agent has told you that people are coming to see the home. No one is making an offer though. Months begin to pass, and you are wondering why no offers are coming. You may need to understand a few things. When your home is first listed, agents looking for a home for their clients in a particular area will go to see the home with their clients. This may not mean that they were seriously interested. They wanted to know what was on offer. This flow may die out, once they know about your home. There may be so many houses available, that your home does not stand out. In fact, real estate associations keep track of how long it would take to several everything on the market. This number will be over six months. Sure, a neighbor managed to sell their home in a month, but that does not mean you will. What is happening to your house while it is sitting there vacant? That may play a factor if your home will sell.
    This is where the neglect trend may be a factor. I am watching one house where the owner did not spend anytime making repairs before the house went onto market. He quickly realized that he was not going to obtain his asking price, so he decided to go the rental route. This decision may have come quickly for him, since he already owned rental properties. The house went vacant again, but I noticed that this owner has taken a different tack this time. For the last month, the home has undergone a major remodel. I believe that he is preparing to sell. A client of mine this past weekend mentioned that he wanted the house perfect before he moved. He was concerned about the nail holes that the artwork would leave behind when the seller left. As a seller, you may find this to be unreasonable, but buyers do want a sort of perfect house. This leads me to the vacant home. Most vacant houses suffer from neglect in one form or another. I buyer may forgive seeing a small pile of fliers at the door, but other signs of neglect are harder to ignore.
    The photograph is from a front yard of a home for sale. The yard looked worse at one point. There is a home around the corner from this house that had the same problem, but now a yard crew arrives on a regular basis. I have noticed buyers checking out this house. The overgrown yard has kept buyers away from the home in the photograph, until recently. The funny thing to me comes in two parts. The owner came to this home, and the yard did not bother him. Picking up the mail and fliers was his only concern. There are neighbors with houses that look like junkyards, so maybe that is why he has a lack of concern. (Yes, there are some pretty bad looking homes directly near this house in what is a nice neighborhood with some gorgeous homes). His home has been on the market for around a year now. The second funny thing to me was that some buyers did come to the house. I was near, and the woman was speaking loudly into her cell phone: “We can get this house for cheap I’m sure. They (the sellers) don’t care none for the house.” Finally, the seller is attracting interest, but maybe not for the reason that he wants.
    What can you do to help sell your home? Home staging is always a great idea. A home that looks nice will attract more attention. Yards do not need to look like the Yard of the month, but they should look maintained. I would also suggest fixing obvious problems. If you have a lot of broken tile, that leaves an impression. Buyers may not be checking out a house like a home inspector does, but they are looking. Vacant homes can begin to smell if the air conditioning has not been running. Basic cleaning is the answer, along with basic yard maintenance. When the housing crash hit full stride in 2008, you could tell the foreclosures from the homes for sale by the owners. Foreclosures looked neglected. That is not the case anymore. Many lenders learned that if they want to obtain their money back, they needed to send in a crew to make the home look presentable, and keep it looking good. Currently, there are sellers that could learn this lesson.

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Selling has changed. Marketing has changed. Yet they have not really changed all that much. The principles are the same, but the how and what have shifted. In the housing market, this may take a bit longer, but you can already see signs of what may become standard practices. Video tours of the home posted on the web. Home listings on the web and real estate search engines are already common. The fad of creating a specialty website for that specific home is not going anywhere, but a web page dedicated to that home on a site is sticking around. The aspect of house for sale marketing that I find growing is the need for information. A home inspector is an information source, and the idea of having an inspector investigate the home has become common place. However, this need for information is increasing, and we may see energy raters becoming a consistent part of the process. We do not have a standard system for rating a home for energy efficiency (there are several standards in use, but we may see an optional system codifying energy rating on a national basis soon). In the mean time, buyers are asking questions that were not too common in the past, but may be questions sellers may want to answer. An aspect of marketing has always been to take facts about your product to present them in the best light. What has changed in the housing industry is the growing concern about energy efficiency, so why not give this data to a potential buyer. This can be accomplished by producing an “about this house” binder.
    The idea for a binder or book describing the house or giving information to a potential buyer is not new. I will admit that this is not a common practice, but I do see more of these binders showing up in homes for sale. The other trend is sellers or their Realtors wanting to be in the house when buyers appear (or their home inspectors are there) to head off questions by answering them on the spot. Two problems with this method: 1) the buyer knows that you are trying to show everything in the best light, so they do become suspicious; and 2) you or your Realtor may not always be present. A binder can present facts that the buyer may wish to know, and you can explain these facts, which can help you to seel this house. So what should go into this binder? That is up to you, but here are my suggestions.

1) The seller’s disclosure- I have sellers ask me all of the time if I had read the seller’s disclosure. This document is not often presented to the home inspector, and we have the tendency to see such documents with suspicion; however,  you as the seller may have declared something major, and the buyer should be aware of it. On a recent home inspection, the seller was annoyed that I had come back to complete the inspection (I could not complete it the first time due to the fact that he had decided to have a garage sale which went through the entire home, along with a sleeping daughter in a room). One item that I had to inspect was the cooling part of the air conditioning system. He asked why, because he had stated that the upstairs unit was shot and needed to be replaced, and that the downstairs was working (turned out not to be working at its best). I understand his annoyance, but I had to inspect more than that system.  I am not sure that my clients had read the seller’s disclosure, and that may have affected them placing an offer on the home, and the seller could have moved onto a more interested party.

2) A seller’s disclosure may not be the best document for a seller. You are laying out the cold facts of what is wrong with the home, and you would like to focus on the positive. Maybe the section after the disclosure should detail what you know. For example, if your air conditioning unit has to be replaced, why not go into the story as it were. Show the documentation from the professional who worked on the unit, and then have an explanation piece, stating that is why you have lowered the value of the home from what others in your neighborhood are selling their homes. This helps place the positive spin. I would start with an explanation page, and then the documents.

3) Utility bills- many buyers are thinking about what will it cost them to live in this home. We know that fees for a homeowner’s association could exist, and yard care can vary, but we should have an idea of cost. The home inspection report can lead us to discover other possible repairs, which we can discover a repair cost. Utility bills are the means for buyers to understand energy efficiency, so buyers are asking about what those costs could be. Showing them your utility costs is a good first step, but this may be misleading. My suggestion is not to present the buyers with a utility bill, but rather a sheet listing your expense with a little explanation. Have two columns: one for gas; and one for electricity. Have twelve rows for the past year. List how much you paid, and then have a space for a little explanation. All my children came home for Christmas, so the electricity bill went up. We had record breaking heat in August, so we used more electricity because of the higher strain on the air conditioning. This month was low, because we were gone on a month long vacation. The explanations do not have to be very detailed, but a basic indication as to the reason for the cost can be helpful. You will especially want to explain high jumps up in the cost, while price decreases may not matter as much.

4) Highlight improvements- maybe this section should be first, and the seller’s disclosure last. Not every buyer is going to like your taste in decorations or design choices, but they may not notice some design choices that can benefit them. For example, my son’s room has shutters, as does my front room. Many homes have plastic shutters, or some other material that seems flimsy. I could point out that the shutters in my son’s room have a wood exterior with a foam insulation interior, which is great for energy efficiency. The front room shutters can be highlighted for being wood. I can point out new hardware for door handles, and I can make this section into a tour of how the home was improved. Buyers may not spot or appreciate these features, but you can cause them to focus on these improvements.

5) You may wish to have a section that highlights the neighborhood. Some consumers are wondering if they can move around the city without a car. The buyer may have children, so the school’s are important, or the local park. We do not live in a vacuum, so knowing about the neighborhood could not hurt.

6) This seems a funny thing to add to a book which is meant to convince the buyer that this is the right house for them, but having the equipment manuals sends a message. One question that I am often asked is “how does this work?”.  We live in a house, and we forget that the equipment is not something which is common. I have seen only three homes with whole house vacuums in my career as a home inspector. How many people would know what these are, or how they work? That is an extreme example, but I could also point out thermostats. There are so many types on the market, and older homes may have the latest invention from twenty years ago, which is not used anymore. Trust me, thermostats can become confusing. The real benefit of this section is that it gives a positive impression: “this house has been maintained”.

What would you put in the book to convince a buyer that your house is right for them? I think that the book/binder should be basic. Overwhelming a buyer with information will cause them not to look, even though may want certain pieces of information. I have six sections, and only one section may become big, and that is the equipment manual portion. If this is to bulky, separate the manuals into their own binder. Place this second binder near the first one, and you will continue to give the same impression. If the manuals are in another binder, then the first binder may contain items like a survey, or the home inspection report that you had done when you bought the home. You can then write what you have done to address those issues. Perhaps you can suggest what you think would help sell your home.

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Once you have decided to put your house up for sale, there are many things you can do to make sure you get the highest price possible. Putting your best face forward in terms of how the house looks will make a huge difference in how prospective buyers view it. Of course real estate agents can help give you tips and hints on what to improve or fix, but there are plenty of things that can and should be done before you even contact your real estate agent.

Preparing your house for sale can actually be quite a big job to undertake. You may be used to how it looks, or not really notice that light switch that is not working properly, but you now have to look at the house through fresh eyes and fix and clean anything that is not going to help the overall feel of the house.

First of all, become a handyman and fix everything that is broken. All those small things or even the large things that you have been putting off for months need to be fixed now. This also includes touching up any paintwork that has faded or has started peeling – both inside and outside the house – as this can really change the appearance of a house.

If you are unsure where to start looking for imperfections, try walking yourself through the house and pretend it is the first time you have seen it. Start all the way outside, by the curb, and take note of the long grass or the loose pavers on the pathway leading to the door. Are there cobwebs on the front porch? Are there dirty handprints on the walls inside the house? And is the backyard up to scratch or is it overgrown and messy? Take notes so you don’t forget anything.

After things are fixed, it is all about cleaning, cleaning and cleaning. A house cannot be too clean when it is going up for sale so make sure everything is shining by the time you are finished!

But don’t just clean the surfaces, get right into the cupboards and drawers and give the house the best spring clean it’s ever had. Throw away any old items you don’t use anymore and give the place a general decluttering. This will also be really handy once you are ready to start packing too, so think of it as preparation for moving into your new place.

When people are inspecting houses they often tend to think nothing is off limits, so don’t throw all of your old junk into wardrobes or hiding places such as under the bed. They will find it and not only does it mean your personal items are on display, a cluttered cupboard gives the impression there isn’t enough storage space in the house.

Take a look around and decide if all of the furniture you own is helping or hindering the look and layout of the house. If you decide you need to reduce the amount of furniture or general clutter in your home, you can hire out a storage unit for a couple of months or perhaps ask a friend if you can store it at their place. Don’t use your garage as people will want to check that out on the open day too.

Don’t forget to get your carpets cleaned if they need it. Unsightly stains and marks will leave the wrong impression on potential buyers. They will focus on them and think that either the carpet shows stains too easily and is therefore high maintenance or they will be thinking about how they will have to get it cleaned as soon as they move in, which adds costs to them immediately.

Finally, go through your house and remove all of the personal items such as photographs. It is an old trick that real estate agents in Melbourne and around Australia may also suggest to you, as removing your photographs and personal items allows the potential buyers to imagine their own photographs and family memorabillia throughout the house.

It is a lot of work upfront, but it will be worth it in the end as it can add thousands to your final sale.

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Moving home is no easy feat and that’s why many of us take the opportunity, when available, to outsource the labour to those in the know and manage risk through home and contents insurance.

Removalists are employed to take the hassle out of hiring a vehicle and lugging your home contents from A-to-B and cleaners are employed to give the old property that sparkle that every new owner or tenant deserves.

A lot of people will shell out for a removalist, which means that many will take on the cleaning by themselves. So, how do you get the same results as a professional? Here’s some tips to help you:

1. Stock up on cleaning supplies and organise them appropriately – if you are one of those people who waste time by searching for ‘that cleaner’, make sure you purchase a bucket or caddy to store all the products you will need. As a bare minimum you will need an all-purpose cleaner, disinfectant, bathroom cleaner, floor cleaner, glass cleaner, furniture polish, air freshener and dusting rags.

2. Before you can clean the property, you need to make sure that it is free from rubbish and clutter. This is one of the main reasons why professionals will get a better result than you, because you have tidied and straightened up the house even before they have arrived.

3. Put some elbow grease into it and work efficiently by:

• Spraying all surfaces with the appropriate cleaning product as you enter a new room and leave them to set in while you complete your other cleaning duties – this way, they will work to their best advantage.

• Using both hands to scrub or one to scrub and the other to spray to speed the process up.

• Cleaning every surface of an area before moving onto another section of the room.

• Cleaning from top to bottom – this will ensure that you capture dirt and dust from high-reaching counters and other surfaces.

• Leaving the mopping and vacuuming to last.

4. Steam clean carpets – this is a must for any property with carpet as carpet can harbour health hazards as a result of mold, mildew and pets. The easiest solution is to employ the services of a professional carpet cleaner to steam clean your carpets – that way you can ensure that the next tenants or owners will not be exposed to such health hazards. Another alternative is to hire the steamer and do it yourself.

5. Cleaning outdoor areas – you need to ensure that all of the outdoor areas are looking well maintained. As a bare minimum you need to mow the lawns, prune overgrown plants, hedges and shrubs, clean any outdoor furniture, fixtures and fittings and ensure that all hard services are clean and free from any dirt or debris.

It can take an amateur several hours to clean their home to the standard a professional would. For this reason, many professional cleaners work in teams so that they can speed up the process. So why not ask someone to help you – you can return the favour next time they move.

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1) Make The House Move-In Ready
If you are currently living in the home you might think, of course it’s ready to live in. But take a very close look (or have a third party such as a home inspector do it if you think you’ll have a tough time being objective) and see what might look like a project to a potential buyer.

The toilet that doesn’t flush right, the sticky screen door, and the dishwasher that’s on its last legs are all things that seem insignificant but can scare off today’s hard to please buyers. With so many homes for sale and uncertainty still hovering over the housing market, many house shoppers only want to take the plunge into homeownership if they find something just right and if they aren’t worried about mounting repair costs soon after moving.

Investing in having the small projects completed, or your time if you are handy, could be worth every penny if it helps your home sell quickly.

2) Stage The Home
Help your home make a great first impression by following the rules of professional real estate stagers. Remove clutter and personal photos, store away excess furniture to help rooms feel larger, and be sure the house is spotlessly clean. If your decorating style is bold or unique a neutral coat of paint could help the place appeal to a broader range of potential buyers.

Give each room a purpose. If you don’t have bedroom furniture for an extra bedroom set it up as a home office, craft studio, or workout room. The idea is to make it as easy as possible for someone viewing the home to envision themselves living there.

3) Set A Bargain Price
In the current market buyers are expecting to get a great deal. Homes that aren’t competitively priced will simply be ignored. Check to see what properties like yours in the area have sold for recently and ask an experienced real estate agent for their opinion on an asking price. It may even be worth hiring a licensed appraiser to appraise the home at current market value. Don’t set the listing price at your rock bottom number as you want to leave room for negotiations so that the buyers feel they are getting even more of a steal. Working in your favor is that mortgage rates are currently very low, which will allow buyers to pay less to finance the home.

While it can be disappointing to list your house for less than you hoped you’d sell it for, think about what it costs each month you still own the home. In addition to the monthly mortgage payment consider property taxes, homeowners insurance, HOA dues, utilities, and more. There’s also the emotional toll that having a home for sale takes, particularly if you need to sell financially. Finally think about the added chores and disruption to the household caused by keeping the home ready for showings and clearing out whenever someone wants to see the property.

Author Resource:
Anna Platz is a home financing expert with ForTheBestRate.com. Find today’s mortgage rates and much more at ForTheBestRate.com.

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I am standing in front of a home that is a mess. This home has been on the market, and you are left wondering about the owner’s concern to sell. Weeds are growing to three feet high. The grass is not edged or cut. Bushes look overgrown. There are various stickers on the door, and fliers laying at the entrance. There are signs that there may be other problems with the house. How can anyone imagine this to be their dream home? Obviously, this house may be a bad example. It is not a foreclosure, but it does look like one. Did the owner give up on maintenance, since foreclosures have lowered market value?  I drive onto the next neighborhood, where I see a few houses with elaborate landscapes. The next house in the line is for sale, but here the owner pales in comparison to his neighbors, even though he has maintained his yard well. I am left to ponder the idea of curb appeal.
Recently when I was asked to speak at a community event, I stayed to listen to the other speakers. I enjoyed them all, but a landscape architect caught my attention when discussing planting strategies around our homes. What he said could be applied to the concept of curb appeal. He pointed out three spots in our landscape that should be handled in a certain way to increase property value.
First, large trees should be placed along the furthest property edge away from the home. This makes sense to me for other reasons, but his argument had to do with scale and effect. Large trees overwhelm the house, so keeping them further away sets the house in proper perspective. He also pointed out that tree lined streets in established neighborhoods are desired as a way to create a perceived value in the neighborhood. This was a factor for my wife and me when choosing our own home. After the hurricane, we began loosing trees along the street. He mentioned that we should plant a new tree, then let it grown for a few years, before removing the dying tree.
Second, everything in the mid-yard should be of a smaller scale. He suggested fruit trees in this area if you do want a tree. With a fruit tree, you can have beautiful flowers, but you also obtain a tree that is on a smaller scale as we approach the home. A good idea for this location may be a shrub that grows to six feet. Fruit trees typically grow to twenty feet. Personally, my preference is toward flower beds with annuals providing a great show, but I have been focusing more on perennials. I remember one homeowner who had a gorgeous rose bed in this area. I think that there are other choices like azealas that could work well.
Third, he argued that the majority of people use plantings that are too large near the homes. To create the perception that our homes are larger, we want smaller plantings near the house. He commented that three feet high is a good height. My azealas are currently five feet high. I looked at them, and I can see that they are overpowering the house. Looking down the street, I am not as bad as other neighbors with bushes coming up to their roofs. I was already planning to prune my bushes down to four feet after they bloom. My other concern is the crepe myrtles near the house. I have been letting them grow to shade the roof, but they do dwarf the home. I may be better having these by my sidewalk. I also have two Italian cypress by the corners of the home. Another landscape architect stated having larger plants by the corners was a great accent, but I have to think about them. Moving these large specimens would surely be an issue. In any case, I think four feet may work for most homeowners. This height is at the window base on may homes, so you have a nice bush covering the wall, yet people can still have a good view out of the window.
There is a concern that I refer to as the pebble effect. I drive through quite a few neighborhoods, and I have noticed that one home can set the tone. If you have one guy who is really involved with gardening, you will see others imitating his garden to various degrees. The homes closest to his will be the ones to respond first, but you can see a wave going through the area. This will also happen with a home that is incorporating green features, but it can also happen with a home that we might perceive in a negative light. Have you seen that house where the owner seems to be perpetually working on it. You see supplies leaning against the exterior walls. The garage is left open to showcase a jumbled mess. And why are there so many cars parked in the driveway? Getting back to the pebble effect, we may have to respond to the other homes. For a house that is not greatly landscaped near highly landscaped homes, we should consider adding landscape to fit into the neighborhood, so our home does not look to shabby. When we live in the neighborhood where no body is cutting the grass or maintaining the yard, we may wish to do the minimal in yard care to make out home stand out , but you do not want to make the home appear as if it does not fit into its environment.
I guess an important lesson is know your market. If I am going to buy a car, even a used car, I am not going to buy something that looks like a piece of junk. However, if I want a car that I can convert into my dream, then I might not mind the piece of junk. If your neighborhood has a lot of foreclosures, then investing in landscaping is not going to be for you. My reasoning is that most buyers are coming to see the area, because they are hoping to get a great deal. I would have basic yard care, then I would spend my money on a kitchen or bath renovation. Maybe pick one, the kitchen or the Master bath. Again, if people are looking for a steal, do not go overboard, but make the remodel look good. You do not need Viking kitchen appliances in a home that would be catering to this value seeking audience.
Perception is more important than reality. Home buyers have blinders on. They do not need to see a bed of annuals. In fact, they do not look at the details or think of the consequences (that is what a home inspector is going to do for them). Most items that I brought up from the landscape architect may be long haul projects if you are going to be selling next year. However, they can be applied to current concerns. The pebble effect can change the buyer’s perception of your home, so think about how your home can fit into the neighborhood. Have the plants (trees and bushes) pruned in a professional manner, then maintain them. Keep the grass cut and edged. Oh, allow for views from your windows. Too often homeowners have large shrubs directly in front of a window. This is not a great view. I think that curb appeal still matters, but I also feel that money spent on landscaping is not going to be fully recouped. Do not embark on a huge landscaping project to create curb appeal. What you may want to do is move plantings around. You will have a mature plant that you do not have to pay for. We have a tendency to crowd our garden beds anyway, so having openings or space creates the impression of a larger area.

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If you are in the real estate industry, you watch various trends which effect your business. You wonder if builders are planning to begin new construction projects. Will buyers obtain mortgages. Are buyers looking for deals with foreclosures. Will the homes in the middle price range begin to sell, or will we only see growth in high end homes. For sellers and homeowners, there is more of a focus on home prices or values.  Historically we have crashes that drop the value of the home, but like the stock market, home values rise over time. Recently, however, I have been noticing a trend that is causing homes to sell for a higher price. This trend may be good for sellers to be follow.
   Look at a press release from various builders, or look at their websites, you will see the green home label. There are debates as to whether this is greenwashing or not, but you will see one builder teaming up with a famous brand to deliver a green home. Other builders tout there green credentials in press releases, stating that their homes are becoming more and more green. Then you will find builders proudly announcing their EnergyStar homes of some other green certification. These green announcements are coming consistently before this year’s home buying season.
    Part of the driving force for this green conversion is simple; buyers have said they will pay more a home with green features. From my own observations, builders have been adopting sustainable or green building practices, because they make sense. Basically, the building industry will be going more green, because consumers want those features even if they are not interested in a sustainable lifestyle. Those people who are interested in sustainable homes and communities are looking towards refurbishing foreclosures or other existing homes. Building a green home can be more expensive, since green features are not being mass manufactured, which leads to higher costs. Yet, many innovative builders, architects, and others are showing that sustainable homes can be built affordably.
    The big push right now is to sell a more expensive home to insure better profits, and the green label helps the industry achieve this goal. Are these homes green or sustainable? I would like to respond yes and no. These homes are being built to green standards, whichever standard the builder chooses, but a sustainable or green mindset is needed to maintain these homes to see the best benefits. Home buyers may be willing to pay more for a green home, because they see this as a quality issue, but unless they maintain a green or sustainable lifestyle, they will not reap all of the green benefits.
    How does this trend relate to sellers? Any home can be green. Knowing that buyers associate green with quality, you should consider how to make your home show off its green features to sell it for a better cost. Maybe consider an energy audit. If your home does well, the audit can be a selling point. If the auditor shows you areas that need help, you could make those repairs. Then the energy audit with a statement of your repairs to meet the audit becomes the selling point. Another way to sell a home as green is to show off the EnergyStar label. I have seen EnergyStar homes in my home inspections. If your home met this standard or any other green standard, then make that a selling point. If not, you could install EnergyStar approved appliances. You can then do simple green steps: CFL or LED lights, insulation, and caulking.
    If you are looking to sell your home, you may increase your asking price if you have a green label. Is this greenwashing? Maybe. Going green by adding green features is a good first step, but anyone who is devoted to creating more sustainable homes will not buy into this trend. Sustainability is a lifestyle choice, not a feature to add onto the home. 

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I watched a home go from being offered for sale before the weekend. By Tuesday the house had a slight change to the sign out front: for lease. By Wednesday the sign had come down. The home had been rented. I do not know if this should be considered a success or settling on the part of the sellers. I hope that the sellers are getting what they want. The Realtor has been quick to accept first offers from my experience, which may not be the best thing to do.
The sellers denied the need for many repairs before the house went on market; however they did have a one day repair sprint. On Sunday, they informed me of several obvious repairs that were needed: a busted frame on the back door from when it was kicked in; a busted out window pane from a tenant who lost his keys; and a few others. When a house goes on market in a desired neighborhood, you can expect a flow of buyers and Realtors checking out the home to see if they should make a move before others make an offer. This can taper off after the first weekend, depending on various factors. This initial rush can be important, because a bad first impression can be reported beyond that first crowd.In my limited experience in watching the full process of homes being offered for sale, I have seen buyers from the first weekend coming back to the home, and then making an offer. A bad impression will kill that opportunity.
Do you need a home inspection before selling your home? My answer remains the same: not necessary unless you have true concerns. However, not having a home inspection means you should not inspect your home. Step away from the house; put on your buyer thinking cap; and enter the home with fresh eyes. Be critical of everything. The tougher you are on your home, the more you will find to correct. Go after the obvious first. This means visual items like that hole in the  bathroom ceiling, but also normal use items, like the bathroom. Your toilet will be flushed. Take care of these issues first. Some major issues may not be noticed by the buyers, but you should have a plan for dealing with them. What will not be noticed? You would be surprised. Some buyers walk into a home with rose colored glasses, but some do not sense the problems. Sense? Yes sense. I have had Realtors and buyer taken aback when I state in a quick walk through a home that there is a foundation problem. On a recent inspection, the buyer asked stunned: how do you know. I explained what I felt when walking across the first floor. Gave him a quick evaluation of what I thought the foundation expert would state, but added that I still had to perform my inspection. The buyer looked at me knowingly when the foundation expert told him in more detail what I had said after my first work through. I have no special gift; all home inspectors become atuned to the signs.
I do think that before listing a home, you have to take the time to make an effort to create the best impression on the buyer. You are asking them to make the biggest purchase that they have ever made, so they will be worried.

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The end of the year, in fact the end of the decade, causes most of us to reflect upon what happened during the past year. Dealing with home buyers allows me to reflect upon some of the questions that I was asked at the completion of a home inspection, which leads me to pick out these trends. I think that maybe sellers will want to know about these questions, because it will help set up your home for a quicker sale.



Homes with lower utility costs- notice that I did not say a green home or an eco-friendly home. Those are trends, but I noticed that buyers bottom line this idea to how much will it cost to run a home. What will the gas, electricity, or water bill be? That question comes in many forms. (Home inspectors take note; you should have some idea about how to answer this question to better serve your clients). A seller may want to gather some averages for potential buyers. For example, in June, my electricity bill went up to $200, while in November, it was $60. The higher amount will scare a buyer, and the lower amount will mislead them. If your average is around $130, you may be giving them a figure they can accept. By the way, very few clients have asked me if the appliances are EnergyStar compliant.



Low maintenance- buyers consistently ask me how do they take care of their new home, and what option will allow them to decrease their maintenance duties. For example, tile or wood floors are popular as a low maintenance feature. With many Hispanic buyers here in Houston, you will find this type of flooring a must. They will want carpet in the bedrooms though. When thinking about this area, consider how easily surfaces can be cleaned. You will also want to consider your garden. More garden beds with properly sized perennials will go over better than grass that has to be cut, or beds that need much attention.



Fresh decor- new looking floors, freshly painted walls, new looking appliances catch a buyer’s eye. This ties into value. Buyers want to feel that they are getting a new home, even when your home was built in the sixties. You do not necessarily need new appliances or new flooring; a really good cleaning may work. Painting the walls though should be done. Go with a semi-gloss or gloss white. These walls are easier to clean, and they do look brighter to the buyer.


Create gathering spaces- indoors or outdoors, you will need to have places where people (the buyer and their guests) can sit down to chat. My wife and son use every available seating area as a storage spot for their backpacks, jackets, or whatever they are carrying. Sometimes I tell them that I have had enough when I can no longer find a place to sit. Believe or not, I see sellers with the same habit. One lady, a Realtor no less, had her washing all over the couches in the den. There is a feeling that we will be focusing our lives on the home, since this recession. Buyers are looking for areas where they can entertain. Families are looking for spots where they can get to know each other again. Consider how your house will be used by people gathering, and emphasize these features.



Is there a home office?- buyers frequently tell me that this bedroom will be an office. I have three children with three bedrooms in the house. I cannot set aside a room to be a home office. My front room does serve as an office, but it also serves as a family room in the evening. I built bookcases along one wall, with a space on the wall for a flat screen television. I have a large desk set from an office. I picked mine up for free from a business that was closing, but you can find some nice refurbished desks from many stores that specialize in this kind of furniture. My point is that you should not set up a little student desk in a corner. Really create an office look. My desk is near the book case. On the opposite wall, facing the television, I have a seating area. At night, we can watch the television. We also sit there to read, and we have played in the space between the desk and seating area. You may find that you can create a multi-use room like this one.



The standard renovation- buyers will not change on this point. Remodeling your kitchen and bath will always pay off, and it is something that buyers will look at it.


Not really in the trends category, but two systems that I am consistently asked about during my home inspection are the roof and the foundation. Not all buyers ask about them, but they eventually come up when the report is being discussed.I do have a significant number of buyers ask me to pay attention to the roof or foundation, because they have a concern.Typically I work alone;however, I have seen this trend occurring more: the massive inspection. I will see a buyer hire every type of inspection possible. Generally their goal is to greatly reduce the price of the home. I have seen this backfire though. I had some sellers ask me to look over an inspection report, which caused the buyer to demand $30,000 off when the sellers had already decided to accept $10,000 less than the asking price. I pointed out that most of the report stated that the inspector did not know if there was a problem, because he actually did not inspect it. He stated “if there is a problem, it would cost so much to fix”. I hate that. I pointed out this fact to the sellers. For items that really did need repairs, the sellers were able to fix much of it themselves, with some being done by professionals. They spent $3000. They rejected the idea of lowering the price further. They obtained another offer about a week after rejecting the first one. They only lowered the price by $5000. As a seller, you will have to accept that some repairs will be needed on your home, but take repair cost estimates with a grain of salt. Check the numbers for yourself.

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