How NOT to take Photos of Your Home When Selling

Of course you will need to take photos of your when selling for sale by onwer. You will need photos for flyers, newspaper ads, or advertising over the internet. Check out this article I wrote on tips for taking photos of your home.

I came across a blog the other day which shows poorly taken photos by real estate agents on the MLS. The blog is called It's Lovely! I'll Take it! You can learn a lot about what NOT to do from this blog! Pretty funny too

Get Ready for Your Home Appraisal

Most people should know what their home is worth. If they don't then it would be time to have it appraised without delay. In any case, what your home is really worth is a mitigating factor for deciding the money you should be able to obtain from it should you ever decide to sell. Below are a couple of pointers as to how you could get the most out of a home appraisal.

First of all you need to do your best to remain out of the appraiser way while he is in your house. It could be a temptation to inform the appraiser of all the other homes that are for sale in the neighborhood, or what you may think your house is really worth, but try to restrain your need to do so. It's usually an uncomfortable enough position to have a stranger routing through your house and trying to decide how much it's really worth. And try not to make things worse by offending the appraiser, for any reason. If an appraiser becomes uncomfortable or annoyed for whatever reason, they may have a tendency to rush the job, thus missing important things that may have impacted positively on the final number they arrive at.

Second, make sure you keep your home clean and tidy, and be sure that any maintenance work has been carried out. This is not saying that you have to be able to see your own reflection on the kitchen tiles or anything like that, but a cluttered or untidy home will make it easier to overlook aspects of the house such as how safe the interior is or how sound the structure of the house is. Make sure you all of those leaky faucets are fixed, loose carpet squares glued down and anything else that may lower your homes impression to an appraiser. If you decide to move but are planning on leaving some of the appliances behind, ensure they are in proper working condition.

Thirdly, if there has been any remodeling work or rebuilding work done to any part of the house, don't be afraid to mention this to the appraiser. This may not have the effect of raising the value of the house by an equal amount to what you invested in it, but it is vital the appraiser knows all the new parts or areas of the house and what, if any, major problems have been repaired, etc.
These are only three pointers for you to make the experience an altogether friendlier one and also to make the appraiser's job go smoothly, without ant hitches.

Home Staging Turn Your Humble Home Into a Model Home

Realtor, Broker, and real estate expert Susan Botticelli takes you through a home and shows before and after pictures. This home was staged without using a penny, using furniture the homeowner already had. She takes you from the living room, kitchen, and even the garage.

Read And Review Your Offer to Purchase Real Estate

An Offer to Purchase Form is a legal document presented by an interested buyer to a home seller. This is no simple document because it actually includes all the terms and conditions of the sale which are mostly negotiable. It is just right then that home sellers focus on, not only a few, but all the terms of the sale.

The home sale terms in the form cover the closing date, the specifics on financing by the buyer, the closing costs and how they will be shared and paid, the items included in the sale and those that are not as well as the various contingencies of the buyer. Some of the common contingencies are for property inspection, appraisal, financing and review of the property title record. For homeowners selling their residential property on their own, real estate experts advise that they thoroughly review the purchase offer after receiving the document.
Evaluating terms

Be sure to evaluate all the terms and conditions before making a decision. Remember that every term can be negotiated so consider your options. If you are amenable to some of the terms, go ahead and accept them but you can also counter the other terms to adjust them according to your needs. It will be helpful if you list the terms and conditions on a separate sheet and make a note beside each of the term to determine if they are acceptable to you or not.
If, for instance, you don’t agree with some terms such as a low price, too long closing date and limited time to move out after closing, you can counter them with a higher price, shorter closing and more time to vacate your home. It’s just a matter of negotiating well and communicating your needs and concerns clearly to the buyer.
Here’s a tip. Read and examine a blank real estate contract to familiarize yourself to the standard and non-standard terms. Understand the special clauses normally written above the signature block as these are used by the buyer to make non-standard demands, to ask the seller to pay certain portions of his costs and to demand a specific date for the homeowner to move.
Important considerations
Before accepting the purchase offer, it’s advisable that you make sure your buyer has been pre-approved or at the least, pre-qualified for a real estate mortgage enough to buy your home. Avoid signing an offer until the buyer has been pre-qualified.
Other things to watch out for include longer time for buyer to get financing, low earnest money deposit, penalty if the seller fails to move out of the home during the specified date and requirement for the seller to pay the mortgage costs of the buyer.
After reviewing the offer, you have several choices. First, you can accept the offer as it is and sign it to become a legal sales contract or agreement. Second, you can make a counter-offer by eliminating the unacceptable terms and providing your own contract with your specific terms. Third, you can reject the offer if you are not amenable to all of the terms and conditions.
When considering the purchase price offered by the buyer, look at it as a whole. Sure the buyer may have offered a price lower than what you wanted but there may be some terms that counterbalance the low purchase price such as the buyer paying for the closing costs or a fast closing.
As for the earnest money, the minimum requirement should be at least $500. There are some homesellers who require buyers to issue an earnest money check before signing the offer. The earnest money is held by a third party such as your real estate lawyer, the buyer’s agent or whoever the two parties specify in an escrow agreement. However, if you know your buyer and trust him, an earnest money may not be needed.
You also have the freedom to accept a second or backup offer if you wish. Just make sure that your second buyer knows and understands that your house is already under contract and that he or she is only next in line.

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