Buy a Home for the Holidays & Save Money, Too

Wrap it up, I'll take it. The Holiday season is the best time of the year to be a home buyer. If you are seriously in the market for a home, make the most of motivated sellers and fewer competitors.

Between now and New Year's Day, or even Super Bowl Sunday, you will have little or no competition from other home buyers. Sellers who have their houses and condos listed for sale during the holidays are usually highly motivated to sell. They are often willing to make good deals because most buyers are tied up with holiday events. As a special added bonus, during
November, December and January, Realty agents and home sellers will treat you like royalty because buyers are few and far between.

If you can tear yourself away from holiday events, go shopping for your dream home. Take advantage of the season, as you will not find homesellers this motivated again until Thanksgiving 2006.

5 Questions Smart Home Buyers Ask.

Smart Home buyers should ask important questions before purchasing. The better informed the buyer is, the greater the odds the sale will close and the home will be a long-term, satisfying purchase. Every Homeseller should know their answer to these tough questions smart buyers ask.

Why are you selling your home?
The reason it is important for buyers to know why the seller is selling is to determine how flexible and motivated the seller will be. Many buyers are shocked to discover how many listing agents either don't know the seller's true reason for selling, or they pretend they don't know.

Sometimes, it is none of the buyer's business why the seller is selling, such as a divorce or family problems. But often, it is vital for the buyer to know the true reason, such as when there is a pending foreclosure and the buyer must complete the purchase before the sale deadline.

Favorite reasons for a home sale that I love to hear are:
"The seller is retiring and moving to another state." (Meaning: There is an excellent chance the retiree seller will carry back a first or second mortgage for extra retirement income.)
“The seller has been transferred to another state.” (Meaning: Highly motivated and flexible)
“The new home the seller is building is ready to move into.” (Meaning: If the seller doesn’t sell their old home quickly, they will be making two mortgage payments.)
“We inherited the property.” (Meaning: Usually motivated, and often, they made little to no cash investment in the property.)

How did you determine the asking price?
Smart home sellers and their listing agents set the asking price based on recent sales prices of nearby comparable homes. But some home sellers, and their agents, set their asking prices based on their purchase price, plus capital improvements,, plus inflation, or some other nonsense method that bears no relationship to actual market value. Still other sellers irrationally set their asking price at the total cash they need to pay off their mortgage(s) and other debts.

Home sellers don't realize most buyers are not dummies. Buyers usually know the details about competitive homes, which sellers haven't even inspected. Serious buyers need to ask how the price was established to determine if it is realistic or plucked from the air.

What price did you purchase this home for?
The reason for this question is to get a feel for how much equity and negotiation room the seller may have. If the home was purchased many years ago at a price far below today's value, the seller may have more room to negotiate. However, if the purchase price was close to today's current market value, then the seller will usually be inflexible negotiating the price and terms.

Occasionally, the seller has overpaid for a home at the time of purchase or the market has dropped. This is especially true for luxury homes for with limited buyer demand. Overpriced homes often languish on the market until the seller becomes motivated to sell, even if it's a loss.

If the home seller or the listing agent refuses to tell a serious buyer the purchase price, it is still possible to discover this information at the county recorder's office. Another source is the local tax assessor or the tax collector's office. Depending on how local property taxes are established, the purchase price will usually be part of the official records. Many cities and counties now have this information available online.

What home defects have you reported on the disclosure statement?
Many states, by law, now require home sales defect disclosure statements to prevent future lawsuits. Even in states where written disclosures are not required, smart sellers and their agents voluntarily provide seller disclosures to prevent future legal problems.

Savvy home buyers need to know the defects the seller is aware of, before making a purchase offer. Of course, always provide a contingency for the buyer's approval of their professional inspector's report in your offer, just in case the seller "forgot" to reveal any defects.

If the buyer's purchase offer contains an inspection contingency, and the subsequent inspection reveals unexpected defects, the buyer has several choices: (a) a repair credit can be negotiated with the seller, (b) the buyer can cancel the purchase and obtain refund of the good faith deposit, or (c) proceed with the home purchase anyway.

Note: Home buyers, and their buyer's realty agent, should plan to attend their inspection in order to see and discuss any problems discovered.

Are you aware of any development or zoning issues that may affect this home?
The listing agent, home seller and the buyer's selling agent should be aware of any significant facts that might affect the home. Any plans such as a nearby airport that has a flight path over the home or a planned street-widening project that will take some of the front yard away may be important to know before you make an offer.

Conclusion: Serious buyers ask serious questions to determine the seller's situation, the condition of the property, why the seller is selling and future plans that may affect the home. Although no home is perfect and every property has drawbacks, the answers help insure that the buyer will have a happy, long term experience with the home after they close.

Stage, Show & Sell Your Home During the Holidays

While the holiday season is a hectic time to show and sell your house, there are distinct advantages to staging and showing during the holidays. The holiday season gives you a chance to show your home at its very best, adorned with warmth, charm and cheer.

A home brimming with greenery, twinkling lights and holiday decorations is pleasing to everyone. Re-stage your home to win over a holiday homebuyer and keep the following in mind as you prepare to show your house:

· Curb appeal. If you live in a snowy area, make sure walkways are cleared. Remove late fall leaves that are littering the grounds. Make sure the path to the stairs is free from ice.

· A few exterior holiday lights or decorations shows pride in ownership and seasonal cheer. Keep in mind that while exterior lights are beautiful at night, don't overdo it. Christmas lights and nativity scenes may not be as beautiful during the daylight hours, when potential homebuyers will be looking at your home.

. Smells of the Season. Nothing warms the heart like the smell of freshly cut garland, cinnamon candles or a green, frasier fir Christmas tree. To keep everything looking its best, keep greenery watered, sweep up shedding needles daily and replace browning arrangements.

.Christmas Flowers add color, life and last all season. Try a grouping an arrangement of poinsettia's by the front door. Seasonal bulbs like amaryllis and paper whites, come in a variety of colors and sizes and can be easily rooted in water or soil.

· Trim outdoor trees so unexpected winds don't knock down branches that could damage your home or hurt anybody.
· Place a nice holiday doormat outside your front door.
· Hang a festive wreath on your door.
· Play holiday music in the background.
· Keep the house cozy and ward off a chilling impression. Set your thermostat at a comfortable temperature.
· A toasty fire. Nothing says home more than a nice cozy fire, but never leave a fire unattended.
· Your tree. This year you'll need to think about your tree more than you usually do. For starters, if your house is on the small side, get a smaller tree. You don't want the tree to take over the entire living or family room. Likewise, you don't want to cram too much furniture into a room just to get the tree to fit. Remove furniture if necessary.
· Keep decorations on the conservative side. Not all home shoppers may celebrate the holidays in the manner you do. You don't want to overwhelm anybody with abundant displays of holiday cheer. You want your house to be noticed, not your decorations.
· Bake holiday cookies and treats often. The enticing smell will be welcome to those viewing your house.
· Be especially careful about ensuring your home security system is turned back on after agents show your house, especially if you have gifts under the tree.
· Windows. Make sure your windows are sparkling clean.
· Let the light in. Open blinds and curtains. Turn on interior lights to reduce the dreary lighting that pervades in the dark winter months.
· Leave some holiday treats and hot chocolate for your guests.

Finally, keep in mind that the holiday decorations should adorn, not dominate. Strive to convey the love, comfort, and joy your family has shared in this home. If conveyed successfully, a new family will be anxious to move in and carve out their own holiday memories.

Home Insulating Paint

A fresh coat of Paint does a lot for your home and your mood. Did you also know it can save you money? We didn't either until we can across this new paint additive.

Insulated Paint. Imagine lowering your energy bills simply by mixing an additive into the paint before you roll it on the walls. Insuladd is a heat reflecting material that helps prevent heat loss during winter months and reduces the build up of radiant heat during the summer months. Just mix it with paint and the ceramic materials combine with the paint to create a layer of insulation. It's ideal for interior or exterior use as well as on roofs, ceilings, attics and floors.

If the customer testimonials are any indication, Insulating Paint is a miracle worker. Users rave about the results. They report that their rooms are staying 8 - 10 degree's cooler in the summer, warmer in the winter because they
added Insuladd.

If it is time for a little fresh paint at your house, be sure to check out this paint additive, which only costs around $17.00. For more info go to www.insuladd.com

These New Candles Set the Stage

Real estate is all about beauty, home and surroundings. We just came across a new product that sheds a new light on creating ambiance.

Beautiful Lumenae candles provide an entirely new way to illuminate your surroundings and enhance your mood. The Lumenae is a traditional, burnable pillar candle that also houses a color changing LED light show. Choose to let the light show fade through every color in the rainbow, or hold it on a single color to match your decor and mood.

Candles are a great idea for your home and a great new gift for the holidays. The product retails from $12.00 - $30.00. Find out more and play with the fun website at www.lumenae.com.

Determining Real Estate Market Value

The internet is a fantastic tool for home buyers. Instead of personally touring house after house, you can preview hundreds of listings from the comfort of your home. Unfortunately, the internet is not helpful in determining what you should pay, once you find your dream home.

While there are some "what's the value of this home?" websites, they provide only sketchy and sometimes misleading information about home sales. Most of these "free home valuation" sites are nothing more than lead generation tools for real estate agent's, mortgage and title companies, movers, etc. Their purpose is not in providing accurate information, but to tease you into providing your personal information, which in turn they sell to their subscribers.

The best way to determine the fair market value of a listing is a strictly non-tech method called previewing properties. Previewing is time consuming, but it is highly productive. It is almost impossible to determine what to offer for a home without knowing the local market for yourself. Plan to look at every listing that might work for you. Hitting Sunday Open Houses is the quickest way to see a lot of homes in a short amount of time. Take flyers out of InfoTubes and from homesellers. Start a file of all houses you have seen for yourself. Throw out flyers from listings you didn't like. It won't be very long before you clearly see the correlation between size, type, location and asking price.

Conclusion: The internet home valuation websites do not paint a whole or accurate picture of what a home is worth, whether you are a buyer or a seller. Text based comparable sales data misses many important factors such as floorplan, natural lighting, views, condition of the home and adjacent homes.

Avoid a large costly mistake before you make an offer to purchase a home. Experience the market with your own two eyes...wide open!

Ranch Style Homes Are Hot Again

The Ranch Style Home, popular from 1945-1970, dominates established neighborhoods from coast-to-coast. The ranch is finding itself back in vogue with good reason. Good design and location.

Wonder why I Love my Ranch? The one story (ie: no stairs) ranch, with its functional floorplan is ideal for young families, couch potatoes and the elderly. Ranch neighborhoods typically offer the charm of mature landscape, neighborhood schools and parks, and are more centrally located than many new subdivisions.

Ranch is Trendy. The hip "I Generation", who came of age with the design simplicity of the Apple Computer and the iPod may have also found their dream home...their grandparent's. Many young professional's are attracted to the post World War II, simple, rectangle design and low profile roof that is a ranch style home. Scott Timbey with the LA Times explains, "Once dismissed as a conformist, suburban artifact, like white bread and kidney shaped pools, the ranch house has become the kind of home that abstractionists, cultists, preservationists and the scholarly find attractive."

Hipsters and Big Box Haters are good news for older generations who may be downsizing. Just snap up a ranch, add a media room in that large living area, rip up out that green shag carpet, and Grandma and Grandpa's house lives large for another generation.

How to Repaint Your Front Door.

"Curb appeal" and good first impressions start at the front door. Nothing says more about your lifestyle, and who you are than your entry. A well maintained entry conveys pride, a sense of welcoming, and a warm, friendly impression of the people who live inside. Feng shui dictates that a neat and tidy front door are crucial to health and prosperity.

Perhaps, your entry says so much about you because it's easy to create an inviting entrance way with little effort and without breaking the bank. These easy fix-up tips will not only spruce up your home, but will leave you glowing with pride.

Repaint the Front Door:
1. Sand the door smooth and fill in cracks and rough edges.
2. Prime the door. Allow primer to dry for at least 3 hours.
3. Apply your first topcoat, but never in direct sunlight and keep the door open at all times until completely dry.
4. Apply the second coat the next day. Keep the door wide open until dry.
5. Apply a coat of clear polyurethane, if desired, especially if door is exposed to the weather. Urethane will seal the paint, perserve the finish and will make wiping the door easy.
6. When selecting the type of paint, stay in the same family. If you used an oil base, use oil base primer and urethane. If you used latex, use latex all the way.
7. Choose a color that compliments other colors found on the exterior. Do not use the same color on your garage. Your front door should stand alone.

Lighting:
1. Illumination welcomes people to your home and insures their safety. Clean up light fixtures and replace burned out bulbs. Choose a wattage that provides light, but does not blind. Avoid yellow bulbs that will wash out your front door color.
2. Replace dated light fixtures. It is easy to do yourself and is a very inexpensive way to update your entry. Consider adding a motion detector feature, if replacing your lighting.

Hardware:
1. Polish your door hardware and hinges. Use a brass cleaner and consider adding a coat of polyurethane to keep them shining.
2. Add a kickplate that matches your door hardware. They are inexpensive and add a finished appearance with little effort.
3. Coordinate with a door knocker, mailbox or new house numbers that match your hardware.

Decorate:
1. Accessories add charm, if they are not overdone. Remember that less is generally more, if you find yourself debating.
2. Consider adding a few decorator touches to warm things up: matching flower pots with colorful plants; an attractive wreath, especially during the holidays; a family name plate; an attractive welcome mat; a small chair or setting area; a hanging plant in a decorative container.

Keep it Clean:
1. Clean the glass, wipe the finger prints, sweep the sidewalk and stoop, touch up the trim and porch railings, clear away the cobwebs.

Spruce up your entryway this weekend. An attractive entrance is a source of pride. It also shows that you care about your home, family and your friends. It's so quick and easy. You will feel great about yourself for doing it.

New Word Describes Buying a Home

The Washington Post has published the winning submissions to its yearly contest in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words.

The second most highly rated entry was a new real estate term submitted by a recent homebuyer, Fred Roven. Way to go Fred!!!

Cashtration (n.) The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.

Burglar Proof Windows

Break-Resistant Windows. The Window Factory has come up with what it considers the ultimate unbreakable window. Their House Armor windows feature reinforced framing with break-resistant glass similar to the glass used in automotive windshields. The windows are said to be tough enough to stand up to baseball bats, crowbars and bowling balls. A unique secondary deadbolt lock secured to the frame makes the windows burglar-resistant as well.

This super glass window could mean recession in the glass replacement business and death to the unsafe and ugly burglar bar that has plagued inner city homes for years.
Check it out. It's a good thing. http://www.housearmor.com/

Holiday Home Shopping

If you are thinking about buying a home or condo while interest rates are still low, it's not too late. We are now entering the best time of the year to buy a home.

The time between Thanksgiving and New Years Day is the absolute best home buying season. Actually, home buyer prime time even extends until Super Bowl Sunday or longer in harsh climate cities.

During the holidays, only highly motivated sellers have their homes on the market. Also, holiday activities and winter temperatures keep all but the most serious buyers at home. This means bargain hunting buyers face less competition and anxious sellers are more much more willing to deal on price and terms.

Wrap it up, I'll take it. If you are in the market for a home, buying during the holidays could be the best gift you will ever receive.

Must Do Home Repairs

Owning a home is expensive, but postponing these repairs can ruin your house or kill your sale. Here's what home inspectors say they look for and you should be on the lookout for, too.

1.) A Water Leak, Anywhere: Water is probably the single most destructive force on a home. Leaks can lead to rot, mold, termites. Water can cause roofs to collapse, foundations to crack and can get you blackballed by insurance companies.

The Fix: Stop the leak by any means necessary. Repair the damage and make sure you've taken steps to make sure it doesn't reappear.

2.) Peeling Paint: Paint is your home's skin. It is the first line of defense from water and pests.

The Fix: Scrape off old paint, sand until smooth, apply a primer and a coat of new paint. Painting is an easy do-it-yourself project. Paint also changes the appearance of your home and does more to update it more than any other repair.

3) Flickering Lights: Do your lights dim when start your microwave or the heat kicks on? If so, you may have too many applicances on a circuit or your wiring maybe bad. Either one is a fire hazard.

The Fix: An electrician can add more circuits or upgrade your wiring. If you can't afford "The Fix" try to distribute power-hungry appliances by not running more than one at a time or plug them into different circuits.
If your home was build between 1965 and 1973, you may have aluminum wiring. If so, it is best to upgrade if you can afford it. If you can't, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends using special crimp connectors and get rid of the usual twist-on style. This is not a DIY project. When it comes to electricity, it is always advisable to consult a professional, licensed electrician.

4.) Mouse in the House: Rodents (Squirrels, mice, rats) carry disease and make a mess of your home. They also love to chew through wiring, insulation and wood, making them prime suspects in many house fires.

The Fix: Use traps or bait products. If killing leaves you cold, there are some very effect "humane" traps on the market. If you catch your little freeloader alive, be sure to drive him a distance from your home before you release him. If you don't, it will be a matter of hours before you hear the pitter patter of little feet, as he returns "home".
Keep in mind that rodents carry a variety of diseases that make us ill such as, salmonella, the deadly Hantavirus, and the plague. If this isn't a DIY chore you want to tackle, call a professional exterminator.

5.) Death By Electricution: Outlets in kitchens and bathrooms within 6 feet of the sink or tub (water) should be Ground-Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCI).

The Fix: GFCI electrical outlets, with their distinctive red and black buttons, are a life saver, making them the best $7.00 you will ever spend. This fix can easily be done by the homeowner.
Do not use a GFCI on your refrigerator outlet. A refrigerator's normal on/off surges can trip the interrupter and leave you with spoiled groceries.

6.) Kaboom: If your gas applicances were installed more than 10 years ago, they may still have dangerous brass connectors that break, causing explosions or fires. These should be replaced with an approved connector, typically flexible and made of stainless steel.

The Fix: This is not a DIY job. Do not move the appliance to inspect the connection. Even a slight motion can cause the weak soldered connection to break and disaster to strike. Call a licensed applicance repairperson to check connections and make any changes.

7.) Laundry is a Killer: Clothes dryers cause more than 15,000 fires every year. The reason is often a build up of lint in the duct that vents the dryer to the outside or the use of plastic ducts.

The Fix: Regularly cleaning the ducts and replacing plastic ducts with metal ones are projects you can easily do yourself.

Due to expense, many homeowners procrastinate on repairs. Some, however, should never be postponed. Ignoring these problems can result in much more expensive repairs later on, kill the sale of your home, or worst of all, you.

Real Estate King, Barrack, Cashing Out

Tom Barrack, arguably the world's greatest real estate investor is selling off his U.S. real estate holdings as prices drive the market to nosebleed levels, reports Fortune Magazine. If Tom Barrack is nervous, maybe you should be, too.

Barrack's, who runs a $25 billion portfolio of trophy real estate assets, view of the U.S. market couldn't be clearer: "It's a great time to sell, and a terrible time to buy." "There's too much money chasing too few good deals, with too much debt and too few brains," said Barrick.

What should you think of Barrack's view of the future? Donald Trump, had this to say about his friends point of view..."Tom has an amazing vision of the future, an ability to see what's going to happen that no one else can match."

If Barrick is right about the real estate bubble, the amateurs will certainly be trampled, and the pro's still on the field, could go down with them.