TedCo Software Financial Matters Blog

Hop in your car and drive away from your house or walk around the block. Now, go back home but as soon as you see your house.

Pretend you’ve never seen your house before. What do you see that turns you off?

Chances are good, whatever it is, it’s going to turn off a home buyer, too. If you can fix it, do so. You may improve your chances of selling your home.

Here are a few home selling tips related to the outside of your house. These are all about “curb appeal”.

• Take care of the lawn. Cut your grass, trim the grass around edges like flower beds and concrete features.
• Get rid of weeds and unsightly growth. Don’t forget those that grow in the cracks or separators in your driveway and walks.
• Get rid of any dead plants in the yard or flower beds.
• Are any windows blocked by shrubs or other plants? If they are, these should be trimmed. (In the interest of safety, windows on the first floor should not have plants in front of them that would prevent an emergency exit.)
• Of course, pick up any trash and fallen limbs. If you have play equipment for children, make sure it’s clean and in good repair.
• Clean that patio as if it were a room in your house. Junky patios are a turnoff.
• Sweep the side walks, garage, carports and entrances. Replace any worn or ugly doormats. And if your doormat has a negative message, replace it.
• Consider hanging a few potted plants or setting pretty plants in pots near the front door. Do all you can to make the entrace inviting. This might be a good time to repaint the front door.
• Where are your garbage cans? If possible, they shouldn’t be obvious when looking at your house from the drive.

Will any of these tips make someone buy your house? No, but they will reduce the odds that home buyers drive by without a second glance.

Read more Home Selling Tips here:

Home Selling Tips : Part 1
Home Selling Tips : Part 2

Selling a home can be stressful. Sellers often make the mistake of buying a new home before selling their previous home and end up with two mortgage payments each month. In a situation like that, anything a home seller can do to enhance the chance of selling a home is worth doing.

Home buyers usually expect to buy a home that is in good repair. While home sellers often think of the big-ticket items (like central air or the garage door opener) and make sure they work correctly, it can be the little things that make a biggest bad impression.

• In Home Selling Tips : Part 1, I mentioned that family photos can be “unnecessary distractions.” If you remove pictures from the walls, make sure you leave no unsightly holes, nails or other picture hanging hardware.
• Look for loose hardware and tighten it. This includes things like cabinet hardware and knobs, faucet handles, and door knobs.
• Check your door bell — front and back door — and make sure it works.
• Screens on doors, windows and screened-in patios and rooms should be in good repair. Replace any that have holes or are damaged.
• Check your windows. Does the hardware work properly? Do the windows open as designed? Of course, replace broken panes.
• Replace bad light bulbs. And remember to check the lights in your closets.
• If your home has dimmer switches on light fixtures, make sure they work as they should.
• Faucets should not drip! If they do, fix them.
• Toilets should flush properly. If they don’t, fix them.
• A home buyer may not do it during his or her visit, but expect a home inspector to turn on all the sink, shower and tub faucets, the washing machine and the dishwasher at the same time to see if your plumbing is clogged or constricted. It shouldn’t be.

You can read more home selling tips in Home Selling Tips : Part 1.

You’re selling you home, not yourself or your lifestyle. These tips will help you depersonalize your home before you show it.

• While one or two family photos in your home may help it seem warmer, don’t overwhelm home buyers with walls of family photos. As much as they mean to you, they are unnecessary distractions.
• Tone the paint down. Fads fade quickly. Go for neutral shades like white, off whites and beiges.
• Clean off your refrigerator! Yes, your child’s art work is precious … to you. Take down the artwork, messages and magnets.
• Make sure the bathroom is clean and free of all unnecessary cosmetics and beauty items. Of course, you want to make sure the guest towels are clean!
• If you have an aggressive or loud pet, find another home for him or her when home buyers are looking at your house. No one can pay attention to your home if they fear your pet.

Look here for more home selling tips in the future!

SmartMoney Magazine offers “10 Things Your Real Estate Broker Won’t Say“.

An example from the article: real estate brokers usually suggest hosting an open house, but a National Association of Realtors® (NAR) study indicates the success rate of open houses is just 2-4 percent. The article contends the open house is primarily a networking opportunity for the agent or broker. Posted on July 7, the article has already stirred up some strong comments from real estate professionals … some affirm most of the article … of course, others challenge it.

The issue of only a 2-4 percent success rate for open houses sounds significant. And it may make you think twice about hosting an open house. However, if one out of 25 to 50 open houses results in a sale, it certainly makes sense to try. But do it knowing that other purposes may be at work for your agent or broker, too.

A new article titled, “Seven Strategies to Get Your Property SOLD in a Slow Market“, has just been added to the MoneyToys™ Real Estate Article Library.

Written by John Allen of Allen Real Estate Services, Inc., in Sarasota, Florida, the article offers suggestions home sellers can use to enhance their opportunity to sell in a slower market. John’s web site is at www.buysarasota.com.

New! Home Selling Calculator is the latest real estate calculator from Wheatworks Software, LLC. Home Selling Calculator, $29.95 USD, shows how the time a house is on the market impacts the home seller’s potential profit.

Home Selling Calculator accepts a homeowner’s financial values related to selling a home, calculates the monthly carrying costs and shows the homeowner how long a house can stay on the market at a range of sales prices while allowing the seller to make a profit. If a profit is not possible, Home Selling Calculator shows the loss.

Selling a house for a profit is not easy in a falling real estate market. Setting a good selling price may be counter-intuitive. No home seller wants to start low because it is difficult to raise an asking price. However, it may be better to start with a lower asking price when selling into a slow market.

There are numerous ways a home seller can determine a desired sales price. Some choose the “I want as much as I can get”, bottom line price based on a desired profit. Others seek professional help when determining a home sales price. Some explore the local housing market, comparing the house they wish to sell to similar houses.

Whatever method one uses to determine a desired sales price, home sellers often fail to consider the house’s carrying costs that will accumulate before the house sells. Carrying costs are the financial alligators that take large, monthly bites out of the seller’s profit while a house is on the market.

Home Selling Calculator shows clearly how these monthly carrying costs eat into expected profits from selling a house. While it will not tell a home seller what price to set on a house, it shows the consequences of carrying costs on the sales price over time compared to other sale prices.

Home Selling Calculator is Windows®-based and runs on Windows 2000, Windows XP Home and XP Professional, and Vista. Home Selling Calculator includes a Home Inspection Form to help you understand what buyers may be looking for when they look at a house and a Mover’s To Do List which helps a home seller prepare for their move into another home.

Home Selling Calculator may be purchased for $29.95 USD. Site licenses and volume discounts are also available for real estate professionals. This release (version 1.1) of Home Selling Calculator is a free update for registered users.

A fully-functional evaluation version of Home Selling Calculator may be downloaded from http://www.HomeSellingCalculator.com/Download.htm.