Staging Like A Pro: Make Your Home More Appealing To Buyers

Selling the real estate property isn’t as easy as it may look like. In order to attract potential buyers and influence their decision, you’ll need to do your best while staging the house. Before you make any investments toward staging your home, make sure to explore all other, cheaper, and possibly free ways of making it appealing to potential buyers.

You’ll need to start from the outside, take care of driveway and backyard, and then continue with cleaning and redecorating the interior. The tips provided below will help you to come up with some fresh ideas and beat your competitors.

Look around the neighborhood

If you want to sell your house in a reasonable period of time, make sure your house follows the appeal of other homes in the neighborhood. There’s no need to paint your house in bright colors or spend a lot of money on avant-garde lawn ornaments. Keep it simple and just clean your walk and driveway. Take care of foliage, keep the lawn tidy and fresh, and don’t forget to water the flowers. When it comes to exterior, your best move is to go for a clean uniformity since that will attract a majority of future homeowners.

Beautify the front entry

As already suggested, the first thing a potential buyer will see is your home’s facade, lawn, and the front entry. Give your best to refresh your porch and the front door so these elements can make a great first impression. Start from a front entry mat and clean it from leaves and debris. After you’re done, check the state of your door, and apply a fresh coat of paint if needed. If you have some spare paint, go ahead and do the same with the porch and windows. This effort won’t cost you a lot, and the outcome will be very appealing.

Focus on the kitchen

Keep in mind that all investments you make in remodeling and refreshing your kitchen will repay generously in the long run. People would like to see a modern and spacious kitchen, and if you make them fall in love with your kitchen, you’ll easily close the deal. Because of that, direct a big chunk of staging budget toward buying new appliances, changing old knobs and lightbulbs, and painting worn out kitchen cabinets.

Don’t save on bathroom as well

Another important room is most certainly the bathroom. Potential homeowners will go there after the kitchen, and if they find it appealing, chances for selling will drastically increase. Clean up the bathroom and remove all your belongings, leaving all surfaces clean and shiny. Add some fluffy towels, decorative baskets with natural cosmetics and replace all elements that are outdated.

Improve the living room

The only thing you should think about while staging the living room is a comfort. People like to sit or lay down there after a long day, and this room should provide them with serenity. You’ll need some cozy couches, decorated with soft cushions and fluffy pillows. Place the coffee table in the center of the room and make an intimate conversation area. Pay some attention to walls, and decorate them with some contemporary art, or discreet murals. Your next stop should be the lighting and the best way of controlling it is by installing some pretty drapes. Think about visiting a store to buy curtains, which will increase the level of privacy and coziness.

Make a sanctuary in the bedroom

The bedroom has to be a place where the new owner can fall asleep quickly and get ready for the next day. You’ll achieve this appeal by removing all big pieces of furniture. Leave just the bed and a couple of nightstands and lamps. People like to see a spacious bedroom with a well-made bed. Make sure to use quality bedding and soft pillows since those final touches may lead the buyer to fall in love with your house and buy it immediately.

Get out once again

Once your front yard and interior are taken care of, you may focus on the backyard. You won’t need much money to stage it, so go ahead and start with the good old cleaning. The chances of selling the property will rise significantly in case you have a deck or a pergola behind the house. It would be great if you have a small organic garden back there, so new buyers can engage in a healthy lifestyle after buying a house. Clean the pool, remove all leaves, paint the deck if needed and install a mobile barbecue so the new owner can spend some quality family time during the weekends.

Final thoughts on staging like a pro

There are many more great ideas on how to attract potential buyers and sell the house quickly, and those described above are just some of the most crucial ones. Start slowly and stay within a budget. Spending a lot of money on staging won’t ensure a bigger price. You’ll need to get creative and put yourself in the buyer’s shoes. Think about your favorite rooms, devices, and amenities before you start staging the property. If all of that is too hard for you, feel free to seek an advice from a professional, in order to maximize the return on investment.

Other Home Staging Recources:

Kyle Hiscock Home Staging on a Budget
Paul Sian Make Your Luxury Home Stand Out Amongst the Competition
Debbie Drummond Should I Sell My Home Before Selling?
Listly Home Staging Tips and Tricks

Staging Like A Pro: Make Your Home More Appealing To Buyers was guest post written by Helen Bradford and avid writer covering interior design and home improvement tips.

10 Deadly Home Buying Pitfalls

Buying a home is a big deal. There are many home buying pitfalls a buyer can make. This article will discuss some of the bigger pitfalls that can make your home purchase less than perfect. These deadly pitfalls can cost you tons of money, cause lots of aggravation or both!

Unfortunately many times a home buyer will rush forward in the excitement and emotion of buying a home, only to get extremely frustrated with the home buying process or find out they made a mistake later on. Find out at the end of the article how to avoid these 10 Deadly Home Buying Pitfalls

Top 10 Deadly Home Buying Pitfalls

1- Not Understanding Agency

Real Estate Agency is a misunderstood topic by many and can create many problems if not fully understood. Basically, agency is how a real estate agent works for you and will interact with you in a real estate transaction. It is a “legal relationship” you have with your agent. One mistake many buyers make, is buying a home at an open house directly from the listing agent.

The listing agent or sellers agent, owes the seller fiduciary responsibility….. their job is to secure the highest and best offer possible on the property… their duty is to the seller, not you the home buyer. They are to legally give every advantage to their seller even at your expense.

A Buyer’s Agent on the other hand owes the home buyer fiduciary responsibility. Every home buyers has the right to use a buyer’s agent.

2- Not Getting Pre-Qualified Before Looking at Homes

Looking at homes is fun! Talking about money or lack thereof is not! Getting a proper pre-approval letter will head off tons of aggravation and heartache from the beginning.

A proper pre-approval will ensure you are looking at the right homes, let you look with confidence and can even be used as a negotiating tool.

You will also be having dialogue about programs and interest rates with your mortgage officer prior to finding a home. There will be no surprises by the time you submit your mortgage application on a specific home.

3- Not Seeking the Proper Professional Help

Don’t think you can learn everything you need to know about buying a home on the internet. Real estate is dynamic and markets change quickly. An article written a year ago can be outdated.

One thing I can say for certain is as a home buyer you don’t know what you don’t know.

There are buyers agents that can help you buy, plus you have mortgage bankers, home inspectors, real estate attorneys, appraisers, home improvement contractors and more…. Each can play a vital role in your home purchase. Saving $500 by not having a real estate attorney review your purchase contracts or skimping a $100 to get a cheaper home inspection is penny wise and pound foolish.

Everyone of these professionals are immersed in the business of real estate 8+ hours a day. Every day, every closing and every client bring them more real estate experience to help serve their next client.

4- Thinking Short Term and Ignoring Intermediate and Long Term Housing Needs

Thinking of your immediate housing goals without thinking about your long term goals can lead to disaster.

Try to buy a home that will suit your needs for the next seven to 10 years at a minimum. Five years can be a long time, jobs change as well as marital status or family size can change. There is a cost to selling your house and if the market is not appreciating quickly you might not get all of your money out in a short period of time if you end up having to sell.

Of course no one can think of every possible scenario, but work thru the obvious ones. Is your job stable? Will your family status remain the same or will the home you buy allow for changes? Is my income stable? etc….

5- Not Having a Home Inspection or Hiring the Wrong Home Inspector

Unless you know what you are doing, don’t do it. Don’t skip the home inspection to save money or because the listing agent told you, you would get the house if you would.

A house is filled with expensive systems and fixing one or several can be expensive. Not only is it important to have an inspection but hire a good home inspector. This is not the time to save money. Referrals and your buyer’s agent can be a good resource to find a great home inspector.

6- Not Fully Understanding the Costs Involved

There are closing costs, pre-paids, escrows, home inspection fees, moving costs and more when you are purchasing a home. Make sure you fully understand the costs involved when purchasing a home. Many times home buyers overlook the cost’s that are above and beyond their down payment.

A mortgage officer will cover all your down payment and closing cost’s that will be needed and a buyer’s agent will discuss other costs with you as well.

If this is your first home don’t forget some of the basics you may need immediately, like a snow blower or a lawnmower. Or maybe your house was not fully applianced and you need a refrigerator, washer and/or dryer.

7- Not Understanding Current Market Conditions

Real estate markets rise and fall continually. The current state of a real estate market dictates many thing when you are buying a home. For example, if you are in a buyer’s market you will negotiate differently than when you are in a seller’s market. In a seller’s market a seller may be motivated but not desperate while in a buyer’s market they may be desperate!

Most home buyer’s understanding of the current market conditions can be 6 to 12 months behind what is really happening. Most market indicators are historical indicators making them a lagging indicator. If a market was flat and down last fall and winter, it doesn’t mean that market can’t turn on a dime and be red hot in the spring.

Only a real estate agent has access to the most up to date real estate market data and the skills to interpret them.

8- Relying on Oral Agreements or Statements

If you are buying a home based upon what an agent or a seller is telling you, make sure to get it in writing. Oral agreements or representations are legal but not enforceable. “But the seller agent said”… is probably not going to cut it in court.

Any representations that have been made to you and is not in any marketing materials or written contracts need to be put in writing.

For example a big one around me is owners will have in-law or accessory apartments and if you ask them if they are legal they will the owner will say yes. Most often they are not. Have them put it in writing that they warrant the unit is legal and a permit can be obtained.

9- Not Understanding Fair Market Value

There is a process for determining fair market value of a home. It compares homes with similar specifications in a similar location to the subject property.

What you can afford or what your dad thinks has nothing to do with what most other buyers in the marketplace will spend on that home. Only a Comparative Market Analysis or an Appraisal can indicate what a home is worth.

A home can be overpriced, priced right at market or even be under priced. As a matter of fact many homes will be priced right at market or slightly under to generate multiple offers. It is a strategy home sellers and real estate agents use. Another home buyer will come in and scoop it from underneath you if you are trying to play hardball and get the home for less than market.

Being able to have an idea of what a home is worth will give you an understanding of it’s value as it sits today and will help you structure an offer that will get you the home you want.

10- Not Understanding How to Negotiate

It is easier for a buyer to negotiate in a buyer’s market. A buyer’s market will allow a buyer to get away with a lot. Flop to a seller’s market and you will be putting in offer after offer. Only to be rejected if you don’t change your negotiating strategy. I can’t tell you how many times a home buyer wants negotiate his way and is floored when the seller doesn’t even engage in negotiations with them and the sellers sells to another buyer that might not have been offensive or were just plain easier to deal with.

There are so many variables in structuring a negotiating strategy and no one way will work every time. Real Estate Agents spend part of every day negotiating prices, home inspections and other detail involved in a real estate transaction. We can be an extremely valuable resource.

How to Avoid These 10 Home Buying Pitfalls

Quite frankly the solution is easy! All you have to do to avoid these 10 home buying pitfalls is to use a buyer’s agent. And, I am not talking about the first agent you run into that says they can help you or your Aunt Mary because shes in the business and is a family member. I am talking about finding an agent you trust, can provide you with data, educate you about the process and bring the necessary skills to the table.

Emotions and urgency can easily take over a home buyer. A buyer’s agent is in the business of home buying and can work through details quickly and remain objective. They have a unique set of skills that will be extremely helpful while you buy a home. Remember a buyers agents works for you. You are still in control and call the shots. They are just there to guide you, provide resources and use their skills and ability to help you make the most of your home purchase.

Everyone of these points a good buyer’s agent will navigate you through with ease. We do this everyday. A buyer’s agent will take time to understand your motivation to buy. They will discuss the other professionals you might need as well as make recommendations. A buyers agent will help you identify homes, run an analysis of values and help structure a negotiating strategy as well.

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Kevin Vitali of EXIT Group One Real Estate, a real estate agent in Tewksbury MA has provided 10 Deadly Home Buying Pitfalls. You can contact Kevin by email at kevin@kevinvitali.com or call 978-360-0422.

I pride myself in the quality of my work while helping buyers and sellers..

Real Estate Services in the northeast Massachusetts, around the Merrimack Valley, Southern New Hampshire including the towns of Andover, Billerica, Boxford, Chelmsford, Dracut, Georgetown, Groveland, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Merrimac, North Andover, Newbury, Newburyport, North Reading, Rowley, Tewksbury, Tyngsboro, Westford, Wilmington, West Newbury

Other Helpful Home Buying Resources:

Teresa Cowart- 4 Costly Home Buying Mistakes
Ryan Fitgerald- Ultimate Guide to Buying a Home
Debbie Drummong- Things Every Buyer Should Know About Today’s Home Sellers
Hiscock Sold Team- 5 Mistakes Avoid When Buying A Home
US News Money- 10 Rookie Home Buying Mistakes to Avoid

Maximize your Massachusetts Home Search- Active Statuses

Over the years I have found much confusion about the availability of homes for sale when doing a Massachusetts Home Search. When you are thinking of buying a home many buyers will just start cruising the internet looking for a website where they can do a Massachusetts Home Search. There are certainly plenty to choose from.

Where the confusion lies for many buyers is the actual status of a home that is for sale. The status is whether it is for sale, sold, withdrwan from the market.etc… Today we are just going to talk about the Active Status in the Massachusetts Home Search. These are dictated by the Massachusetts Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Unfortunately there is more then one “active status” when performing home search.

What do you mean Active Status in Massachusetts Home Search?

Statuses are broken down into two categories in the Massachusetts MLS. Active, meaning the home is available for sale and off market, meaning the home is not for sale. Again today we are only going to talk about active statuses in the Massachusetts Home Search. So we say “active” meaning they are technically for sale. And I say technically because not all active listing are truly available for buyers.

There is nothing worse to get your hopes up about a house and then find out it really isn’t available for sale. I will go through the active statuses you will run into and explain how it effects your home search.

Variation of an Active Status in a Home Search

The first four are relatively uncomplicated and should readily be available to accept offers and cooperate with showings. The sellers will be anxious to get an offer on their home.

New– The new status means the home is new to the market and has been newly listed in the past four days. After four days it will just go to an active status if an offer is not accepted in that time period. These are great homes for you to look at and most likely where your next house will come from.

Active- These are homes that are no longer considered new to the market but are actively being marketed and accepting offers. These are good homes to target.

BOM or Back on Market- These are homes that were previously taken of the market but put back on the market. Homes will stay in the BOM status for four days and then just convert to active. There are a couple of reasons it can come back on the market. The most common is there was an accepted offer and the deal fell apart do to a myriad of reasons. Those reason can include a home inspection or financing. Also it could be a home that came off the market temporarily due to personal reasons and then put back on. If you notice this status, make sure your agent ask why it came back on. There may be home inspection issues that should be disclosed.

Price Change- A home will be marked as price change for four days then convert to active. The status is pretty self explanatory and they are homes that have had a price change in the past four days.

The last two can get complicated. They are both statuses that are considered “active” but there are accepted offers on the property. Seller motivation tends to be low and quite frankly in many circumstances it is a waste of time for buyers to spend any time on these homes especially if there is plenty of active inventory out there.

Contingent- This is a home that has an accepted offer on it pending on something occurring at some date in the future. What can those contingencies be? Home inspection, mortgage commitment or lien holder approval are the ones you will typically see. When you see this status the chances of getting this home are relatively low. Most of these will close with that offer that has tied it up with a contingency. You will most likely find that homes marked as contingent will have low motivation from the sellers to show the home. You will also not be able to “bump” the offer on the table. You will only be able to negotiate a back up offer in case the first offer does not clear it’s contingency. I usually tell buyers just starting there search not to waste time on these homes it will generally leas to excitement but go no where.

Kick-out Clause- The kick-out status is a bit complicated. It is a contingent status where there is a condition in the contract where if the seller receives another offer the buyer with the current offer has a certain period of time (typically 24-48 hours) to remove the contingency or the seller is free to accept the new offer. This status is typically used for a house to sell contingency. A seller will accept an offer with the stipulation that the buyer has until a certain time period to put a current house under agreement. As a home buyer I would certainly encourage looking at these.

The last status is actually an off market status but a lot of national aggregate sites will show these like Zillow and Trulia.

Pending or Under Agreement- A status where an offer has been accepted and is heading to closing. Unfortunately this is a home that will not be available to purchase.

Where do you find the Status when searching for a home?

Finding the status can be a tough one. Where the data shows up can be different for each and every site. I encourage my buyers not to bounce around from website to website. Find one or two websites where you like the home search and learn how to use it. Some of them can be very powerful tools to help you find your next home if you take the time to properly use them. To the right is where it shows up in the home search on this blog but again it varies from site to site. On my Massachusetts Home Search you have the ability to toggle some of these statuses on or off which will greatly maximize your home search.

If there is one tip I can leave you that will help save you a ton of aggravation:

**** TIP 1 Most online home searches feed from the same sources. There generally are no homes for sale that are not listed on ALL of the websites.

Yep…. there are no secret homes for sale that are listed on only one site. Learn to effectively learn to use the tool you have rather then crossing your fingers and hoping to find that one home that no one else knows about! I can’t tell you how many times a get a call from a client because they found a house on Trulia that they cant find on my home search. There are two reasons why this can happen. First is Trulia will show data on houses that aren’t for sale.

Second is the criteria. The client will insist that they will not look at any home below one acre. So I have their criteria set for one acre and over. Then I go looking and find out the house they found is a quarter acre. This leads me to home search tip #2:

****TIP 2 Do not be so restrictive on your search criteria that you might be missing homes slightly to the left or right of what you are looking for. If you do you may miss great opportunities.

Happy House Hunting!!

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This article has been provided by Kevin Vitali of EXIT Group One Real Estate. Kevin has the experience to maximize your next home purchase. If you have any questions or what a trusted advisor in your upcoming purchase call Kevin at 978-360-0422.

Please feel free to comment on Maximize your Massachusetts Home Search- Active Statuses.

Accompanied Showings…. Yay or Nay?

Accompanied Showings…. a definite NAY!

Occasionally, I am asked to do accompanied showings on a potential listing. For 99.9% of the homes I market for sale to the public, this is a huge mistake. The only time I recommend accompanied showings is when I have a truly unique house that requires and explanation. Even that can become overcome with a “cheat sheet” I make for the showing agent. I have had two listings in 11 years, that I thought benefited from me being there when showings occurred. Both of the homes where very expensive historic homes that had a provenance to them that gave them value and needed an extensive explanation.

What did my Buyer say today about Accompanied Showings?

I just left a group of showings today. Our first showing was accompanied by the listing agent. When we arrived at the second showing, my buyer commented “Well, that was the most awkward situation, I rushed through the house because I was so uncomfortable”. That is not the first time, nor the last time a buyer will comment on how uncomfortable they are feeling having the listing agent present when they are trying to view a potential home to purchase. The particular listing agent today was quite pleasant and stayed out of our way, but the seller insisted she be there for every showing.

Why are Accompanied Showings a Mistake?

There are several reasons that accompanied showings are a mistake. Most of it boils down to not making the buyer feel welcome.

It makes the buyer uncomfortable- In most cases it makes the buyer uncomfortable. In today’s real estate market, buyers are using a Buyers Agent. They have a relationship with their agent. Introducing a new person makes the dynamic uncomfortable for the potential home buyer.
Buyers rush through the showing- When buyers feel uncomfortable they rush through the showing. In general when there are accompanied showings my buyers spend almost a third of the time as they do when they are unaccompanied. Tip- The longer a buyer stays in your home, the better chance they have of envisioning themselves living there.
The buyers won’t talk- When the listing agent is on the premises, my buyers will not talk freely about what they like or don’t like. Often we walk through the home talking about what works for them, what doesn’t work for them and maybe what alterations can be made to the home to make it work. The presence of the listing agent hinders the buyers agent from doing their job correctly.
The agent feels they must sell the home to the buyers- Many listing agents will take charge showing the home and try to sell the home to my buyers. This is a huge turn off for buyers. The listing agent will make assumptions about what selling features attracted my buyers and focus on totally the wrong thing. I have worked with my buyers through many showings, I know what attracted them about your home and what they are looking for in a new home.
Scheduling- Once you require your agents to be there for all showings you now have added one more schedule to be accommodated. In general I cringe seeing a home that requires the listing agent to be there, because its a nightmare to schedule. Don’t forget we are usually viewing more then one house, if your home doesn’t fit in our timeline… guess what we will bypass it and try to get a showing another time. Guess what happens if the second time they don’t get a showing? They forget about your house and move on to something else. You have to show your home to sell your home!

Think twice about what your motives are about requiring your agent to accompany showings of your home. I would say most of the time it is about sellers wanting complete control of the selling process. Well remember your control can cost you from selling your home or cost you thousands in a potential sale price. Make the buyers feel welcome and have unhindered access to your home.

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Kevin Vitali has been listing homes throughout Essex and Northern Middlesex Counties in Massachusetts for over 11 years. He brings the experience of hundreds of successful closings to the sale of your home. If you would like to discuss how to get your home sold call Kevin at 978-360-0422.

Which house would you buy?

Following is a post I listed on Active Rain, a real estate blogging platform. Once you prepare you home and price it right, nothing gets buyers as interested as quality real estate photography. Excerpt of the post below:

I am a big proponent of quality photography for real estate. Almost 90% of all buyer use the internet to find the home they are going to purchase. You need to compel a home buyer to pick up the phone to call for a personal showing there is no better way than to create great images of a home.

Which home would you buy?

I just listed this home. I pulled up the old listing information to see what I could find. They had the one photo that is in the middle of two that I took. The first photo is my lead MLS photo taken from the opposite side as the old listing photo. Read More….

What is Title Insurance?

A common question for home buyers is, what is title insurance? Title Insurance is an indemnification policy which insures real property against defects in the title and invalid or unenforceable mortgages. The company issuing the policy will pay to defend any lawsuits that may arise from title issues, reimburse any financial loss due to any title defects or pay to remove title defects that may inhibit a transfer of the property.

If you purchase a home, using an institutional lender, it is almost certain you will be buying the lender a title insurance policy. This will protect the lender against any defects in the title. At the same time, you will be offered an Owners Title Insurance Policy protecting you against any defects in the title. While the lenders policy is required for you to obtain the financing on your home the home owners policy is strictly optional. Even though it is optional I would highly recommend securing a Owner’s Policy for yourself.

What is Title Insurance and why do I need it?

Hopefully you will never need your title insurance policy but when you need it your going to be happy you have it. Here is a few common scenarios I have run into and with a title insurance policy in place the problems can just be a hiccup.

Scenario 1

Undischarged mortgages is something we have seen quite a bit of with the refinance boom of the early 2000’s. When a home is refinanced the old mortgage is supposed to be discharged but with the flurry of refinances many of these mortgages fell through the cracks. The problem arises, when you go to sell your home and all of a sudden their is a lien on the property for the mortgage company that should have been discharged but has not been. With out the title insurance policy, the property cannot pass to a new owner as it would become uninsurable to a new title insurance company. While a title insurance company protects the owner/lender they will not take on a title with a known defect. If the seller of a home did not take out an owners policy it would take weeks and possibly months in combination of thousands of dollars to finally get the mortgage discharged.

If you had a title insurance policy the insurance company would indemnify any future claims against the title defect and wrok behind the scenes to remove the title defect, allowing you to close on time.

Scenario 2

Another issue that is more serious that I have run into is a foreclosure that was improperly done. I had a seller who bought a property and when they went to sell the home, a title exam found a foreclosure that was improperly recorded. Again, this makes the property virtually unsalable as no lender will finance a property that cannot receive a new title insurance policy.

Since the home owner did have title insurance, the title insurance company, indemnified the new title insurance company from this issue allowing the new home owner to finance the home. Meanwhile after the transfer the title insurance company worked to track down the paperwork and make sure the foreclosure had been properly recorded. In the end, everyone was happy. If the home owner had not had a policy in place they would have been stuck with a home they could not sell until the title issue was resolved. At the time we were unsure if a title insurance policy was in place and were told by an attorney it could run from $20,000 to $100,000 to resolve the issue.

Other common title defects:

• Sudden appearance of unknown heirs claiming an interest in the property
• Forged deeds or impersonations
• Incorrect legal descriptions
• Improper recording of deeds

Where do I get a Title Insurance Policy

Typically when you close on a loan for the purchase of a home, the attorney issues a policy to the bank. With out the policy for the bank you will not be able to finance your home. Additionally, the closing attorney will offer you a home owners title policy at the closing table. Generally, you do not have to do anything but say yes to the Owner’ Policy.

While the lenders policy is usually mandatory, the owners policy is optional. The Owner’s Policy assures that your title company will stand behind you…. financially and legally, if a problem should arise after purchasing your home. The bottom line is that your title company will be there to help pay valid claims and cover the costs of defending any law suits arising from a title defect.

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This article, What is Title Insurance?, was written by Kevin Vitali of EXIT Group One Real Estate. Kevin has been helping home buyers for over 12 years achieve their housing goals. If you are starting your home search and would like a free home buying consultation call Kevin at 978-360-0422

The Move Up Home Buyer

One thought thrown around by home sellers is… I will wait until my home was worth 5 years ago before I purchase a new one.

Seems to makes sense…. or does it? On the surface it probably seems to make sense for many Massachusetts homeowners that are looking to sell their home and buy a new one.

I would like to show you why, you might want to reconsider. Selling your home in a down market or buyers market to purchase a larger more expensive home can make a lot of sense from a financial standpoint. It can save you money on your new home purchase or allow you to buy more home for the same mortgage payment!!

Of course every home owner remembers what their home was worth 5 years ago. I could of, should of, would of….. What the home owner tends to forget is that even though their home dropped 25 or 30% from peak, so has the price of homes that would have been in their price range, making that new home more affordable.

Lets take a look at a few numbers.

Current Home		New Home
Peak Value	$400,000.00	$600,000.00
Proceeds after Expenses/ Down payment	$147,500.00	$147,500.00
Previous Mortgage Balance/ New Mortgage	$230,000.00	$453,100.00
Difference in New Mortgage Balance vs Old		$223,100.00
New Mortgage Payment at 5%		$2,432.34


Lets look at the numbers after a 25% drop in Value from peak

Current Home		New Home
Fair Market Value Today	$300,000.00	$450,000.00
Proceeds after Expenses/ Down payment	$52,800.00	$52,800.00
Previous Mortgage Balance/ New Mortgage	$230,000.00	$397,200.00
Difference in New Mortgage Balance vs Old		$167,200.00
New Mortgage Payment at 5%		$2,132.26

This only makes sense if you either have equity to work with or cash in the bank and you are moving up. You will still have to come up with a minimum down payment and maybe closing costs. The other thing to remember is that interest rates are still at an all time low. You may even have more savings if you are dropping a half a point or more in interest rate.

The other advantage is while we are in a neutral to buyers market it is not unusual to get home sellers to pay all or some of your closing costs as well as the fact that home sellers are more willing to do necessary repairs to get their house sold.

If you have been waiting for the market to turn around to purchase a new one maybe its time to reconsider crunch some numbers and you may find it is more advantages to buy and sell now.

How do I negotiate an offer on a home?

How to negotiate an offer on a home is very individual to a home buyer. There are many variables to negotiating an offer on a home. Some of the variables are specific to the home buyer, some are specific to the actual home and some are specific to the real estate market at a given time. Understanding the contracts and the process is also an important consideration when tendering an offer on a home. Some things to consider:

What are the general market conditions? Are home prices stable, rising or falling? Obviously if you are in a hot market, it is much harder to negotiate hard than in a falling market. A good buyer’s agent can provide you with good data about current market conditions.

What is the fair market value of the home today? Anybody can list a home for any price they want, that does not mean its a fair price for a home buyer. Again, a good buyers agent can help you determine the fair market value of the home.

Understanding what the current list price is compared to the fair market value of the home. Many buyers are tripped up, in this down market, because they don’t understand that some homes are priced under fair market value for a reason. Seller’s want a quick offer and the property will go for over asking price or even over asking price. Home buyer’s cant fathom that they have to offer over asking to get the home they want in this real estate market. If you want the home and the home is priced aggressively, it is probably not wise to start negotiating 10% below fair market value.

Understanding the desirability of a home based upon price, location, appeal and the length that the home has been on the market. Good homes based on the above criteria sell quickly. Chances are if you have been in the market for awhile and are viewing a home that has just come on the market and you feel this is the right home, than other buyers are going to feel the same way.

Your basic feeling of a home. One question I always ask buyers is are you going to regret losing this home over a few thousand dollars. Let’s face it if you have looked at 40 homes and you found the perfect home do you really want to lose it over hard negotiations? This is all very personal to you the buyer. I have had couples who seriously low ball a price on a home because they feel they have to try meanwhile they are trumped by a better offer. All the while the couple would have paid asking price for the house.

Something that is hard to find out is the motivation of the seller. Very often you don’t know what a sellers motivation is to selling a home. If it is something you can find out in can give you some very valuable insight.
Seller psychology plays an important part in negotiating a price on a home. Understanding how a seller will react to a particular offer and how they may proceed in the negotiations can give you valuable insight.

Following are the steps for negotiating an offer on a home after you have considered the above points.

Step 1- Make sure you have a good pre-approval letter. If you are putting very little money down it is hard to compete with other offers that are putting a significant amount of money down or paying all cash. You don’t want to get hung up on a weak pre-approval.

Step 2- Determine fair market value of the home you are interested in putting in an offer.

Step 3- Put a negotiating plan in place based upon the above considerations.

Step 4- keep emotion out of the negotiating and stick to your negotiating plan so as not to be disappointed later on.

One last point for buyers to remember is that an offer is not legal and binding until it is fully executed. Meaning, the offer is signed by both buyer and seller. Just because you have submitted an offer does not mean that you have suspended showing activity or prevented other offers from being tendered. I cannot tell you how many times a buyer (can happen to sellers to) can be disappointed because they have dragged negotiations out over days, sometimes weeks, over a small point or small amount of money, only to have their offer trumped by a better offer, causing them to lose a home.

Once you start negotiating it is important to negotiate in good faith and wrap up the negotiations quickly so you may put your dream home under agreement!

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This post, How do I Negotiate an Offer on a Home, was provided by Kevin Vitali of EXIT Group One Real Estate In Tewksbury MA. You can contact Kevin by email at kevin@kevinvitali.com or call 978-360-0422.

I pride myself in the quality of my work while helping buyers and sellers make dreams come true.