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Staging and Selling Your Home For More Money
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Help Buying Or Selling Your Home In The New Market
Since the latter part of 2005, it seems like Real Estate signs are popping up in yards like weeds. As of July 31, 2006 there were 15,743 listings on the market for Pinellas County (9,549 Single Family Homes and 6,194 Condos). With this many homes on the market, it begs the question - Why Do You Need Help Buying Or Selling Your Home In The New Market?
As anyone who has been in the mark... Read real estate article
Real Estate Investing - The Magic Rule
If you've spent much time around people who invest in Real Estate you know they all have their favorite rules. In Investment Club meetings, online chat rooms, even at the corner coffee shop, you catch snippets of conversations including phrases like,
"Location, location, location,"
"Buy low, sell high,"
"Invest in what you know,"
and many others.
... Read real estate article
Staging and Selling Your Home For More Money
In the middle-of-the-road housing market, homes are remaining for sale longer than they did about one year ago.
One of the most important factors is to Stage your home for all prospective buyers.
First, as a seller, you may want to go and look at the many new home housing tracts and see how their decorators have staged those homes. You will find that each house shows to its complete potential.
If the house is smaller, the use of fewer items in the house makes the home look larger. In a small living room there may only be one small couch, a coffee table, end table and a lamp. The room looks much larger.
Dining room tables should always be set as if you are going to be entertaining. If you don't have matching dinnerware, don't worry about it. Set the table with the mismatched plates, etc, but you can make the total setting look as if everything belongs. You can also go to a thrift store and pick up a few plates and cups that would accent what you already have.
Kitchens should always be clean. What makes a kitchen look its best is to have nothing on the counter tops except perhaps a plant in a nice planter and maybe one or two kitchen figurines. If your cabinets look a little drab, use a good soap and water cleaner and wash them. You might be surprised with the look after just a good cleaning.
Do you have lots of knick-knacks and shelving on your walls? You may want to consider taking all that down. Many buyers will look at this and think that all this will be coming down and the buyer will figure the work involved in patching holes and painting. Take care of this situation before you show your home to prospective buyers.
A well decorated home should be free of personal items, such as personal pictures and keepsakes. Put all those items away. Remember, model home, just for the buyer's eyes.
Spending as little money as possible:
1. If the interior of your home is several different wall colors, paint all the walls the same color. A buyer will see all the different wall colors and usually decide that the house will need to be painted. The buyer may ask you to lower your price because to a buyer, this is a big job.
2. If your carpeting is not in the best shape, have new, inexpensive carpeting put in. When a buyer considers purchasing a brand new home, a less expensive carpeting is free and if they want to spend more, they can upgrade. If you don't have decent carpeting in your home, the buyer may ask for a credit for carpeting or ask you to lower your price. The idea of putting in new carpeting might be less expensive for you in the long run.
3. One of the newer items that buyers look for is roll-up garage doors. If you have one of the older, heavy wood garage doors, you may want to invest in having the newer roll-up doors installed. You can get this type of door at a minimal investment to you. This also makes a great first impression to a buyer when they drive up to your home.
Bedrooms can be a very important part of the sale of your home. Please make sure all beds are made every day. You never know when someone is going to visit your home. Make sure each bedroom is neat and clean. If there is too much furniture, and a room looks small, take out some of the furniture. A bed table with a simple place setting is a nice touch on the bed. It makes the room look inviting.
Bathrooms are very big. Keep them clean and smelling wonderful. Put in dishes filled with potpourri. Have clean towels, folded neatly. Shower curtains should be clean and pulled back so a buyer can see into the tub/shower area. This way it doesn't look like you are trying to hide the tub. Also, make sure none of your faucets leak and that the toilets run properly. These may sound like small items, but think about your competition. What does their house look like? There are so many houses on the market today and yours needs to stand out from the rest.
Lighting is a very important component to the showing of your house. Bright and sunny is the key. If you look at model homes, all curtains are pulled back, all blinds are open. If it's evening time, every light in the house is on. If your house looks dark, buyers generally will walk through very quickly.
What this all boils down to is: To sell your home for more money, it needs to shine!
You must also have your house priced properly for your area. If you start out too high, by the time you have reduced your price to sell, you may have lost money. Listen to your real estate agent.
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Commercial Real Estate Investing
Investing in commercial property may open a whole new area of financial ventures for the savvy real estate investor. Opportunities abound in multi-family units, office buildings, warehouses, retail shops, car washes, laundromats, mobile home parks, hotels, apartments, strip malls and more.
The obtaining of commercial property financing is usually more extensive and time consuming than for a residential loan. Guidelines for underwriting a commercial loan put more emphasis on the income that the property produces than on the borrower's ability to repay the loan. Lenders rely on the income history and stability of the property to determine future income. Also considered, although less important, is the credit history, assets and financial strength of the borrower.
When applying for a commercial loan the previous two years and year-to-date financial information concerning the property need to be considered. This data is put into a format commonly known as a Pro Forma Operating Statement. This is probably to most important single document in the application process. A Pro Forma Operating Statement is the operating budget for the property which lists the rents and any other income such as laundry, parking, etc. and also all expenses from advertising to management fees to utilities. Your lender can supply you with this standard form and help you or the seller complete it correctly.
Also of importance to the lender is the Loan to Value Ratio and the Debt Service Coverage Ratio, (DSCR). The DSCR is how much of the proposed monthly payment will be covered by the net operating income as calculated on the Pro Forma Operating Statement. Lenders prefer to see 100% coverage and on some properties a 120% coverage is required. On purchases this determines the amount of down payment required and the terms of the proposed loan and for refinancing, the loan-to-value allowed and how much "cash-out" may be received, if any.
Commercial lending is not regulated or overseen by HUD so RESPA does not apply. Don't expect to see your typical forms such as a standard residential loan application, Good Faith Estimate or Truth in Lending disclosures. Also be aware that closing costs may be much higher than residential loans because of specialized appraisals, environmental reports, attorney's fees and other costs for special services rendered.
There are also loans for borrowers or properties that may fall outside of the traditional commercial lending guidelines. They typically require 30% down (seller carry backs are allowed up to a 95% combined loan-to-value or a 70% loan-to-value if refinancing. Some lenders even offer commercial "Stated Income-Stated Asset" programs. These usually have loan limits of $600,000. With a reduced loan-to-value, credit scores as low as 550 may even be allowed. No IRS 4506 form is required to be signed. You can close in the name of a corporation, trust or LLC and "cash-out" is allowed on refinancing. Fixed rates and ARM's are available.
Commercial real estate may be worth exploring and it just may be one more way to expand your investment and real estate portfolio.
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