TIPS TO MAKE YOUR HOME SHOW WELL

 

Real Estate Home Inspections and Appraisals in the new normal

Even during the COVID-19 outbreak, real estate transactions go on. Buyers and sellers still

need to move, and the industry is looking for new ways to accommodate both the needs of

the transaction and, of course, the safety of everyone.

Many traditional real estate activities can be performed virtually. While no one is 

suggesting that a buyer will be comfortable buying a home they have only seen during a 

Zoom visit, they  can minimize the number of homes they physically visit by pre-screening 

these homes ahead of time through virtual tours.  

There are a few vital pieces of the transaction that require in-person visits, however. Among

these are home inspections and appraisals. Both of these professionals need access to the

property to properly perform their duties, and it leaves some potential home sellers and

buyers wondering if it’s even possible to conclude a real estate transaction right now.

While everyone should cautiously move forward according to their personal sense of 

comfort, there are a few things you can do to protect yourself, your family, and the 

professionals while they are in your home. Before setting the appointments, thing through 

the parts of your home the inspector or appraiser will need to access and think though the 

process. 

Contact the home inspector and appraiser and work out a plan together to keep everyone

safe:

• Communicate with them about off-limit areas, and what parts of the home they can

access.

• Have a notepad in which they can communicate what parts of the home they came in

contact with, and offer hand sanitizer and wipes for them to use before and after

touching parts of the home.

• Finally, leave the home during the appointments, and clean properly once you return

home.

Life does move on – if you are trying to buy or sell a home during this challenging time, it

might take extra effort. However, working with your real estate team, you can conclude a

successful real estate transaction amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Kristi Fenton 

Illinois Licensed Real Estate Broker

Swick Realty 

812 Hampshire St

Quincy, IL. 62301

217-617-9083

www.searchquincyhomes.com

Don't Sell Without An Agent

5 Reasons Selling Without an Agent is a Bad Idea

 Do-it-yourself projects are in vogue these days. You can find advice online for everything from investing in crypto-currency to tearing down the living room wall. When considering the cost of moving, it’s natural to wonder if real estate commissions are one way to save money, but it would be a mistake. A good real estate agent might make it seem easy, but the fact is that selling your own home could actually cost you thousands of dollars. 

 5 Reasons You Shouldn’t Sell Your Home without an Agent  

1. The Safety of Your Home and Family is a Priority – Real Estate agents control access to your home. 

 2. Most Serious Buyers Start their Search Online – A professional listing area will market your home aggressively online, which is where the buyers are searching.

  3. The Buyer Might not be Qualified – A real estate agent knows how to qualify a buyer and what to look for with lender letters. Selling your home on your own risks wasted time with an unqualified buyer.

  4. You Don’t Know How to Negotiate Properly – Every aspect of a real estate transaction is negotiable; you don’t have the experience to know what to negotiate to get the best deal.  

5. You Could Expose Yourself to Liability – Required disclosures and paperwork for a home sale is extensive; unless you plan to use an attorney, you could miss critical disclosures and expose yourself to financial harm. 

 Finally, more often than not, sellers net more when they use an agent than when they try to do it themselves. In addition to selling faster, a professional agent knows how to properly price and promote your home, ensuring you get the best possible sales price and terms.

Tips To Pay Off Your Loan Faster

Tips to Pay off Your Loan Faster 

For generations, homeowners would buy a home for life. Working over the years to make the payments and celebrating the end of the 30-year mortgage were great milestones in the family. Today, few homebuyers expect to be in their homes for longer than 7 years on average. Paying off a 30-year mortgage seems like an impossible task. Fortunately, there are great ways to pay off your loan which do not involve time. Here are a few tips for paying off your mortgage loan faster. 

•  Biweekly Payments – Work with your lender to determine how they handle biweekly payments. If processed immediately, you can save 8 years of payments on a 30-year loan. 

• Extra Payments – By making just one extra payment each year, you can pay off your loan 11 years earlier. 

• Refinance to 15 years – There are great interest rates available for mortgage loans. Consider a 15-year mortgage. 

•  Principal Reduction – Watch for ways to add to your monthly payment a little at a time. 

When possible, increase the principal payment you make. Paying off your mortgage builds wealth. Consider your life goals, including retirement. A 30-year loan taken out at 37 years old will not be complete until 67 – retirement age. The loan needs to be part of the overall financial plan from the beginning and making a payoff a priority with a few simple steps can add up to huge savings in interest which can then be used for better investments.

Your Home - Your Neighborhood - My Priority

Down payments Explained

A down payment is the amount of cash a home buyer puts toward the price of a new home. It accomplishes a few things; first it reduces the amount of money you need to borrow and it reduces the risk the lender takes in loaning the money. By reducing the risk, the borrower will typically get a better interest rate on the loan and increase the amount of home they can buy.

 How Large a Down Payment Do You Need?
 The amount of down payment needed depends on the type of the loan, the lender and the property price itself. While most of the 0% down home loans of the last decade are gone, Veterans can still purchase a home loan with no down payment. Other programs include FHA loans with as little as 3.5% down. With a government backed loan like a FHA mortgage needing the minimum 3.5% for a $200,000 home, you will need to save $7,000. Conventional loans typically require at least 5% down payment, but some can be as low as 3.5%. If you decide on a Conventional loan say you are buying a home for $200,000, in this case you will need $10,000 to secure a home loan. The USDA also has a zero-down payment loan guarantee program for specific rural areas. 

 Is it Better to Make a Larger Down Payment?

 In addition to the down payment, buying a home also requires cash for closing costs and some reserve savings to guard against unexpected financial concerns. One thing to remember though is that any financing with less than 20% down will require private mortgage insurance – a monthly payment which protects the lender in the event of default. The best amount of down payment should be determined in consultation with your lender and your tax or financial advisor, but the quick answer is “it depends.” By working with a trusted lender, explore your options and you will make the best decision for your needs.

How is a down payment on a home calculated? 

The down payment is a portion of the total sales price of your home, which you give to the home's seller. The rest of the payment to the seller comes from your mortgage. Down payments are expressed as percentages. The main reason some down payments can be so expensive is because lenders typically require them before giving approval for the loan. The larger the down payment, the lower your monthly mortgage payment will be.

It is important to check around to make sure you are getting the best rate available for you. Contact me to help you start the process, I can get you in touch with exceptional lenders that will go the extra mile to help you buy the home you've always wanted. 

PREPARING YOUR HOME FOR THE COLDER MONTHS

Preparing Your Home for the Colder Months 

Now that the warm summer months are behind us, it’s time to prepare for winter. Regardless of whether you expect to see sub-zero temperatures this season or you live in one of the warmer climates, preparing your home for colder weather can save you money and hassle this winter. So before you dig out your fall sweaters, take a weekend and prepare your home for the cold weather to come.

 Save Energy 

Fall is a great time to seal drafts in the home which can suck the energy out. Check around doors and windows and replace worn weather stripping and caulking. If you use your fireplace for warmth during winter, this is the right time to have the chimney cleaned and checked for safety. Arrange a furnace tune-up complete with replacing the filter and vacuuming the vents to make sure you are warming your home efficiently.

 Outdoor Tasks 

Before the chill turns to freezing, head to the yard to winterize the exterior of your home. Check gutters for clogged leaves and other debris and examine the roof and siding for any repairs which could create leaks or drafts in the cold. If the gardening season is at its end, drain water from outdoor faucets and garden hoses. Make sure the sprinkler system is off and reinforce any exposed pipes which could burst with the cold. Fall is here. Along with the smell of baking and falling leaves, you can ensure your home is ready for winter by taking a few steps now to prepare. Save energy and the hassle of an unexpected repair by getting some routine maintenance done before the cold months come.

Here are a few easy steps to ensure your home is properly winterized:

1. Doors and Windows- Is cold air sneaking into your home through your doors and windows? You can make sure that all the weatherstripping is in place and you could even help by purchasing draft stoppers. Caulking your windows or purchase a plastic window insulation kit to keep out the cold chill.

2. Gutters-Cleaning your gutters before winter sets in can help by having a combined build-up of leaves, heavy ice/snow causing unwanted damage. It is always a good idea to routinely check the build-up in your gutters on your home so the water can flow quickly.

3. Flip Ceiling Fan Blades-YES! This helps! By simply switching your ceiling fan blades to run clockwise will push the warmer air down to the ground, saving you a little bit of extra money on that heating bill.

4. Change Furnace Filters-During the heating season it's important to change out your dirty filters. If they are not changed out regularly it can restrict airflow and increase your energy demand.

5.Protecting your Pipes-To minimize the possibility of water freezing in your plumbing pipes, wrap each pipe in a blanket of foam insulation.

6. Turn off Exterior Faucets- Undrained water in pipes can freeze, which will cause pipes to burst as the ice expands, start by disconnecting garden hoses and draining the water that remains in the faucet. An added protection is purchasing a Faucet Cover.

Almost two-thirds of American adults live in a home that needs weatherization. Among the people who do weatherize their home, 54% do it to save money on their energy bills. 44% do it to make the temperature in their home more comfortable and 22% do it to be energy efficient. Whatever your reasoning is it's best to be prepared for a cold winter and prepare your home before the snow and ice begin to fall. Your home will thank you and so will your wallet.

Is Pre-Listing Appraisal Worth It?

Should You Get an Appraisal Before Listing Your Home For Sale? 

The most important thing on every seller’s mind is the listing price. No one wants to leave money on the table by pricing a home too low. At the same time, pricing the home too high will also likely result in lost dollars either from wasting valuable time on the market or once stale, selling for below market value in desperation.

Getting a professional appraisal ahead of time might seem like the solution, but is it? An appraisal can be defined as an opinion of value at a given moment in time. If you are in an ascending market where listings are selling quickly, the appraiser can only use closed sales as a reference in the appraisal, so you might be tempted to list too low for the market, but not accounting for the increase in sales activity and prices. Contrarily if the market is slow and prices are declining, an appraisal received in May could be too high for the erosion of prices seen over the summer, and your listing will be overpriced for the reality of the neighborhood. More than just these scenarios, a pre-listing appraisal means nothing to the buyer or their lender. They will still use market data to write their offer and their lender will order a new appraisal regardless. While you can reference your appraisal in negotiations, the buyers will still only offer what the property is worth to them and you might miss out on a great deal by trying to stick to your price.

In the end, a pre-listing appraisal is probably a waste of time and money. As your agent has access to the latest market data and can show you the same comparable properties the appraiser would use. Utilizing me as your agent who is a good local agent you can  trust and work with me to price your home correctly.

Appraisals Explained

Appraisals Explained

Appraisals are one of the most confusing aspects of buying or selling real estate for the consumer. Is the value of your home what you and the seller just agreed on? When a buyer and seller agree on a sales price, it can be frustrating to hear that the appraisal came in with a value too low. It’s not enough for the principals to agree to the price, the appraisal is the lender’s way to ensure they are not loaning money over the actual market value of the property.

What does the appraisal cost and who pays for it?
While your lender will typically arrange for an appraisal, the buyer is ultimately responsible for the cost. Don't let this cost stop you from making offers: The home appraisal will only occur after your offer has been accepted by the seller and you have begun to work with a lender to finance your new home. You do not need to complete appraisals on every house you choose to bid on. 

 The appraised value is reached by a licensed professional who looks at the real estate market in which the target property is located. In most residential property transactions you are able to choose your real estate agent and your lender, but you cannot choose your appraiser. Instead the appraiser must be chosen by your lender to provide a level of independence from the buyer and seller. 

 They start with the target property and then look for recent sales in the area of comparable properties. These comparable properties will be located within a short distance of the target home, normally within a 5 mile radius. They should also be of comparable size and often fall within the same housing development.

 Once these homes are identified, the appraiser will adjust for the specific differences. For instance, does the target home have an upgraded kitchen or swimming pool? They add or subtract value based on such things as location, view, lot size, upgrades, additions, condition and many other factors. They can then arrive at a valuation for the target home.

 Once the appraisal has been completed, the lender is notified of the value. At this point, the loan amount is either confirmed or declined. If the appraisal comes in too low, the principals can choose to make up the difference in sales price, lower the sales price or cancel the transaction.

 What is the difference between an Appraisal and a Home Inspection? Although the home appraisal may seem similar to the home inspection, the goals of these two processes are very different. 

• The Appraiser determines the value of the home
• The Inspector determines any repairs needed, and their potential cost.

 Appraisals are not as complicated as they appear. By learning about recent sales in your area ahead of time, you can price your home appropriately up front with me; then the appraisal should come back as expected. 

If you have further questions about appraisals or your homes value please email me or call. I'm happy to give free home evaluations. 

Your Home-Your Neighborhood- My Priority