Simple Improvements to Help Sell Your Home – DIY Addition

Most homeowners today have at least some experience with DIY projects around the house.  There are a lot of little things that happen around the house, inside or outside, and if you had to call a handy man every time a light bulb or air filter improvements to help sell a homeneeded to be changed you would be spending a lot of extra money that you could save if you did it yourself.  If you are a homeowner and don’t feel comfortable doing any project at all I would strongly reconsidering the attempt of a DIY project especially if you are making the improvements to sell your home.  There are many simple improvements that can be completed before you sell your home.  The following information will get you started on the most impacting items, there is a huge amount to consider when you are making these upgrades but you have to make sure you don’t get carried away and don’t bite off more than you can chew!

First things first would be to consider new paint.  Even if you just painted within the last couple of years it would be smart to consider a quick re-coat on the exterior and interior walls. After you finish there will be a huge improvement.  Another aspect to painting is the finish and color choice.  When you are painting main living areas and other bedrooms it is important (when selling) to have colors that are not out of the ordinary.  The kid’s bedrooms that are ninja turtle green and princess pink are not always going to have the same appeal to the potential buyers.  The idea behind the color choice is allowing the buyer to see a “clean slate”, this doesn’t mean you have to paint everything plain white but rather natural colors are ideal.  Additionally, the finish choice of the paint should be taken into consideration depending on the rooms the scale for finish typically includes flat, eggshell, satin, semi-gloss and gloss and goes from most fragile and reflects no light to most durable and reflects a lot of light.  Which brings me to the next DIY project, interior lighting.

Without getting into the physics behind how electrons move in a wire and how light particles flow through a room, we will keep this simple.  Lighting in a house is very important, in fact most of the time you can tell when a house was built by the kind of lighting and how much was installed.  I would recommend before completing any electrical work it is important to have the breaker shut off to whatever you are working on.

There are many fixtures or even bulbs that could be replaced very easily to improve the aesthetics of your home.  Many bulb types and power requirements all have a new and improved bulbs and a “cleaner” whiter light.  Moving onto the fixtures I would concentrate on the main living areas, kitchen and bathrooms.  Many times surface mounted fixtures and ceiling fan light kits are very easy to upgrade with one mounting bracket and just a couple of wires.  Again these updates can be very cost effective, allow a new look, offer a higher quality and better distribution of light.

The last item I would ask you to consider is the flooring. When trying to sell your home the most beneficial type of flooring to replace is linoleum or carpet, the nice thing is that these types of floors are SUPER easy to remove.  The carpet will consist of padding and tack strips (that holds the carpet to the edge).  The linoleum is usually just stuck down and can be peeled up to be thrown away.  The options I would recommend as a DIY project would be wood floors, tile, or believe it or not more linoleum. They make really nice and high quality linoleum these days and if it is a small laundry room it may be a good application. Installing wood floors may scare you but they make new laminate wood floor systems that are very easy to to put in, its just a matter of snapping the boards together!  Some may say that if it’s not “real” wood then it’s not worth it, but actually this new engineered wood holds up better than real hardwood.  When it comes to not being sensitive to water, scratch resistant, low maintenance and cost effective the laminate wood flooring is the best choice.  My thought is that the people who love the “real” hardwood floors have never cleaned, sanded and refinished them before or money is not a concern and they have no issue forking out tons of money for upkeep and maintenance.

I say for the average homeowner there may be a lot we can’t do but keep in mind we aren’t replacing a roof, windows or pouring a new driveway.  A little paint, an eye for good lighting, and a day of snapping in some new flooring goes a long way when trying to sell your home.

If you happen to be in the market for a new home make sure to check out the MoveMap on MoversAtlas.com to research potential homes, neighborhoods, and their surrounding communities so you can make the best choice when making your home buying decision!

3 Imporant Things You Should Do Before Selling Your Home

You only have once chance to make a good first impression. This applies to meeting new people as well as other situations such as selling your home. That is why it is very important to always put your best foot forward.  There is a reason you tips for selling your homeare to dress nice during an interview no matter what the job is, being presentable sells better and is more appealing than the alternative.  This goes true for when you place your home on the market also.  Putting your best foot forward does not mean lying or being deceptive to anyone, there is just an important aspect to show others the full potential of what you are trying to sell.  You should take the following tips into consideration before you sell your home, keep in mind after this is all said and done you may change your mind and want to keep the house after all!  Either way the home improvements will be well worth it.

1. Maximize Curb Appeal

The best selling aspect of a home is what I like to consider the initial “meet and greet” while you are staring down at the directions and trying to navigate the new unfamiliar neighborhood you pull up to what seems to be your destination.  Those feelings you get when you pull up to the curb, confirm the address, shut off your vehicle and look at the house you are considering while briefly comparing it to the neighbor’s houses.  This is known in the real estate world as curb appeal.  At this point the person looking at the house has already predetermined whether they will consider the rest of the house or just being polite to complete the walk-through.  The curb appeal must include everything that can be seen standing in the front yard much like paint, landscaping, lights and fences.  Some items that homeowners should also consider would be a clean roof and gutters, a freshly pressure washed drive way and sidewalks along with clean windows and nice blinds.  If you are trying to get the highest dollar amount for your home and have neglected your grass, the fence has missing panels and there is a small forest growing out of your gutters I promise you people will notice and move onto the next home or give you a low ball offer.  Keep in mind a lot of these items can easily be completed by the average homeowner with not a lot of money……just be ready to sweat a little.

2. Clean, Clean, and Clean Some More!

The next item I would recommend is your attention to the cleanliness of the interior of your house.  You have lived in your house for years and cleaned once a week or even more often but are there things you have missed?  Cleaning before selling should be extreme cleaning!  This should include scrubbing base boards, dusting doors, door frames, light fixtures, fans and vanities, inside drawers and behind furniture (yes even the pieces that haven’t been moved in 10 years).  You should be pulling out the washer and dryer to wipe, dust and mop behind them along with polishing and resealing that stainless steel sink in the kitchen.   Anything you can clean, polish, scrub and shampoo I would highly recommend doing before putting your home on the market.

3.  De-Clutter and Pack Away Everything But The Bare Essentials

Clutter is another big item that many might not even realize because these items have been accumulated over the past several years and have made homes on shelves, drawers and coffee tables.  When people tour a home they can understand you are stilling living in the house but they don’t need to see every knick-knack on the mantles, counters and book shelves from the last 20 years.  The potential buyer is looking around to see where their big screen TV would fit and how they could make it their home.  With this said you need to de-clutter and since you are looking to move I would recommend beginning to pack the clutter in boxes and put it in the attic or even a storage unit.  If you keep the bare essentials required to live it will make it much easier for the potential buyer to visualize it as their own.  Also there are times when even removing things like large pieces of furniture from living areas or even spare bedrooms that could make a difference on how big or small the spaces look.  The extra king size bed in your spare bedroom and 12 piece sectional couch may be nice but if it dwarfs the rooms they are in than your home may not be as appealing as it could be.

These ideas are extrememly beneficial and inexpensive when looking to sell your home. With a little elbow grease and a fresh new look you will give your house a better chance at selling for your asking price.  While you are preparing your home to be put on the market make sure and keep up the research on your new potential home with the tools on www.MoversAtlas.com.

When is the Best Time to Buy, Sell or List a Home?

What goes up must come down, or maybe it doesn’t?  Trying to speculate what will happen in the future is impossible because if you could the 2008 downturn wouldn’t have affected anyone and the Superbowl game wouldn’t be worth watching.  best time to buy a home - best time to sell a homeKnowing the best time to sell your home is just as important as knowing how much to sell it for.  The following will give you an insight on when the best times would be to buy, sell or list your home.

Besides the different times of the year it is important to understand what a “buyers” market is and what a “sellers” market is.  The definition is self-serving in that one is better for the buyer and the other is better for the seller.  Ultimately these markets fluctuate primarily depending on whether the industry has an influx in houses for sale or not, it’s simple supply and demand.  On the other hand depending on the economic status with loan rates, stock market status and other indicators it may not even matter if there is an exorbitant amount of homes on the market or not.  There is nothing that can be planned for so just understand “it is what it is” and some areas are affected more or less by these indicators.

The majority of sellers look to prepare for listing in the spring because that is when the buyers begin to look.  The weather has a big impact on home buying and moving because the majority of people would rather not move during the dead of winter, even in Florida!  Another good time would be the summer, this is a time when the school year is coming to a close making it a good opportunity to relocate or change school districts.

As far as buying a home the most logical time frame would be when sellers have broken into the market.  According to the National Association of Realtors the months between April and July are when the most sales take place.  On the other hand if you did wait until the “off-season” or were forced to buy during an odd time of the year you will need to take into consideration that there would be less available BUT the prices may be lower.  There are times when the market isn’t running like a well-oiled machine and the housing prices are more competitive because the seller knows the time of the year isn’t right.  It would be like going into a car dealership that has very little sales, you end up being their number one (and only) customer and are able to have your pick of the litter.

No matter when you are looking to buy and sell it is important to do your research and be aware of the market.  Be sure and hire a good real estate professional to guide you and help you complete the transaction.  Last but not least when buying or selling a home use www.moversatlas.com as a carfax for your home and community, it will give you that edge when researching your potential new home and its surrounding neighborhoods.