A couple is planning to tour the United States in a travel trailer during their first few years of retirement. They are going to sell their current home now and purchase another home when they finish their travels.
An interesting exercise is to determine the optimum time for selling the home: now or when they’re ready to buy their replacement home.
Continue reading Optimum Time for Selling
Understanding a home’s true market value is about more than pictures, software assessments and price-per-square-foot. Whether you’re a current homeowner thinking of selling or are house-hunting, it’s crucial you understand what factors affect home valuation. By partnering with a local market expert, sellers will avoid pricing their house out of the market (the kiss of death in real estate) while still getting top dollar. Buyers will ensure they get a good deal on their next home.
So, how do you accurately calculate a home’s value? After all, the value a home is assigned by the tax assessor and the one it’s given when it’s listed are often dramatically different from one another. Which one is accurate and what does it all mean? Read on to learn more.
Continue reading How to Do a Home Valuation and Get Top Dollar
Great curb appeal not only makes your home the star of the neighborhood, it can also improve its value and help you sell it for more. Whether you’re thinking of listing your home or just want to make your home the envy of your neighbors, here are several quick ways to increase your home’s curb appeal.
Continue reading Five Ways to Boost Your Home’s Value Overnight
One of the most common questions I get at this time of year is, “What’s going on in the market?” It’s not just potential buyers and sellers who are curious; homeowners always want reassurance their home’s value is going up. The good news is the American real estate market is strong and healthy. Home values are up, prices and sales are strong, and millennial, first-time buyers are eager to become homeowners.
We often use national real estate numbers to give us a clearer view of our local market. However, real estate is local, and while statistics and predictions help us understand the overall real estate market, our local market may be different. If you’re thinking of buying or selling, or just want to know how much your home is worth, give me a call!
Continue reading Real Estate 2017: What to Expect
Before your home goes on the market, you want to make sure it looks its best for potential buyers. Once you have an accepted offer, the next person you need to worry about is the home inspector. The home inspector will be looking at many things your buyer did not. Here are 14 easy fixes to make before your home inspection.
Whether you’re putting your home on the market this year or in the next five years, it is a smart decision to start building your home’s resale value now. Here are some ways to create a comfortable home while making it easier to put more money into your bank account on closing day.
When you list your home for sale, you may think you’ve priced it right, staged it beautifully, and timed the market for a quick sale.
The reality is that buyers are full of surprises, nearly all of them predictable. They rarely pay list price; they discount or dismiss improvements you’ve made; their inspections usually turn up something for you to fix, and they may have terms that you weren’t counting on — like needing to sell their home before they buy yours.
Continue reading Three Negotiating Mistakes Sellers Make
According to a survey by the California Association of Realtors, one of the top reasons home owners have not considered selling is a concern that property taxes on another home would be too expensive.
For certain groups of people living in San Diego County and some other counties in California, there is a way to move but not increase property taxes.
California voters have passed several propositions, Propositions 60, 90 and 110, that allow eligible property owners to transfer the base year value of an existing principal residence to a replacement dwelling.
What do these propositions do? Who qualifies, and what are the benefits?
Continue reading How to Move But Not Increase Property Taxes
Every month I tell you inventory is still low. This is not only the case for San Diego County and North County, but also for most of California. What’s keeping people from selling their homes? The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) recently surveyed Californians and found some interesting answers why homeowners aren’t selling.
The Super Bowl and World Series determine the football and baseball champions. Since there can only be one champion, the other team loses the competition. In feudal times, a knight might champion for the king or a patriotic, romantic or religious cause.
Fierce competition can occur when buying or selling a home because each party wants to get the best deal possible. When the buyer and seller are not be equally matched, and they rarely are, it is important to have a champion on your side to fight for your cause.
Continue reading You Need a Champion