Buying & Selling - SkirtingBoards.com®

Lawn Care Tips to Boost Your Home’s Curb Appeal

August 3, 2019 by admin

You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but sometimes, its pays to wary about a house with bad curb appeal. If you’re selling your home, you can bet that potential buyers are making judgments based on the condition of your yard. In fact, you could have a beautiful, well-kept home, but if the outside doesn’t match the inside, you could be missing out on a sale before buyers even step inside.

Your landscaping says a lot about your pride of ownership. An unkempt yard could make it seem like your home is in disrepair. What’s more, you could actually ask more on the price if your curb appeal attracts more buyers. You don’t need to completely overhaul your landscaping, especially if you’re pressed for time and on a budget. The trick is to maximize your home’s curb appeal by making a few small changes that could make a big difference in how buyers see your home.

Get rid of personal clutter for better curb appeal. Image: Shutterstock/karamysh

Remove clutter

If the outside of your home is an extension of the inside, you probably have a few signs of life littering your yard. From kids bikes and balls to worn-out pots and decor, buyers don’t really want to see personalized landscaping elements. It’s much easier for buyers to imagine themselves in the home if the lawn is neat and tidy.

Look at your lawn with a buyer’s eye and stash any personal stuff. It’s easy to get used to everyday clutter, so use a discerning eye to spot areas that need to be cleaned up. Clip back shrubs that might be overgrown into living areas. Clear off porches except for a couple of chairs, and make sure you get rid of kids’ gear lying around. Choose a few pieces of decor, like a couple of flowerpots in great condition, and store anything else until you’re ready to move.

Mulch can hide your lack of a green thumb. Image: Shutterstock/Artazum

Refill mulch

Mulch is a seller’s secret weapon. It’s an inexpensive and quick way to clean up garden beds and spruce up your lawn’s look without having to plant or weed. Taking the time to fill your home’s garden spaces with mulch gives the appearance of a neat, well-maintained yard.

Choose a larger-sized mulch that covers more space quickly. Make sure that, after its been spread, you clean up areas where it might have spilled onto sidewalks or paved areas. You can use it to hide some of the messier areas of your garden, or spread it at the bottom of trees to give the appearance of a more landscaped, intentional space.

Still think your lawn needs some extra TLC? Contact a lawn care professional to help you improve your lawn and create a plan to make sure it’s green and inviting before selling your home.

Make landscaping part of the living space for more curb appeal. Image: Shutterstock/ppa

Add living space

Give sellers an idea on how they might utilize the landscaping by offering living space. Gardens and grass are great, but if you can sell the idea of actually using the yard, you could increase your asking price. This is especially good for smaller homes. Styling a backyard as an entertaining space can make it feel like an extension of the home.

Consider how your landscaping could be utilized as actual living space. Whether it’s a play area for kids or a zen retreat in the garden, usable landscaping drives up curb appeal and makes a home more livable inside and out.

Use color to draw the eye to the best parts of your home. Image: Shutterstock/ppa

Pop in some color

If you’re selling your home, you know that the color green rules. Whether it’s your grass or the selling price, you can bet that green is going to make the biggest impact. Still, don’t forget to add other colors to draw focus and call attention to the best parts of your yard. Choose a landscaping color scheme to keep the look clean and focus on your home’s best features. Amazing windows? Use window boxes to show them off. Plant flowers to draw sellers to your garden beds. Or, use a plant pots filled with flowers to make your entryway more inviting.

Color can also serve to draw focus away from some of your home’s less-desirable features. A bright door can help detract from tired paint elsewhere. A lush, green lawn can stop sellers from noticing broken pavers in the driveway. Remember that the eye will go toward color, so an afternoon’s worth of planting and painting could make all the difference in how buyers see your home.

Your seller to-do list is probably already a mile long. But while you’re getting the inside of your home ready to sell, don’t forget about the outside. As buyers drive up to their home, they’re already making snap judgments and picturing themselves there. Make sure your house tells the right story by making sure your lawn is just as gorgeous as the interior of your home sweet home. And you can always call a lawn care professional for some extra help making sure your lawn looks its best.

The post Lawn Care Tips to Boost Your Home’s Curb Appeal appeared first on Freshome.com.

Should You Rent Or Buy A House?

July 26, 2019 by admin

Seems like everyone is buying a condo or house these days. And there are tons of shows on HGTV about renovating your home making you wonder: should you rent or buy a house? Can you even afford to buy? We’re here to help you make that decision.

Ask yourself some questions before deciding if you should buy or keep on renting. Image: Dirk Ercken/Shutterstock

Should You Rent Or Buy A House? Ask Yourself These Questions First

1. Do you plan on staying where you’re at for at least three to five years? This is an important question. If you don’t like where you live or may have to relocate for work, why buy a house? If you can’t see yourself spending at least three years in your home, you may not see any growth in your home’s value before you have to sell and move. Can’t envision yourself living in the same home or town for at least five years? You may be better off renting.

2. Have you paid off all your debts? Make sure you’ve paid off all student loans, credit card bills and any other loans before buying a house. You’ll need to show you have a low debt-to-income ratio to qualify for a mortgage. And homeownership is scary at first. The last thing you want to worry about is covering loans, a mortgage and household expenses, too.

3. How’s your credit score? If you plan on taking out a mortgage, a good credit score is essential. Make sure you have the best possible score before you start house hunting. For more info on improving your credit score, check out myFICO.

4. Do you have some savings? You’re going to need a good amount of money set aside to buy a home. You’ll have to put down at least 3% as a down payment. And ideally, you’ll put down 20% to save yourself from having to pay monthly PMI (private mortgage insurance) to cover your lender if you stop paying your mortgage. You’ll also need to show you have enough money put aside in an emergency fund that would cover your mortgage and living expenses for at least three months should you lose your job.

If you’re debt-free, settled in your location and have savings, then you may be ready to be a homeowner. Here are five reasons why it’s better to buy than rent:

Your home is likely to grow in value over time. Image: ITTIGallery/Shutterstock

1. It’s An Investment

Owning your home or condo is usually a good investment. Every payment you make on your mortgage means you’re one month closer to owning your house free and clear. And then there’s home appreciation. Your home will most likely increase in value over time. What you buy today for $250,000 could sell for $300,000 or more later.

2. Tax Write-Offs

Many homeownership costs are tax-deductible. By the time you write off the allowed deductions, you may pay less for owning your home than if you’d rent it. Here are some home items you can write off or deduct from your taxes:

Property taxes
Mortgage interest
Loan points
A home office

3. Owning May Be Cheaper Than Renting

Many major U.S. cities are hot right now, making it very expensive to rent. In a hot rental market, it may be cheaper to buy a home, especially if you can live just outside the most sought after zip codes in the area.

4. Privacy

Owning your own home gives you a level of privacy you don’t have when you rent. First off, no more landlord on your back. And your neighbors are hopefully removed enough that you don’t hear every little conversation (or their footsteps upstairs at midnight).

Owning your own home means you can decorate it however you’d like. Image: Anna Marynenko/Shutterstock

5. You Can Renovate!

The best part of owning your home is that you can finally apply all the skills you’ve gained watching HGTV and reading Freshome to renovate your new home. Decorate in whatever style you love. Paint the walls in any color you’d like — it’s your home.

The post Should You Rent Or Buy A House? appeared first on Freshome.com.

6 Reasons to Build or Buy in Up-and-Coming Areas

July 24, 2019 by admin

When searching for a new home, buyers often look for houses or land in the best neighborhoods — or, at least, the best neighborhoods that they can afford. And that’s certainly understandable. However, homeowners may be missing out on several advantages by not considering less prestigious or less desirable neighborhoods.

Below are six reasons to build or buy in up-and-coming areas.

Your money goes a lot further in up-and-coming areas. Image: TDK Visuals/Shutterstock

#1: Lower price points

It’s natural to want to be in an area in close proximity to popular dining, shopping and entertainment options. Even if you’re buying the home to flip it, you want to own property in a desirable area. “When you buy in the best part of town, you are paying top dollar for the property,” according to Oliver Somoza, Partner of Philadelphia-based S7 Real Estate and Turnkey Property Pro. But when you invest in a less popular neighborhood, your buying power can go much farther.

“Whereas $300,000 might get you a studio apartment in the city center, it could buy you not one but two 3-bedroom houses in a growing neighborhood not too much farther away,” he says.

You’ll have more money left over for your renovation. Image: Andy Dean Photography/Shutterstock

#2: Personalization

When you build or buy a home in an up-and-coming area, you buy at a lower price point. That means you now have the funds to create your ideal place. And that’s especially important if you purchase a fixer-upper that needs major repairs.

“Now you can consider retrofits and renovations that will help you build the home that you want to be in, instead of adjusting your needs based on the space that already exists,” explains Mick Lynch, Senior Vice President of Installations at Power Home Remodeling. So you can install those hardwoods in the kitchen or use those brick walls as a design element. And there’s another bonus to being in an up-and-coming area. “You tend to have more freedom to make external renovations without worrying about zoning ordinances and other neighborhood restrictions,” he says.

Your home and neighborhood will increase in value.

Your home and neighborhood could increase in value. Image: Shelia Fitzgerald/Shutterstock

#3: Increased resale value

Since the neighborhood is up-and-coming, you can get in before prices start to skyrocket. And as a result of your renovations, you can significantly increase the home’s resale value. “However, just make sure you understand real estate trends in that neighborhood. [Understand] what’s happening in the market and in that specific county,” Lynch advises. He warns against relying solely on word-of-mouth, which can be misleading. “It’s important to do the research, study the people and companies migrating to those areas and let the information dictate what neighborhood is best for you.”

When a neighborhood starts to transition, Matt van Winkle, Founder and CEO of RE/MAX Northwest, says it often takes five to 10 years for it to really transform. But he agrees that buyers who get in early can see tremendous gains. “Value add or sweat equity homes in up-and-coming areas provide a lower entry point for buyers and the ability to be part of the transformation if they remodel a home,” he explains. You’re not only benefiting from the return on the remodel. van Winkle says you can also benefit from the appreciation of the neighborhood.

You might find a quirky, lively area. Image: maLja/Shutterstock

#4: An existing sense of community

Lynch’s advice is actually based on his personal experience. “I recently bought a home in an up-and-coming neighborhood, and it was the best decision I could have made,” he says. As he was searching for the right area, Lynch looked for certain things. He wanted to find a neighborhood with an existing sense of community where he and his family could fit in and thrive. “For my family, our new neighborhood was such a great fit because we enjoyed the vibe of the neighbors, the potential job opportunities based on the companies moving into that area, and the ability to make the house and community we were moving into truly our home.”

Renting shouldn’t be a problem after you fix up the home. Image: karamysh/Shutterstock

#5: Appeal to a larger pool of tenants and buyers

If you’re purchasing a property to flip and then rent or sell, there are several advantages to choosing one in up-and-coming areas. “For one, you have lower initial costs, but you also improve your chances of renting to good tenants or making a quick and profitable sale,” Somoza says.

“Everyone is looking to lower their costs of living, and many are being priced out of the popular areas in today’s rental market. So they’re turning to — you guessed it — up-and-coming neighborhoods,” he explains And this means that you’re not likely to have any problems keeping your property rented. “You’ll also be able to increase rent as the neighborhood becomes more desirable. And you could potentially see buyers competing for an already upgraded property if you’re looking to sell,” Somoza says.

Gentrification isn’t inevitable. Image: Duncan Andison/Shutterstock

#6: Create higher-quality affordable housing

Investing in up-and-coming areas often leads to gentrification, but it doesn’t have to. “Actually, real estate investment in these areas can even combat gentrification by creating better affordable housing without displacing people and families,” Somoza explains. “If a developer purchases an outdated apartment complex with the intention of fixing it up and renting it out, there is an opportunity there to provide clean, updated, affordable housing to the people who already live in the area.”

Look for the signs of a promising area. Image: Brian Goodman/Shutterstock

Finding the right up-and-coming areas

There’s no exact science to identifying a neighborhood poised for growth. That said, there are a few things to look for. “Increasingly, people are rejecting far-flung suburbs and are embracing walkable, urban neighborhoods,” says Gianpaolo Manzolillo, Licensed Real Estate Salesperson at Citi Habitats in Brooklyn.

“Look for areas that offer an easy commute to the downtown business district or that are located along transit lines,” he says. This is based on the theory that no one wants to spend hours sitting in traffic. “Districts that are adjacent to already-established desirable areas also offer a lot of potential for upside due to the ‘spill-over’ effect,” Manzolillo adds. When they can’t afford what they consider the prime neighborhood, people look to purchase in surrounding areas.

The post 6 Reasons to Build or Buy in Up-and-Coming Areas appeared first on Freshome.com.

When is a Lowball Offer a Good Idea?

July 23, 2019 by admin

Let’s face it: buying a home is like a game of chess, and each person is trying to outwit the other. You want to purchase the house for the least amount of money and the seller is trying to get as much as possible out of the deal. So when should you use a lowball offer as a part of your strategy?

Freshome asked several top realtors to weigh in on this topic.

Sometimes, it’s better to receive than to give. Image: jimfeng/Getty Images

The holidays

Apparently, sellers are in a more generous mood during the most wonderful time of the year, according to Shelton Wilder, a Beverly Hills, CA-based realtor at the Douglas Elliman Real Estate Company. In fact, she remembers one buyer who put in a lowball offer on Christmas Eve.

“The holidays and the fourth quarter are slower, but sellers tend to panic every year at this time,” Wilder says. “If a house has been sitting a while without offers, then it can create the perfect scenario for a buyer to pick up a property for a steal.” Also, she says that some sellers want to close the deal before the end of the year for tax purposes.

The longer a house sits, the better your lowball offer looks. Image: Haywire Media/Shutterstock

The home has been on the market for a while

If a home has been sitting too long, this can also be a good time to lowball an offer. A home will generally sell for asking price or over in the first seven days, according to Tom Matthews, part of the Tom and Joanne Team at Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty. “After 8 to 45 days on the market, a home is likely to sell for asking price.” But after this time frame, Matthews says a home will usually drop in price and this is an appropriate time for a lowball offer.

And Jenny Okhovat, a realtor with Compass in Los Angeles, CA, agrees. She says that a lowball offer is only a good idea when the home has been sitting on the market for quite some time, or if your realtor recommends it. “Your realtor should work with the opposing realtor — unless the home is FSBO — to come to a conclusion about whether or not the lowball offer will be considered by the seller,” she explains. “A lowball offer is only a good idea when there are no other offers on the table. Otherwise, it may be used against you to create a ‘multiple offer’ dynamic.”

A house that’s not in top shape won’t get top price. Image: ronstik/Shutterstock

The home needs repairs

If the home needs some work, the seller should be expected to lower the price accordingly. And the more work the home will need, the lower your offer can be. “If the property is in a state of significant disrepair and the seller doesn’t have the resources to fix the property or bring it up to market standard, the sellers are going to receive offers that are much lower than just the cost of fixing up the property,” explains Brett Jennings, Founder of the Real Estate Experts in the California Bay Area. “Buyers are going to factor in the price of their profit margin (if they’re an investor) or the time and hassle of renovating (if they’re a homeowner).”

Homeowners soon tire of going through the selling process. Image: Jon Bilous/Shutterstock

There are failed attempts to sell

Sometimes a house is on the market for a while because a sale didn’t go through. “It can be helpful to look for properties that accepted an offer and went into contract, but then the transaction fell apart and they came back to market,” Jennings says. “These sellers are often more motivated to accept lower offers.” If there has already been one failed attempt at a sale, he says they may be more open to negotiating the second time around. In this case, a lowball offer could be a good option.

Crime scene homes aren’t popular. Image: Calkins/Shutterstock

The home has a bad history

It’s not only people who can have a bad reputation. Not many people will want to live in a home that’s gained notoriety for an unpleasant reason. “A home could be unmarketable if it was the site of a highly public murder,” says Phil Georgiades, Realtor, Mortgage Expert and Chairman of FedHome Loan Centers. Also, if there was a bad fire or the owner chose not to rebuild after a hurricane, some buyers could be apprehensive. This could help your lowball offer get accepted.

Homeowners may overestimate the value of their home. Image: Artazum/Shutterstock

The home is overpriced or it’s an extreme buyers’ market

If the property is desirable or priced fairly, Georgiades doesn’t think a lowball offer is usually a good idea. “However, if the property is overpriced, a lowball offer may make sense,” he says. And Georgiades adds that sometimes sellers tend to overprice their homes. “If your agent appraises the home you are looking at and it is overpriced, it may make sense to write a lowball offer for fair market value,” he explains.

“An extreme buyers’ market is actually pretty rare,” Georgiades says. “In the past 20 years, there has almost always been a housing shortage.” However, this may vary depending on your region of the country — or even by city or part of town. If you are trying to purchase a home in an extreme buyers’ market, a lowball offer will go over better.

Homeowners on the verge of foreclosure are likely to take your offer. Image: olikoff Photography/Getty Images

You know the seller’s motivation

If you can learn a little more about the seller, you may be able to determine the reason why the home is on the market. Then, you can decide if a lowball offer could be appropriate. “I cannot stress enough the importance of dialogue with the seller or seller’s agent to understand the seller’s needs and motivation,” advises Joanne Taranto of the Tom and Joanne Team at Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty.

“Do they need to move to a new state for a job or to care for an elderly relative? Did they inherit the property but don’t have any interest in holding onto it? If you can identify what is important to the seller, you may be able to negotiate a better deal,” she says.

Jennings agrees. “The prospect of accepting a lowball offer is one that happens either because the seller is under some sort of stress and has a pending event like a foreclosure,” he says. “Or they don’t have the time or resources to bring a property to market.”

A lowball offer can be offensive. Image: Fancy/Veer/Corbis/Getty Images

The risks of a lowball offer

All that said, one of our realtors is against a lowball offer under any circumstances. “Talk about starting off on the wrong foot,” laments Vivian Cobb of Colorado Springs, CO-based Cobb Real Estate. “A lowball offer is usually contrary to the spirit of trying to get the deal done.”

Cobb explains that getting to the finish line of a real estate transaction is a team sport. “If the other team is starting out by being insulting, it doesn’t usually go well from there,” she warns. However, Cobb also says that this practice may vary by market. “In California, for example, lowballing is the norm. But in Colorado, it’s considered bad form.”

And while Okhovat believes there is a time for lowball offers, she also thinks buyers should be cautious. “You don’t want to lowball a property that you really want,” she says. “[A lowball offer] can only be for a property you’re willing to lose out on if your offer is not accepted. “

The post When is a Lowball Offer a Good Idea? appeared first on Freshome.com.

How to Increase Your Chances of Winning a Bidding War

July 12, 2019 by admin

You’ve found the house you love. But, apparently, so have other buyers — and it’s the same house. When several buyers want to compete for the same property, how do sellers choose among offers? What can you do to increase your chances of getting the home? Freshome asked several experts to share the secrets of winning a bidding war.

An amicable relationship can work in your favor. Image: Haywire Media/Shutterstock

Get to know the listing agent

We’re not recommending that you schmooze — although it might help. “Befriending the listing agent is a great idea,” Tracey Hampson at Realty One Group in Valencia, CA, says. “I always make a point of speaking with the listing agent and asking who she would like to use for services like escrow and title. Here in California, it is the listing agent who normally chooses. And I ask if there is anything specific the seller is looking for,” Hampson explains. She says you can get a lot of information out of a phone call.

Tory Keith, President of Natick, MA-based real estate firm Board and Park, agrees. “A good buyer’s agent will always have a conversation with the seller’s agent to get a feel for how competitive the situation is, whether there are terms besides price that are important to the seller and whether there will be a second opportunity to present best and final offers.” However, if the home is FSBO, you and your agent will need to get to know the seller since no agent will be involved on their end.

Make sure your agent is up to the task. Image: Jeff Manes/Getty Images

Choose your own agent carefully

It’s important to get to know the seller’s agent, but make sure you know your agent as well. “An agent’s reputation can and does have an effect on the offer process,” says April Macowicz, Broker Associate and Team Owner at The MAC Group RE in San Diego, CA. “If your agent has a reputation for being difficult, you can say goodbye to that home, especially in a bidding war,” she warns.

Try to accommodate the seller. Image: 10’000 Hours/Getty Images

Make the seller’s life easier

If you can give the seller more time or reduce their level of stress, you might give yourself an edge. “One way to make your offer stand out is by either removing the inspection contingency or reducing the timelines on those,” Macowicz says. “If you can get away with having a 5-day inspection period, that looks a lot better to the seller than a 17-day inspection period.”

This is why it’s important to meet with the seller’s agent to find out what the seller cares about. “There is nothing worse than writing a full price cash offer to close in 30 days when the seller needs 90 days to move out,” says Tom Matthews of the Tom and Joanne Team at Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty.

And letting the seller set the moving date is another way to gain an advantage. “Put in the contract that you will accommodate the seller’s closing/moving date,” advises Sissy Lappin, Founder of ListingDoor.com.

Don’t underestimate the power of offering more money. Image: Don Farrall/Getty Images

Money is important

Of course, a higher offer is usually the first thing that buyers consider. And Jon Tetrault, a team director at The Nick Slocum Team at Slocum Realty in Rhode Island, offers some advice on how to create a compelling offer.

“Make sure you run the numbers to be sure that the neighborhood supports the price you’re offering, but the higher the offer, the better your chances,” Tetrault says. “I always suggest buyers go slightly above an even number.” So, if the home is listed at $300,000 and his buyers want to offer $302,000, Tetrault suggests offering $302,250. “That will give them a leg up in the event that someone else offers $302,000,” Tetrault says.

Another tip is to make the offer as clean as possible, Hampson says. “Don’t ask for any money towards closing costs, etc.”

Be charming. Image: MirageC/Getty Images

Attach a short note

Lappin also recommends including a short note on what you love about the home — like the architectural details — and why you want to make it your own. “I did this on one home that had seven offers and the seller was adamant the ‘nice lady’ was going to get her home,” Lappin says.

However, Vivian Cobb of Colorado Springs, CO-based Cobb Real Estate is against including notes and letters. “Remember, this is a business deal and it’s about what makes sense for the seller,” she says. “Keeping emotions out of it is good advice.”

The post How to Increase Your Chances of Winning a Bidding War appeared first on Freshome.com.

What is a Barndominium? Could It Be Your Next Home?

June 27, 2019 by admin

Choosing the right paint color for every room of your barndominium is easy when you’ve already created the perfect color palette. Image courtesy of PPG – Modern Farmhouse Palette.

You may be new to the barndominium style, but this pretty and practical home style is gaining in popularity. Barndominiums, nicknamed “barndos,” got their start as a practical living option. Many farmers and ranchers created a loft area above a working barn so that animal caretakers could stay close by.

Today, the popularity of barndominiums has evolved into luxury homes and vacation rentals, especially in upscale rural areas with ranch land and vineyards. Fixer Upper’s Chip and Joanna Gaines remodeled a barndominium on their show, creating a social media buzz about these unique homes. Most barndo construction uses a steel shell, then adds tons of interior customization options.

Entertaining is a breeze with large doors and windows that flow outside. Image: Mint Images/Getty Images

The Advantages of a Barndominium Home

There may be no ‘typical’ barndominium, but most share a few key advantages:

Simplicity: Barndos are often built as a shell with simple interior framing.
Construction Time: The popular metal shell construction goes up quickly.
Durability: Metal barndos withstand the elements and have a longer life than most standard home-building materials.
Flexibility: Barndominiums can be configured for living or work/live space.
Indoor/Outdoor Lifestyle: Rollup doors and large windows encourage indoor/outdoor living.

Designing the Interior of Your Dream Barndo

One of the barndo features owners like best is the flexibility of the interior layout of their new space. Some rooms will require a specific location due to plumbing and other utilities built into the home. Beyond that, though, the interior layout can be customized to your needs.

Plan your essential needs first, like square footage and how each room will be used, before you start your interior layout sketch. Knowing how you’ll live in your home is essential to a comfortable design. Barndominiums work best as an open concept home, often with a loft area above.

The structure of a barndo encourages indoor/outdoor living. Rollup doors, big windows and wrap-around decks can give a feeling of spaciousness to your interior living space.

Bring the outdoors inside with dramatic windows in your barndominium or open concept home. Image: hikesterson/Getty Images

Interior Design Tips for This Open Concept Home

A barndominium is truly an open concept home, so tips and ideas for an open interior layout definitely work here. When you’re decorating a barndominium or great room in any home, color becomes your easiest and best tool for defining space. To unify a large, open space, a colorful stripe that runs the perimeter of the room is a great trick that helps it look more intimate. Accent walls are still very much in style and can create a focal point in a large open space. And don’t forget, ceilings can be accents walls, too.

Furnishing the main areas of a large barndominium can be a challenge, but there are a few tips that make it easier to get a balanced look.

Choose Large Furniture: If you are furnishing a big, open space, using large furniture, like sectionals and oversized chairs, can fill the space without looking too busy.
Create Areas Within the Space: Grouping furniture together for conversation or eating areas prevents the “furniture store” look from which many open layouts suffer.
Use Color to Unify: If you’re grouping furniture within your barndo great room, stick with one color palette across all the areas you’re furnishing. That way, your colors tie everything together.

The HGTV Fixer Upper Barndominium Episode

HGTV’s Fixer Upper tackled a barndominium in Season 3 for a family looking for acreage and a unique home. Chip and Joanna Gaines reimagined a 1980s barn that already had an apartment upstairs. Their remodel used the upstairs apartment and the stable area downstairs to create a two-story, 2,700 sq. ft. home.

The Fixer Upper floor plan created a large upstairs kitchen and living room. Family bedrooms and an indoor/outdoor gathering space for entertaining complete the downstairs floor plan, including a 17-foot custom dining table for entertaining. The owners listed the totally remodeled barndo for sale in 2019 with a 1.2 million dollar price.

The post What is a Barndominium? Could It Be Your Next Home? appeared first on Freshome.com.

Zillow Offers is a New Way to Sell Your Home

June 27, 2019 by admin

Zillow polled their readers and uncovered that “homeowners want a faster, simpler selling option.” Zillow Offers is their answer. The service by Zillow basically buys your home on your schedule in as little as two business days (if you qualify).

Zillow wants to make the home selling process fast and simple. Image: PureRadiancePhoto/Shutterstock

How Zillow Offers Works

The process starts online with a simple questionnaire to answer basic info about your home, like:

The number of bedrooms and bathrooms
Square feet
Major changes you’ve made that aren’t in the public record
The date by which you’d like to sell

Next, you’ll submit current photos to help the agent price your home accordingly.

If your home qualifies, you’ll receive an email offer within two business days. This is a cash offer! You then have three days to respond to the offer or it expires.

According to Zillow, you’ll receive an offer via email in two business days. Image: fivepointsix/Shutterstock

If you accept the offer, a Zillow Offers Advisor will schedule a home inspection and recommend a licensed real estate agent to represent you, if you don’t have one already. Zillow may reduce the price after the home inspection if the home wasn’t represented as they expected or if it needs repairs. You can refuse their revised offer if you don’t like it.

Once you sign the sales contract, you can close on your home sale anytime between five days and 90 days — your choice.

This new service streamlines the home selling process. Image: Stasique/Shutterstock

Zillow Offers is currently only available in certain markets: select zip codes in Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Raleigh and Riverside. They plan to add Miami, Minneapolis, Nashville, Orlando and Portland by fall.

According to this image from Zillow, it looks like the service will expand to include offers from other investors. Image courtesy of Zillow.

Should You Use Zillow Offers?

This is a great no-obligation service if your home has been listed for a while and not getting any offers. Or if you’re in a hurry to move and don’t have the time to wait for the listing, open houses, offer negotiations and closing process of traditional home sales. Or if you need cash fast.

It’s too soon to know if Zillow’s offers are competitive with the actual market. But since the whole process is no-obligation, it wouldn’t hurt to try it out.

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Here’s How Much It Costs to Sell Your Home in 2019

June 17, 2019 by admin

Zillow, the real estate database, just released a report showing the hidden costs of selling. So how much does it cost you to sell your house in 2019? Get ready to spend about $21,000. Don’t balk at the cost yet, though. Some of that cost goes toward home improvements and Zillow found that “sellers who make improvements to their homes are more likely to sell for more than their asking price than those who don’t.”

When you’re selling your house, here’s where your money will go:

A large portion of the selling cost goes to closing costs after your home is sold. Image: wutzkohphoto/Shutterstock

Closing Costs, $14,281 on average

The bulk of the expense in selling your house is the closing costs, which include real agent commissions, sales taxes and state transfer taxes. This figure is an average. The actual amount is a percentage based on the home’s sale price and can vary widely. Here’s a list of average closing costs throughout the U.S. from greatest to least:

San Jose, CA: $76,015

New York, NY: $28,090

Denver, CO: $24,443

Austin, TX: $18,522

Las Vegas, NV: $18,163

Philadelphia, PA: $16,296

Phoenix, AZ: $15,924

Dallas-Fort Worth, TX: $14,580

Tampa, FL: $14,291

Atlanta, GA: $13,286

Houston, TX: $12,342

Cleveland, OH: $9,046

The one positive of this expense is that it doesn’t come out of your pocket upfront. It’s usually deducted from the home sale’s proceeds.

Your house only has one shot to make a first impression, so make it a good one. Image: Artazum/Shutterstock

Home Improvements To Get The Home Ready For Sale, $6,570 on average

This amount is the average for sellers who hire professionals for their home updates. For those who wonder how much it costs to sell your house and want all the details, here is the $6,570 in home improvements, broken down by category:

Exterior painting: $2,600
Home staging: $1,805
Interior painting: $1,245
Local moving to the new home: $475
Full-service lawn care: $145
Carpet cleaning: $140
House cleaning: $160

Based on these projects, it looks like curb appeal plays a big role in successfully selling your home. If your time and budget are limited, it’s probably best to focus on presenting a clean, crisp home that is nicely but neutrally furnished to appeal to most buyers.

Home improvement costs will vary by market. The report found that sellers in Sacramento spent about $7,800 compared to Phoenix home sellers, who could spend around $4,000 for the same projects. And DIY curb appeal projects may help a home seller save money.

Sellers that make some upgrades before listing their house are more likely to sell their home successfully (and for more money). Image: Andy Dean Photography/Shutterstock

If you’re selling this year, get started on updating your house now. Spruce up your garden and lawn, plant new flowers and freshen up the space both inside and outside with paint. As you get closer to listing your house, start decluttering and storing your personal items so that your house shows best. Don’t forget about the details like clean carpets, walls and windows.

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Comps 101: How Comparables Can Help You Sell Your Home

June 13, 2019 by admin

So you want to sell your house. You know there are some key things you need to do like stage the interior and work on your curb appeal. You might think, especially if you’re hiring a real estate agent, that everything else is handled. But that leaves out one of the trickiest parts of home selling: pricing your property. How do you do it? Sure, your agent will help, but you want to know you’re not leaving money on the table. You also don’t want to price your home too high and leave it languishing on the market for months. So what do you do? Look at comps.

If you want to list your home to sell, use comps. Image: romakoma/Shutterstock

What are comps?

Comps — or comparables — are the single most effective way to ensure you’re pricing your home to sell while also maximizing your revenue from the sale. Basically, they compare other recently sold or pending homes in your area that are a lot like yours. Knowing what buyers are willing to pay for similar homes clues you in to what you can realistically get for yours.

The key is here is finding comps that are as accurate as possible for your home. The most effective comps score in three key areas:

Location, location, location

The old real estate adage strikes again. You can often get a four-bedroom house in a rural area for the price of a tiny oceanfront condo. Why? Location matters. And that’s especially true for comparables. So if you want to make sure you’re listing your home at the right price, it’s important to price it based on local market activity.

And you want to be as location-specific as possible. Existing boundaries — like school districts and neighborhood lines — are helpful here. The closer your comps are in location to your house, the more accurate they’ll be.

If you’ve got a view of the park, make sure you factor it in. Image: Johner Images/Getty Images

Don’t forget features

Easy, right? Your next door neighbor’s house just sold, so you can use that as a comp, right? Wrong, unless that house also meets a few additional conditions. A good comparable is going to be as similar to your house as possible. Of course, that means the basics like the same number of bedrooms and bathrooms and similar square footage. But don’t forget about other features, either.

Maybe your neighbor has an electrical tower behind their house, while your backyard has panoramic views. They’re definitely not a good comp for you. You’d be better served by looking at the house up the street that has a slightly smaller square footage but a similar view. Other features like upgrades (e.g., granite countertops, walk-in closets), the overall condition of your house, whether you have a pool and how much parking you have are all considerations. At the end of the day, when you’re hunting for comps, it’s better to look for houses that are as much like yours as possible. If that means you have to extend the boundaries of your search, so be it.

Current listing status matters

Okay, so all you have to do is pop on Zillow, Redfin or Trulia and find some for-sale homes that look like yours and are relatively close by, right? Actually, no. Homes currently for sale aren’t a good place to go for comps because they still haven’t sold yet. If you base your comps on the batch of neighbors who think they’re going to be millionaires from selling their two-bedrooms, you’ll be way off.

Instead, look at homes that have closed in the last six months or less. The closer you can get to the present, the better. In fact, if you can find homes with sales pending, that’s ideal.

The best comps are recently sold, similar homes nearby. Image: RikoBest/Shutterstock

Using comps to sell your home

Now you’re ready to price your home competitively. A good benchmark is to find five or six really solid comps. Once you’ve gathered the handful of recently sold or pending homes that are similar to yours and located near you, you’re ready to determine your own home’s selling price. If their prices are all very similar, your work is easy. Price yours just like them.

If most of them are similar but you’ve got one outlier, toss it. Base your list price on the majority.

If they’re all over the place, you’re in a tricky spot. You can either keep looking for comps until a pattern emerges or you can decide what’s important to you. If you want to sell by the end of the summer so you can have your family re-settled before the new school year starts, for example, it might be worth listing on the lower end of the spectrum. If you’ve got tons of time and are feeling patient, list high and see what happens. Either way, you’ll know that you’re making an educated decision based on what’s right for you and your current market activity.

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Home-Buying Millennials are Obsessed with Lawns and Gardens

June 13, 2019 by admin

The U.S. Census Bureau says homeownership is up over last year. In their words, “the national homeownership rate has risen to 64.4 percent.” And Realtor Magazine says that jump is “largely attributed to the rise in new, first-time homebuyers.”

These first-time homebuyers are millennials and they don’t care about a fancy eat-in kitchen. Instead, they’re obsessed with lawns and gardens.

A survey from the National Association of Landscape Professionals found that 79 percent of U.S. homebuyers agree that a spacious and manicured lawn is an important feature in a home. And here’s the kicker: millennials, who currently make up the largest percentage of homebuyers, ranked the lawn as the top priority when house hunting.

Lawns, gardens, patios and outdoor living are the #1 priority for house-hunting millennials. Image: Artazum/Shutterstock

Sure — a large, open kitchen and a huge master bedroom with custom his and hers closets are all nice. But for a large portion of the buyer’s market, it’s all about the perfect lawn and a spacious, landscaped backyard.

If you’re listing soon, make sure you set aside some money to make sure your patio and gardens look their best. Here are four quick landscaping tips for selling your home:

Set the stage outdoors with a furniture setting that enhances your outdoor space. Image: Photographee.eu/Shutterstock

1. Don’t Just Stage Indoors; Stage A Small Outdoor Setting, Too

Buyers like to envision what their life will be like in your home. Find a spot in your backyard or patio and add a small outdoor table setting or lounge area. Complete the look with hanging lights, an outdoor area rug or colorful outdoor throw pillows.

A fresh, vibrant lawn adds a new home feel to yours. Image: nazarovsergey/Shutterstock

2. Freshen Up Your Turf

If your lawn isn’t the best one in the neighborhood, it may be a very good investment to renew or replace your old lawn before listing your house. A fresh, green lawn looks inviting and gives your home a “new” feeling. Depending on the size of your outdoor lawn area, fake turf may be in your budget and would be a low-maintenance option for year-round green curb appeal.

Planted flowers are an easy way to add pops of colors to your garden. Image: 1000 Words/Shutterstock

3. Plant Flowers

Flowers are inexpensive and easy to plant. They add a splash of color to your garden and last long enough to get your home sold.

Add LED lighting to your stairs, pathways and terrace areas. Image: Photographee.eu/Shutterstock

4. Add Lighting To Your Garden And Outdoor Spaces

You don’t have to spend a lot on electrical and wiring to light your lawn and garden. There are plenty of solar-power LED outdoor lights that are as simple as inserting a stake into the dirt. Focus on lighting a path, uplighting a large tree and lighting a sitting area or patio table setting.

Even if you’re not selling a home, get ready to embrace the outdoor living trend. Millennials have spoken and it looks like gardening and outdoor entertaining will be hot topics for a while.

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