Smart Upgrades To Get Your Home Sold

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If you are looking for ways to enhance the value of your home on a smallish budget, here are a few tips that will help finally get your home sold!

Paint the shutters, eaves, doors and other trims – if you can paint the whole house, great – but if you can’t afford all that, painting the trims and accents can make a massive visual difference in the look and feel of your home, very inexpensively;

add new hardware like a mailbox, house numbers, and a front door or door knockers

landscaping – planting lush or fragrant flowers or trees, trimming up overgrown shrubs and even installing low maintenance ground cover can also transform the entire look of your home from the curb.

You would be amazed at what a huge difference little things you do to the outside can make.

Hey Charlotte, We Pay Our Agent 100% And Pass It On To You

By admin

Are you thinking of buying or selling in The Charlotte and Lake Norman Areas? Why not ask Carolina Living Real Estate about their services?

Not only do we use the latest technologies, we pay our agents 100% commission and just take a transaction fee.

What does this mean to the consumer (Homeowner)? Our agents are not giving a substantial amount to us (the Broker) allowing them to negotiate how they want to ‘get the deal done’!!

These savings can be used on both the seller and the buyer seller. There are a couple of legal ways to pass this savings on to YOU!.

All you need to do is call us (704 412 4009 or 704 451 7051) and ask how!

You see expired and withdrawn listings in the Charlotte area are not the product of smaller companies. They are a part of the business of selling real estate for all companies.  However, with a firm like ours, the agents have SO many tools at their disposal, including negotiating with our own money. You see our agents keep the bulk of it and as we all know, Money is Power!

Let’s make 2012 the year Charlotte Real Estate bounces back…

Charlotte 2012 DNC Convention-Advertise Your Home For Rent

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Your Charlotte Property Management Company|Carolina Living Property Management

Charlotte is gearing up for the Democratic National Convention.  We are building a robust advertising tool to assist homeowners with finding a viable tenant.

Visit  the DNC DIGGS  website  for information about what to ask in rent and you will see our ad for helping you manage the process.

If you are thinking of renting your home for the conference, the DNC DIGGS website is a great place to start?

If you are thinking of hiring a company to manage the process, feel free to contact us (704 451 7051) and we can discuss our services.

 

sandmn12000@yahoo.com

What Are The Three Biggest Home Improvements That Pay-Off Long-Term?

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Tips For Charlotte Home Owners By Carolina Living Real Estate

Improving Your Charlotte NC Area Home?

When it comes to doing a home improvement you have to look at it two ways. The first way is “How long do I plan on living in this home? How long am I going to use or enjoy the improvement I am potentially going to make to my home? What is the value of the improvement to you that you put into the house?” For instance if you’re going to put in a pool, are you going to get one seasonal year of use out of it or are you gong to be able to enjoy it for a long time?

The second thing is to ask, “How soon am I going to be selling my home? Am I going to get the value out of it when I sell the home?” So many people make the wrong improvements that end up costing them thousands and thousands of dollars. There are different improvements to make based on those two questions and the answers you give.

The bottom line is that improvements to the kitchen pay off every time. No “ifs”, “ands”, or “buts” about it. This is where life happens for most families. This is where you talk with your family, where you enjoy dinners together, where you help your kids with their homework, and where most people tend to gather with friends and family. You’ve got to really consider, are you going to get a lot of use and enjoyment out of remodeling your kitchen? The answer is, undoubtedly, yes. It’s also pretty affordable to do with today’s pre-fab units, etc. You can generally get a kitchen remodeled for between $2,000-$5,000. Remember most good memories are made in the kitchen. This means that even if you’re NOT staying in the house, the improvement will pay off when you sell it because kitchens are a huge selling point.

Fix any of those glaring repair issues. These are the little things that stare at you each day of your life; a cracked window, a wobbly doorknob, a shower door that won’t close unless you lift it a certain way. Buyers see these small things all together and will walk away saying “I’m not going to buy this home because that repair is going to cost me money.” The truth is, small repairs are inexpensive to fix; however, buyers over exaggerate the expensive of fixing these small repairs. Whether you stay in the house or sell it, these small, glaring fixes that you keep putting off will have to be done either way if you are selling or not. The smallest of repairs can make a huge difference, so fix that screen on the front door, patch that hole in the wall where the door knob hit & put a door stopper in to keep it from happening again. These small, “nickel and dime” repairs stand out to those viewing your home and they will overprice what it’s going to cost them to fix them. They think in terms of “this house isn’t exactly in move-in condition,” even if it truly is and the fixes are literally small projects that can take only a few minutes. In the end these small fixes can lead to a sale.

Next, you want to spruce up your home so it looks good at first glance. As we said before, little things make a big difference. Cosmetic things such as new carpeting, a fresh coat of paint, and putting fresh bark in the landscaping make a huge difference. Note; if you have any pets you will want to wait until 2-3 weeks before you put your home on the market to replace the carpet. There’s a saying that goes, “Big doors hang on little hinges.” You’re going to get a 90% return on investment with these types of investments. Spend $10 and get $100 back in value when you sell your home.

So why are we sharing these things with you? We want to make sure you get a good deal no matter who you work with as your Charlotte area realtor. We figure that if we get this information out into the marketplace then everybody wins! Don’t forget, selling homes is Carolina Living’s passion. We love selling homes and it’s the way we pay our bills. So if you’d like help on selling or buying a home feel free to give us a call or drop us an email.

Our goal is to make sure you get a good deal when buying or selling your home and you have great information to make those decisions off of.

Buying Or Selling Your Charlotte Home With Dodd-Frank

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There are a lot of articles and summaries of the Dodd-Frank law and most of them seem to be written by academic types that make it difficult to understand by the everyday consumer and agent(like me).  The law is intended to protect consumers from preditory lending that helped kill the housing market.  There also provisions aimed directly at banks, bailouts and the like.  However, much of that language is intended for lawyer types and don’t affect the everyday consumer day to day.

There are a few things to note if you are buying or selling real estate.  There is much confusion in a lot of this and I am sure there will continue to be tweaks and different interpretations.  One of the first ones to address is the risk factor that lenders are now required to expose themselves to.  This is an area that, to be honest, I do not have a firm grasp.  Having said that, I will try to give a brief explanation.   Basically if a lender is going to make a loan that is risky (supposedly a loan where less than 20% is put down by a buyer), the originating lender has to retain 5% of loan amount  to help mitigate any defaults.  The question becomes (1.  Where is the 5% coming from, 2.  Will the lender even make a loan to someone without 20% down).  Both these by definition affect the buyers pocketbook!  One caveat to this and something that makes it even more confusing, Dodd-Frank also has provisions and/or rules that affect how much a lender can charge.  So….what will they do!   Only time will tell.

This leads us to the rules about how much a lender can charge.

Loan originators can still base their fee (called points) on the loan amount. However, under Dodd-Frank loan originators can’t charge the buyer points and collect an origination fee from the lender (called rebate financing). The lending industry is still working on compliance requirements, and the April 1 start date could be delayed.

Although the intent of the legislation is to protect consumers from being overcharged, there could be complications for buyers trying to get approved for a mortgage in a timely fashion. Most buyers don’t know when they make an offer if they want a loan with points or a no-point loan with a higher interest rate. Dodd-Frank could make it more difficult to move from one loan product to another.

 Here is a buyer tip.  In addition to checking on rates and loan costs, ask about the process and cost of changing loan products mid-stream.

One more thought about selling your Charlotte area real estate home.  While not directly related to Dodd-Frank, the appraisal process has become one of the biggest deal killers.  Lenders are no longer allowed to choose or even talk to an appraiser.  The process has brought appraisers to appraise homes completely out of their geographic area or comfort level.   However, it is not illegal for the sellers agent to talk to appraisers.  At Carolina Living Real Estate, we recommend to our agents they do two things to mitigate these potential problems.

1.  We will meet the appraiser at the home and share our comps to assist with how we came up with our selling price.

2. We recommend but don’t require that our sellers get a pre-listing appraisal.  This has been huge in our ability to get homes sold.

3.  We refrain from taking overpriced listings.

 

Due Diligence In Our Contract – An Important Perspective

By admin

Our new Offer To Purchase that was put in affect in January of 2011 has brought on some much needed fairness to the seller.  The seller is paid a due diligence fee by the buyer to allow the buyer to investigate the property.

Really the most important aspect of buying a house is now in the preparation.  It never should have been up to the seller to determine the buyer’s credit worthiness.  Now that we have a due diligence period, the contract should only be about the property.  After all it is an offer to purchase a property.

The buyer should investigate his/her credit worthiness and be comfortable with it before EVER writing a contract.  You see the due diligence will only really work as intended if the buyer is pretty sure they can be approved for a loan.

So, what are the steps for loan approval?

Pre-Qualification
This occurs when the buyer provides information about income, assets and liabilities to a lender and allows a credit report to be run.
Pre-Approval
This step requires confirmation of income and assets through thorough documentation like bank statements, paystubs, W2’s and tax returns.
Final Approval
This occurs when all information is validated and an appraisal is completed that is acceptable to his/her lender.

So where should the buyer be before writing an offer?  They should have completed the Pre-Approval process.  This would only leave selecting the property and having the appraisal done along with other ‘property’ inspections.  You see the due diligence should only include issues with the home and not issue with the buyers credit worthiness.

If the buyer is PREPARED, the due diligence period can be done in 10-15 days and the due diligence amount can be a small sum of money or ZERO!

 

How To Remove Pet Stains From Carpets

By admin

Carolina Living Real Estate

More tips to help you with managing and preparing your home for sale.  Information is provided by Carolina Living’s preferred Home Warranty Company; American Home Shield and Merry Maids.

First, blot up any liquid by putting towels or absorbent rags over the spot and stepping on them. Start with gentle pressure and increase it up to putting your full weight down. Change to fresh rags or towels until no more liquid comes up.

For fresh stains, apply a bacteria/enzyme digester from a pet store, following the directions—it’s the only way to deal effectively with both the stain and the odor. Bacteria/enzyme digesters work slowly, so leave the solution on as long as the directions say. Urine has probably penetrated into the carpet and pad, so use enough solution to reach as far down as the stain.

Apply the solution, put plastic over it, and step on the spot several times until the area is well saturated. Then, leave the plastic on the whole time the digester is working to make sure the spot doesn’t dry out.

Old or dry stains are hard—sometimes even impossible—to remove, but try the bacteria/enzyme digester. If it’s a popular accident site, the bacteria may produce enough ammonia in the course of breaking down the stains to create a super-alkaline situation that interferes with its own action. In this case, you may need to neutralize the spot after the digester has been working for about four hours. Mix a solution of one cup of vinegar to a gallon of warm water. Rinse the area with this solution and apply a fresh batch of bacteria/enzyme solution.

If the stain or odor remains, call a professional deodorizing specialist. A complete cure will probably involve cleaning the entire carpet by extraction and replacing the pad underneath, if not replacing the carpet.