Preparing your home for an open house

Buyers are drawn to homes that appeal to their senses. This is important to remember when preparing your home for an Open House. Through sight, sound and smell, buyers should leave your home with a lasting impression. Here are some tips to showcase your home in the best-possible light.

Exterior
Start outside by inspecting the front of your home from across the street. Does it have curb appeal? It should look inviting, with a trimmed lawn and flowerbed and a freshly painted front door. Polish door handles and knockers and replace worn items such as a rusty doorbell. Consider adding a new doormat and flowering plants at the entrance. Do the windows need cleaning? Be sure to remove oil stains from the driveway.

Next check the side and back yards. Add some flowering plants to the back as well. Rearrange the outdoor furniture to look inviting. Put away gardening tools. Tidy around the grill area.

Interior
Now focus on the inside of the home where cleanliness, space, smell and lighting are key. First, get your house in tip-top condition by cleaning and clearing away clutter. Steam clean and vacuum the carpet. Make sure your floors are waxed and shiny. Touch up nicks on walls and make sure the porcelain sinks and tubs and metallic fixtures shine. Your kitchen and bathrooms should pass the white glove test. Be conscious of any lingering odors such as smoke, pets or strong-smelling foods. You may need to air out your home prior to the Open House. Consider grinding fresh lemons in the garbage disposal or even baking chocolate chip cookies. And don’t forget to empty all trashcans.

Next, set the mood. You want buyers to be able to picture your home as their own. Consider rearranging the furniture so that rooms look more spacious. Add accessories from rooms with too many furnishings to those that appear bare. Look at your countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms and the tops of your bureaus. Do they seem cluttered? Clear away and store as much as possible. The idea is to make your home appear spacious.

Lighting is also an important factor in creating an inviting atmosphere. Bright lights provide a cheerful environment and make a small space appear larger. Pull back all the drapes and open the blinds. Turn on all the lights. Make sure all the light sockets have working bulbs and install the maximum-wattage bulb that is safe for that fixture. For rooms that you want to have a warm, cozy feeling, use softer lights.

Don’t forget little touches such as fresh flowers, lighted candles in the bathrooms, new logs in the fireplace, or a bowl of fresh fruit on the kitchen counter. You may even want to set your dining room table with color-coordinated table settings.

An Open House is a terrific way to show your property to many people in a short amount of time. However, keep in mind that buyers may see seven or eight homes in a single day. The most memorable home will be the one that seemed the brightest, the most spacious and the most cheerful. So, don’t rely on buyers to use their imagination.
Help them capture it. Work with your real estate professional to get more tips on creating an unforgettable home.

How Important is a Home Inspection?

Should a buyer get a home inspection for a home they are buying? Should a seller order a home inspection prior to putting the property on the market? There are advantages for both. Simply put, a home inspection is a visual examination of both the physical structure and major systems of the entire home including: walls, ceilings, floors, decks, exterior covering, the roof, foundation, insulation and ventilation, plumbing, electrical, heating and air conditioning. It is not an appraisal to validate the value of a home, nor a pass/fail exam. A third-party inspector will give a report on the physical condition and suggest repairs.

Buyers
For buyers, a home inspection clause in the written offer that makes the purchase contingent upon the findings can provide peace of mind. If a serious problem is found, it allows room to renegotiate the purchase price or “opt-out” of buying the home altogether. However, this is usually uncommon. Typically, the seller will already have told the buyer about any major problems. More often, inspections reveal less serious defects that aren’t enough to warrant backing out of the transition. However, knowing about these minor problems can prevent major disasters down the road. In addition, if specified in the inspection clause, the cost of the repairs can be at the seller’s expense.
Another advantage to having a home inspection is it offers buyers an opportunity to become familiar with their new home and learn about maintenance to help in its upkeep. Although not required, it’s recommended that buyers be present during the inspection. This allows them to observe the inspection; ask questions about the condition of the home; and receive an objective opinion.

Sellers
For sellers, conducting a home inspection (or pre-inspection) before listing their homes puts the control back into their hands. When the buyer inspection finds problems, it can impede negotiations and cost the seller more in repairs. By having a pre-inspection, the seller can help eliminate any surprise findings after an offer has been made. The seller can make repairs before placing the home on the market and possibly even increase the value of the home.
A pre-inspection can also serve as a great marketing tool. Sellers are required by law to disclose any known defects in the home. Having a pre-inspection report available for buyers tells them that the seller has nothing to hide. It also gives them a clearer picture of the condition of the home.
If there are major problems found during the pre-inspection, it gives the seller an opportunity to disclose the condition up-front, making it less likely for the buyer to pull out of the deal or try to renegotiate the price.
Knowing the true condition of a home can bring peace of mind to buyers and sellers; and be one less hurdle in the home buying and selling process. Talk to you agent about when you need to contact a home inspector or to get a referral to a qualified professional.

Question and Answer

Here is a question posed to me last week by a friend of a past client. It touches on an area that a lot of home owners have questions about: how the work the do now (or don't do now,) will impact the future sale of their home. Read on to see my answer.

Q: I am wanting to put a 5' wooden fence in my backyard to replace the 4' chain link. My boyfriend wants us to fence the south side and the back (at the alley), but leave the long section on the north side with the chain link and just plant shubbery.

I understand his desire to save some money in the immediate, but I wonder if when it does come time to sell (not planning on being there forever-prolly only about three more years), I am concerned that a potential buyer might see a partial fence as a job not completed.

Do you think it matters?

A: You pose a really good question. I think I understand the nature of it but just to be clear: you & your boyfriend are weighing the merits of spending more $$ now to enclose 3 sides of the back yard with a fence vs. saving $$ by only enclosing 2 sides with the fence and planting shrubbery to enclose the 3rd, while still leaving the chain link. Is that correct? If so, let me ask a few questions...

1. Are the shrubs already planted on the north side? If not, you need to realistically weigh the costs of the planted vegetation. I'm neither a gardener nor a professional fence-maker (?) but I do know that plants cost money. If your main reason is to save money, make sure you are working with all the figures. You may only be saving a fraction of the cost over the fence (esp. if you are having the shrubs professionally installed.)

2. How is the rest of your house as far as upkeep, upgrades, curb appeal, etc. Please be honest--it's for your sake not mine. Remember that buyers are ultimately looking at a package deal. You may have state of the art kitchens & baths but if the home looks like crap from the street, many buyers might never make it through the door. Likewise, if you spend a ton of money on the outdoor space but the inside shows relatively poorly, you might be limiting yourself to a small pool of buyers.

Without seeing the house (and you are welcome to send me pics,) I'm inclined to say spend the extra $$ and complete the fencing. A common complaint I hear from buyers who reject a property is that the seller's "cheaped out" on a repair or upgrade. If the buyer gets that impression then they are probably going to ask themselves "what else did they cut corners on?"--not a question you want to have to answer when you are trying to sell your home. Also, the buyer will on some level be thinking "if I buy this place, I'm eventually going to want to replace that chain link..." While you will not get a dollar-for-dollar value on your improvements your home will probably show better. That will lead to a quicker sale and, quite possibly, a higher sale price.

Hope this helps.

Smaller may be better

I ran across an interesting article on an emerging trend of building smaller homes. That's right, smaller. No need to adjust your monitor...
I don't know how much we are going to see of this in Chicago. Let's face it, even the newest, biggest McMansions that are built on double-wide lots (50'x125') pale in comparison to your typical suburban monster in the square footage department. Even your typical Chicago single-family home built on a standard lot (25'x125') ranges from about 900-2000 sq. ft., depending on how many levels of livable space there are.
It's interesting to note that many builders are responding to many consumers' concern for more storage space. Is it because we need that much more to keep ourselves happy or is it that we just can't through any of it away?
To read the full article, click here.

Under Contract!!!

For those of you following my own home search story, I have found a home! I just went under contract and we are in the middle of attorney review. We had the home inspection already so things are moving along smoothly.
The contract negotiations went very smoothly. I even found out later that the other agent on the deal is a drummer too! Small world. Seriously, it's nice to do deals with pleasant, intelligent agents. We are of course both trying to get the best deal for our clients but it doesn't have to be an unpleasant experience.
The house itself is a registered bungalow (for more information about Chicago Bungalows, historical designation, how to register and the benefits of registering, visit www.chicagobungalow.org.)
The house is in fairly good shape but the home inspection turned up a few items that we are still negotiating on. I cannot stress enough the importance of getting a home inspection. It's the best way to safeguard your investment from a safety aspect. It also gives you an idea of any hidden costs associated with future repairs. Finally, if nothing else, a good inspector will walk you through "the care and feeding of your new home." It's like an instruction manual on the home, mechanicals, appliances, basic repairs, etc.
Assuming the rest of attorney review goes well, I should close on Aug 1. So...who wants to help me move?

Are you covered?

A few years ago, I came home from a routine grocery run to find that my garage door was left open (perhaps by myself, although I think my tenant with whom I share the garage was the culprit. Either way, it doesn't matter now.) I was horrified to discover that some very valuable drums that I had left in the garage while I ran my errand had been stolen. Horrified? I was downright heartbroken! However, I found out--to my surprise--that my homeowner's insurance actually covered personal property in the detached garage. My insurance company did me right and wrote me a very decent check to cover my loss. I even briefly considered naming my next child State Farm Barclay..."

However, many people aren't so lucky. Unfortunately many people find out after a loss or catastrophe that they were not covered for the damages incurred. I would encourage everybody to review their homeowner's policy and find out if it needs updating and adding or reducing coverage.

Here is a list of points to consider from the National Association of Insurance commissioners.

NAIC's InsureUOnline website offers the following tips:

• Add insurance coverage as you enhance the value of your home, and acquire expensive possessions, such as furniture, computers, stereos and televisions and other electronics. Keep in mind computers and other high-end electronics may require special coverage.
• Alert your insurance company when making any major home improvements that cost $5,000 or more. Update your homeowners insurance policy to reflect the new enhancements and prevent being underinsured.
• Maintain your property by clearing clutter and other dangerous conditions to reduce the potential for liability suits. In many states, you could be held legally responsible for the actions of anyone who drinks in your home and then has an accident in your house or after leaving it. Your policy should protect you against lawsuits due to these types of liability issues.
• Backyard items, such as a trampoline, pool, hot tub or spa may require you to increase your liability coverage through an umbrella policy.
• As you acquire more valuables -- jewelry, family heirlooms, antiques, art -- consider purchasing an additional "floater" or "rider" to your policy to cover these special items. They're typically not covered by a basic homeowners or renters policy.
• It's a good idea to make an inventory of all of your personal property, along with a photograph or video of each room. Also, save your receipts for major items and keep them in a safe place away from your house or apartment so you'll have them if you need to file a claim and substantiate value.

I still haven't found what I'm looking for.

Buyer's market?!? Looks like somebody forget to tell the people selling houses that I want to buy! Seriously, there are some pretty stingy sellers out there who aren't budging much off their asking price. I have made offers on two separate properties now and haven't been able to reach terms with either one.

I am finding out what I already knew about the nature of a slow market. Chiefly, it all depends on the seller's motivation/need to sell. Sellers who have a lot of equity in their home (and thus, more financial flexibility to give on their asking price,) are more able to strike a deal with buyers. Sellers who, for one reason or another, do not have much equity are forced to be stubborn and get the price the need to get whether the market bears that out or not.

In any case, the two properties in question were decently priced but a little more than what I wanted to spend. Still, it doesn't cost me anything to write an offer so I put in a fair but admittedly low offer. Alas, neither seller was in a position to give and, at the end of the day, no deal was to be had.

However, the third time is a charm, right? I've got my eye on a place that is priced very attractively and has what I'm looking for. I am in the process of reviewing comperable sales to determine what I want to offer for the home. Check back soon for an update...

It's so important for buyers to take advantage of the information that is out there. If you are serious about buying a particular property, make sure your Realtor does his/her homework: find out what the home is worth; when did the current owners buy and what did they pay for it? What improvements have been made since they bought? Try to find out why they are moving. Have they had any offer on the property thus far? A good, tech-savvy agent can access many of these answers online. The more info you can get, the better you can negotiate your price!