December Home Maintenance Checklist
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
First Time Home Buyer Tips
Income Guide to Buying a Home......
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| Annual Income Guide to affording a Mortgage payment |
A word of Caution:
When using this chart please remember it is a guide, you should speak to a reputable lender for a more accurate amount. There are many things a lender takes into consideration when Pre-qualifying you for a mortgage amount.Monday, November 24, 2014
Market Update for the Week of November 24
Redlands Market Update
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| Redlands Real Estate Market Update: Average Days on Market and Average Sale Price |
With the average sale price dropping by almost $25,000 from July to November and the days on the market averaging 24 days LONGER than in July November is definitely shaping up to be a buyers market. So to those of you have been casually looking and reluctant to write an offer, now is the time to reconsider.
Friday, November 21, 2014
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Open House Friday in Rancho Cucamonga!
Open November 21st from 12pm-4pm
7022 Napa Ave, Rancho Cucamonga CA
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| Rancho Cucamonga home for sale in Alta Loma School District |
Other Rancho Cucamonga Homes for Sale
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Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Necessity VS Desire
Without a fortune to spend sometimes we must compromise on the things we want vs what we need!
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| Things to consider when buying a home |
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Tuesday, November 18, 2014
First Time Home Buyers
Stop Renting! Start making your money work for YOU!
I'm sure I'm not the first person you've heard it from, and I most likely won't be the last either. If you are renting, you are most likely paying about the same as you would paying a mortgage, so what's stopping you from buying a home? You could be earning equity in a home right now! Even if you have credit that needs to be repaired, you could be ready to buy in 3-6 months!
Start your home search now!
Contact me
Monday, November 17, 2014
Redlands Real Estate Update
Six month history of Average Sale Price and Expired Listings
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| Redlands Average Sale Price and Expired Listings for June through November |
What this information means to you.......
These stats show the Redlands Market is overall currently a very strong Real Estate Market. The average sale price remains fairly steady between $350,000-$400,000. Out of approximately 420 listings only 50 total have expired without a sale. That means approximately only 11% of homes listed in Redlands contracts are expiring without a sale. This is well below the average for San Bernardino County which is currently 20%. Overall the Redlands Real Estate Market is currently very strong and stable.
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Getting Your House Ready For Showings
You've listed your home....Now what?
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| Keeping your home showing ready in 5 simple steps |
You did it! You finally took that step you've been talking about.....you listed your home for sale. The pressure is off.....or is it? Selling your home even under the best circumstances is a long and somewhat stressful process. There is the decision that you want to sell your home, then the little repairs to get your home ready, interviewing Realtors, settling on a price, and don't forget about the pictures to post your home online.
Well here's the good news, when you de-cluttered so your agent could come in and take pictures of your home, you primed your house to be appealing to buyers during showings and open houses. But now you've got the upkeep, and who knows when somebody it going to request a showing! As somebody who has been through this in the past year here are a few tricks I picked up that help.
#1 - The Swiffer is your friend!
I don't think I realized how convenient and effective the Swiffer is until we sold our home. We kept a stash of Swiffer dusters on both floors of the house and one of the mops for the bathroom tile and hardwood floors. Talk about quick clean up!
#2 - Pets are NOT your friend!
Ok, now don't get me wrong, I love pets! I have three dogs myself, BUT when you are selling your home (especially if they are indoor pets) this can become an issue, mainly the smell. So here's what I did with my 3 wonderful dogs. We were selling our home in Wisconsin in the middle of winter (well winter in WI is basically from October-March) but the point is it was much too cold for the dogs to be outside during that time. This meant they were inside stinking up the house...such a turnoff to potential buyers especially if they don't have pets and can't relate.
So the rule became the dogs were allowed in the basement ( I know something that isn't common here either) and they each had their own rug square to lay on if they were allowed in any other room of the house. This pleased both the dogs and myself. Clean-up became picking up the three carpet squares, throwing them in the garage and that was it.....the dog smell was in the cold garage where nobody smelled it.
#3 - Personal items
This is a hard one, I know. The idea is you don't want a lot of personal items (photos, kids school work on your fridge,name plates, really anything that is going to remind somebody of you and your family) out on display. This applies when pictures are being taken AND during showings and open houses. You want the buyers to be able to picture themselves in the house and these items tend to distract from that objective and put a stamp on the house as being YOURS!
But you still have to live there while you are selling it and until you find your new home, so where is the balance? My advice, keep your mementos and pictures limited to certain rooms of the house and when it comes time for showings, have a place that you store all of them.
#4 - Items of Value (This is not meant to scare.....just a reality)
DO NOT leave jewelry boxes, cash, or any easily movable or easily hidden items of value laying around the house (especially during open houses). Although during showings potential buyers will be accompanied by a real estate agent, you have to remember an agent can't be in two places at once and if there are two buyers, which often times there are, and one checks out bedroom one while the other checks out bedroom two that agent can't be with both of them.
Best case scenario is to either store your valuables during this process somewhere out of your home, such as a safe deposit box, or a family member's home, OR you could invest in an in home safe that you keep those items in during showings and open houses. Either way protect your valuables and don't forget to add your prescriptions to the list of things you keep out of sight during showings.
#5 - The Catch All
This is my all time favorite. Life gets busy and as long as it takes you to de-clutter your life, it can take less than a day for half of that clutter to return! You won't always have fair warning when somebody wants to view your home and sometimes you may have only 20-30 minutes to get yourself ready and get out of the house for a showing (doesn't leave much time to pick up, right?).
The Catch All is your solution to that. Go out and buy yourself a big plastic storage bin with a lid that can easily be "hidden in plain sight" or thrown in a closet someplace. Then when you have unexpected showings you can throw all the clutter you've accumulated into that bin so your home looks spic and span, and you can sort through it later. Just put the cover on the bin and you are all set!
Now I know all this may sound overwhelming, but here's the silver lining. You will get so good at doing this that eventually it should only take about 15-20 minutes to get this done. The other major plus.....that 15-20 minutes of your time just made your home more appealing to the buyer walking through the door.
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Getting Your Home Ready to Sell - The Pitfalls of Home Repairs
Where do you draw the line when completing home repairs to put your home up for sale?
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| Dirty, stained, chipping paint?? This is a must do home repair! |
Recommended Repairs
First let's talk about the things you SHOULD do before putting your home on the market! There are a couple really quick, easy, and low cost things you can do to make your home more attractive to buyers, and get you more return on your investment. The absolute easiest way to give your house a face lift is to paint! Now I'm not saying re-paint EVERY room in your house. Pick the rooms that have dirty walls, or paint chipping (this is especially important when your home is older because of lead based paint issues and FHA financing). If you have 1 or 2 rooms in your home that are very brightly colored you could start there as well.
When you are painting a few things to keep in mind. 1). Keep the new color neutral (although it may not be your preference it will be easier for a buyer to envision themselves in the house and also helps makes room look larger and brighter). 2). Wash the walls before you paint. This will help the paint last longer, give it a smoother finish, and help freshen the odor of your home as well. 3). If there are any areas where the paint is chipping or there are visible drips from the previous paint be sure to sand out those blemishes before painting. 4). If you do have a bold color on the wall, splurge and buy the paint that has a a primer in it, there are very few colors this paint will not cover in one coat (and if you're skeptical buy one of the sample containers for $2 and test it out!!)
The next group of must do's are what I like to call sale stoppers. These are things that are going to stop, or hold up the sale of your home. These are going to be things like water heater restraints and circuit breaker updates that are going to prevent somebody from getting financing on your home (these will be uncovered in the home inspection so you may as well talk to your Realtor beforehand to make sure you are in compliance with all mandatory codes).
Tricky and Sometimes Unnecessary Repairs
Moving past the painting and sale stoppers......let's get to the flooring because this is a little trickier. Hardwood floors that are scratched quite obviously and all over: repairs on this
condition flooring is very hard and expensive, now you could replace it but again that's quite expensive and you run the risk of putting in flooring that a potential buyer may come in and tear out anyways, so then you aren't getting a return on that investment. So I would tend to shy away from making a large investment like that (especially if those scratches are from pets you still own who could potentially damage the new flooring you put in).
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| Scratched Hardwood floors can be tricky to repair |
On the other if the scratches are minor, there are several DIY articles that can show you how to inexpensively repair scratches in your hardwood floors. If that is the case, take the extra effort and make this minor repair. That way if you get a nit picky buyer, there is less chance of complaint.
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| Badly stained carpeting should be replaced |
Carpeting on the other hand is a little less expensive and more important to replace. A dirty stained carpet appears less hygienic than a scratched floor. Now again don't go overboard with replacing carpeting in every room, but if there are quite a few stains (and I'm talking even stains you know are hidden under furniture) bite the bullet and replace it. It's better in the long run because the more obvious and visible issues, the harder a buyer is going to look for other "problems" to help them negotiate on price. However if your carpet looks clean and not worn I wouldn't focus on that as a project to take on. Better to let the buyer decide which carpeting they want to replace.
Friday, November 14, 2014
The Importance of Getting Pre-Appoved
WE ALL WANT TO START LOOKING AT HOMES BEFORE COMMITTING TO BEING IN THE MARKET.......
So why is it so important to get Pre-Approved by a lender before you start your search?
Ok, we all do it right? You just want to see what's out there, you're not serious right now just testing the waters to see if you might be interested in buying a home, so what's the harm? I know the harm and I STILL do it! I just get the satisfaction of telling myself I have to do it to keep up with the market (which I do), but I've still fallen ill to it's evils.
The harm is that while you are "testing the waters" or "casually looking" you come across your DREAM HOME! The one you can't live without, the one that's just waiting for YOU to buy it. Now you are under the gun.......you have to get pre-approved and quick! And you have to get pre-approved for an amount that allows you to write an attractive offer on that home.
Now I'm not saying this will always happen, and for some lucky people it works out fine, but here's the scenario most buyers will run into. You've done your research and you know what percentage of your income lenders look for you to spend on your mortgage every month, so you weren't looking outside of your "price range". So no biggie, you are now at a very reputable and by the book lender and, oh no! You forgot about taxes and insurance so now that home you looked at and loved that you can't live without is out of your price range.
OR
You have child support payments that the lender takes into account that you forgot to consider, or the car loan you have out, or the home you currently own that you are upside down on your mortgage in. There are so many factors that lenders take into account and I won't pretend to be an expert in that. That's why there is a separate license for mortgage lenders!
But now you have the taste of your DREAM HOME in your mouth and nothing else will do. So you basically have two options. Option #1 start looking in what is ACTUALLY your price range, or Option #2 go to a less than reputable lender (because yes there unfortunately are still some lenders out there who will put you in a loan you can't afford).
Ok, now here's where I'm going to give you a piece of unsolicited advice. If you did start shopping and find yourself in this situation, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS go with Option #1!
Now hopefully it doesn't come to this! If you talk to a reputable REALTOR when you start your search, they will have a list of lenders they have worked with and this should keep your home-buying experience grounded and fluid.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Has the Holiday Season stopped your Home Buying Momentum????
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Top 5 reasons for Buying your home right NOW!!
Reason #5 - INVENTORY
There are currently quite a few homes on the market that were listed toward the end of the summer that are set to expire soon. This gives you some negotiating power when it comes to writing an offer. Often times these sellers are highly motivated
(although this is not always the case) and more open to try and work with ALL offers rather than discard the ones that don't reflect asking price.
Reason #4 - HOLIDAY HICCUPS
This is the time of year most buyers stop looking to buy, whether it be they are too busy or feel it is an intrusion on sellers during the holidays, I'm not quite sure but again this is an advantage to those buyers who are willing to look during this time of year. Sellers are starting to see a decline in showing requests and in the numbers of attendees at open houses. Again this tips the scale in your favor when it comes to negotiating.
Reason #3 - Finding the Possible Flaws
Although it is not as crucial in California as it was in my home state of Wisconsin, it is still
Reason #2 - More Personalized Attention
With the end of the year fast approaching lenders as well as escrow offices are more diligent than ever to meet deadlines and close transactions before the end of the year. There are fewer transactions closing around this time so it also increases your transaction's importance. Bottom line, with fewer transactions to close there is more attention paid to each and every escrow opened and a greater incentive to get those transactions closed.
AND NOW THE ONE YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!!!
Reason #1 - Schools
Now I get this doesn't apply to everybody, but for those buyers who have children one of the biggest issues becomes school district lines. If you are looking to buy a home outside of your child's school district, this is the PERFECT time to start seriously looking. This
could mean the difference between getting your child in the correct school at the beginning of the semester versus having to change schools mid-stream. I say this as a parent who has had to go through this. My daughter's school wouldn't allow me to register her until escrow was CLOSED and required the escrow documents to do so. So for those of you with children still in school, looking to get settled before the new semester, I say ACT NOW if you can.
Rancho Cucamonga Homes for Sale
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