Spring Home Selling Tip: Stage the Exterior!

Selling your home this spring? Don't forget to stage the exterior! With a bit of thought you can make your Minneapolis/St Paul home standout on all those real estate websites. Homes with great staging sell quickly and for top dollar. Sunny warm weather has many buyers searching for their dream home. And they are not just on the looking online. Buyers drive by homes to check out the neighborhood and to see what each home's exterior looks like in person. During the winter a fresh blanket of snow and shoveled the sidewalk are enough to jazz up the exterior of a Minnesota home. But in May and June, Minnesotan's can really make their home's curb appeal POP! Here are a few quick ideas:

• CUT the GRASS If you home is on the market you have to make sure the lawn is manicured to perfection at all times. In fact, it is a very good idea to make sure all trees and shrubs are trimmed to show of the home too.
• PAINT the FRONT DOOR There are no excuses for having a dirty, scuffed up front entry with peeling paint. If you want to sell to an FHA buyer, you need to address the peeling paint issue anyway so why not make a great first impression with a freshly painted front door and entry?
• ADD POPS of COLOR Even if you don't have a green thumb, invest in some bright colorful hanging baskets full of annuals for your front porch. Or put some planters with assorted plants on your front stoop. However, if you think you will be too busy to water the plants, it might be best to get a colorful flag or entry wreath instead. Dead plants in the doorway will be noticed too.
•  SEAL COAT the ASPHALT If the driveway is looking more gray than black, a fresh coat of sealant can make a world of difference.
• JAZZ UP the "SHE" SHED! Have a garden storage shed in your backyard? "She" sheds are IN! It is a beautified "makeover" of a basic shed with bright paint, fun planters, lights and decor that breathes new life into a boring, old shed. 

Have more questions about your selling your Anoka County home? Ask Me! I Can Help!

Need More Ideas Home Selling Tips? If you are buying, selling or relocating to Minnesota and need help from a professional REALTOR®, give me, Teri Eckholm of BOARDMAN Realty, a call or visit my website for a FREE Home Buyer Success Guide or FREE Home Value Report. I specialize in acreage and lakeshore properties in the north and east Twin Cities metro area including Ham Lake, Lino Lakes and all communities in the Forest Lake School District! Serving Anoka, Chisago, Ramsey and Washington Counties in Minnesota.
 
Copyright 2017 terieckholm.com

Why Should A Seller Pay a Home Buyer's Closing Costs?

Why Should A Seller Pay a Home Buyer's Closing Costs? The short answer is....To SELL the HOUSE! But how does this work and why is it so important in the sale of a home? Let me explain...

When I list a home for sale,  sellers are given a net sheet with estimates of closing costs associated with the sale home. One of the items on the list is “Seller contribution to the Buyer’s Closing Costs.” If the home is one that would be attractive to a first time buyer, I will put in an amount that is roughly 3% of the list price. Every now and again, I hear a seller scoff when they see this. "Why would I want to pay a BUYER'S Closing Costs?”
 
The answer is very simple: So they can BUY the house!
 
Today almost all buyers are required to put down a minimum of 3% of the purchase price of the home as a down payment. The closing costs for a buyer include title insurance, home owner’s insurance, appraisals, loan origination fees, name search fees, filing fees and more. As a REALTOR® for communities of Anoka, Chisago and Washington Counties and throughout the north metro Minneapolis/St. Paul area, I see closing costs that range from $3000-$7000 for a first time buyer. Couple this amount with a required down payment and only a handful of buyers have all the funds required to purchase a home.

So buyers have the option of waiting and saving the required closing costs or asking for seller assistance. In many cases a financial institution will allow a seller to assist a buyer by paying either points to reduce the interest rates and/or closing costs.

How does this work? Let’s say that a home is on the market for $200,000. The buyer writes their offer for $195,000 and their financial institution allows up to 3% seller’s assistance with fees and closing costs. They decide to ask the seller in their purchase agreement document for $5000, thus the net offer to the seller for the home is $190,000. However the since the home was sold at $195,000, it must appraise at this higher amount.

If a seller does not want to pay the closing costs, the buyer in many cases will not be able to purchase the home. It the offer is accepted, the seller’s proceeds at closing would then be reduced by the $5000. Sellers do not have to come up with the funds in cash if there is sufficient equity in the home to cover both the buyer's and the seller's costs.

When a purchase agreement is received on a home listed for sale, it can be confusing to a seller as to what the sale price versus net number is. In the case above, the $195,000 would be the sale’s price on the purchase agreement but by paying the $5000 in closing costs, the seller’s net number is really $190,000 (less the seller's own closing costs including all fees and commission).

If as a seller you decide to counter on the original offer, you can counter on the sales price of the home and/or the amount of closing costs paid. When counter offers are involved, a seller needs to make certain that they understand what the net proceeds will be in each offer and counter offer.

This is where the assistance of a good, professional REALTOR® comes into play. As a real estate agent, I provide my clients with a seller's net sheet that outlines all costs and fees that has been updated after receiving the offer. When counter offers start going back and forth, I reiterate at each step what my seller's net number to help eliminate the confusion.

Assisting a buyer with closing costs can be the ticket to getting your home SOLD in any real estate market. Understanding the process is simple with the assistance of a knowledgable real estate agent!

Copyright 2012 www.terieckholm.com

Looking HOT from the Street!—Curb Appeal Tips to SELL your Minnesota Acreage Home Quickly

Curb Appeal Tips to Sell Home Fast

CURB APPEAL that Screams, "BUY ME!"

Inventory is down in the Minneapolis/St. Paul north and east metro but what will happen come spring? If all the calls I have been receiving from interested home sellers are an indication, the market is going to be competitive. This means that homeowners that want to see a sold sign in front of their Minnesota home sooner rather than later, will make Curb Appeal a priority as they prepare their home inside and out!

Last week, I had the opportunity to show a “just listed” Forest Lake home a few days after our massive spring snowstorm. The unpaved, unplowed 400 foot long driveway was a muddy mess but that was only part of the immediate turn off for my buyer. The front yard was a disaster with debris and dirt from the driveway to the front door. It was less than welcoming; it was a turn off!

Selling a home in this changed real estate market is tricky. Whether you are selling a lakeshore cabin, an executive, acreage home or a convenient townhome, your house needs to look HOT from the outside in! As a REALTOR® in the north and east Minneapolis/St Paul metro area, I have been showing homes all over Anoka County and Washington Counties, from Blaine to Lino Lakes and Forest Lake to Hugo. As the snow melts, some yards are looking not only boring but down right dirty. The market is starting to pick up and soon buyers have dozens of homes to choose from. Decisions can be made in a split second from a photo on the computer screen to the moment a potential buyer drives up to the curb. It takes only a few moments for a buyer to assess a home’s potential.

In this market, buyers are putting homes into two categories: Well-Maintained Homes to pay top dollar for and Not-Maintained Homes to get at rock bottom prices. A serious homeseller does not want his home in the second category as it includes most foreclosures, short sales and other less than desirable properties. In my 10 Tips For A Quick Sale, jazzing up the Curb Appeal is the number one recommendation I give to homesellers.

Screaming “Buy Me” from the Curb Stand in the street and look at your property from a buyer’s eyes. If your home is not screaming, “Buy Me” from the curb, now is the time to spice up the exterior! Here are a few quick tips and reminders:

• Flowers add color! Since spring gardens haven’t bloomed yet, try a dried floral wreath or colorful flag.

• Spruce up the landscaping with new wood chips. Make certain all of the landscaping bricks in the retaining walls and pavers in the sidewalks are secure.

• Pick up all debris and trash from the yard!

• Rake any leaves as soon as the snow melts.

• Fix up that banged up, rusty mailbox at the end of the driveway.

• Seal coat the blacktop drive as soon as weather permits.

• Move Boats, Trailers and Campers to another location.

• Wash dirt and cobwebs from front of home paying special attention to door where buyers will enter. Paint door if necessary.

• Replace tattered American flags with new ones. (Remember proper to dispose of old one properly.)

• Repair any wind damage to gutters, siding, shutters and storm doors. If the shutters or trim has faded, replace or repaint.

• Paint or stain siding, porches and decks as necessary.

Though sprucing up curb appeal may seem like common sense to a home seller, it is amazing how many homes on the market have awesome interiors but dumpy exteriors. Addressing curb appeal is one way to get serious homebuyers through the door!

Copyright 2012 www.terieckholm.com