selling your home Archives - Kimberly Howell Properties

The Holiday Rush – A Real Estate Tradition

November 28, 2018 by khproperties Leave a Comment

The “holiday rush” usually refers to the shopping madness that is known as Black Friday and the last minute crush of people hurrying and scurrying from store to store looking for those last few deals, picking up last minute gifts, and those of us who wait until the last minute for everything. Stores love it because it fills out their bottom line during the waning moments of the year. But in real estate it happens too and for the past few years we’ve seen it even more. There are several reasons why we see a rush to buy heading into the holidays and it keeps us busy and we love seeing it and hope the tradition continues. What creates the holiday rush in real estate? Let’s take a look at some of the factors.

Corporate Relocation

As corporations end their years they make big decisions. Corporate relocations happen all the time, but we see a lot at the end of the year as companies look to the year ahead and shift priorities and personnel. Because the decisions driving the moves are not personal, they can be made without the more emotional ties of things like the holidays or disrupting a school year (often deciding factors for people in their moves).

Tax Considerations

Some people have large tax considerations to take into account and need to offload property or spend cash to help with their taxes. Accountants will recommend different tactics depends on your particular situation, so refer to them for tax advice.

Bargain Shopping

Like shoppers on Black Friday, homebuyers love a good deal. While not a de facto truth, buyers often think that if a seller is on the market during the holidays, they are desperate to unload their property at rock bottom prices. There certainly are some sellers out there in that position, but our experience shows that this is more buyers putting their hopes into their own perception of the end of year. We do find that both buyers and sellers during the holiday season tend to be quite serious about buying/selling and are often quicker to pull the trigger once they find what they want.

New Year, New You

The coming new year provides a big opportunity for change. The familiar phrase “new year, new you” applies to housing as well. Who wouldn’t want to start a fresh new life with a change of setting too? You can start decorating, change your style, have plenty of new DIY projects, and reorganize everything – a new house is a chance to do it all over again and for some people, that’s a dream come true.

Join the Holiday Rush

If you do find yourself looking for a home or need to sell your house during the holidays, let us know. We’d love to help you make the transition, no matter what your reason for doing so. We specialize in making the transitions as easy on you as possible. Happy holidays and happy homeshopping!

image courtesy of B Rosen

CMAs, Appraisals, and The Value of Your Home

August 24, 2018 by khproperties Leave a Comment

What is the value of your home? This is probably the first question on every homeowner’s mind when they think about selling. Understanding what the value of your home is and how it can be determined is a key step for you as you make the decision to sell your home. From listing your home to the moment you sell, you will talk a lot about the price and value of your home. As an agent, we will help guide you on pricing based on the CMA, or comparative market analysis. Once under contract, a buyer’s lender will order an appraisal, in order to ensure they are lending money based on a solid value for the home. While the goal is to have these numbers be the same or quite close, it doesn’t always happen that way. Understanding how each arrives at the value of your home can help you get your home sold.

The CMA

You want to list your home for sale, so you call a Realtor. One of the first things the agent will do is run a CMA on your property to get a better understanding of how they can help you sell. The CMA, which is short for comparative market analysis, takes a look at properties similar to yours and the prices they sold at and then factors in a wide array of variables to try and pinpoint the best price to list your home for. The agent will look at the dates of the sales (the closer the better), location of homes that sold, size of the homes, and amenities. The idea is to try and find homes that are the most similar to yours in order to compare them and find the most likely price your home will sell at. When faced with an area where there aren’t a lot of comparable properties, your agent will need to look at other factors and try to adjust the values in order to come up with the best list price.

The Appraisal

Once under contract, the lender will order an appraisal. The goal for the lender is to justify the value of your home based on the price you’re paying – they’re not in the business of loaning more money than the home is worth. In order to do this, an appraiser will take into consideration many of the same items your agent did while doing their CMA. Things like date of sale, location, size, and amenities are all factored into their appraised value (not to be confused with the tax assessed value). Different loan types often result in different scrutiny too, for instance both VA and FHA loans tend to lean on health and safety issues in a home and look at whether a home meets a minimum standard of living. Conventional loans can be a little looser with those requirements, but it all depends on the lender and the loan product being used. Fannie Mae has a set of guidelines for appraisals that assists the appraisers in knowing what to look for and how to select comparables to do their analysis.

The Value of Your Home

Determining the value of your home isn’t always easy – sometimes there just aren’t enough sales of similar homes in your area to compare. In these cases, both agent and appraisers have to look elsewhere or adjust the value of properties based on their differences (ie giving more value to a home that has an extra bedroom or less value to a home that has a one car garage while your home has a two car garage). This is where experience and knowledge of the local area really come into play. The more the agent or appraiser know about the local area, the better theycan serve you.

In the end, it all comes down to comparing apples to apples. The more you try and compare an apple to an orange, the harder is gets.

image courtesy of Cubosh

Less is More When Listing Your Home for Sale

August 9, 2016 by Judy Fernandez 3 Comments

How do you know what to do when you put your home on the market – it seems there is so much advice available out there, especially since the internet came along. We’ve talked about staging to smells to photos to curb appeal…and each of these items can have an impact on the sale of your home. Agent Judy Fernandez takes a look at the theory of less is more and how to apply it to the sale of your home. If you’re currently selling your home or ready to put your home on the market, think about how the buyer sees your home and apply some of this theory to your home so that you can get it sold fast and for top dollar.

I’m sure you’ve all heard the phrase “less is more.” Well, when it comes to listing your property and showing it, it’s not much different. Having less in your home that is for sale can actually put more in your pocket sooner.

Less Clutter

When showing homes, one of the most common characteristics buyers are looking for is space. “Does my furniture fit here and there?,” is constantly on their mind, especially if they have family heirlooms or cultural items they have acquired over the years. Having a decluttered home can help those prospective home buyers have an idea of how much space you truly have available. Too many boxes or excess furniture and toys can make a room seem much smaller than what it truly is. Make it a point to remove as many items as possible and leave only the essentials to show the functionality of the room.

Less Landscape

Yes, we all love trees and green landscapes, while we can get them in this Texas heat. Yet, you’d be amazed at how many home buyers are immediately drawn away from a property because they have overgrown trees, plants, and bushes out front. Having overgrown plants that cover the windows, get in the way of walking paths, and inhibit natural light from entering a home are real downers to some home buyers. Plus, they get to thinking of how much maintenance a yard will require or how expensive it will be to maintain it. Go for simple greenery that future homebuyers might enjoy without having to put in all the extra hours outdoors in the Texas heat.

Less Scrapes and Stains

While unexplainable streaks of paints and stains might be amazing on an abstract painting, they aren’t so much on the walls or carpets of a property that is for sale. Buyers looking for a new home are usually looking for a clean slate that they can move right into without having to do much additional work beforehand. They already have their hands full with packing up, moving, and unpacking, so the last thing they want to do is spend more time and energy cleaning off scuff marks from walls or washing carpets and having to wait for them to dry. Not only does it require more money, but it sets them back from moving into their dream home. Help them (and yourself) out by touching up the walls and washing or spot treating the carpet.

Overall having less items that potential buyers are drawn away by will give your more money in your pocket sooner. Save yourself the extra time your house can be on the market because of small items that are easy to take care of and help stage your home. Having a clean decluttered home is more relaxing to walk through and easier for a buyer to picture themselves in it.

image courtesy of marfis75

Listing Your Home For Sale: Mise en Place for Sellers

June 18, 2016 by Matt Stigliano Leave a Comment

I’ve been doing a lot of cooking lately thanks to Green Chef and in the calming moments of preparing my meals, I found my thoughts wandering (as they always do) to how to help our agents better prepare you for selling your home. As the office manager, I spend a lot of time advising our agents and talking to them about their various listings and transactions, so I get a varied glimpse into the daily life of sellers and what it takes to sell their home. We’ve talked before about the preparations between the listing appointment and your home going on the market, but what about the preparations you can be doing before ever deciding which agent you’ll be selling your home with? Enter the French phrase mise en place.

Selling Your Home – Mise en Place

Mise en place is a French phrase used to describe the act of preparing all of the ingredients for a meal before you start cooking. You’ve seen the photos before – the tiny bowls or plates filled with chopped ingredients, the various spices at the ready, utensils laid out, and all the pieces that will make the meal prepped so that the act of cooking is almost artful in its smooth, fluid movements instead of the haphazard method where you usually find yourself digging in the pantry for something as the water in a pot boils over and something starts to send smoke signals skyward as you leave it unattended. Mise en place means to “set in place” and it’s all about the act of getting prepared so that once you start cooking, everything is in its place and ready to go. It’s like the Boy Scouts motto – be prepared.

Selling your home is a bit different than cooking a meal, but in essence, the same rules apply. Prepare, take action, and enjoy the final outcome. It’s the preparation that sets the stage for everything that follows and a little work now, goes a long way in the future.

Before Your Listing Appointment

Before you meet with a real estate agent, there are some items you should prepare – the mise en place to selling your home. Having these items at the ready will help you sell your home and assist the agent during the appointment and once the home is listed for sale. Here are the items you should start preparing now, so that your agent can get your home on the market and sold.

Mortgage statement – You should actually pull this one out the moment you think about selling your home. Why? How much you have left on your mortgage until it’s paid off is an important number. Most mortgage statements don’t have a mortgage payoff amount on them, but they always have a number to call to receive one. Usually an automated system, calling this number will give you a loan payoff amount and a date that it’s good through. If you give this number to your real estate agent, they can calculate out a net sheet that will help you see how much you will make when you sell the house. Don’t forget that if you have a second mortgage or any home equity credit lines or loans, you’ll need the payoff numbers for those as well.

Documents from when you bought the house – When you bought the house, you were given a lot of documents and now is a great time to go digging in the attic or garage to find where you put those. Finding these can help you save money on the sale of your home as well as help in the process of buyers making a decision about buying your home.

Survey – If you have a prior survey from when you bought the home, you may be able to use it again (which could save you money). This document, along with a T-47, can be provided to satisfy the survey requirement in the contract. It is up to the title company and lender to accept it, but as long as they do, you can avoid having to pay for a new one (on a typical house in San Antonio they cost between $400-500, but with larger homes or acreage, they can cost thousands of dollars).
HOA documents – If you live in a neighborhood with an HOA, you should have a large stack of paperwork collectively known as the HOA docs. While these expire over time and you’ll need to get new ones when the home is under contract, these documents can have some important information in them. The section we are looking for is the covenants, conditions, and restrictions (often simply called the CCRs). Many prospective buyers will ask about these documents because they want to know what they can or can’t do on the property. If you live in a neighborhood without an HOA, you should still have a copy of any of these documents relative to the neighborhood or area you live in. These are especially important if your selling land as potential buyers will want to know what they can build on the land.

Power of attorney – If you have power of attorney related to the home, you’ll want to find your copy of these documents as they serve as proof that you are the one who can sign any documents pertaining to the listing or sale of the home. We see these often here in San Antonio because of the military, where the spouse is deployed, leaving the other spouse to sign for the military member. These also apply to you if you are an executor of an estate.

Inspections and insurance claims – If you’ve had any inspections on the home or made a claim on your homeowners insurance, you’ll want to have those handy as well. These will help document any issues with the home and what you’ve done to rectify them.

Invoices, receipts, and upgrades – If you’ve done any work on the home, dig up those receipts and invoices so that you’ll be able to document the work and the money you put into it. You rarely get a dollar for dollar return on the investment for upgrades and remodeling, but it will go a long way to help justify your asking price.

Now that you have your mise en place, you’re ready to list your home. There may be some additional documents you have or need, so it’s always a good idea to have all the paperwork you’ve pulled out of the closet somewhere handy during your listing appointment. Your real estate agent will advise you on what else might be needed or helpful. Preparing everything before selling your home will make the process flow much smoother as well as help you and your agent answer any questions potential buyers might have. Being able to answer those questions can be the difference between a buyer making an offer or not, so being prepared goes a long way.

Disclosure: The link at the beginning of this post contains a Green Chef promo code which will get you four free meals when you sign up and give the author a $25 discount on their purchases. We are not endorsed by Green Chef or asked to put their links on our page, but Matt is a huge fan and loves spreading the word about their services. We receive no compensation for the link. Other than the discount on Matt’s account and the offer provided to you, there is no other compensation for our mention of Green Chef.

How to Deal With Multiple Offers on Your Home as a Seller

June 15, 2016 by khproperties Leave a Comment

In a competitive market, multiple offers can be a buyer’s worst nightmare. The words multiple offers as a seller usually make homeowners dance around with glee – it’s the holy grail of home selling. The more offers, the better the seller can control the price and terms of the contract, typically getting top dollar for the home. Of course, the downside of multiple offers is that that means a lot of people have traipsed through your home recently, turning your normally quiet life at home a little upside down, but remember, we set out to sell your home and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

We Received Multiple Offers – Now What?

The first step is to take a step back and breathe. It’s exciting to know you’ve received multiple offers, but we have a lot of work ahead of us, so take a moment and think about what it is that you’re trying to accomplish with selling your home. Do you need to be out fast and on your way to a new job in a new city? Are you looking to profit so you can roll that money into retirement or maybe a kid’s college fund? Are you looking to move up and buy a bigger home? All of these items help determine your motivation and what will become most important to you in the sale of your home. Know what matters most to you so you can find the offer that best suits your needs.

Determine a cut off date for offers so that any agents that are out there trying to write one up can get it turned in. Your agent can take that date and inform all parties that have submitted an offer (and those that have shown the home or expressed some interest) that they’ll need to turn in what’s known as “highest and best.” This puts the potential buyers and their agents on notice that they need to turn in a strong offer, because they are competing with others and they’ll want to be sure that the offer they’re making is their best offer with the best terms they can give. The buyer knows that this is not a time to lowball and try and negotiate – they need to put their offer in the best light possible in order to get it accepted.

Once you have all the highest and best offers, it’s time to dig into the terms of each one. We recommend creating a simple spreadsheet that outlines each offer and the basic terms such as price, earnest money, option period and fee, closing date, and any seller paid closing costs or other expenses (home warranties, surveys, title expenses). We also recommend including lender information and what type of loan (or cash) is going to be used. Round out the spreadsheet with a seller’s estimated net proceeds column so that you can see what the bottom line for you will be.

When looking at the spreadsheet, don’t just look at the price. The highest price may actually be the worst offer. The seller’s net proceeds are really what matter when it comes to looking at offers from a financial angle. You may be getting a high price, but in that same contract you may be paying more in closing costs or paying for things like home warranties or survey costs. Look at all those numbers as a whole to see what your net will be and you may find that a lower priced offer is actually the best for you if you’re looking to walk away with the most money. It all depends on the details of the offer.

Speaking of price, be prepared to have the talk with your agent about potential appraisal issues. If someone offers you too much and their appraisal doesn’t come in at that same value or higher, the whole contract may be in jeopardy. Some homebuyers will make high offers knowing full well the home will not appraise at that price – which gives them leverage to renegotiate the deal later down the road, because at that point they know that most people would rather just close and get it over with then lose weeks of time with the home off the market and going through the whole process again.

Other factors to look at include items like what kind of loan the buyers are looking at or who the lender is. Your agent can help advise you on this. There are some lenders that are notorious for delayed closings or not communicating well. Title companies can be an issue too. Look for a title company that your agent knows can get the job done and who will communicate with you to keep things flowing during the transaction. The actual work that title companies do (title searches, title insurance) may be the same, but the title industry is truly based in service and those that will work hard on that should never be overlooked or underappreciated.

Once you’ve made your decision, you agent will inform all parties and get the ball rolling on your contract. This is where the fun begins!

One word of advice – be prepared. Not all deals work out and as the home just went under contract there are still opportunities for the buyer to terminate the contract and walk away from the deal. The good news is that you know there is interest in your home and you should be able to find another buyer, but it can be disheartening when you got all excited only to have a buyer terminate on you. Hang in there and let’s focus on getting it under contract once again.

image courtesy of mRio

Why Can’t Buyers See Past the Furniture and Decor?

February 23, 2016 by khproperties Leave a Comment

You’ve heard it a million times – you need to stage your home in order to get it sold. You’ve done everything you could think of, but why can’t buyers see past the furniture and decor? Why are they so hung up on your family photos or whether your bedroom looks like it was taken from the pages of a magazine? Why are you rearranging furniture and packing items up for storage? It’s frustrating enough to put your home on the market and have strangers coming into your home, but to have them judging your personal style and taste? No one enjoys that. So what is it about buyers that makes them completely unable to see past the furniture and decor and hone in on the true object of their attention – the house they’re about to buy.

The whole psychology of buying a home can be quite fascinating to watch. As real estate agents, we see and hear a lot. From comments about the choice of paint colors to comments about your taste in furniture, we’ve heard it all. Even logical, rational people who you’d expect to be able to see past your wall of family photos will inevitably stop in front of them and take a look. Your couch is not to their liking, but what does it matter? They’re not buying the couch. It just doesn’t make sense that they can’t see past the furniture…or does it?

The trick to understanding the buyer mindset when you’re selling your home isn’t as hard as you might imagine it to be. Think back to all the memories you’ve created in your home. Think of all the milestones you’ve passed. Think of how much your home has been involved in your life. Buyers have those sorts of thoughts too, except they haven’t lived a day in the home yet. They have to rely on you to sell them that story. They want to know what your life was like when you lived in the house. They want to picture themselves living a new life in your home and the easiest way to do that is to look around and see what you have done. It may seem a little odd, but the buyers are looking to place themselves mentally in the home and the lifestyle that goes along with it and even though you and the buyer may be polar opposites, they have no other frame of reference to look to…just your stuff.

It’s easy to feel awkward about someone poking around your life in such a way, but it makes sense when you put yourself into that mindframe. So take a step back and look at your home through the eyes of a buyer – give them what they want and need and get that home sold. Yes, it is a place of great memories for you, but remember, you’ll be making new ones as soon as you get this home sold and move somewhere new.

image courtesy of denise carbonell