selling a home

Organize Your Move: Moving Checklist

January 10, 2020 by khproperties Leave a Comment

Whether you’re buying a home or selling your home, once you’ve left the closing table and everything is signed off on and the loan is funded, you’re going to have to move. Moving can be a bit of a crazy time for anyone – boxes everywhere, the fear of packing that one thing you know you’re going to need on the last day, the decisions of which boxes go where, the physical stress of the move – it’s a lot. Some people go it alone, some people hire the professionals, but no matter which way you decide to go, you can always benefit from a moving checklist. A simple list of what to do and when to do it. While everyone may have different items they want to add to the list, we thought a simple, basic list would help get you started. You can download a PDF of our moving checklist by clicking on the image below.

Moving Checklist – Download

Image of Kimberly Howell Properties Moving Day Checklist

Download a PDF version of our moving checklist.

image courtesy of myguys.nova

How To Create Real Estate FOMO

June 27, 2019 by Tatiana Delaserna 2 Comments

This week, we turn the keys over to agent Tatiana Delaserna and let her take over the blog. In this post, Tatiana discusses “FOMO” – we don’t want to spoil her article, but we have to say, it’s a very real thing and we love that she’s teaching her clients about it (and now, we benefit from it, because she’s sharing the knowledge with all of us).

FOMO – “Fear Of Missing Out” is real. It is especially real in real estate and is the reason we often see multiple offers on a freshly listed home. The ability to leverage this emotional response from buyers has never been so powerful as it is today thanks to our integrated world of social media, websites like zillow.com, and instant satisfaction consumers crave on all aspects of life. Because buyers can see in real time when a home hits the market, the idea of “you only get one time to make a great first impression” is more impactful than ever. If a buyer sees a home that looks great on pictures, in an area they have been looking for, and for the right price, they start wondering who else saw it too and the race begins.

Unfortunately, the opposite has also never been more damaging to sellers. When a buyer disqualifies your property, they will never revisit it online (they can block that home permanently!). If they feel it is overpriced, they will save it, and wait on the sidelines to see when seller will drop the price.

The three components of creating the perfect FOMO are visual appeal, being at the right place at the right time, and price.

Visual appeal – Over 96% of all buyers start shopping online…and they will move on if you do not catch their attention within the first 3 seconds. If they cannot see how great your home is from the pictures, then you may have lost the “perfect buyer.” Taking the time to prepare your home before it hits the market is not a luxury, it’s a must if you want to ignite the desire of buyers. At Kimberly Howell Properties, many of our agents work closely with stagers for this exact reason.
Being at the right place at the right time – Your property has to be seen by the right people at the right time (when they are in the market to buy!). If a buyer sees your property popping up in all the places she has been looking, the reality that other buyers are seeing it too hits home quickly. Unlike at our favorite clothing store, there is no way the buyer can hide your home behind the out of season sweaters – the only way of hiding it from other buyers is to submit a competitive offer and take it off the market!
Price – There is that saying, “everything sells…at the right price.” The thing is, many times that “right price” is very different from what a seller has in mind and what the market will bear (what a buyer will ultimately be willing to pay for it). There are several pricing strategies for each seller situation but if we want to create that fear of missing out, there are some time tested principles successful listing agents utilize.

Remember, the biggest enemy of creating FOMO is days on market. The longer you property sits on the market, the less buyers worry someone will come and snag it from them. They have less and less desire to submit a strong offer and start to wonder why no one has bought it yet. It becomes a vicious cycle – they wonder what is wrong with it. Do not let your home become victim of “nobody wants what nobody wants,” let’s work together to create the perfect FOMO storm!

image courtesy of Jesper Sehested and PlusLexia.com

Buying a Home When You Need to Sell Your Current Home

March 11, 2016 by khproperties 14 Comments

If you’re thinking about buying a home, but you currently own one, how do you go about it? Do you need to sell your current home in order to be able to afford your new home or qualify for a loan? It’s actually quite common for people to need to sell their home at the same time they’re buying homes for sale – let’s face it, most of us don’t have a giant pile of cash from which to pull from, so we’re going to need the proceeds from the sale of our current home to help us buy the new one. We’ve seen situations where several home purchases and sales are tied together, which can make for a precarious situation if one of the sales falls apart. But, with some patience and skill, you can manage to sell your home and buy a home all at the same time.

Buying a Home When You Own a Home

A lot of people don’t like to put their house on the market until they’ve found the perfect home, but we find that it usually results in a much weaker position on the buying side. When you make an offer on a home that is contingent on the sale of your home, you are asking the sellers to place their trust and faith in the sale of your current home. What if you’re priced too high? What if no one makes an offer on your house? The seller you’re buying a home from has to worry about all of this. The best thing you can do is get your house on the market right away. If you get an offer on the home, that just means we need to find you one right away and get it under contract.

Addendum for Sale of Other Property by Buyer

In Texas, we use a form called the “Addendum for Sale of Other Property by Buyer” to tie the purchase and sale together. As usual, let’s break down the form and talk about each section.

A. The contract is contingent upon Buyer’s receipt of the proceeds from the sale of Buyer’s property at ______________________ (Address) on or before _____________, ____ (the Contingency). If the Contingency is not satisfied or waived by Buyer by the above date, the contract will terminate automatically and the earnest money will be refunded to Buyer.

NOTICE: The date inserted in this Paragraph should be no later than the Closing Date specified in Paragraph 9 of the contract.

This paragraph sets up the contingency – making the purchase of the home depend upon the receipt of proceeds from the sale of the buyer’s home. Notice the words in bold – they are written that way on the form and if you remember from previous posts, anything in bold means it’s very important to the terms set forth (and probably comes from a lawsuit before it was in bold and now they are attempting to make sure everyone understands). The contract for the new home requires the buyer to sell their current home and use the proceeds to purchase the new home. The home must sell on or before the date listed in this paragraph. If the sale does not go through and the buyer does no receive the proceeds from the sale by that date (or before), the contract on the new home terminates immediately and the buyer is entitled to get their earnest money back.

B. If Seller accepts a written offer to sell the Property, Seller shall notify Buyer (1) of such acceptance AND (2) that Seller requires Buyer to waive the Contingency. Buyer must waive the Contingency on or before the ____ day after Seller’s notice to Buyer; otherwise the contract will terminate automatically and the earnest money will be refunded to Buyer.

While the new home is under contract, the seller may continue to solicit offers and if they receive a new offer that they wish to accept, they may do so. At that time, they must notify the first buyer (that’s involved in the contingency) that they 1) have accepted a new offer, and 2) that the buyer must waive their contingency on or before the timeline set in this paragraph. So if this form said the 3rd day after the seller’s notice is given, the (original) buyer would have three days after the seller tells them they’ve accepted a new offer to decide if they wanted to continue with their purchase and waive their contingency. If they waive it, they are now bound by the terms of the contract to buy the home. If they do not waive their contingency, the (original) contract terminates immediately and the earnest money is refunded to the buyer.

C. Buyer may waive the Contingency only by notifying Seller of the waiver and depositing $ ______ with escrow agent as additional earnest money. All notices and waivers must be in writing and are effective when delivered in accordance with the contract.

If the buyer wishes to waive their contingency as noted in the previous paragraph, they must notify the seller and deposit more earnest money with the title company. This amount is determined in the paragraph and can be negotiated between the parties at the time of signing the contract. This additional amount of earnest money shows good faith on the buyer’s part and a willingness to move all the way to closing. Remember, the seller is taking a risk by accepting a contract dependent on the sale of another home (and may be doing the same thing themselves), so this extra “skin in the game” shows the willingness to move forward and finalize the sale. Also noted in this paragraph is that all notices and waivers shall be in writing, which should always be the case when it comes to anything involving contracts. Do not assume something is true unless you can see it on paper.

D. If Buyer waives the Contingency and fails to close and fund solely due to Buyer’s non-receipt of proceeds from Buyer’s sale of the Property described in Paragraph A, Buyer will be in default. If such default occurs, Seller may exercise the remedies specified in Paragraph 15 of the contract.

As noted in Paragraph A at the very beginning, the buyer’s purchase is contingent on the receipt of proceeds from the sale of their home. If they cannot close on the new home because they didn’t receive those funds by the date in Paragraph A, then the buyer has defaulted on the contract. If the buyer is in default, the seller can seek remedy as described in Paragraph 15 of the contract, which we covered in Part III of our look at the One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale). If things get this far, you should consult with an attorney before proceeding.

E. For purposes of this Addendum time is of the essence; strict compliance with the times for performance stated herein is required.

Time is of the essence is a phrase used in both English and US law to refer to the fact that strict timelines must be followed and that any delay will cause material harm to one of the parties. Simply put, don’t forget the timelines and make sure you take care of your responsibilities in the time laid out in the contract.

So while it does take a little more work and a little more risk, you can see that buying a home while selling your home is possible (and common). We should note though, when faced with a seller’s market (where the seller has the advantage over the buyer), offers with sale contingencies can be seen as less advantageous than an offer without one. Seller’s are taking a risk when accepting offers tied to the sale of another house, so you’ll need to make up for that in other areas of your offer to make it as attractive as possible to the seller.

image courtesy of Bruce Guenter

6 Smells That Drive Buyers Away and Lose You a Sale

March 1, 2016 by khproperties Leave a Comment

Do you smell that? Something smells awful. I guess we shouldn’t have left those fish heads on this blog post, because that seems to be what’s stinking up the place. Of course, you can’t actually smell anything over the internet (yet), which is where the buyers are searching for homes these days. But once they find a home they’re interested in, they’re going to need to see it. If your house made the cut, you want to make sure that it’s not only showing great, but smells great too. Our sense of smell can quickly determine a lot of things for us and we’ve seen the effects of strong smells and odors on buyers as we open the door and take out first step in. Some people will walk right back out and never return, while others will still look, but those scents linger and make an impact on the brain and how we perceive homes.

Avoid These Smells in Sell Your Home

Fish and other foods. Real estate agents have been telling clients since time began to avoid cooking fish while their home is on the market. Even though more people eat fish these days, it still doesn’t sit well with buyers. And it’s not just fish that you should avoid. Any foods with strong smells should be avoided. Cabbage, sauerkraut, garlic and onions, curries, fish and shellfish…these are just some of the smells that will drive buyers away. Remember, what smells delicious to you, may smell terrible to someone else (and vice versa). Even smells that are considered safe can turn off some buyers. A good example? I absolutely hate the smell of cinnamon. If your house smells like you just baked 50 apple pies? No thank you. A smell that is commonly used to create feelings of warmth and home, but for me it turns my stomach.

Smoke. If you’re a non-smoker, you probably hate the smell of smoke. If you’re a smoker, you probably don’t notice it as much. Whether it’s from cigarettes, cigars, or your cousin from Colorado, smoke smells linger and many people can smell even the tiniest bit of it in the air. And it’s not just smoke from these items either. Any kind of smoke will linger – overcooked foods in a frying pan, your BBQ grill, fire in the house, or that tire fire a block from you house. If you smoke, do it outside. While your home is on the market and make sure you wash and clean all the surfaces in your home to get rid of as much as the smell as possible. There are companies that specialize in the removal of these odors and if your house is smelling like smoke, you are going to lose buyers. It’s a guarantee.

Pet odors. In addition to some people just not liking the smell of pets in the house, remember, some people are allergic. Pet dander can cause allergic reactions in some people and nothing says “honey, this is the house” like a trip to the ER. We love our pets and we become used to the smells associated with them, but when a buyer walks into your home and is hit with a wall of pet odor, they’re starting off with a negative impression. Remember that our noses get accustomed to smells over time, so you may not even notice the scent of your pet. Pet odor doesn’t just come from dirty cat boxes either. Cats, dogs, reptiles, birds, and even fish tanks all have particular smells associated with them, some of which are not pleasant to all buyers. Most of the time, pet odors can be on your sofas and chairs as well. If your pet sleeps on the sofa and climbs on the chair, make sure you clean it. Keep your house clean, vacuum often, change and wash bedding, keep cages and fish tanks clean, and definitely don’t forget to stay on top of the litter box.

Mold and must. You know that smell. The one you just can’t get out of your nose. The wet, damp smell of mold and musty conditions. Although San Antonio is a much drier climate than some other places, we still deal with mold. In fact, it can be even worse here because we typically get a lot of rain in short periods of time.

Mold smells can come from drains as well, so keep your drains clear by flushing them with hot water on a regular basis. Keep bathrooms clean and use cleaning products known for their disinfection qualities.

Bleach and other chemicals. Although we just told you to keep bathrooms clean and disinfected, there are few scents stronger and more eye watering than an overdose of bleach. A slight bleach smell in a bathroom will usually not turn buyers away, but if your whole house smells of it, it can be quite tough to tour through the home. We’ve seen clients have to cover their nose and mouth because a home is so clean that it smells like a DuPont chemical factory. Bleach can knock out a lot of germs and keep items free of mold, but a little bit goes a long way.

Too many good smells. Here we are telling you about all the bad smells, but did you ever stop and think about the scents you willingly put into your home? The candles, plugins, sprays, and diffusers? There are a ton of products on the market designed to make your home smell beautiful, but be careful of overkill. Stick with one or two methods and try to stick with clean, simple scents. Watch out for competing scents as well – strong floral scents combined with cinnamon combined with ocean breezes combined with chocolate chip cookies combined with citrus – our noses hurt just thinking about it. Try to keep your scents in the same family and try to find scents that smell good, but are not overpowering (some of the floral scents in particular can be very strong). Too much of a good smell can also direct buyers attention away from the home and lead them down the path of thinking about what you might be covering up with all those scents.

Of course, we can’t please everyone all of the time, but avoiding these smells can certainly help. The most important smell you can leave buyers with is the smell of “clean.” Keep your home sparkling and free of dirt and dust and you will be rewarded. Go out to a restaurant for that salmon dish you’ve been craving, take a cigarette break in the back yard or down the block, take Fido to the groomers, and keep wet areas dry and clean. Don’t try to mask odors by dumping more scents on top of them and use scents that are clean and fresh. The better your home smells, the longer the buyers will stay and look around. Give them the time and opportunity to fall in love with your home and you will be rewarded.

image courtesy of darkbuffet

Uncanny Home Staging Tips

March 8, 2012 by khproperties 1 Comment

Staging – you’re heard the word a thousand times. You hear it on TV and you’ve certainly heard it from your real estate agent if you’ve sold a house in the past ten years. An entire industry has sprouted up around it and there are countless articles with tons of staging tips out there on the internet. There are a million ways to go when it comes to staging, but the basics are always the same – take away the distractions and let the buyers see themselves in your home. You’ve been told to stage your home in order to get it sold and you the basics, like decluttering and removing family photos, but if you’ve done all that and you’re thinking it’s still not enough, maybe it’s time to think outside the box for some new staging tips for getting your home set to sell.

Staging Tips That You Can Use

Remove furniture: Not all of it, but if you have a couch, loveseat, two chairs, and a whole entertainment center wall full of electronics, buyers may focus on all of the “stuff” and won’t feel the size of the room and how it works for them. You don’t want the room to be too empty, but as you start to pull pieces out, you’ll start to notice the space and not the stuff.

Rearrange: Let’s face it living and/or family rooms were designed to entertain, and for a large number of us, that means television. We’ve seen windows, fireplaces, and even kitchen pass-throughs covered up for the sake of arranging a room around the TV. But don’t forget that a buyer may not have your giant entertainment center, or they may actually enjoy sitting in a chair watching a fire in the fireplace. It may be a bit different than what you’re used to, but moving a few pieces around can accentuate your home’s features and could lead to a quicker sale. Just keep telling yourself that it’s only for a short while. Rearranging and removing furniture is probably one of the best staging tips you’ll ever take on – a little work, but it can have a huge impact. If you’re considering replacing the furniture before the staging day, read some tips on Afulltable so you can choose the best ones that will increase the value of your home.

Cover Up: Just can’t bring yourself to organize that stack of paperwork on your kitchen table? Put it in a drawer. Just stained your rug? Put a chair over it. Have a closet overflowing with treasures? Put them in boxes and consider moving those boxes to a shed or the garage. Out of sight is out of mind. And that trick works for buyers too. If they don’t see the mess, they can’t dwell on it.

Label: If you have a room that you use differently than intended – say you have a workout room in one of the bedrooms or you’ve converted a breakfast area to your work command center, label it. Let buyers know that each space has potential to fit their specific needs – they don’t need to be locked into your usage. We once listed a house that had a giant room attached to the master bedroom. It had it’s own private entry, but the only way to get to it from the house was through the master bedroom. This perplexed many buyers, so we made a list of all of the possibilities – nursery, dance studio, workout room, man cave, conference room, his and hers masters, etc. Some of the ideas may have been a little non-traditional, but it started to give buyers ideas and get their imaginations going. Feedback on showings improved dramatically and the home sold quickly thereafter.

Bring Life:We won’t go all Feng-Shui on you here, but it really is remarkable what a few plants can bring to a room. Even if they are fake plants, when they are present, there’s a new energy to the room. People who otherwise use car window tinting service, start to notice the natural light from windows. They feel “homier” in the space. Add a bit of nature and you’ll see amazing effects.

Think Neutral: Let’s take a moment first to air our complaints about this one. Beige is boring. You’re an individual and you have great taste. You want to pay tribute to your alma matter in every way. It took nineteen long hours to hang all of that floral wallpaper. We get it. We’re not discrediting any of that. We love that you love who you are and where you came from. But this is not about you. The more you can appeal to a mass audience, the better off you will be when selling your home. It’s a numbers game. The odds of finding someone who is looking for a burnt orange bedroom are much smaller than the odds that you will find someone who either 1) likes beige, 2) is too uninspired to come up with their own ideas, or 3) sees beige as a challenge waiting to be overcome. Think about it.

Give, Don’t Just Take: Decluttering is an amazing thing (that’s why you hear it mentioned so often). But you may end up taking some charm when you take away some things. Maybe building a headboard (plywood plus fabric and batting plus a staplegun equals done) can actually make that never used guest bedroom feel less like a prison cell. Or putting up nice neutral curtains can actually highlight the windows. If that is the case, make sure that you have your windows organised, for which you can check out Maverick Windows here! Less is more, but sometimes a little more is actually more too.

Cheat a Little: Stick cookies in the oven to bake (on low so they don’t burn), light candles, spray air fresheners, etc. Leave snacks or bottles of water for buyers. Or even offer roses or candies on the table alongside your home’s flyer or information sheet. The smells will make the buyer feel at home. And most will appreciate the nice gesture of a practical gift, even if they don’t take it (I mean, who hates having cookies available to them?). Good smells or memories in a home can actually have an impact on the buyer’s frame of mind. Good becomes a word they may start to associate with your house. And that’s the goal we’ve been chasing with all these staging tips, isn’t it?