selling your home

6 Signs That It’s Time To Downsize

January 4, 2022 by khproperties Leave a Comment

It can be challenging to know the right time to downsize your home. It can be a very emotional experience. Your home is full of memories of raising a family and sending young adults out into the world. You spent good days and bad in there. You’ve laughed, cried, and celebrated. So, it’s understandable that when you’re moving towards retirement. you might be reluctant to leave behind the sanctuary that has played such an important role in your life. Knowing the right time to make your move is critical. Avoiding a decision can often result in health issues forcing your hand. Houses can become too big to maintain and take a physical toll when you mow lawns or climb ladders to fix a leaking roof or clear leaves from gutters. Based on real situations, we’ve been able to make a list of signs that tell you it’s time to downsize. We hope you find them useful.

Do you feel like you’re rattling around in your home?
Once everyone has moved out, it can often feel like the house has become too big. Rooms are never used and only cleaned because they collect dust. You may find you’re living in a particular part of the home, often to contain utility bills. If this is you, then it’s definitely time to explore your downsizing options.

Do you feel overwhelmed by your property?
This is another issue that crops up regularly. Feeling overwhelmed by the maintenance required in a larger home quickly creates stress and that’s not good. Everyday tasks such as cleaning or sweeping walkways and patios become burdens. The idea you have to climb a ladder for a simple maintenance task might fill you with dread.

If you feel you cannot look after your home as you once did, then downsizing is your wisest course of action. Once you decide to act, you’ll be amazed at the relief you’ll feel.

You can never find what you’re looking for?
This is a significant frustration for many. Their memory isn’t necessarily failing, but it’s common to struggle to find car keys or credit cards in a large home when there’s so much opportunity to put them down carelessly. Of course, you can overcome this challenge by being more organized. However, we all know that’s easier said than done!

Are the stairs becoming harder to climb?
Time catches up with all of us eventually, and you don’t need to be wielding a walking stick to start to find stairs are harder to climb or to descend first thing in the morning. Your home shouldn’t become an obstacle course. If you’re having trouble getting around the property, then it’s time to leave.

Will you travel more in retirement?
If you’re planning to enjoy long trips, especially in retirement, then carrying the cost of maintaining a large, empty property doesn’t make sense and becomes an added stress to come home to. It would be best if you considered a smaller home and even think about moving into an apartment or condo with security to reduce any concern on that score.

Parents can also set up a Junior ISA at thechildrensisa.com so they can enjoy retirement without having to worry about their children’s future. Those who have invested in real estate properties as part of their retirement portfolio must not forget to update their estate plans and plan ahead for the succession of these assets. Those who need help in estate planning for blended families may look for a lawyer who has sufficient knowledge and experience.

Do you have the “utility bill blues?”
Retirement is a wonderful time of life, but it usually cuts into your cash flow. Spending money on heating or cooling your entire home is wasteful when you use only a percentage of it. We have worked with many people who became more stressed by these quarterly bills than anything else. If this sounds familiar, it’s a smart move to act. If you buy wisely, a smaller home like a condo or apartment, especially one in a complex should reduce your outgoing cashflow. Your costs will be more consistent, too, and that will help with your household budget.

When you decide to downsize, you may need to rent a storage unit from a self storage facility for a short while until you determine what to do with your belongings that will not have space in your new home. You may ask your neighbors or your real estate agent for recommendations on self storage facilities.

Ready To Sell? Use These 4 Feng Shui Tips

November 15, 2021 by khproperties Leave a Comment

If you know anything about the ancient wisdom of feng shui, it might be profitable to pay some homage to the art when preparing your home for sale. While there is a unique philosophy rather than science underpinning feng shui, many of its instructions about furniture arrangement make perfect sense. They can enhance the enjoyment of living in a home and improve the impression that it makes with buyers conducting a walk-through. Although some of its approaches can be instructive in terms of preparing your home for sale, there are some easy actions you can take to give your home better feng shui.

Doors: Make sure to have SWD Bespoke doors that open and close easily. This improves energy flow. Doors must not be blocked or pushed up against a piece of furniture when opened. Buyers will think the space inadequate if this is the case.

Energy: If your home has an unimpeded line-of-sight from the front to the back door, that isn’t good, according to feng shui. Energy that comes into the home escapes straight out the other side. Arrange furniture so there’s not a runway through the heart of your home.

Beds: Feng shui demands beds are strategically positioned. If your bed faces the door directly, you’re in what adherents call the “coffin position”. That’s because your feet are pointing out the door. And don’t put beds directly against a wall as this disturbs the balance of a room. It also makes a room feel smaller.

Desk: If you’re offering a home office as part of your home, don’t have the desk facing the window. If you do, your qi, or energy, goes out the window, too. And whatever you do, don’t put a desk in the main bedroom. It will make it difficult to sleep according to the feng shui masters.

We hope you’ve found this list fun, helpful, or both. If we can help you secure your dream home or sell your existing property, please do not hesitate to contact us. We can discuss buyer preferences, prices trends in your neighborhood, and the best ways to maximize your property’s value.

What We Look At When Pricing a Home

April 18, 2019 by khproperties Leave a Comment

When you put your home up for sale, there is a lot that happens “behind the scenes” in order to come up with the right price. You’ve heard about comparable sales (or “comps” as they’re often referred to) and they are hands down one of the best ways to determine the asking price for your home. There’s rarely a perfect apples-to-apples comparison, so a pricing decision often relies on comparisons to several recent sales in the area. It’s both an art and a science and finding the balance between the two is the key to successfully pricing a home. Here are a few of the things we look for when working on pricing your home and preparing a CMA (comparative market analysis).

Location. Homes in the same neighborhood typically follow the same market trends. Comparing your home to another in the same neighborhood is a good start, but comparing it to homes on the same street or block is even better. We typically will start with a very narrow focus (street level, neighborhood) and then widen the scope to look further out if we’re not finding a lot of sales in the area.

Date of sale. We don’t want to use homes that sold too long ago as market conditions shift over time. A good rule of thumb is to look within the last three months, although exceptions can be made for unique properties that are not as easy to define. The closer the date, the better for comparable purposes as even a couple of months can shift the market in a different direction. Other factors, like time of year should also be considered (ie a home in the springtime market is more likely to sell faster and for a higher price than one sold in December).

Home build. Look for homes with similar architectural styles, numbers of bathrooms and bedrooms, square footage, and other basics. We will often try to compare to the same builder or floorplan if possible. Knowing who built in a neighborhood and where else they have built can be a huge help in knowing where to look for potential comparable sales.

Features and upgrades. Remodeled bathrooms and kitchens can raise a home’s price, and so can less flashy upgrades like a new roof or HVAC system (done by a local hvac contractor). We want to be sure to look for similar bells and whistles. If properties with similar upgrades can’t be found, adjustments can be made to compensate although it is worth noting that these upgrades never come with a dollar-to-dollar value.

Sale types and terms. Homes that are sold as short sales or foreclosures are often in distress or sold at a lower price than they’d receive from a more typical sale. These homes are not as useful for comparisons. Other items like seller paid closing costs and concessions should be looked at as well. A home that sold for $10,000 over asking price that included $10,000 in seller paid closing costs isn’t the same as a house that sold for $10,000 over asking with no seller concessions.

image courtesy of AlanH2O

6 Steps to Take Before Selling Your Home

April 2, 2019 by khproperties 2 Comments

Whether you’re ready to sell today or thinking about selling your home in the future, it pays to make sure you’re prepared. These helpful tips can get you prepared to sell quicker and get your home sold faster. Call one of our real estate agents and schedule your pre-listing meeting today. Want a downloadable PDF to share with your friends?

However, if you are in the process of a divorce, it can be messy and time-consuming when selling home. You have a whole life to separate, from possessions to living arrangements. The best way to sell your house in divorce is to sell it to a trusted cash buyer.

You can also read the text of the infographic below…

Meet with your trusted real estate agent: Your agent can save you a lot of time and energy by guiding you through the pre-listing phase. They are there to serve you and help you decide if listing your home is the right option.

Pre-qualify to buy your new home: Get pre-qualified to buy your next home before putting your current one on the market. Working with a reputable mortgage professional will help you understand what you need to net from your current home and achieve your goals for your next one.

Price correctly: Listing your home at the proper market value is critical to selling your home within a reasonable time frame. Be cautious of making decisions based on valuations online and instead use your agent’s in-depth knowledge of the local area as a resource. Then don’t forget how important the choice of estate agent is, as the best will get you the best price for the property and reach many more of the best buyers. We often sell properties in Bristol in the UK and use who are easily the best estate agents Bristol have available and they always get an amazing price, so make sure that you get an estate agent of that quality when selling property in the UK.

Pre-inspection: Home inspections are often a sticking point where a home sale can go wrong. Material defects may need to be repaired prior to a buyer purchasing the home, so determine these potential fixes before you list, instead of during the negotiation process. One important thing to check is your garage door. You must determine if a garage door repair is needed in order to prepare your home for sale.

De-clutter: If your house is cluttered or filled with personal mementos, it can be more difficult for a buyer to picture themselves living there. Placing large pieces of furniture or family photos in storage is worth the effort to help your home sell quicker.

Professional photography: The modern-day home search almost always starts online and first impressions are very important. Make sure your real estate agent uses a professional photographer or company specializing in real estate photography to show your home in the best light.

If you’re thinking of selling your home to a cash buyer, you may get in touch with a company like House Buyers Of America.

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 (i.e., giving more value to a home that has an extra bedroom or less value to a home that has a one car garage (Click This Link for the best garage options) while your home has a two car garage (consult experts like Midwest Garage Builders for this), or if the garage has no well maintained doors but you have them. You can also click for recommended garage door repair. 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 they can 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