4 Ways to Make a Home Show-Ready

When a home hits the market, it needs to be show-ready. That doesn’t usually require spending a fortune on a remodel, however. Just targeting a few key areas in the home can go a long way.

The New York Times recently highlighted a few tips from real estate pros on preparing a home for sale, including:

Add three points of light. “Every room should have at least three points of light,” Alison Draper, a real estate professional with Halstead Property, told The New York Times. The three points could include a table lamp, floor lamp, and a task light. Or, it may include an overhead fixture and two table lamps.

Shine the floors. You likely can still salvage a worn floor with some polish or professional cleaning. “Unless your floors are severely damaged, it doesn’t make sense to have them refinished,” Pat Christodoulou, a home stager in Connecticut and New York, told The New York Times. She suggests hiring a handyman with a floor buffer, which might cost about $300 to wax and polish the floor of a small living room.

Tidy up the bathroom. The key: Make it sparkle. Re-caulk necessary areas. Investigate small upgrades that can have a big impact on brightening the space, such as swapping out an old faucet or even adding a new shower curtain, bath mat, and fresh towels. For a bathtub in need of some TLC, a professional refinisher can reglaze it, repairing any dents, rub out rust spots, and recoat it for about $500 for a standard-size bathtub, according to Homeadvisor.com.

Deep clean. The key: Make the home sparkle. Wash the windows, inside and out. Vacuum the dust in exhaust fans. “Deep cleaning is so important because while an apartment can show very neatly, it’s the details that people pick up on,” says Heather McMaster, an associate broker at the Corcoran Group. Get more deep-cleaning tips.

Source: “Preparing a Home for Sale,” The New York Times (Sept. 16, 2016)

Home ownership is the Best Way to Build Wealth

moneyNew York Times: Homeownership is Best Way To Build Wealth

Posted: 15 Dec 2014 04:00 AM PST

The New York Times recently published an editorial entitled, Homeownership and Wealth Creation.” The housing market has made a strong recovery, not only in sales and prices, but also in the confidence of consumers and experts as an investment. The article explains:

“Homeownership long has been central to Americans’ ability to amass wealth; even with the substantial decline in wealth after the housing bust, the net worth of homeowners over time has significantly outpaced that of renters, who tend as a group to accumulate little if any wealth.”

Many of the points that were made in the article are on track with the research that the Federal Reserve has also conducted in their Survey of Consumer Finances. The study found that the average net worth of a homeowner ($194,500) is 36x greater than that of a renter ($5,400). One reason for this large discrepancy in net worth is the concept of ‘forced savings’ created by having a mortgage payment and was explained by the Times:

“Homeownership requires potential buyers to save for a down payment, and forces them to continue to save by paying down a portion of the mortgage principal each month.” “Even in instances where renters have excess cash, saving a substantial amount is difficult without a near-term goal, like a down payment. It is also difficult to systematically invest each month in stocks, bonds or other assets without being compelled to do so.”

Bottom Line

“As a means to building wealth, there is no practical substitute for homeownership.” If you are a renter who is considering making a purchase, sit with a local real estate professional who can explain the benefits of signing a contract to purchase over renewing your lease!

The top 5 benefits to using a professional when buying a home

Every year the National Association of REALTORS releases their profile of home buyers and sellers in which they reveal the results of a yearlong survey of buyers and sellers. The latest profile revealed what actual buyers saw as the benefits of using an agent during the home buying process.

Here are the Top 5 reasons cited for using a REALTOR: http://goo.gl/FnHczP

Testimonial

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