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Are you trying to decide whether to sell your home on your own or hire a Realtor? Check out this survey to help you make a decision:
Homegain.com conducted a survey on selling your home: For Sale by Owner “FSBO” vs. REALTOR®. Homeowners were asked whether they used a REALTOR® to sell their home or whether they attempted to sell it themselves.
83% said they used a REALTOR® and 17% tried on their own.
59% of homeowners that used a REALTOR® to sell their house were successful vs. 39% of the FSBO’s reflecting a 50% higher closing rate for those using a REALTOR®
81% of the homeowners that used a REALTOR® to try and sell their homes said they would use a REALTOR® again for their Real Estate needs.
88% of the homeowners that used a REALTOR® to try and sell their homes said they would use a REALTOR® again.
71% of FSBO’s who managed to sell their home on their own said they would try and sell their home on their own again.
The survey also pointed out that 24% of FSBO’s eventually enlisted the aid of a REALTOR®
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The following tips will help you make a great first impression when putting your home on the market. People decide within 30 seconds of walking into a home whether they might want to buy it, so it is important to make a great first impression.
Curb Appeal
Spend a little money on gardening by cutting overgrown shrubs and weeds and planting new shrubs or flowers. A bit of gardening can help paint a scene, so buyers can see their kids playing in the yard or can imagine entertaining in the back yard.
Condition of the Home
Make necessary repairs to the home before putting it on the market. Look for cracks, damaged paint and so on to repair. Not making repairs can cut the price of the house.
Buyer’s typically ask for $2-$3 off the price for every $1 of repairs that they perceive are needed, so it is crucial for sellers to know that, say, the roof needs to be replaced. That way, the seller can spend the $5,000 themselves rather than face a buyer demand $10,000-$15,000 off the price of the house.
Clean and organize the house – including drawers, cabinets & closets. It’s a good idea to de-clutter these areas so it doesn’t appear that there isn’t enough room in the home.
Finding the right assistance
Contact a Realtor who often provides their expertise in giving you tips to get your home ready for sale. They also often provide a list of Handymen, Home Stagers, Painters and Roofers that can assist you in getting your home ready for sale.
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A lot of people are trying to save money for their Retirement years and have questions concerning how to go about saving and paying off their debts to prepare for retirement.
The following information was given by Steven Zeller, a Gold River, CA, based investment adviser regarding credit card debt and publised by RISMEDIA:
If you are heavily in debit, he would not encourage anyone to go into bankruptcy proceedings if he or she can help it. It creates a lot of stress and is not the best for your self-esteem.
If you have multiple credit cards to payoff, I would begin paying off the credit cards, starting with the smallest one first, until they are all gone for good.
It may be painful at first, buy you will increase your cash flow over time by eliminating the monthly payments.
He also stated, ”At the end of the day, if you pay into an IRA and Roth IRA instead of paying down your credit card debt, you will still have debt. ”
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5 Reasons To Stop Saving for Retirement(money.usnews.com)
Fair Isaac released a report that says credit scores are affected about the same, whether a seller does a short sale or foreclosure. Fair Isaac says the average points lost on a FICO score are as follows:
- 30 days late: 40 to 110 points
- 90 days late: 70 to 135 points
- Foreclosure, short sale or deed-in-lieu: 85 to 160
- Bankruptcy: 130 to 240
Foreclosure or Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure
Both of these solutions affect credit the same, says David Steep of Vitek Mortgage. Sellers will take a hit of 200 to 300 points, depending on overall condition of credit. This means if a seller’s FICO score before foreclosure was 680, it could dip as low as 380.
Short Sale
Steep maintains that the effect of a short sale (providing the sellers are more than 59 days late) on a seller’s credit report is identical to that of a foreclosure. The ding on credit will show up as a pre-foreclosure in redemption status, Steep says, which will result in a loss of 200 to 300 points. This means a short sale seller with a previous FICO of 720 could see it fall from 520 to 420. If your loan stays current during a short sale, your credit will not be effected as much as not making your payments and your chances of purchasing another home sooner than two years is possible.
On an average of 36.6% closing costs have risen over the last year according to the 2010 mortgage fee survey from Bankrate.com. Bankrate, which gets its survey data from online Good Faith Estimate (GFE) forms, say the increase may be due to the new GFE form and changes to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.
Lenders are penalized now for lowballing fees and the numbers may be more accurate than those reported in the past.
The three most expense states for closing costs on a $200,000 purchase are New York (avg. $5,623); Texas (avg. $4,708); and Utah (avg. $4,605) according to Bankrate.
ResiLandscape report, issued by analysts at Moody’s Investors Service warn that there’s a change the country will slide back into a recession, and they forecast a “longer and deeper housing correction.”
The chief economist for Moody’s Analytics said “We have lowered the near-term economic outlook and raised the risk of a double-dip recession from one in four to one in three.”
He also says the US recovery has lost significant momentum since the spring. Retailing, housing, business investment, and industrial activity have all weakened, and the job market is no longer improving. After ticking higher to 9.6% in August, he is expecting the nation’s unemployment rate to drift back into double digits in the coming months.
Celia Chen, senior director for Moody’s Analytics expects house prices to fall until the 3rd quarter of 2011, significantly longer than Moody’s previous projections of a 1st quarter 2011 bottom in homes. She says the flood of 4 million homes either in late-stage delinquency or foreclosure is clogging the foreclosure pipeline from the servicers to the courtrooms, creating delays.
Distortions due to the first time homebuyer tax credits previously offered are partially to blame for the expected double-dip.
Fannie Mae “FNMA” took back 130,767 foreclosed properties in the 1st and 2nd quarters of 2010 and they were holding 129,310 single-family Real Estate Owned “REO” properties.
Fannie Mae with such a large inventory announced incentives to buyers and sellers of its REO properties.
On 9/22/10, the program announced a seller assistance incentive for properties listed on their REO website, HomePath.com. They are also expanding the initiative to offer additional incentives to real estate agents and brokers. Qualified owner-occupied homeowners can received up to 3.5% of the sales price which may be used towards the buyer’s closing costs including a home warranty. Buyer’s agents may also qualify to receive a $1500 bonus.
Eligible offers must be submitted on or after September 23, 2010 and must close by December 21, 2010. The maximum amount of days to close escrow is 60 days from acceptance of their offer.
If you have found yourself falling behind in your mortgage and debt obligations, you aren’t alone. With the loss of jobs and declining home values and the current economy, homeowners like you are forced to consider options that were unthinkable a few years ago.
The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has established a hotline to assist homeowners who are facing a hardship. You can contact HUD at their toll free number 1-877-483-1515 to find out what options are available to you:
1) Loan Modification
2) Short Sale
3) Foreclosure
To learn more about the tax consequences of a short sale versus a foreclosure, you can visit the IRS web site at www.irs.gov. Before executing any of these options, consult with a certified public accountant or tax attorney.
Governor Schwarzenegger has instituted a statewide, 90-day halt on foreclosure proceedings for each owner-occupied home subject to a first mortgage on which a Notice of Default has already been file.
We have received questions from many concerned sellers on what is required of them when preparing their home for prospective buyers. Due to the current economy we are seeing a large increase in the number of short sale homes available for sale. Sellers in a short sale situation are concerned about the costs to prepare their home for sale so that it doesn’t sit on the market for a long time. They also ask what needs to be done in order to fix their home up for sale for the least amount of money.
Here are a few inexpensive tips that will help you stage and sell your home more quickly:
- Wipe down all of the walls and outlets of dirty fingerprints
- Shampoo Carpeting
- Wash the Windows and Screens
- Vacuum and Dust often
- Remove all books from bookcases
- Pack up the knickknacks
- Clean off everything on kitchen counters
- Put items used daily in a small box that can be stored away when not in use
- Re-Organize Closets and Pantry
- Make Minor Repairs – Touch up any holes, scratches or damage to the walls and if you have touch up paint laying around, touch up these areas
- Keep Lawns Mown and Watered
- Trim Shrubs & Plant Colorful Flowers
- Air out House of Musty or Pet Odors
- De-Personalize – Pack up personal photos and heirlooms. Buyers can’t see past personal artifacts and you want them to see the home.
- De-Clutter – If you don’t need it, sell it, donate it or throw it away
- Get a head start on packing, you will eventually need to do it anyway
With the Sacramento Real Estate market full of Short Sale Properties for Sale it is taking longer to close on the purchase of your new home. Due to the vast number of short sale properties available, the banks are starting to back up again on the approval of short sale properties.
If you are unwilling to wait a minimum of 60-90 days for an approval of your offer then a short sale is NOT for you. With the decrease of inventory available for sale in the Sacramento area, we are seeing an increase of multiple offers on our listings for sale. We are also seeing quite a few buyers who are unwilling to wait for short sale approval. This is the main reason we take BACKUP offers on our listings and ask that our buyers be held in backup position. We have seen countless buyers who are in 1st, 2nd and even 3rd backup position get their home. Patience is the name of the game in the short sale process.
If you are making an offer on a Short Sale Property, be prepared for a lengthy process. Updates are sometimes hard to come by, but working with a diligent agent who is well versed in Short Sales will help make the process quite a bit smoother and sometimes quite a bit faster.
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