FSBO Jane

If you’re looking to spruce up your FSBO photos without spending a load of money, rework your window treatments! Windows naturally brighten a home’s interior, which naturally adds visual appeal to the home’s photos. Window treatments add a personal touch to what could be considered a visually appealing décor, if you play your cards right. By mid-summer, your window treatments should not be the same as your winter treatments.

This summer, switch to bright, light and minimal! According to this article from HGTV.com, as long as you follow their latest six tips, your windows will radiate the image of perfection.

These tips include:

1. Replace heavy curtains with simple shades, because no one wants to see a bunch of material.
2. Don’t block the natural light from streaming in. Shades or glass-block windows allow light to shine through while still providing privacy.
3. Choose the correct contemporary hues. Light, cool hues make a room appear larger, and dark, warm colors make a large room appear more inviting.
4. Add textured shades or blinds to the window. Textures add visual appeal while still rolling up smoothly.
5. Wooden blinds appear light and attractive, but they actually block access light. While light can still shine through, no one ends up blinded from direct light.
6. Curvature adds interest to a room full of straight cabinets or shelves. Arching a valence over the window is one option.

To read the article from HGTV.com in its entirety, click here.

When you’re looking to buy a home for the first time, it can be a scary process. There are a lot of variables to consider, from location to price to all the extra costs of taxes, etc.

I ran into an excellent article recently that examines 11 things to consider before leaping into a new purchase.

You can read the entire article here, and if you are looking to buy a new home, I definitely think you should!

A recent Mint.com article poses this question: Should you Buy a Home Right Now?

It then gives the pros and cons of making a purchase now -

PROS include (+) Current tax credits (+) Luxury of not *needing* one puts you in the drivers’ seat.

CONS include (-) Not knowing when the bottom has really come to the market (-) Possible decreased values.

I tend to lean towards the PROs right now, mainly because I see this as a great time to enter the market and take advantage of what’s been a discouraging situation for a lot of people. If you’re selling, you know it’s tough out there; but if you’re buying, you know there are deals to be had.

What do you think?

On recent walks through my neighborhood, I have observed the addition of enclosed porches and open patios to the backyard of fellow neighbors. Because I know that an outdoor retreat adds value to a home, and it constitutes a premium selling point, it doesn’t surprise me that more and more homeowners are opting to add new backyard retreats. What does surprise me, however, is how fast the job is completed!

Numerous times now, I have noticed a porch or patio completely installed within one day. On Monday, it wasn’t there. On Tuesday, it looked like it had been there forever. When I assisted a friend in constructing her new patio, it took us days! These one-day additions intrigued me, so I did some research. Here are my findings.

Ready-to-assemble kits are available, such as at sunporch.com, that include all of the materials you need, easy-to-follow directions and a maximum preparation time of one to two days. With this, however, you build an enclosure around a preexisting patio or deck.

At gazeboshowcase.com, you can purchase a portable gazebo that consists of four poles and a cover. Some include an enclosure option of screens or netting. Again, this doesn’t include a ground cover.

At portablepatio.com, they offer fold-out patios that you just unfold and place wherever you’d like to lounge in your yard. The patios are formed with two-foot square plastic tiles, and you choose how large you want it.

My research somewhat enlightened me on the possibilities that exist for an affordable, simple addition to the yard. Yet, I still feel like I’m missing something. Would anyone like to shed further light on this subject?

Are you a member of the current social networking craze?

If you keep up with news, chances are you know what I’m talkg about, even if you don’t have your own accounts. Twitter is the most updated source for onlineews. Facebook now advertises at major league baseball games. LinkedIn is one of the top 10 sites to search for a job. Myspace is the first place people go to find concert information. You might say we’re all living in a constantly updated whirlwind of social information.

Does this include real estate? According to this article from MSNBC, a large number of real estate agents now update the public on these sites, in order to find new customers and advertise their listings. While some agents only include professional real estate information, others make half of their content personal updates about their weekend activities or opinions on upcoming sporting events. They do this so that they don’t overwhelm their followers with real estate jargon.

Should you get involved with social networking? Say you’re trying to sell your house by owner. You could set up an account and update the public open house schedules, recent upgrades to the home, price changes, etc. You might just find a buyer this way. Then again, how will you find people to “follow” you on Twitter, or “befriend” on Facebook, when they don’t know who you are?

My advice: I have social networking sites (@fsbojane on Twitter and FSBO Jane on Facebook), and I find others who share in my real estate interests. You can search for people with similar interests too, and hope that this method stretches your notability.

By the way, as another plug for my favorite FSBO, I should say that Buy Owner advertises on Facebook and Twitter. They get their name out there and have an impressive following. So when people click on an interesting blog article to read via Twitter, for example, they might decide to search houses for sale after they read the article.

Social networking is today’s craze, and I feel that it’s a good idea to keep up with the time. What will come next?

When you’re selling your home, advertising matters! It’s the #1 way to draw potential buyers to your property, moving you on towards a successful sale. So when it comes to advertising, what do you need to know?

Simply put, photos matter.

Before a buyer has the chance to visit your home, the only way he or she will see it is through photos you post, whether online or in a brochure or somewhere else. If the pictures are bad, they will keep looking.

What can you do to make sure the photos showcase your home’s best features?

1. Choose color photos (and many of them).
2. Have professionals take them, if possible.
3. Couple the photos with virtual tours!

For photography value alone, I’ve been really pleased with the advertising provided by BuyOwner.com. Whatever you choose, though, make sure it involves the best photography available - it can make or break your sale!

Staging a home can seem especially daunting when the residence is spacious: more rooms to fill with furniture, more areas to decorate with accessories. But it doesn’t have to be overwhelming, at least not according to Sabrina Soto of HGTV.

In this recent article, Soto gives practical tips for making the staging process a little simpler:

1. Give a room focus. In a master bedroom, Soto redesigned a master bedroom from a sitting area with haphazard furniture placement into a retreat-like space, simply by moving the bed in front of the windows, which she framed with curtains.

2. Give a room versatility. In a guest bedroom, bold wall colors were changed to soothing and warm hues that could accommodate a variety of decorating choices. This makes the room feel more like a guest room and less than a childish bedroom.

For more information, including photos, check out the original article at HGTV: Staging Ideas for Spacious Homes.

If you’ve dealt with any sort of real estate selling, buying, renting or financing, you’ve probably heard of the Fair Housing Act. The Fair Housing Act is a term that regularly floats around the real estate industry but isn’t always clearly explained.

According to realestatewords.com, the Fair Housing Act is a federal law that prohibits discrimination in housing based on a person’s race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status and national origin.

This not only deals with the process of selling, buying and financing real estate, but also with advertising and marketing real estate. If you advertise your home online or in a paper source, it too must follow the Fair Housing Act. Basically, when describing a house, the text must read neutral to any type of buyer.

For example: when describing the surroundings of a home, you can’t emphasize the schools or the playground down the street. This suggests that every homebuyer has children, which is untrue.

• Wrong: “Your children can safely enjoy walking to school and to the local playgrounds, and you can all enjoy walking to local shops and restaurants.”
• Right: Plenty of local attractions are within walking distance, including parks, shops and restaurants.

Another example: If there is an extra bedroom suite, a finished basement or a separate building on the property, it cannot be referred to as a mother-in-law suite or a teen suite. It must contain a neutral name, such as an extra suite or a guest suite.

• Wrong: Aside from the master suite, an extra bedroom suite is ideal for a growing teenager or a visiting mother-in-law!
• Right: Aside from the master suite, an extra bedroom suite provides ample potential to be used however you wish!

This allows all housing advertisements to be on an equal opportunity basis. If you are independently advertising your home, this is definitely something to keep in mind. If you use a professional real estate advertising company, they should follow these requirements for you.

As a kid, I remember talking to my friends about “grown up stuff.” One of the subjects brought up by me, the future Realtor, was second mortgages. I knew my parents took out two mortgages on our house, but I had no idea what that meant at the time. Even today, many people still have no idea what taking out a second mortgage entails.

What is a second mortgage?

It means what it says. It is a second loan taken against your home, on which there is already an existing, primary mortgage. It’s often used when the value of a home has significantly increased and the owners want access to the cash immediately. However, you still need to pay off the existing loan before you can begin to pay the outstanding balance on your second loan.

Why might I need a second mortgage?

Taking out a second mortgage gives you the cash you may need to pay for the following:

• Accumulated debt from a car payment, high-interest credit cards, medical bills or school tuition
• A second home, a vacation property
• A new business venture

How do I get a second mortgage?

The process of obtaining a second mortgage is very similar to the way you got your first one. First and foremost, you need to shop around. Visit different lenders, get quotes and find the most suitable loan offer. Once you find the loan that will cost you the least amount of money, apply. After the lender completes an appraisal of your home, you will be required to pay closing costs (like you did on you primary mortgage).

How much can I borrow?

You will be able to borrow a specific sum of money based on your home’s equity (aka the difference between the appraised value of your home and the amount you have already paid towards the primary mortgage). This could be anywhere between 85% and 125% of your home’s appraised value, depending on where you live. Keep in mind, though, that the interest rates on your second loan will be higher than those on your first.

Note: Getting a second mortgage loan sounds easy; and it might be for some people. But you should think long and hard before applying for a second mortgage. Is that business going to be profitable? Will you rent out that vacation home when you are not using it? Obtaining a second loan means increasing your debt, so consider everything, down to the most meticulous detail.

If done right, your bedroom is more than just a place to pillow your head at night and catch up on sleep. It’s an oasis. A room where you can be comfortable, where you can escape from the pressures and responsibilities of the rest of life.

Did you realize there are ways to make the most of this tranquil space, turning it into not just a sleeping quarters but also a relaxing getaway?

Here are some tips:

1. Ditch the TV. And along with it, get rid of your computer, the radio, your treadmill and the set of barbells you like to pull out for workouts. All of those things have their place, but not in the bedroom.

2. Think neutral colors. Never underestimate the power of color! Warm creams and beiges should decorate the walls of your bedroom in order to make it an inviting, comfortable space.

3. Cover the windows. Something needs to keep light out on those mornings when you want to sleep in. Whether you go with easy-clean blinds or custom-made drapes, choose something that blocks the light out.

4. Declutter. An important aid in all rooms of a home—not just the bedroom—decluttering and organizing can make your bedroom seem more spacious, cleaner and more conducive to relaxation. Storage systems are an option, as are organizational tools. Focus on putting things away in usable order, with items needed regularly most accessible.