FSBO Jane

When you’re selling your home, market value is a term that comes up pretty regularly. You want to determine a fair market value so you can list your property appropriately; you need to know what the market value of similar homes is; and so on.

So what is market value, anyway?
Essentially, market value is what a home is worth.

You can determine it in one of two ways:

1. Market value is what a seller is willing to pay, period. Because even a perceived home value means nothing when no buyer will pay it, many agree that a home is actually worth only what a buyer will actually pay.
2. Market value relates to what similar homes have been selling for, in the last six months. The two key terms here are similar homes—homes around the same size and with about the same type of amenities—and last six months—because the market is always changing due to all kinds of outside factors, you have to look at the immediate selling past.

For more information on market value, check out this article, “How to be realistic about price.”

You might not believe me, but fashion experts are claiming that the next big trend to take over home furnishings is going to be corduroy! Lots of retro 60s and 70s styles have resurfaced in the fashion world, and corduroy is no exception. Levi announced early in 2010 that they were releasing an all-new, all-corduroy line of clothing. As I’ve mentioned before, home decorating trends follow clothing trends.

The trend will probably take off by the end of summer or early fall, so to get ahead of the crowd, start thinking about how you’ll incorporate corduroy into your home decor. Start small, such as covering a chair with a corduroy slipcover or adding throw pillows with corduroy pillow slips. Incorporate a thin strip of corduroy into your draperies, or cover a picture frame with corduroy fabric.

How do you prevent your corduroy from looking outdated? Buy the version available now rather than finding old corduroy furnishings at a flea market. Like every type of old fashion that comes back around, the new version is tweaked in some way to make it look modern and sleek. Also, bright colors will complement contemporary decor, such as corduroy in pure white or vibrant yellow. Good luck!

Delinquency is basically the fancy real estate term that means a failure to make a mortgage payment when that said mortgage payment is due. For each mortgage company, the rules could be different. If you have good-standing credit, the company might let the first late payment slide and not mark it as a delinquency. Most companies will record it as a delinquent loan, though they won’t charge a late fee for a number of days. If the loan payment is more than 30 days late, most lenders will contact credit bureaus and the late payment will affect your credit.

Research your mortgage company to see what rules they follow so that you are prepared for the consequences, incase your loan payment is ever late. As a rule of thumb, try to always pay your loan payment on time to avoid situations like this.

According to this article from RISMedia.com, it is up to brokers and agents to highlight the advantages of the tax credit currently available to home buyers, in order for buyers to fully understand it and use it before their time is up. Since FSBO buyers and sellers don’t use agents, I’ll take it upon myself to educate my fellow FSBO fans on what you should know about this tax credit.

First of all, it cost the government a whopping $18.5 billion in stimulus money. The initial tax credit for first-time home buyers was supposed to end in November 2009, but it was extended until May 1, 2010. One major reason for this was that the 2009 fourth quarter home sales showed the biggest increase in the past 20 years, according to the RISMedia.com article. But because the tax credit costs so much to execute, there are no signs yet showing that the tax credit will be extended once again. Therefore, for now, you home buyers have until May 1 to use this tax credit. As far as binding sales contracts, as long as they are signed by May 1 and a closing occurs by June 30, 2010, the tax credit can still be used.

As a refresher, this credit is available for first-time home buyers in a maximum amount of $8,000, and for homeowners who have lived in their current home for the last five consecutive years, in a maximum amount of $6,500. For more information about the tax credit and why it’s so important to use, as far as boosting our economy, continue to read the RISMedia.com article here.

As its name suggests, a quitclaim deed is a document that removes claim on jointly held a piece real estate from both parties and places it on just one of those individuals. Essentially, the person giving up rights to the property is called the grantor, and he/she is giving up his/her interest in the property to the other homeowner (the grantee, and soon to be sole owner of the property).

Quitclaim deeds are by lots of people involved in various relationships.

• Family members may use a quitclaim deed to gift a piece of property (parent to a child) or as a way of keeping a home in the family after a loved one has passed away.

• Business partners may use a quitclaim to turn a residential property into a business or because one of them is leaving the business.

• The most common use for a quitclaim deed, however, is among divorcees. Here’s the situation: A husband and wife own a home together. One person eliminates his/her rights to the property by granting full ownership rights to the other party. So, for example, if the wife owned the home after the divorce, but enacted a quitclaim to give the home to the husband, she would not be entitled any money from a future sale of the home (and vice versa).

However, a grantee can never assume that a property his or hers outright. If other interested grantors (especially in collective situations with families or business partners) have not signed the quitclaim deed, there may still be joint ownership on said property.

Also, the actual information in quitclaim deeds can vary. For example, in that husband/wife divorce situation, the wife could have relinquished her rights to the house, but there could be a stipulation that she receive some percentage of the profits if the home is ever sold.

Best case scenario? Always read the fine print and never assume anything. Ask questions if you don’t understand.

When selling a home, you’re most likely going to want to sell some of your items before the move. Even if you aren’t downsizing, we all tend to collect clutter that we don’t want to pack up and take with us. What type of sale should you host?

There are more types of sales than you’d think. At least, there are more than I ever realized. I used to be a huge garage sale junkie. My old neighbor and I would spend Saturday mornings driving around and searching for the best garage sales in our area. So for me, that’s the type of sale I know most about. But aside from garage sales, you could host a yard sale, an estate sale, or an auction.

To help others who are unaware that there are so many options, like me, the Buy Owner Blog does a good job at explaining the differences between all these types of sales. If you’re looking to host a sale of some sort, here is the rundown on your options:

• Garage sales and yard sales are similar. These are great for miscellaneous items that you have cluttering your closets or basement. These could include clothes that you’ve grown out of, old shoes, games, books, bikes. Anything goes. A garage sale is usually held in the garage and driveway, and a yard sale is held in the yard, outdoors. Where you host your sale could depend on the weather in your area. Check out this article for more information.
• An estate sale is a sale on a larger level. These are usually held when a family member or friend dies, and you are left with his or her possessions to sell. A professional usually runs the sale, does all the work, and keeps part of the profit. In estate sales, everything goes, so some stuff might be sold for dirt cheap or even for free! For more information, check out this article.
• An auction is also held on a larger scale, and this is usually run by a professional auctioneer. A time and place is set up for the auction, it is advertised, and people come and bid on items that interest them. The highest bidder wins each item. Auctions can also be hosted by phone or through the Internet. For more information on auctions, read this here.

Hopefully you benefit as much as I did from these articles, so that when it’s time for you to host a sale, you know what type will score you the highest profit!

It’s no secret I love to travel, and I’ve been enjoying the free time to do it these days. One thing I’ve found myself getting in the habit of checking is the Buy Owner Blog: every so often, they’ll post seasonal events in other parts of the country. These posts are great for a person such as me, who likes to take impromptu trips. It’s also a nice surprise if you’ve already had a trip planned, and then you discover a new event or place to see. And, of course, it helps people stay on top of what is happening in their area or the area in which they are moving to!

What about you? What are your go-to sites for local/regional events and entertainment info?

A lot of articles these days are saying the same thing: If you want to sell your house, you have to drop your price.

What do you think? Is that true? Could selling your home be as simple as lowering the amount of money you’re asking for?

Consider this bit of advice, taken from an old MSNBC article written back in 2006, when the real estate market was looking much, much different:

“The key is realistic pricing. Jim Warkentin, another Realtor in McLean, says the recent hot market ‘was very forgiving’ when a house was not priced right. ‘A trained chimp could put a property on the market and it would sell,’ he says. ‘Not anymore.’”

If that was sage advice three years ago, how much more now?

A recent AP article says there are new normals in real estate, some that affect buyers who need to look at homes as long-term investments and some that affect sellers who need to reconsider whose market they’re working in.

“Be patient and maybe even lower your asking price, because the balance of power has swung strongly to buyers,” writes Adrian Sainz, offering advice to sellers.

It’s a new type of selling market, and only those who realize it will come out ahead.

According to a recent post from the Buy Owner Blog, data shows that the housing market is beginning to stabilize and that an improvement is foreseen for the future. No data can tell us when the improvement will begin, or where, but this article from Forbes.com does inform us where the best and worst markets currently exist.

Los Angeles is one city that is seeing an improvement after being hit hard. Home sellers are beginning to receive multiple bids. Other cities that are noticing an improvement include Denver, Boston, Phoenix and San Diego.

Though those cities show progress, others still show a decline in home sales, including Seattle, Washington D.C., Cleveland, Detroit and Las Vegas. If you’re looking to buy, these are the areas to check out for great deals!

For more information on how the results were formed, and what to expect in the future, read the rest of the article here.

I’ve written about the importance of quality advertising before.

IMO, real estate advertising can make or break a sale.

Now I think it’s time to show rather than tell. Take a look at these two example ads, which I found randomly. You tell me which one seems like a house to be interested in, just based on the ad. Keep in mind they’re in a similar price range, in the same city.

1. HOUSE ONE: in Chicago’s Jefferson Park neighborhood. Listed at Buy Owner.

2. HOUSE TWO: in Chicago’s River East neighborhood. Listed at Byowner.com.