By David R. Leopold | RISMEDIA, Monday, May 27, 2013
We see it every day. Sellers who don’t take the time to ensure a smooth home inspection and who pay for it in the long run. The spring market is upon us. A little preparation can ensure sellers have great home inspections.
Home inspectors typically arrive 30-45 minutes early to the home inspection appointment so that they are professionally set up and ready to go when you arrive. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been greeted at the door a half hour before everyone is set to arrive by a person who looks as if they’re freshly out of bed.
If a seller does this, he’s about two hours late for his presentation. On inspection day, the house should be empty of the owners and their presence. In fact, everything should be just like it was on the initial viewing day. Be ready for inspection day by getting up and out of the house an hour before the appointment. The home should also be clean and pets should be removed or crated.
If something isn’t working properly, don’t try to hide it. We will find it. Buyers get very suspicious when sellers deliberately try to conceal defects. They immediately see you as dishonest and wonder what else you’re hiding. It’s not worth losing their confidence over a trivial defect. Just leave a note: “We know about it and we’re getting it fixed.”
In addition, make sure the location of attic and crawlspace hatches are identified and are easily accessible, as home inspectors hate moving your stuff.
If the hatch is in a closet, remove any clothing that is hanging directly under the hatch as well as anything on the floor. Your home inspector doesn’t want to move your smelly sneakers.
It’s also important to check every area of the house for blown light bulbs. This includes the crawlspace, attic, garage and furnace room. We don’t want to waste time determining if a fixture is inoperable or simply has a blown bulb.
Do you have a septic system or a well buried in your yard? If so, make sure you leave a sketch of the locations. There’s nothing worse than a group of contractors, home inspector, buyers and their REALTOR® wandering around a yard needlessly, searching for something you know the exact location of.
Lastly, please don’t leave your dirty laundry in the washing machine or dryer. We have to test these appliances and we don’t want to pull your dirty underwear out of the washer in front of everybody. Also, make sure your oven and stovetop are clear and clean so that we can easily test them without setting off the smoke alarm.
Some of these items may seem like REALTOR® 101, but I’ve noticed over thousands and thousands of home inspections that only the most successful REALTORS® pay attention to these details. Help your seller help themselves—and you—get ready for inspection day.
By David R. Leopold is the owner of Pillar To Post Home Inspection located in Fairfield County, Conn.
For more information, visit www.pillartopost.com.
By Paul Owers | RISMEDIA, Friday, May 24, 2013— (MCT)
Some buyers are solving housing woes with prose.
They’re not writing poems or romantic novels — just short notes to sellers, telling them how happy they’d be to buy their homes.
The simple gesture is paying off in today’s market, where inventory is tight and bidding wars are typical.
“Money talks, but a letter gives a human element to an offer,” says Michael Citron, a real estate agent in Broward and Palm Beach counties. “Sellers want to sell to a buyer who they’re comfortable with and can relate to.”
Cynthia Kelley fell in love with a four-bedroom home in Coral Springs, Fla., as soon as she saw the “doggy doors” and the big back yard.
But four other buyers also wanted the home. So her agent suggested she write a letter, explaining to the seller how much the home would mean to her.
“I have three golden retrievers myself and know they would be in heaven with all that fabulous space to run and play,” she wrote.
Kelley, 48, included a photo of herself with the pooches and also explained that she is a reserve Army nurse who is ready to buy after enduring some financial hardships when she was called to active duty from 2005 to 2007.
“I was hoping to appeal to their personal side,” Kelley says.
She submitted a strong offer, which was the most important factor, said Clayton Banks, the seller. But her note confirmed for him that she was the right buyer. The deal closed last week.
“It made us feel better about selling to her,” Banks says.
Writing a letter probably is one of the easiest things buyers have to do to land a home these days, said Samantha DeBianchi, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., agent.
In some cases, they’re giving sellers more time to move by allowing them to stay in the homes after the closing. Lawyers typically advise against these post-occupancy agreements, but buyers are willing because so few properties are available, agents say.
One of DeBianchi’s clients had to adopt the seller’s cat as part of the purchase. The client was a dog owner, but she agreed to the deal.
“This is just how it is,” DeBianchi says. “Sellers are completely in control.”
A letter from a buyer probably won’t make a difference if the offer is considerably lower than others that the seller has received, agents say. Nor will a letter sway a lender, which wants the highest price and the easiest closing possible.
But many traditional sellers feel attached to their properties and don’t want to unload to just anybody, said Judy Trudel, an agent in Lighthouse Point, Fla.
“Sellers want to know the buyer will live in and enjoy the home as much as they did,” Trudel says.
Heather Cameron found a quaint, three-bedroom home in Coconut Creek, Fla., but it had multiple offers.
Cameron, a fan of HGTV’s “House Hunters,” saw that an eager buyer on the show wrote a letter to a seller, so she figured it was worth a try.
Cameron began by complimenting the sellers on the home and explained that she and her fiance, a Fort Lauderdale police officer, hope to buy before they get bogged down in wedding plans.
She added that they want to start a family, and the home would be perfect because her sister lives in the same community.
Within hours of receiving the letter, the sellers accepted the offer.
“Everyone told us horror stories about buying a home,” says Cameron, 23, an event planner. “But this was the easiest process.”
©2013 Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
Distributed by MCT Information Services
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A clutter in the kitchen can be extremely frustrating. Almost everyone has that one cabinet stuffed to the brim with pots and pans that tumble about every time the door is opened.
But there has to be a better, more appealing way to store your collection of pots and pans. Even more streamlined than an organized cabinet is a minimally stocked one, which houses only the kitchen essentials.
Read on to learn what every cook—from the novice to the pro—should have on hand, according to J. Kenji López-Alt, Chief Creative Officer at seriouseats.com:
All-Clad 12-inch Skillet with Lid
10-inch cast iron skillet
10-inch non-stick skillet
3-quart saucier
14-inch wok
16-quart stockpot
An enameled Dutch oven
Whether you stir-fry or not, a wok is one of the most versatile tools in the kitchen. It’s perfect for indoor smoking, grilling, and steaming. It’s by far the best vessel for deep-frying; its wide shape and large volume make it easy to fit plenty of food in there with minimal contact and oil-use, with virtually no danger of splattering the stove-top with hot oil – or worse, overflowing.
He says an enamel-coated cast iron Dutch oven is the ideal vessel for slow braises and soups. In the oven, thick walls and a heavy lid make for really great low-and-slow heat transfer meaning your stews and pot roasts will come out more tender and juicy with minimal evaporation during cooking.
On the stovetop, the Dutch oven’s tall, wide sides make for easy and splatter-free browning of large amounts of meat and vegetables, with plenty of heat retention. And if you opt out of buying a wok, López-Alt says a Dutch oven is also great for deep-frying.
Finally, there’s the large skillet, what López-Alt, calls the true workhorse of the kitchen. He says it’s perfect for rapidly browning large quantities of vegetables or meat, excellent for braising and reducing sauces, and has a tight-fitting lid making it oven safe.
Source: seriouseats.com
RISMEDIA, Wednesday, May 15, 2013— Regional Spotlight
Florida’s housing market gained strength in first quarter 2013 with increased closed sales, more pending sales, higher median prices and a reduced supply of homes for sale compared to the same quarter in 2012, according to the latest housing data released by Florida REALTORS®.
“The first three months of 2013 demonstrate that Florida’s housing market is gaining momentum and continuing to bolster the state’s economy,” says 2013 Florida REALTORS® President Dean Asher. “More people went back to work as more jobs were created in Florida during the first quarter, and our population is also growing –which provide a solid foundation for growth in the housing market. It’s taking less time to sell a home and, coupled with tight inventory, that shows buyers are eager to lock in historically low mortgage interest rates and take advantage of favorable, but rising prices.” Read more…
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RISMEDIA, Tuesday, May 14, 2013
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury recently released the April edition of the Obama Administration’s Housing Scorecard – a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market. The latest data show important progress across many key indicators—as home values continue to rise and home sales remained strong in April—although officials caution that the overall recovery remains fragile. The full Housing Scorecard is available online at www.hud.gov/scorecard.
“The Obama Administration’s efforts to speed the housing recovery are showing continued progress as the April scorecard indicators highlight ongoing improvements throughout the housing market,” says HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Affairs Kurt Usowski. “The annual increase in home prices is the highest in nearly seven years and sales of existing and new homes are both up over 10 percent from one year ago. But with so many households still struggling to make ends meet, we have important work ahead.” Read more…
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Amid Falling Foreclosure Rates and Rising Prices, Trade-Up Buyers Are Coming Back
The Housing Market Continues to Progress
We see it every day. Sellers who don’t take the time to ensure a smooth home inspection and who pay for it in the long run. The spring market is upon us. A little preparation can ensure sellers have great home inspections.
