6 Essential Steps to be Sale-ready After Memorial Day

1. Tackle The Obvious Repairs
If you’re planning to list your home at the start of fall, you now have 30 to 45 days to tackle all the necessary and obvious repairs.Why is it so important to check these off your to-do list ahead of time? First and foremost, it’ll prevent potential buyers from being distracted as they tour your home. Instead of making a mental list of what needs to be fixed, they’ll be able to focus on your home’s positive qualities. You’ll also save time (and money) later by avoiding back-and-forth negotiations over minor repair issues. And doing the repairs yourself, ahead of time, saves you from having to foot the bill for the estimated, and often over-inflated, cost of repairs! (Your actual cost will almost always be less than a buyer’s post-inspection estimate).

2. Remove Your Clutter And Junk Now

Clutter eats equity and kills deals. Period. It’s time to declutter, freeing up more visual space in your home. Look at each item in your house, and decide to save it, store it, sell it, or chuck it.  The concept that ‘less is more’ is at the heart of making a home sellable. Once you’ve gotten rid of what you’re not using, edit and organize the rest. Living space is an extremely precious commodity, and a little extra breathing room, along with a sense of expansiveness, makes your home feels luxurious, calming, and uplifting. And, as obvious as this seems, a buyer will naturally be drawn to, and pay more for, a home that feels bigger.

3. Depersonalize Your Home

I guarantee there is far too much of “you” in your house. It’s time to take down the collectibles, family heirlooms, school photos, and other highly personal mementos. Not that those treasures aren’t amazing – I have a house full of family heirlooms, but now’s not their time in the spotlight. I recommend this, because when it comes to selling, you want a slate that’s blank enough to allow potential buyers to visualize themselves in the home, and to them, your memorabilia is just more stuff, so put it away for now!

4. Remove Anything Polarizing

When clearing out the house, remove any controversial elements – which translates primarily to anything religious or political. Many people have strong emotional reactions to these types of items. Don’t give your buyer a chance to prejudge your home because of your political or religious beliefs.

5. Pump Up the Curb Appeal

First impressions are everything, and a pretty face, err façade, will get buyers in the front door. Right now, you can get a jump on your curb appeal by taking advantage of the spring growing season. This is the time to plant grass and flowering plants. And don’t forget to trim up the trees and bushes. By sale day, your curb appeal will be in full bloom and ready for the stream of willing buyers. Remember, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. That’s why curb appeal – the way your house looks from the street – is so critical.

6. Get A Reality Check

We all have an idea of what our house is worth, but I can promise you that those self-appraisals are not going to be objective.  An educated seller makes smarter decisions.  It’ll give you an automated value estimate and help you connect with agents who can give you an even more detailed and accurate price. For some homes, it’ll also show you what other homes in your area have recently sold for—this is helpful for getting to know the competition. A quick survey of other homes in the area will be immensely helpful for helping you get to that perfect list price.

Getting a head start on the summer sale season by preparing your house (and yourself) gives you a significant leg up come list time. A bonus pay off: Your agent will be thrilled to know that you’ve done your homework and have a realistic view of what your house is really worth!

Home Sales Climb to an 8 Month High!

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes climbed in June to an eight-month high as more listings helped prices cool, luring buyers into the market.

Sales increased 2.6 percent to a 5.04 million annual rate last month, led by gains in all four U.S. regions, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 78 economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected sales would rise to a 4.99 million rate. Prices advanced at the slowest pace since March 2012 and inventories rose to an almost two-year high.

Historically low interest rates and smaller price increases are helping bring homeownership within reach for more Americans. A pickup in employment opportunities that lead to faster wage growth would provide an added spark for a residential real-estate market that began to soften in the middle of 2013.

“We’re recovering from the winter doldrums, more people are working and interest rates are attractive,” said Brian Jones, senior U.S. economist at Societe Generale in New York, who projected a 5.05 million pace of sales for June.

Estimates in the Bloomberg survey of economists ranged from a sales pace of 4.8 million to 5.11 million after May’s previously reported 4.89 million.
Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

Historically low interest rates and smaller price increases are helping bring... Read More

Another report today showed the cost of living rose in June, paced by a jump in gasoline that is now reversing. The consumer price index increased 0.3 percent after a 0.4 percent gain the prior month, figures from the Labor Department showed today in Washington. The core measure, which excludes volatile food and fuel costs, rose 0.1 percent, less than projected.

Stocks Climb

Stocks held earlier gains, with benchmark gauges rebounding from yesterday’s slide, as data showed inflation has failed to gain a toehold and investors assessed corporate earnings. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index advanced 0.5 percent to 1,983.56 at 10:42 a.m. in New York.

Compared with a year earlier, purchases of previously owned properties decreased 2.3 percent in June on an adjusted basis, today’s report showed.

The median price of an existing home increased 4.3 percent to $223,300 in June from $214,000 a year before.

“We are getting sales increases in all price points -- roughly a single-digit pace,” Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said at a news conference today as the figures were released. Demand has picked up “except for the very low end.”

First-time buyers accounted for 28 percent of all purchases in June, matching the average over the past year.

Credit Access

“Access to affordable credit continues to hamper young, prospective first-time buyers,” Steve Brown, co-owner of Irongate Inc., NAR president and a Realtor in Dayton, Ohio, said in a statement.

The number of existing properties on the market rose 6.5 percent to 2.3 million in June from a month earlier, the most since August 2012. At the current pace, it would take 5.5 months to sell those houses, the same as in May. The inventory of unsold homes was up from 2.6 million a year earlier.

The median time a home was on the market decreased in June to 44 days from 47 days in the prior month. Forty-two percent of homes sold in June were on the market for less than a month.

“Things are flying very fast,” Yun said. Sales have seen a “nice jump in the last three months but it is underperforming in my view” compared with the fundamentals, he said.

By Region

The existing home-sales advance was led by a 6.2 percent gain in the Midwest, followed by a 3.2 percent increase in the Northeast. Purchases rose 2.7 percent in the West and 0.5 percent in the South.

Purchases of single-family homes increased 2.5 percent to an annual rate of 4.43 million, the report showed. The sales pace of multifamily properties including condominiums climbed 3.4 percent to 610,000 in June, also the highest since October.

Cash transactions accounted for about 32 percent of all purchases in June, according to the report. Investors made up 16 percent of purchases.

Sales of distressed property, including foreclosures, accounted for 11 percent of the total last month, matching the lowest share since October 2008.

Existing-home sales, which are tabulated when a purchase contract closes, are recovering from a 13-year low of 4.11 million in 2008 after reaching a record 7.08 million in 2005. They climbed to 5.09 million for all of 2013.

The housing market continues to face hurdles to its recovery -- from shortages in construction and labor to mortgage rates that remain elevated compared with early 2013.

The pace of home construction slumped 9.3 percent to an 893,000 annualized rate from a 985,000 pace in May that was weaker than initially estimated, figures from the Commerce Department showed last week.

Mortgage Rates

The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 4.13 percent in the week ended July 17, according to Freddie Mac in McLean, Virginia. While down from 4.53 percent at the start of the year, it’s higher than the 3.35 percent in May 2013.

At the same time, homebuilders are optimistic the market. A report last week showed confidence among homebuilders rose in July to the highest level in six months. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo sentiment measure climbed to 53 from 49 in June, the Washington-based group reported. Readings above 50 mean more respondents said conditions were “good.”

More Paint

Sherwin-Williams Co. (SHW), the largest U.S. paint retailer, is among companies seeing a boost as homeowners remodel and redecorate their homes. The Cleveland, Ohio-based company reported sales and income that beat analysts’ projections and raised its earnings estimate for the year as customers bought more paint.

“If you look at the quality of the existing-home transactions that are occurring now versus a year or two years ago, there’s a far lower percentage of those transactions that are distressed or foreclosure type sales,” Robert Wells, senior vice president of corporate communications, said on a July 17 earnings call. “The owner-occupant selling to a new owner-occupant is the transaction that generates the more painting activity. We think we’re benefiting from that shift.”