Tips For Busy Home Sellers

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Help! We Owe More Than We Borrowed and We’re Going Broke Q: We’re going bankrupt. We now owe more on our mortgage than we originally borrowed. We get charged $100 a month or every other month for “property preservation” – supposedly someone drives by our home to make sure it’s still here. We have been forced to pay huge insurance premiums. The lender now wants to lift an automatic stay created by our bankruptcy so they can foreclose immediately. What can we do?

Selling a Home Calls for Calm, Cool - and Preparation

BY

CHARLES SCUTT

Tips for Busy Sellers

Content That Works The process of selling a home isn’t as easy as staking a “for sale” sign on the lawn, sitting back and waiting for the highest offers to come rolling in.Without the right preparation, even the best home on the block can sit for months on the market, wasting time and causing more than a

few hairs to turn gray prematurely. The key to selling a home efficiently, experts say, is to plan properly and, literally, to get your house in order. Do your homework and select a reputable listing agent,“somebody you are comfortable with and will trust.A good real estate

agent will offer specific advice to get your home ready to sell,” says Gregory Allman, a sales agent with Windermere Real Estate/Wall Street, Seattle,Wash. “A real estate professional can go through your home to evaluate what things may need to be changed to have the house looking ‘show-ready,’” says Bill

Golden, real estate agent with Re/Max based in Atlanta, Ga.“It takes a professional eye to know what things need to be done. More often than not, an expert agent ends up saving homeowners time and money. There are often things that sellers think need to be done that really don’t.”

See Preparation, Page 2 Photo courtesy of the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association

Ask our broker

A: You’ll need an attorney to help with the bankruptcy.Talk to local housing groups and law schools for referrals. Beyond that, call the consumer affairs department with your state attorney general’s office and ask them to review the loan agreement. Q: We own a rental property and have now decided to sell. The tenants will move out at the end of the month and the home will be vacant. How does the vacancy impact our insurance coverage? A: Policies differ, but you’re likely to find small print that says full coverage remains in effect for up to 30 days. However, once the 30-day period has passed coverage is likely to change. In particular, you can expect that damage from vandalism and malicious mischief will not be covered. Contact your insurance broker immediately for specifics.Also, ask about special policies for vacant properties.These can be expensive when compared with regular coverage – but cheap if damage is a serious worry. Be sure to ask about deductible amounts and limits under your current policy and any vacancy policy you might consider. Q: There are many financial calculators online. Are such programs generally accurate?

A: If we’re talking about figuring monthly payments and amortization statements, yes. However, there are two other questions to consider. First, if you must fill in personal financial data to use a calculator, does the Web site owner get to keep your data? Think of such issues as privacy, data mining and identity fraud. Second, what’s being calculated? If you need to amorSee ASK OUR BROKER, Page 2

Tips for outdoor entertaining: arrange furniture to encourage conversation and provide plenty of surfaces for food preparation and serving

Spruce up Your Yard for Barbeque Season BY KIT DAVEY

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weep off the patio, hang up the hammock and start flipping burgers – it’s barbecue season! Holding an outdoor party is a good excuse to spruce up your backyard. While you’re at it, why not decorate it as well? To make your yard party-ready, set up a date a few weeks in advance to work towards. If you’re like me, you’ll want a tidy and attractive yard for your guests and you can use the motivation to get lots done. Make a list of the maintenance and repair

work you’ll need to do to freshen up your yard. Do you need to trim any tree branches, fertilize or patch the lawn, repaint the garden furniture, weed your flower beds or stash empty pots? Why not move your potting station to the side of the house and set up a plant hospital? After you’ve done the grunt work, set up your yard for the activities your guests will be involved in. Define food preparation and serving areas, perhaps using a potting table or a piece of furniture from inside your house. Determine where you will serve drinks and how you’ll chill them.An ice-filled

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wheelbarrow or an antique laundry tub can work just as well as a cooler. Position trash and recycling containers near your beverage center (a lidded can will help keep insects away). Will your guests be eating family-style or buffet style? Make sure you have enough seating and surfaces to place food.Arrange your garden furniture to encourage conversation and keep an open area for kids to play in. Your guests will probably want to explore every corner of your garden so why not decorate your yard with a few accessories?

See BARBEQUE, Page 2

BARBEQUE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Arrange old rusted garden tools or a collection of miniature chairs and hang them on your fence or the side of your potting shed. Hang a dried flower wreath on your garden gate. Have your kids make a scarecrow and place it in your flower or vegetable garden. Make streamers by tying lengths of ribbons to plant stakes.Tie raffia around the necks of several dried gourds and hang them from a fence post. Display an oil painting, ceramic plate or mirror on your garden wall. Hang tiles or old trivets on a fence post, fill a bowl with beach stones and place it next to a grouping of flowerpots. Group all of your birdhouses in one tree or arrange them on your fence. A garden can never have too many flowers.Add bursts of color throughout your yard. Select two or three predominant colors and repeat them in each of the beds. Group blossom-filled pots near your garden furniture

PREPARATION CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Work with the agent to set a price that’s in synch with what the local market dictates.Try not to let emotions about your home interfere with what should be a rational, well-considered process. “Pricing your home too high is a very common mistake, which usually leads to a long marketing period,” says Golden.“Even if you reduce [the price] along the way, you’ve lost the impact that a new listing at the appropriate price has. It’s been said that 80 percent of the buyers that will see your home will see it in the first 30 days, which means it needs to be at its best right from the start.” Trust what your agent tells you and try to monitor what comparable homes on the market are doing, says Lesli Woodruff,ABR, real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Beverly, Mass. “If the similarly appointed ranch-style home around the corner has multiple offers and yours has had no showings, sit down with your agent and discuss

or by your back door. Cover your planting beds with redwood compost or a layer of rich dark loam. Once your yard is in tip-top shape and you’ve set up your activity zones, it’s time to add the finishing touches: • Keep your table cloth from flying away on a breezy afternoon by laying several lengths of twine across the table with fishing weights or hole-y rocks tied to each end. • Bring out a few decorative pillows and a throw blanket or two and place them on your garden chairs. • Use a votive candleholder, shot glass or egg cup as a minivase and place a bouquet at each table setting. For place cards, write the name of each guest on a smooth pebble or on an apple. • Move your tabletop fountain outdoors. • Refill all your bird feeders and birdbaths. • Position your boom box on a table with an assortment of CD’s in a basket nearby. • Roll up silverware in colorful napkins, tie the bundle with

ways either to stage the home to appeal to more buyers or change the price to reflect market conditions,”Woodruff insists.“Have your agent do a market analysis when they’re pricing the property and throughout the listing period, as well, so you have an understanding of how the market is behaving.” Next, prepare a “to-do” list of minor repairs that you perhaps have been putting off. Small fixes can make your home look newer and more inviting to potential buyers, says Woodruff. Additionally, get your paperwork in order. Gather all the documents a buyer or his agent may request to see, including your deed, a copy of your mortgage survey from when you purchased or refinanced, septic plans, condo documents if it’s a condominium, subdivision covenants, leases, architectural plans, declaration of easements or right-of-way, wetlands or flood plain documentation, utility bills, and building permits. What’s more,“contact your mortgage company to find out about payoff information, hire a real estate attorney, and arrange for a pre-sale home inspection.

raffia or ribbon and add a flower, a sprig of lavender or rosemary to each. • Use abalone or scallop shells as ash trays or candle holders. • Want to protect your sprinkler heads? Put clay pots over them, or tie a red bow around each one. • Arrange beach pebbles around a grouping of candles on a tray and light them before your guests arrive. • Keep insects at bay by using citronella candles, covering the food with cake plate or frying pan lids, and by positioning yellow jacket traps away from the food. © Content that Works Kit Davey, an interior designer based in Redwood City, Calif., helps clients redecorate their homes through the creative use of their existing furnishings. Visit her Web site at www.afreshlook.net.

You will have better negotiating leverage if you know about and disclose all defects prior to even receiving offers.” says Woodruff. “In general, the more organized a seller is prior to the sale, the less work he or she will have to do during the transaction, which is usually a very busy time.” To ready your home for an open house, remove excess furniture and clutter, organize closets and cupboards, and clean floors, countertops and other surfaces thoroughly, says Allman. “Buyers need to be able to see the space where their items are going to fit – not yours,”Allman says. When it’s time to show you’re home, be flexible, says Woodruff. “Try not to be too particular about showing schedules or limit access by not allowing a lockbox to be placed on the property. Remember, most buyers are working people just like you. Sometimes they are only able to see properties in the evening or Saturday mornings, and you don’t want to miss an opportunity to have your home shown to any potential buyers.”

Ask our broker CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

tize a loan or figure interest costs, those are things that can be computed. But if a calculator is attempting to tell you whether it’s better to rent or buy, then certain assumptions must be made. Unfortunately, estimates regarding future rent increases and home appreciation rates are simply guesses. No one knows.

Q: What’s a “hard money” mortgage? A: Usually we think of home loans as something we use to acquire or refinance property.Traditionally, a “hard money” mortgage is financing secured by real estate and used to raise cash. In effect, a hard money mortgage converts real estate equity into dollars you can spend. In today’s marketplace, home equity loans and home equity lines of credit convert equity to cash and are available from virtually all lenders.

Q: We’re about to rent our former house. Should the tenants be required to provide renter’s insurance? A: Yes.A landlord’s policy differs from homeowner’s coverage.A landlord’s policy does not cover personal possessions. Instead, it’s designed to protect against damage to the home itself and to cover liability. Renter’s coverage includes protection for a tenant’s personal property as well as liability coverage. As an owner, you should require renter’s insurance and proof of coverage as a condition of the lease. Q: I’m a real estate broker. I want to develop a marketing niche as both a buyer’s real estate agent and mortgage broker. My idea is to offer a cash rebate at the close of escrow to buyer clients who also utilize my mortgage services. Is there a market for such services? A: There’s always a market for given services at less cost.That said, as a buyer/broker you are an agent who must put the interests of clients first.As a mortgage broker, you bring together lenders and borrowers.The two roles differ. What happens if you, as a buyer broker, recommend financing from you – as a mortgage broker – which is not the best loan in town, the one mortgage with the lowest rate or the best terms? This might happen simply because the mortgage marketplace is always in flux and no single lender always has the lowest rates or best programs. Can you fulfill your agency obligations as a real estate broker in such situations? While the idea of a consumer rebate is attractive, you don’t want to breach agency obligations trying to do a good thing. Before going further review your plans and disclosures with a real estate attorney.Also contact regulators to see what’s permitted or not permitted in your jurisdiction. Get answers in writing. © Content That Works

Do you have a question or a quandary about buying, selling or renting? Peter G. Miller, author of The Common-Sense Mortgage, specializes in providing real solutions to real estate dilemmas. E-mail your questions to [email protected]

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© 2005 Content That Works – All Rights Reserved • contact us at 866-6CONTENT or CONTENTTHATWORKS.com for licensing information.