When I’m working with first-time buyers, I love reading the words “All appliances remain!” especially when they’re coming from apartments and have nothing but milk crates and mattresses with which to decorate.  It does take time to build up an income to replace appliances and to take on other house projects, so appliances remaining are a huge selling point.

Sometimes, however, the appliances that remain are old.  Functioning, yes.  Attractive, no.  The good news is you can make these appliances look a lot nicer with a little ingenuity and elbow grease.  Apartment Therapy offers some tips on how.  For example,

Many appliances can be fitted and updated by changing their fronts. A great option for renters who are stuck with built in appliances like dishwashers. Contact the manufacturer of the appliance who can provide you with a listing of face panels that will fit existing appliances, and face panels that will require customization.

By the way, my friend who just moved hasn’t yet brought over her fancy new washer and dryer, so she’s been using the landlord’s old-fashioned one that has the rotator.  She said the old one works MUCH BETTER!

Photo by Lara604 via flickr creative commons.

A house sits empty on a street, alone and forsaken by the voices that used to fill it’s walls with laughter, shouts, and conversation.  My friend No More Empty Fortune Cookies wrote about that house on her street and her words are almost haunting,

There’s another empty house on our street. For such a small cul-de-sack, the occupied home to empty home ratio is precariously teetering in unfavorable ways these days.  I would just shrug my shoulders and say meh, but I want our house to sell.

We live in a town with a very high foreclosure and distressed sale rate - it wavers between 30 and 40 percent.  People in our community have talked about how to stop what had been a slow spiral down into a ghetto-like area, but we are starting to feel like we’re spinning out of control.  And our officials won’t raise our property taxes or place a moratorium to stop the continued building of inexpensive, not always sturdy homes.

I fear that one day, our only choice will be to leave this town.

I’m hearing a new buzz in the office lately… the sound of hope.  Everywhere I turn, agents are being more positive about the market.  One agent just stuck his head in my door to say that he sold a $400,000 listing - had both the buyer and seller sides.  Plus he has another listing for about $120,000 that he’s also found a buyer for.

I’m hoping it’s not the final push for buyers to grab that $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit from the Feds due to expire at the end of April (well, under contract by April 30th).  My hope is this may be actually the market starting to turn.

I’ve been working at a concession stand at a major arena in my area to raise money for my daughter’s extracurricular activities and talked to one of the stand managers.  He said he used to be a construction worker, but is now in the food industry.  While I’d hate to see him leave because he’s on of the nicer managers, I do hope he can get back into his preferred career.  He thinks construction is starting to pick up.

What do you think?  Just a passing thing or real recovery?

I just took a listing and my seller is just incredible.  She took the concept of staging to the best level possible … to the point that her empty walk-in closet upstairs now has gorgeous padded clothes hangers, some decorative pillows, and a pretty nightgown on display.

She also staged her pantry.  How in the world does one stage a pantry, you might wonder.  It’s really pretty easy if you just take the time to go through it.

1.  Get rid of all old food that’s been there at least a year.

2.  Arrange the cans and boxes so they balance each other - soups together, vegetables together.

3.  Put all “cooking” products together - things needed to top it off such as oil, vinegar, ketchup, mayo.

4.  Turn all products label out.

5.  Heavy products go on the bottom (cases of drinks, water).

6.  Finally, make sure the shelves are all CLEAN - wipe them down, along with the walls, floor and door.

Good luck!

Staging a home can be done in degrees.   Some sellers go all out and remove, rearrange, or refinish furniture, walls, floors, light fixtures, cabinets, counters and everything in-between. Other sellers may simply pack away knick knacks and give the house a good, deep cleaning.

BOTH are good, but the latter is the top priority if you want to get a good price.  Frankly, no one wants to buy your dirt and crud, so to have a house clean and clutter-free is the MOST VITAL step you can take to finding a strong buyer.

I think when buyers come through they look up (fixtures), down (flooring), and all-around (fresh paint).  If these are in good condition, if the house looks and smells clean, and if the price isn’t outrageous, you may have a sale.

My kids would have this gorgeous carpet all splotched up in no time at all.  This house in Nashville area is coming on the market this week!

This could be a classic case of the right arm not knowing what the left arm is doing.  A woman had her house repossessed and her parrot taken by a bank contractor who was there to padlock her pad.

The home owner said all her mortgage payments were current and because she - and her parrot - have been traumatized, a lawsuit has been filed.  From MSNBC.com,

…  she suffered irreparable emotional damage and is afraid to set foot in the house. The lawsuit says she eventually regained possession of the bird, named Luke, after repeated phone calls to the bank.

I’m glad Luke has been returned and can definitely understand her nervousness when it comes to returning to the house.  Good luck!

Photo by crispin swan via flickr creative commons.

A huge selling point for many people trying to realize the American Dream of home ownership has been the promise of tax deductions available from the Feds.  Is it really worth it?  What exactly can you claim?

To answer the first question, YES!  If you are turned off by home maintenance, consider a condo or town home where all the outside maintenance is done through your HOA fees.  Otherwise if you’re eligible for any of the home-buyer tax credits now in effect, NOW is the time to get started.  Do not delay because you have to be in a binding contract no later than April 30th.

Besides getting money back from the government for purchases, other homeowners may also deduct their mortgage interest from their taxes as they file the income tax.   In addition to deducting your property taxes, you can also claim the interest on up to $100,000 borrowed on a home equity loan or home equity line of credit, regardless of the reason for the loan, according to Turbo Tax.

What can’t you deduct?

Dues to a homeowners association

Insurance on your home

Appraisal fees for your home

The cost of improvements to your home, except in the relatively rare case where they qualify as a medical expense. (But keep those receipts. They may help you reduce your taxes when you sell your home.)

Want to know more?  Click here.

I have a seller who is enthusiastically preparing her house to list.  She had a pre-inspection done yesterday and there was a minor list of items that needed repaired or worked on.  For example, new caulking was required on one outside window and one pipe needed to be insulated.

Her husband won’t let her list the house until everything is done, which is normally a great attitude.  However my concern is that by delaying they may miss out on buyers who are looking to get the nice juicy federal tax credit.  It’s a magnificent house and none of the repairs should hinder any buyer.

In any case, I am of the school that it’s good to get a listing pre-inspected in order to have all repairs made and to eliminate any surprises from when the house sells.  Another agent in my office were discussing this and he has the opposite view … he believes that if you have it inspected and find something wrong, then the seller is liable for disclosing it in the future. My thought is that if something that major is wrong, they’ll have to repair it anyway.  If they don’t and the seller walks away, they’ll still have to disclose it.  I’d much rather find a problem and address it in advance.

What do you think?  Would you be more inclined to buy if a house had already been inspected?  If you were selling, would you want it pre-inspected?