By simply making a couple of changes around your own house, it will feel like you live in a bigger space.  From The Sun’s Financial Diary, here’s one tip:

Use paint to make rooms seem larger. Lighter colors often make spaces look larger. If you want to lighten up your rooms but still wish to have some pizzazz, use bright or dark colors to create accent walls.

I’m a little embarrassed to admit that every room in my house except the kitchen/dining room have white walls.  Maybe it’s time to just get rid of some junk!

I hope that this weekend we can start going through our garage.  I think it’s time my daughter’s new Girl Scout leader inherits the troop’s camping supplies!

Today has been crazy in the real estate world.  Buyers have finally realized they have until midnight Friday to be in a binding contract.  Along with that realization is that if sellers are at this point unwilling to work with the buyers, they are not motivated sellers.

All buyers – and by that I mean ALL BUYERS – today ask for closing costs.  It doesn’t matter if they’re looking for a $50,000 home or a $500,000 home, they will ask for 3 percent to 4 percent in closing costs.

Expect it.  Or sit on the property for a while.

That is all!

This truly crooked house makes me just a tad sea-sick.

Built in 2004 in Sopot, Poland, the building was designed by architect Szotnyscy Zaleski.  Go here for more photos.

When I’m driving down the road going perhaps 5 miles over the speed limit – admit it! You do to! – and someone flies by going probably 100 miles per hour, I don’t get bent out of shape.  Instead, I find myself looking several miles up the road for a car turned upside down or skid marks off the road or for blue lights parked behind the speeding car.

It’s the survival of the fittest.  That’s why I found a recent blog post at Active Rain by Ruthmarie Hicks of New York to be very interesting.  She discusses that between part-time agents and full-time agents, we are hoping to “thin the herd.”

“Part-timers are better because they aren’t so pressed to make a sale…There is nothing worse than desperate agent breath!”  Major artillary

“Full-timers are available 24/7/365 – a part-time agent means part-time service and a lack of dedication. “  Saturation bombing.

I admit that when I first started in real estate, I was met with some hostility by the oldtimers.  But I was willing to work with them, ask lots of questions, and I stumbled every now and then.  Eventually they figured out that I was in it for the long haul (though 2009 nearly did me in).  Now when people think about coming into real estate (and isn’t it amazing how few there are with this limping housing market?), I tell the truth. Chances are we won’t know the same people, so won’t have the same sphere of influence.  But they’re going to have to work really hard, they’re going to have to spend some marketing money (monthly mailings, web page), and they MUST be willing to ask lots of questions or they’ll make a fatal mistake.

It is the survival of the fittest.  And in the end, it’s the people who conduct their business like a business will be around when the dust settles.

I just had a home inspected for termites and other wood destroying insects.  That there had been evidence of termites in the past was clear due to the holes drilled in the porch and garage floor every 12 inches.  The holes were there because the home had been treated.

What I learned today – even after nearly 7 years of selling real estate – is that inspectors have a code they use to show whether termite evidence is old or recent.  When treatment is done, they “knock” the tunnel down so that only a brown line remains. This shows future inspectors that there HAD been a problem but it has been resolved.

Something new for the day!

April 30th this year has jumped to being a much more important date than the infamous April 15th Tax Day, for home buyers and sellers at least.  That’s the last day a buyer can be in a “binding” contract on the purchase of a home to qualify for the federal tax credit of either $8,000 or $6,500, depending on your status and eligibility.

Who are the first-time homebuyers today?  According to the National Association of Realtors, the average age is 30 and their income is about $61,000.  They are looking for homes in the $150,000 range and now seek fixed-rate mortgages and over half (55 percent) are using FHA financing.

Tick Tock.  If you’re in the market it’s decision time!

It’s just part of the job when real estate agents pay for advertising, send in monthly fees for fancy online slide shows that “tour” the inside and outside of houses (with snappy or soothing music in the background), put in open house ads, buy balloons, and drive back and forth to update photos.

After spending perhaps less than $20 on marketing or sometimes thousands of dollars, does an agent have means to regain what they’re “out” when a seller decides to cancel the listing?  In our state contracts, we do now have that option.

Specifically the listing contract says if a seller cancels or withdraws the listing prior to the expiration date, they are liable for the costs of marketing the home.  While it is within their rights to not sell the house, if an agent has out-of-pocket expenses and no hope of regaining them through the commission compensation at closing, the seller should pay those fees incurred during the listing period.

Of course the seller can try to make a case that the agent didn’t do enough to market the home, therefore they found another agent.  However when there are advertising fees that were accrued, it seems pretty evident that the previous listing agent DID actually market the home, which ultimately we are paid to do.

I may be biased here, but I say the seller should refund the agent that money, paid to the broker.  What do you think?

Photo by lilit through Flickr Creative Commons.

The sun is shining beautifully today.  I’m smelling the gorgeous aroma of lilac blossoms and am looking forward to sleeping late at least one day this weekend!  On another day, I’ll be gone all day to a baton workshop with my daughter… where seating is limited and quite uncomfortable.

Which brings us to this random item that’ being promoted to use in small spaces – tiny apartments, tiny houses. It’s a strap chair and somehow I don’t think I’d be able to get myself unwrapped from it after using!

Thanks Apartment Therapy for bringing us this!

Once a home is listed, the sign is in the yard, lockbox on the door, flyers have been designed, printed and stocked, and web sites are updated with beautiful descriptions and great photos, you’d think a Realtor could just kick back and relax as we wait for a stream of offers to pour in.

Bzzzzzz.  (That’s the wrong answer buzzer!)

If the house doesn’t sell within a month or two – maybe three or four – the seasons start to change requiring updated photos.  Or the flyer box is empty.  Or you want to just drive by and make sure your sign hasn’t been vandalized and it’s still standing.

One a listing is complete, the work is just getting started!  I’m heading to a beautiful listing in a few moments to take a photo of the newly staged bathroom and restock the flyers.  Last week I drove by to take a picture of the gorgeous pink tree in the front yard so the MLS photo will no longer look like winter.

Onward ho!

When we tell sellers they need to thoroughly clean their house before putting it on the market, we don’t just mean visible areas.  We are talking about ALL areas – closets, the pantry, the top of a dishwasher door when it’s opened, and yes… even the drawers.

HINT:  This is *not* clean.

The smell of smoke and pet odor is also a problem in some houses.  When a buyer walks in the front door, besides their eyes, they’re also using their noses.  If it smells bad, it’s probably bad.  Make sure you clean, clean, clean from top to bottom, inside and out.

If your agent suggests it – even diplomatically – that a good spring cleaning always help, then your house is not clean.  Get busy!