How to Sell Your Home Despite Your Problem Neighbors
You’ve got the perfect house for sale – good for a family, accessible to essential establishments, and can surely suit the lifestyle of your potential buyers. You are pretty sure that this kind of property will be easy to sell. But there is one problem that you weren’t able to consider – “bad” neighbors. Having bad neighbors can contribute to the stress of selling your home. Bad neighbors can be those who do not respect privacy, noisy neighbors, rude neighbors, neighbors who don’t maintain their homes, those who are involved in illegal activities, and many more. Like other real estate problems, there are many ways on how you can deal with these “bad” neighbors. CONSULT YOUR REAL ESTATE AGENT Once you decide to sell your house, don’t hesitate to let your agent know about any problems with the property including any problematic neighbors. With their years of experience, your real estate agent can give you sound advice and help you deal with this problem more effectively. Before trying to solve the problem on your own, seek advice from your agent first. Your actions on your own might backfire and might give you a harder time selling your house. TRY TO TALK IT OVER Try to meet and discuss your problems with your neighbor. This might not be possible for more serious or deeply rooted feuds, but it could work for those who have lighter problems such as noise and parking disputes. Approach your neighbors in a diplomatic manner and try to smooth things over. You can even offer them a small treat or token as appreciation. Let them know that you genuinely want to fix any wounds and differences in your past and that you want to have a more positive relationship with them. BE HONEST WITH YOUR BUYERS Be upfront and transparent with your buyers. This will help them gauge the problem and avoid any awkward situations with your neighbors when they visit the house for inspection. Letting your buyers know about your situation will also help build trust in you as their seller. This will come in handy in negotiations and in closing the sale. SET BOUNDRIES One of the causes of disputes among neighbors is the boundary. I’m talking about the land that is being occupied by your property. In some cases, the branches of a tree in a neighbor’s garden goes beyond your fence. Hence, occupying space in your property. Other times, disputes are caused by the dividing fences. To avoid possible problems, set boundaries. Coordinate with your neighbor regarding the building of your fence and ensure that it is within your legal boundary. Most people prefer to have something that separates their property from their neighbors. And of course, buyers want something that looks pleasing and is in good condition. CHECK IF IT’S LEGAL If you’re being bothered by your neighbors’ activities, check if it’s legal. However, since getting involved with their business might also be an invasion of privacy, it is best to seek help from your real estate agent and consult with your local authority on how to deal with this kind of situation. KEEP CALM AND REMAIN DIPLOMATIC Remember that you need to keep things diplomatic no matter how you feel about your neighbors. Don’t get carried away by your emotions. Be objective in dealing with this problem. When the problem persists or worsens, don’t be afraid to ask for legal help. Keep in mind…. be patient. Soon enough you’ll be out of there and won’t have to interact with these people again!
Ways to give a Basement Value in the Housing Market
You might not have thought about it before, but renovating your basement can significantly increase the value of your property. By renovating your basement and transforming it into something functional, you are creating an additional living space that people can make use of. If you’re thinking that fixing up your basement will only waste your time and money, think again. Studies show that basement renovations regain about 70% of their costs at the time of resale. Here are some awesome transformations that you can do to increase the value of your basement: Bar Your basement is a perfect space where the grown-ups can hang out. You can easily set it up by including a bar counter, stools, and your favorite booze. You can also add a cozy sofa to make the guests feel comfortable. And a big TV screen so you can watch your favorite movie while drinking. Whatever you feel like including. You have the freedom to customize the space depending on what you love to do with your friends. Game room Another way to upgrade your basement is by turning it into a game room. What’s more exciting than a home arcade? Set it up with your favorite arcade games, or maybe a PlayStation. How about some board games for bonding with the whole family? No need to go out of the house for some recreation. Perfect during this time when we are advised to stay at home. Gym Take this extra room as an opportunity to build your own personal gym! Your main expenses will only be the gym equipment. You can actually save more money in the long run as you wouldn’t need to pay for your gym membership. Plus, it’s a safer option during this time. But since this is the basement and there is limited air flow inside, you might need to do some renovations to improve the ventilation. Home Theatre If you think about it, the basement is the perfect place to have a home theater. It’s cool, it’s dark, and you have enough space to mount a television or projector, and some comfortable reclining chairs. Home Theatres are on trend and a great way to bring family together! Additional Bedroom By renovating your basement, you can even create additional bedrooms. You can easily transform your basement into a bedroom by adding a bed and a closet. Trust me, you’re going to have a blast decorating and filling up your basement with furniture! The only problem you might encounter in creating a bedroom is adding a form of egress or a way to exit the property in case of emergencies. Depending on how your basement is structured, it might take some effort to create a window that is big enough to escape to in case of emergencies. Which transformation did you like? With all these ideas, I hope you find more value in your basement. The most neglected area in your home can actually be transformed into something beneficial and might actually improve your home. Renovating your basement might cost you some money but think of it as an investment. When you create an additional living space in your home, your house will increase its value upon resale. Don’t limit yourself with this list. Be creative and think of ways on how you can maximize the area in your basement.
FSBO- To Do or Not To Do…
SO a big question I get a lot as an agent is “what do you think about FSBO’s?” For Sale By Owner Honestly, my answer really depends on who you are. If you are someone who invests in in real estate often, actively involves themselves with current matters with the real estate market, has in depth experience with the current legal requirements for mandatory documents and disclosures needed to complete the sale, not to mention has great negotiation skills… then maybe doing a FSBO is right for you. I know, I said it. But let’s talk about the pros and cons involved here, because to be very honest, I truly would not recommend going FSBO instead of hiring an experienced agent. Here are the reason’s why: Access to MLS and Accurate Pricing In order to list your home on the local area’s Multiple Listing Service you will need a relationship of some kind with a local licensed Real Estate Agent who is a member. Listing your home on the MLS broadens your audience for your listing by thousands. There are over 4,000 local agents here in Colorado Springs, each with their own database of buyers. The minute your listing goes live in the MLS these agents (and their buyers) have access to the listing. Not to mention systems and programs that I personally use as a listing agent to also blast the listing out to even more buyers and agents in the market. A lot of Sellers will under price themselves because they don’t accurately understand the current market value of their home. I offer Free Home Market Analysis for anyone interested in seeing that their home could sell for in our current market. You might be surprised by my answer. 90% of my client’s I have sat down with for a listing consultation underbid what they thought they could sell their home for. I do the research, find the comps, measure and note the details of your home that make it especially marketable and work out the math for the pricing accordingly. Pricing your home in a fast paced hot market is also very strategic as well, so having someone experienced help you price your home just right will make or break the success of your listing.Internet Marketing Over 50% of buyers start looking on the internet. Yes that means Zillow, Realtor.com, Trulia and so on. You can pay a fee as a homeowner to list your home on those individual platforms on your own, but with the listing plugged in on the MLS by a licensed agent, the listing will automatically be blasted out to many of these websites without you having to pay a thing. Talk to your listing agent (or me) about which websites your listing will be sent to. I promise you will be pleasantly surprised at how many places on on the internet we market your listing to as a standard procedure each and every time.Professional Photos & Staging It has been said that homes that are listed with photos from a professional photographer on average sell $11,000 over market value and sell 50% faster than homes with standard photos (aka done by seller themselves or listing agent). Studies have shown that 98% of buyers judge whether or not to schedule a showing for a property by first seeing the listing photos online. Now we all know one major aspect besides a gorgeous home that can help professional photos look amazing is staging. Staging is yet another lovely service paid for and provided by your listing agent. Staging a home can dramatically save you from a costly price reduction of your home. A staged home statistically will sell for 17% more, on average, than a non-staged home, and 95% of staged homes (depending on your local market) will be under contract in 11 days or less! That is about 87% faster than non-staged homes. So if you are a factual, numbers kind of person… dig into these facts deeper, talk to me if you have questions, but these numbers don’t lie. Professional Photos and Staging arranged and paid for by the listing agent can make a huge difference in the amount of profit, and time frame for selling for you as the Seller. Negotiations One major aspect of buying and selling in the real estate industry is negotiations. Sometimes you don’t realize exactly how much back and forth happens between your agent and other parties involved in the sale so let me lay it out for ya. I negotiate with Buyers Agents who think they can strong arm the listing side into accepting a low ball offer, or accepting a contract written specifically to give the Buyer unfair protection in the transaction. My job is to advocate and protect you as the seller and your interests. I sometimes negotiate with buyers themselves who have no agent representing them and think they understand the market and don’t need any help closing the deal. In many cases I will also weed out unqualified buyers who are window shopping but have had zero interaction with a lender and would ultimately just be a waste of your time. I negotiate with Inspection Companies or contracted professionals to either complete work needed at a fair and approved cost or to decide what work needs to be done. It is incredibly important that I meet with appraisers that come to look over the listing and I prepare not only my Market Analysis with comps for the property but also a list of all the improvements and details for the home that helped us determine our list price. This is so incredibly important because the home needs to appraise for the listed/sale price in order to progress to the closing table. I am your hired negotiation expert to fight for you or get you the best deal possible so you can focus on packing or just relaxing during this process and not worry. Sometimes peace of mind is a very invaluable asset. Legal Paperwork The state and national Government are constantly publishing new rules and regulations for the documents, disclosures and addendums needed for various real estate transactions. It can be a very costly mistake, one where you would need to hire an attorney or have to pay for a specific mistake in the paperwork, if something is done incorrectly or for instance not filed at all. It is required for us as active, licensed Real Estate Professionals to be up to date with all contract guidelines for the current year. We have access to all the required documents and extensive training on how to correctly fill them out and it is our responsibility to make sure they get signed by all parties and submitted properly. Buyer Agents May Not Show Your Listing It is sucky to say that, but the reality is a FSBO is not an attractive listing to a buyer’s agent because they know they wont have a fellow professional to work with on the other side of the deal. They are seen as being a hassle and full of risks for the buyer without a Listing Agent to help manage things, not to mention more costly for the buyer if the Seller is not willing to pay the full commission to the Buyer’s Agent either. Could you list your home yourself? SURE. But let me say this – Real Estate is a full time job. Do you have the time to be answering phone calls all day, writing contracts correctly, negotiating offers, handling showings and appointments with inspectors and appraisers and so on? Do you have the knowledge to properly price your home in this market? Do you have the connections to properly list your home with professional marketing? I DO. Let’s Talk.
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