SELLING YOUR HOUSE?

5 Things to Do Now to Get Your Home Sold in 2012

 

It’s that time of year when most of us start to count our blessings, look back at what we’ve accomplished in 2011 and think about what we’ll get done in 2012. If selling your home is part of your resolution list for next year, there’s plenty of prep work you can do to set yourself up for home selling success.

Here are 5 things you can and should start working on without further ado, if you want to get your home sold - smoothly and for top dollar - in 2012.

1. Put your intentions in writing. The first step to any real estate transaction - actually, to anything important in life! - is to get clear on your goals. Unexpected challenges and situations might very well come up in the course of selling your home, so having a clear idea of your ultimate goals at the outset is a must to help you make the right decisions along the way and to remind you when you might need to course correct.

When you’re setting your objective and writing it down, it’s critical to be specific and holistic, drilling down to the details of what result it is you want your home sale to achieve in your life.

Also, establish where your priorities lie: with speed or with dollars? For example, your goal might be to sell your house as quickly as possible so you can relocate your family by spring. Or, your goal may be to sell your house at the best possible price no matter how long it takes.

Getting as clear as possible from the very beginning on your priorities and ultimate life objectives for the sale will allow you to communicate these crucial things clearly to your agent, and will power your decisions on issues like:

• which home improvement projects, if any, to complete before you sell;
• whether to accept a particular offer; and
• how aggressively to negotiate counter-offers, and on which points to push back against a buyer’s offer.

2. Study the local market. The most successful home sales are the listings that are priced right from day one. Ask any agent: even in the toughest markets, there are listing that sell quickly, mostly because the one-two punch of the property and its price look to buyers like a very strong value.

In order to position yourself and your property at the point of pricing nirvana, you’ll need to do some leg work. stat. You don’t need to pick an exact price this moment, unless you’re planning to list your home super soon, but you can get started on what I like to think of as the ‘thinking seller’s’ three-pronged approach to pricing now, by:

• visiting open houses,
• studying nearby listings, and
• talking with local agents.

Before the year is up, try to visit a handful of open houses in your neighborhood. This will help you get a sense of the types of homes that are on the market, what condition they’re in, and how they are priced. Keep in mind that no home is going to be exactly like yours, but if it’s similar in size, location and features, then buyers that see that property will probably be the same buyers that come to see yours - and they will be comparing list prices.

Another great prep tool in gearing up to sell your home in 2012 is to study similar homes for sale on Trulia! Pay particular attention to what features they have, how they are described and priced, any incentives the sellers are offering (e.g., closing cost credits, etc.) and how long they’ve been on the market. (Hint: you might not want to price your home right in line with one that’s been on the market over a year. Obviously, that home is overpriced, and that is NOT a result you want to replicate!)

Finally, one of the most efficient and nuanced ways to get to know your local market is to begin speaking with agents who sell homes in your area. Get a few referrals, call them up and tour them through your home. Then, ask these pros for their opinion on what you should list your home for, what recent sales they think are the most comparable (and why), and how long they would expect your sale to take given their experience and current conditions.

You can use these same home tours to get a head start on selecting your listing agent by asking the agents you interview to give you a preview of what they would recommend in the way of preparing your home, timing your listing and marketing your house to achieve the objectives you set in Step 1.

3. Gather your paperwork. In planning for your sale next year, you can get a great head start by pulling together the necessary paperwork now. Keep in mind that the specific requirements vary by state, so this is not an exhaustive list. In general, you’ll need to have these ready:

• Disclosure documents: This includes any documentation of anything that might impact a buyer’s decision about your home, whether it be inspection reports, repair receipts or estimates for repairs you haven’t actually had done yet. Your local real estate pro will help determine what exactly is needed here.
• Compliance certificates: In some cities, the local government will require certain conditions be met before a property is transferred to another owner. Examples of these requirements include sewer line condition guidelines, and energy conservation ordinances that require low-flow toilets and shower heads to be installed. Again, your  real estate agent and your city’s website can help you figure out which, if any, of these types of ordinances might apply to your home.
• Mortgage statements: Before the property’s title can transfer to another owner, the escrow or title company will need your mortgage statements to order payoff demands from any mortgage holder who has to get paid before that can happen.
• Financials: If you’re planning on a short sale, you’ll have a lot more paperwork to gather in your process, including paycheck stubs, bank and investment account statements, and two years’ W-2 forms or tax returns - the bank will review these to determine whether they will authorize you to sell the home for less than what you owe.

4. Prep your listing plan and timeline. After you’ve done all your pricing homework and have chosen a listing agent, you can create a plan and timeline for how all the moving pieces will come together - including who is responsible for getting which tasks done. At minimum, your plan should specify:

• prep work you’ll be doing to your property before it’s listed for sale - including decluttering, staging and any repairs or cosmetic power-tweaks you plan to make;
• if you’re planning a short sale, a timeline for submitting an application to your lender for approval (this might be before or after the property is listed - consult with your lender and your agent on the matter)
• planned list price (based on current local market conditions - this could change if you don’t plan to list your home for several months);
• the target date on which your home will be listed for sale in the local MLS; and
• how showing arrangements will work so that local agents can get prospective buyers into your house to see the place, and what.

Agents: What other elements do you encourage sellers to include in their listing plans?

5. Get a head start on your ‘home’work. How much prep work your home needs really depends on its current condition. A good starting point for many sellers is to order an inspection. Most buyers will get their own inspection before closing a deal, but getting ahead of them with your own will help you avoid any unwanted surprises later on in the transaction. An inspection will give you a reality check on your home’s condition, enabling you to decide upfront whether it’s worth it to fix something now or simply reduce the price in consideration thereof.

Your holiday vacation from work is a great time to:
     (a) obtain any advance inspections your real estate agent recommends,
     (b) have any reasonable repairs completed,
     (c) pre-pack and declutter your place, and
     (d) prettify your home’s curb appeal - painting the shutters and sprucing the landscaping goes a long way toward attracting buyers.

Kudos, in advance, for taking the time now to prepare for your home sale in 2012!  Selling in today’s market is no easy task, and doing the heavy lifting now - before your home goes on the market and, hopefully, while you're on vacation! - will help tremendously in making things go as smoothly, and profitably, as possible.

GET YOUR ENERGY TAX CREDITS BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE

Last Call for Energy Efficiency Homeowner Tax Credits

 The Alliance to Save Energy urges American consumers to give themselves the gift of energy efficiency this holiday season—and reap the benefits when they file their 2011 federal tax returns—by taking advantage of tax credits for energy efficiency home improvements.

FHA LOAN LIMITS RETURN!!!

SOURCE: National Association of Realtors

November 17, 2011 20:38 ET

Realtors® Applaud Congress for Reinstating FHA Loan Limits

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwire - Nov 17, 2011) - The National Association of Realtors® commends Congress for reinstating the loan limit formula and maximum cap for Federal Housing Administration-insured loans for two years.
"As the nation's leading advocate for homeownership, we applaud members of Congress for restoring FHA's previous loan limits, which will help reduce consumer cost burdens, stabilize local housing markets and allow qualified, creditworthy borrowers to access affordable mortgage financing," said NAR President Moe Veissi, broker-owner of Veissi & Associates Inc., in Miami. "The reinstated loan limits will help provide much needed liquidity and stability to communities nationwide as tight credit restrictions continue to prevent some qualified buyers from becoming home owners and the housing market recovery remains fragile."
The provision reinstates the FHA loan limits through 2013 at 125 percent of local area median home prices, up to a maximum of $729,750 in the highest cost markets. The floor will remain at $271,050. The loan limits for Fannie Mae- and Freddie Mac-backed mortgages will remain at 115 percent of local area median home prices, up to $625,500.
NAR believes the reinstated loan limit formula and cap change will help make mortgages more affordable and accessible for hard-working, middle-class families throughout the country, not just wealthy individuals or those in costly markets. Nearly two-thirds of buyers who will be helped by the loan limits provision have incomes below $100,000.
"It's a misconception that only wealthy borrowers benefit from the maximum cost loan limits; middle-class home buyers living in all areas of the country deserve the same access to affordable mortgage financing and the same opportunity to achieve homeownership that home buyers enjoy in the most affordable regions of the country," said Veissi. The legislative action will have an impact even in communities with loan limits well below the maximum cap; the reset last month impacted 669 counties in 42 states and territories, with an average loan limit reduction of more than $68,000.
The bill also provides for a short-term extension of the National Flood Insurance Program through December 16, 2011. NAR strongly urges Congress to use the additional time to complete work on a five-year reauthorization of the program, which ensures access to affordable flood insurance for millions of home and business owners across the country.
The National Association of Realtors^®, "The Voice for Real Estate," is America's largest trade association, representing 1.1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

GETTING CLOSER!

Why We Need the Housing Market to Hit Bottom

Written by: Brian O'Connell 11/11/11 - 12:01 PM EST

NEW YORK (MainStreet) -- With home values in decline, down about 29% since 2006 according to Zillow.com, you might think that affordability alone would make the housing market a good bet. But it isn't. And that is weird.

When the price of most commodities goes down, such as gasoline or oranges, the tendency is that consumers buy up more of those commodities. But that hasn't happened in the U.S. housing sector.

A bottom in the housing market has been a long time coming, and new numbers may make the picture clearer.

Even though housing prices, on average, have fallen almost by one-third in the past five years, housing purchases just haven't budged.

Pending home sales were down by 4.6% in September, according to Realtor.org, while existing homes sales fell by 3% (although sales for the year in both categories are up moderately). That's been the case for most years during the Great Recession, as sellers outnumber buyers.

But as any homebuyer could tell you, it's not easy getting credit for a $500,000 home -- or even a $300,000 home. In addition, high unemployment has made buyers nervous. Few consumers want to take on a massive source of debt when they're uncertain about their job prospects. In addition, consumers don't want to buy a home that may not appreciate in value all that much during the next 10 years.

But affordability may finally help get some homes off the market, albeit at a slower pace than homeowners and real estate professionals might like. Numbers from Fiserv Case-Shiller show that lower home prices may finally be triggering "price stability" in the U.S. housing market.

The Fiserv home price insights index shows three fairly major developments in the housing sector, one for the long haul and two happening right now:

Home prices in the U.S. are expected to decline 3.6% into mid-2012, and then rebound 2.4% in the second half of 2012 through the first half of 2013.

Price declines and low mortgage rates have resulted in dramatic improvements in housing affordability.

Fiserv estimates that the ratio between mortgage payments and housing income has fallen 40% from its peak in 2006.

"Housing affordability has improved dramatically because of declines in both prices and mortgage interest rates," explained David Stiff, chief economist at Fiserv, in a statement. "The monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced single-family home is now $700, compared to $1,140 in 2006 -- a decline of nearly 40%. Nationally, purchase mortgage payments now account for only 13% of monthly median family income, the lowest percentage on record (since 1971), and compared to 23% in the first quarter of 2006."

Both pricing declines and low mortgage rates may finally be gelling enough to where people should start to feel more comfortable buying a home, although the data show that lower-priced homes are more attractive than median-priced ones these days.

Of course, any pickup in "affordable" home purchases depends on the health of the U.S. economy -- an uncertain proposition as the U.S. and global economies struggle to emerge from recession. Stiff, for one, thinks the odds of that happening are pretty good.

"If economic growth picks up in the second half of 2011, then home prices should stabilize early next year," he says. "New housing construction is at an all-time low and inventories of foreclosed properties are starting to shrink. Lower levels of housing supply and more steady demand next year will reduce downward pressure on prices. As homebuyers become more confident, many who are sitting on the sidelines will begin to enter the market and prices will start to increase."

That would be a welcome prospect indeed for homeowners, and for buyers itching to get into a home of their own. We'll know a lot more by next spring, but for now, the outlook for housing is as good as it's been in a long while.

PRE-LISTING INSPECTION...NOT A BAD IDEA

3 must-knows about prelisting inspections

REThink Real Estate
By Tara-Nicholle Nelson
Inman News™

Q: Recently, I read an article of yours in which you told a seller to have her home inspected before putting it on the market. I will be putting my mom's house on the market, and in watching many of the real estate TV shows, I had never heard or seen this idea before.
Can I really obtain the home inspection in advance? The process always seems to have problems after the prospective buyer gets the mortgage and then pays for his or her own inspection. It would seem like a good selling point if the property already had a clean inspection or the indicated repair were already taken care of. --Albert W.
A: You absolutely can -- and possibly should -- obtain an inspection on your mother's home before you put it on the market. Given the way mortgage lending guidelines have tightened up and the fact that appraisal and condition issues are killing a larger number of transactions than at any time in memory, obtaining prelisting inspections differentiate your home from the overwhelming competition and boost your home's chances of selling by helping satisfy prospective buyers that the property will:

• pass the lender's and appraiser's condition guidelines;
• not have surprise condition issues arise midtransaction; and
• be in a condition that maps to the price they've agreed to pay for it.

Here are some things you should think about as you decide whether to move forward with obtaining prelisting inspections and figure out a plan around how to leverage the reports.
1. Prelisting inspections won't make the deal, but they can help optimize your chances of closing the deal. Buyers are not going to buy a house they wouldn't consider otherwise because it has reports, but if they are debating between your mother's home and another property, a clean bill of house health, documentation that needed repairs have been completed, or even reports showing what needs doing and a corresponding discount can help push buyers off the fence.
As you noted, many homes fall out of escrow because of condition issues not discovered until the transaction is partially underway. Sometimes, advance inspection reports can surface issues, allow you to get repairs completed and thus avoid that issue.
However, at other times, prelisting inspections show issues too big for you to have repaired that will be deal-killers for almost any mortgage lender. In this case, you do yourself the favor of forgoing even bothering trying to get it past a mortgage lender and empower yourself to list it as a cash-only sale for a fixer-upper price.
2. Having prelisting inspections may change your disclosure requirements. You don't mention whether your mother has passed away, but if so, and you are selling her home on behalf of her estate, you could very well be exempt from many disclosure requirements, depending on your state's law. (Consult with a local real estate agent to find out.)
However, once you obtain prelisting inspections, you will have a legal duty to provide information about any defects turned up to prospective buyers. That still might make sense, especially if the home is in great shape or you do elect to invest in necessary repairs. Just be aware that by obtaining the inspections you might heighten your own legal duties vis-à-vis making disclosures about the condition of the home.
3. Your prelisting inspection won't replace the buyer's inspections. To be clear, whatever inspection(s) you obtain won't be the inspection -- it will just be an inspection. You'll want to expressly advise the buyer that the prelisting inspections -- and I would encourage you to consider a pest inspection, property inspection and a roof inspection -- are for his information only.
You don't want the buyer to rely totally on it and forgo his own due diligence for liability reasons; your aim is to either verify the place is in good shape, clear the place of major repairs or brief them on why the property is being priced in that way and what they'll need to do (or won't need to do) later, assuming you can negotiate an as-is offer.
But you also want the buyer to still obtain his own inspections, so he can attend, ask questions, select the inspector and not fault you for anything that is missed. And you should work with your listing agent to require that the buyer sign your written advice to get his own inspections, as well as to make the property available to the buyer for just that purpose.

NEW FHA LOAN LIMITS

 As the housing market and the overall U.S. economy continue to falter, a group of real estate industry executives recently took the time to draft a letter to John Boehner, Speaker of the House; Nancy Pelosi, Office of the Democratic Leader; Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell

RATES KEEP GETTING LOWER!

- RISMedia - http://rismedia.com -

RISMEDIA, August 11, 2011—The average rate for a 15-year fixed loan dropped to 3.54 percent last week from 3.66 percent the week before, according to Freddie Mac—the lowest result since 1991.