Real Estate Daily Blog

Even if your home is located in a great neighborhood, other factors like a bad layout will keep it from selling.  Not all homes with bad layouts can get easily renovated; often they are considered as incurable defects.  If it will cost more to renovate than you would get in exchange for your effort, it might be a better idea to sell the house for less or offer the buyer a remodelling credit.

Houses with bad layouts usually have hallways facing the entrance, narrow doorways, adjoining bedrooms, dining room in the center of the home, bedrooms in different floors, bedrooms that are accessed from family rooms, guest bathrooms in bad locations, second floor bedrooms with stairs in the center, and choppy placement of rooms.  These types of houses usually sell for less than the neighboring homes with the same square footage and better layouts.

Before a lender can process a loan, the institution will need to verify your employment with a verification of employment form. Besides that, the lender will also need the following paperwork:

Current pay slips. The last two pay slips will be enough. Don’t hand out the origianls though; make copies.

W2s. This is the wage and tax statement given out by your employer for the calendar year. This is the form you also attach to your tax returns.

Bank statements. Your lender might want two or three months’ worth of bank statements. Make a copy from each bank and include all pages of the bank statement.

Federal tax returns. If you haven’t filed your tax return for the year, look for the last two years’ tax returns. Include all schedules and make sure all the tax returns have your signature.

Asset statements. If you own any mutual funds, bonds, or stocks, make a copy of each statement. Although lenders prefer hard copies over the ones you can get online, the online ones will do if that’s the way you receive your statements.

One of the most effective marketing tools you can use when selling your property is a multiple listing service. This is a private database which will allow real estate brokers who handle home sellers to share information about listings with other real estate brokers who represent buyers. Most buyers agents look at multiple listing services when they are looking for homes within their client’s specifications.

You can only get your home on a multiple listing service by getting an agent who is part o fthe local listing service. The selling agent gets a compensation from using this system. Make sure your agent specifices how much comission you pay will be given through the listing service to the selling agent.

Most buyers start doing their search by looking at listings on the internet. The trend today is for buyers to search using Google as opposed to going to specific real estate websites. Ask your real estate agent about marketing your home via the internet. If your home is already posted in your local multiple listing service, it will automatically get posted on sites like realtor.com. Make sure that it’s your brokerage’s policy to share their listing with major websites. You’d be surprised at how some real estate brokers don’t use the internet and insist on selling your home themselves.

You might love your dog, but your potentail buyer may not be so impressed.  Whether its because of allergies or simply not being a dog person, many buyers get turned off by homes with pets.  Here’s how you can show your house to buyers without having a rough time.

Find an alternate location where you can keep your pet, like a neighbor’s house or a family member’s.  If you are unable to temporarily relocate your dog, put him or her in a pet carrier when you have buyers looking through the house.  Your dog should not stay in such a small space for more than two hours, but this will give buyers more than enough time to look through the house and ask any questions.

If your house has some pet odors or carpet stains, hire a professional cleaner to remove them.  Buyers will immediately smell the odor of an animal and form an unfavorable early opinion.

Most real estate listings are informative but boring, and it’s the boring factor that keeps the house from selling. This happens because most people let their real estate broker do the listing, which only communicates with other brokers but not prospective buyers.

Take charge of your listing instead so it can grab attention. You can do this by making sure you have great pictures - and even if you don’t have great pictures to begin with, you can always use Photoshop to bring out the property’s excellent features. If your lawn is dead, use the paintbrush to color it green. If it’s a cloudy day, wait for blue skies before photographing your house. When a buyer scans the listing with the agent, you only have two seconds to grab his or her attention. Making a lasting impression is a must if you want to invite a viewing.

Taxes eat up a considerable amount of your income, but did you know that real estate gives you excellent tax breaks? Investing in real estate has many tax advantages over receiving a monthly wage. On Capital Gains Rates you already save a lot; on capital gains you only get taxed 15%, as opposed to the 35% for wage income. If you sell your residence, you also get an exemption if you’ve been living there for the last five years. You also get to deduct the interest you need to pay on debts you got from acquiring your real estate properties. You even get tax deductions for the wear and tear of your rental properties, even if the property’s value appreciates! There are so many tax advantages to investing in real estate. As long as you plan your income wisely, you’ll be able to save a lot.

Regardless of where you’re located in the US - even if it’s in a desert, by a river, or in the Midwestern plains - your home is at risk for flooding. Floods can happen to anybody at any place because of rising river water, flash floods, or rapid snow melt. Even if you think that a flood in your area is highly unlikely, you should consider getting a flood insurance policy. It’s fairly inexpensive, particularly in high-risk flood areas since the policy will be backed up by a federally insured mortgage. If your community is a participant, you can get flood insurance from an agent via the National Flood Insurance Program. Remember that flood insurance is easily transferable; you can assign your existing flood insurance policy to a buyer.