Jessica Murr\’s Blog

4 Renovations That Will Devalue Your Home

Money CrashersFriday, January 21, 2011I found this article on Yahoo! Finance and liked its general content. However, I™ve added my own comments and feedback at the end of each section for your reading enjoyment.Most homeowners think that all renovations or home improvement project ideas will increase the value of their property. After all, who wouldn™t love a super-deluxe kitchen, or a bathroom fancy enough to be in a five-star spa? Sure, we™d all love that. But the problem is that most people don™t want to pay extra for someone else™s pet project when it comes to buying a home.Homeowners should of course invest in renovations that are going to make them happy and improve quality of life. It is œhome after all! But if you™re going to be putting your home on the market any time soon or are in the business of flipping houses, certain upgrades could end up doing you more harm than good.If you think you might be selling your home sooner than later, here are four improvements to avoid:1. Over-the-Top Kitchen RenovationsYou may love gourmet cooking, so a $30,000 kitchen upgrade might be just to your liking. But this could be a turnoff for potential buyers who aren™t crazy about cooking. To them, the restaurant-sized stainless-steel stove, kitchen island and fridge just seem excessive, and they™re not going to want to pay for them. Instead, they™ll pass on your home and end up buying one with a regular kitchen.Take a look at some kitchen remodeling ideas on a budget. You can still enjoy an upgraded kitchen without going overboard and compromising the value of your home. In fact, remodeling a kitchen for less than $1,000 is definitely a possibility.Jessica™s Commentary:  Yeah, remodeling a kitchen for under $1,000 is not going to happen. At least not in California. A new fridge by itself could cost the majority of your $1,000 budget so don™t bank on that. If you™re going to be making upgrades to your kitchen and putting your house on the market but don™t want to blow your agent™s commission on that remodel then stick to simple things: clean tile grout, fresh paint, clean & neat appearance, and clear horizontal surfaces.If you have tile floors, counters, or backsplashes in your kitchen make sure your grout is as clean as the day they were installed. There are plenty of do-it-yourself tips online about how to scrape out old tile grout & replace it with fresh, clean mortar/grout.If your kitchen walls have spots of food, mud, paint, or anything else that isn™t easy to wash off then tape it off and give it a fresh coat. The type and color of paint you chose will vary depending on the size, style, and other colors in your kitchen so get the opinions of others before you go buy a gallon of fire-engine-red for your small, shadowed space.If your kitchen towels are tattered and stained replacing those accents and other décor may help revitalize your kitchen. Get rid of the copper-plated bunt pans hanging on the wall if you want a modern look. Remove hardware from your drawers and cupboard doors, scrub any remaining residue and replace with newer, more updated hardware.Lastly, stage your kitchen if it™s up for sale, keep your appliances put away, your counter tops and other horizontal surfaces clear of any and all clutter, and keep everything clean. Stained, grungy, or discolored anything in a kitchen makes it look old. You™d be surprised how much newer your whole kitchen (and house) will look when cleaned thoroughly.2. Over-the-Top Bathroom RenovationsThat ultra-deep jacuzzi tub and custom Kohler 360-degree shower you just installed might make your mornings a blast. But to budget or eco-minded buyers, all that water use is going to be a serious drawback. As with your kitchen, keep your bathroom remodeling ideas modest if you think you™ll be putting your home on the market any time soon.Jessica™s Commentary:  See kitchen updating tips above for tile grout and horizontal surface tips. The easiest ways to make your bathroom look newer than it is are 1) neutral colors and 2) clean fixtures. If your toilet and sink are blue, pink, avocado, golden harvest, or any other distasteful color from the 1960s then replace them immediately. These are relatively cheap replacements compared to remodeling an entire bathroom. Buy white fixtures and keep them clean, bathrooms always look better in white than in any other color regardless of the size or lighting. Scrub your bathroom with bleach, vinegar, any cleaner that will remove all the nasty crud that accumulates in bathrooms. Remove all rust stains, water spots, and anything black“years will be peeled off of your bathroom™s appearance more successfully than Vanna White™s chemical peels.3. A Pool or Hot TubYes, a pool addition can add significant value to your home (11 percent on average in the Southwest, but only 6 percent in the Midwest where the swimming season is much shorter). If it™s above-ground, though, then knock 2 percent of your home™s purchase price, since they™re less appealing than in-ground pools. The problem is that pools are polarizing. There are constant swimming pool costs ($1,500 on average per year) and they require a lot of maintenance.They™re also a liability, especially for families with young children, and could affect your homeowners insurance coverage. Pools will limit how many people want to buy your home, so keep that in mind before you have one installed (or consider buying a home with an existing pool).Jessica™s Commentary:  I agree with the statement about the pools, they are a hassle and a liability and will not increase your home™s value. But if you have a luxury home in a classy neighborhood and you™re the only one without a pool or hot tub, you might want to reconsider your back yard landscaping choices. A pool or hot tub is like a lighting fixture: you don™t put a Tiffany Chandelier in a 500 square foot shack. Please use common sense when choosing a water feature for your home.4. Overly Specialized RoomsSo, you just tore down the garage (which you never used) and built a four-season sunroom which resembles an English manor conservatory. You™re thrilled, but your potential buyers are going to be rolling their eyes. Where are they going to park the car and store the lawn mower and all their kids™ sport equipment? Installing nontraditional customized rooms (like indoor basketball courts or a basement music studio) is great if you™re going to be in your home for awhile. But potential buyers are likely to see this as a waste of space, and a project (and expense) they™ll have to deal with if they buy your home.Jessica™s Commentary:  We™ve all thought it to ourselves, œWhat were they THINKING?? And that™s exactly what a buyer is going to ask if they see your hobby room and realize that half the square footage of the house is dedicated to your video game collection. Again, if you have a disgustingly over-the-top luxurious home with your own grotto and view of the Hollywood sign then having an in-home movie theatre is a no-brainer but for the rest of us with normal, averaged sized homes your rows and rows of DVDs and Play Station 2 games is a drag. If you had put some windows in that game room you™d have a more sell-able house and heck, maybe even a tan!Final WordWe all want to live in a home that reflects our tastes and interests, and our homes should be exactly how we want them to be. Just keep in mind that if you plan to sell your home in the near future, those upgrades and expensive renovations might end up devaluing the home you™re trying to sell for top dollar.Jessica™s Commentary:  Please keep in mind that my commentary is aimed towards potential home sellers, not the home owner who plans on living in their home until they die. If you know you™re there for good then by all means, paint your kitchen red, your bathroom avocado, and put your hot tub right in the middle of your game room, but if you™re going to sell (ever) do us both a favor and don™t make me answer a buyer™s question, œWhat the heck is that??  This goes for do-it-yourself jobs too, if you can™t tape and paint then DON™T.  And if you find your tile grouting skills are lacking, get some one else to do it for you, just because you watched the YouTube video doesn™t make you a contractor so if it doesn™t look professional, then find a professional.Heather Levin contributes to the personal finance blog, MoneyCrashers.com, and writes about green living ideas and tips for saving money on The Greenest Dollar.Jessica Murr is a Realtor in far northern California who specializes in residential and vacant land sales.  If you are looking to buy or sell in the Mount Shasta, Dunsmuir, McCloud, Weed, Lake Shastina, Yreka or Redding, CA areas please call Jessica at 530-941-6061 or email her at myagent@realtorjessicamurr.com.You can also add Jessica to your Facebook friends list by visiting www.facebook.com/realtorjessicamurr or follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/realtorjessicam

I received a facebook message from a long time friend asking for information and advice about buying a house. My friend, we’ll call her June, and her husband, we’ll call him Ward, live in far Northern California and have a son, we’ll call him Wally. Here is June’s message to me:“So let’s put myself in the hypothetical situation of buying a home. Ward and I are getting tired of renting in an apartment complex, and homes for rent are out of budget. But when we do have more money (sooner rather than later, if everything works out to our favor) I have been looking at home buying. Pretending that right now if we were to look at a house listed in the $130K range with $0 (or very little) down, our payments would still come out less or the same as what we’re paying now. What are the true upfront costs going into buying the home, understanding the $0 down? And what is the average monthly cost of homeowner’s insurance? What is the credit score you MUST have in order to even look at purchasing a house of this costs? Just getting an idea if this home buying thing would be feasible in a year, or in 3 years, so I don’t get my hopes up too soon! Thank you!”And here is my response to June:”First of all, I recommend using an amortization calculator to figure your loan payments if you aren’t already. Here’s a great one: http://www.hsh.com/calc-amort.html scroll down to where you see Amortization Schedule Calculator and type in your loan amount, interest rate & loan term. Average rates right now are between 4.75% and 5.5%, I really don’t expect them to rise over 5.5% in the next several months. Standard loans last 30 years and the smallest amount down you’ll need is 3.5% of the purchase price. There is no safe 100% loan (that I’ve heard of) left any more unless you are a Veteran.So a loan on $130,000 at 5% interest that is paid off over 30 years is about $698/month. Insurance for astandard,  newer home (less than 30 yrs old) that isn’t near any water that might flood or a landslide area or anything like that is a little under $100/month. Your taxes will be 1% of the “assessed” value which is the amount the county thinks your home is worth. This can be the same as the amount you pay but not necessarily.Taxes are due twice a year but usually will be built into your monthly payment. So if you bought a house for $130,000 you could expect to pay $1300 in property tax per year, half due in April, the other half in November but if you make monthly payments to what they call an “impound account” it will break down to a little over $100/month in addition to your loan payment and insurance. So actually for a house costing $130,000 you should expect to pay close to $900 per month.Upfront costs will be title & escrow closing costs which vary greatly from area to area because different escrow offices charge different fees. Typical fees for a single family home in this price range are about $2,000. Whether the buyer or seller pays these fees is negotiable when you make the offer. If you are buying a foreclosed home the bank will likely try to force you to use their escrow company which is always out of the area but if they require you to use their company they must pay your closing costs and there can be no other repercussion against you for that. Other upfront fees include the cost of any inspections you want to have done to get a clear picture of the property before you buy it. Typical inspections are a home inspection which a licensed home inspector with a contractors license will inspect every aspect of the home superficially. He’ll test about half the outlets to see if they all work, flush all the toilets, turn on all the indoor faucets, examine the roof, the attic, any crawlspace or basement, the appliances, heating and cooling systems, pretty much anything you think of that might be defective in one way or another. From there if he notes that further inspection is needed on the roof or for the electrical or plumbing you hire a specialized inspector to further examine the system and find out exactly what might be wrong with that system.Another inspection your lender will require is a pest inspection. The pest inspector doesn’t check for things like bugs or rats (although they will let you know if they find something like that-as will the home inspector) he’s looking forsigns of “wood destroying pests” mold, mildew, dryrot, termites, anything that is caused by moisture or “earth towood contact” that results in the deterioration of the structure. Your lender will require that all damage found by the pest inspector be repaired prior to close of escrow. The cost of the inspection and the cost of repairs are negotiable just like the home inspection. The person who pays for the costs is determined before the inspections are performed so you’ll know exactly what charges will be incurred by you before ordering the inspections. Home inspections are priced according to squarefootage usually starting around $150-$200 and going up from there. Pest inspections are usually a flat fee and run between $100-$150. Some inspectors will give you a price break if you pay them on the day of the inspection rather than have them bill your escrow account. This is because escrows sometimes don’t close and if there is not enough money in the escrow account to pay all the inspectors or all the repairmen, those people have to collect their fee without any security after the work has been performed.The minimum credit score right now for any safe lender (although I believe most of the “bad” lenders have been fleshed out of the business) is 620. The FHA requires a 620 credit score and 3.5% of the purchase price down. FHA loans used to be kind of “second banana” loans because there were so many other loans available. Now that those less scrupulous loans are banned or defunct FHA is the standard loan method for most first time home buyers. Think of it this way – traditional loans are for people who don’t need to borrow money, FHA loans are for the rest of us. If you’re shopping in the $130,000 range I suggest stashing savings aside over the next year until you build up about $7,000. This will be enough for your down payment, any additional costs that pop up (like title or escrow fees) and a little bit to move with. Also, be prepared to make your first month’s payment when you close just so that when your first payment is due you have the $$ available and haven’t used all your cash tied up in the escrow.If you want I can set you up to start receiving listings for houses in that price range so that when the times comesyou’re familiar with the trends and sales prices and the types of homes to expect to see. I’ll need to know how many bedrooms you’ll be looking for, bathrooms, if you have a range of square feet that you’d be comfortable with, if there are certain neighborhoods you want to watch specifically or if there are certain neighborhoods you don’t want to receive listings from at all.I hope I answered all your questions without creating too many new ones. If you have more questions just let me know, I’ll be glad to answer them any time. You can call me too, my number is the same, 530-941-6061.”

While it may not seem that many first time homebuyers are out there right now, I have been fortunate enough to work with several families who are getting ready to make their first real estate purchase. While working with these fine people I’ve been asked a lot of the same questions over and over and depending on who your lender is, there are different answers.

I surveyed three of my favorite lenders and asked them the same 6 questions I’d been getting asked by my clients:

1)  I just started a new job, how long do I need to work here before I can get a loan?

2)  What are the differences between VA and FHA loans?

3)  What is the minimum credit score I need to have to qualify for VA or FHA first time homebuyer loans?

4)  How can I determine how high of a loan I will qualify for?

5)  What are the most common reasons first time homebuyers are disqualified for lending?

6)  Are there any first time homebuyer incentives left now that the Federal Tax Credit has ended?

Due to formatting errors on the part of FeaturedBlog.com the rest of this post will have to be viewed on one of my other blogs.  You can view it here:  http://realtorjessicamurr.com/?p=182.

Two parcels on and near the California/Oregon Border near Dorris, California are listed for sale at a killer price.  The parcel that is on the state border is parcel 37 which is the larger of the two (97.3 acres).  Directly to the south is parcel 52 which contains 23 acres.  (See map below)

These properties have deeded access off Log House Road and the closest electric lines are about a mile away.  The neighbors have agreed in the past to let Pacific Power have an easement through their properties to service these parcels.The property is zoned agricultural.  Build-ability is something    that can only be determined by the county and there are steps required by the building department and health department before building permits can be issued. There are several spring- and rain-fed ponds in the area but none known on the parcels for sale.  It is likely there are springs on the property but none have been identified.The sellers know where the property corners are and some are marked.Upon acceptance of an offer arrangements can be made with the sellers to locate the property corners. The sellers have indicated that they would be agreeable to look at offers including seller financing for either or both parcels.  No existing wells or septic systems are on the property and there has never been any development that the sellers are aware of.

Directly to the east of the properties is the old subdivision, Pleasant Valley Highlands however there are not passable roads to any of the lots in that subdivision and therefore they have not been developed and are likely not inhabited by anything other than wildlife. This region is known to be in the path of the Elk Migration Trail and there are tons of other varieties of wildlife including squirrel, deer, fox, fowl, and other migratory creatures.This place is a fisher and hunter’s paradise and is within a short drive to two wildlife refuges, Tulelake Lava Beds National Monument, Meiss Lake, Indian Tom Lake, and Lower Klamath Lake.Driving directions to this property are difficult to describe because there are not many notable landmarks or easily distinguishable direction indicators.  Below is a link to the video I took to easily illustrate the driving time and directions to these properties.  It is not professional quality and was taken from the dashboard of a moving vehicle but it should give you a good idea of the road to the property.  I began filming while on Picard Road heading West from the town of Dorris, CA:http://s697.photobucket.com/albums/vv339/realtorjessicamurr/120AcresDorris/?action=view&current=Drivingto23Acres.mp4If you have further questions about this property feel free to leave a comment below or email me at myagent@realtorjessicamurr.com.  This property will sell soon so please don’t hesitate to throw your hat in the ring!

Just a few minutes from Highway 97 is the small, private community of Mt Hebron, California.  A few miles to the east is a 10 acre parcel with a cute little home nestled in the privacy of the grasses and trees.  The house is modest with two bedrooms and a bathroom.  It has been stripped of the interior walls, floor coverings, and most fixtures and is ready for new, energy efficient finishes.The ten acres are mostly fenced and easily identifiable.Driving directions to the property are difficult to describe as there are not many nameable landmarks but I did record driving directions from the dashboard of my vehicle on the way to the property.  The video starts out with me facing east on Ball Mtn Rd directly off of Hwy 97 in Butte Valley between Mt Hebron Summit and Macdoel.Click the link to view the video:http://s697.photobucket.com/albums/vv339/realtorjessicamurr/Little%20House%20on%20the%20Prairie/?action=view&current=WindowsMovieMakermovie-reduced.mp4The sellers have indicated that they are willing to look at offers containing seller financing upon acceptable terms.  This property is zoned Rural Residential but building prohibitions have been in effect in the area in the past and a buyer intending to build additional structures on the property should contact the county building department to determine possibilities.The property does have a well and septic tank but neither have been used in recent years so inspections should be done to determine suitability for future use.  There is an electrical panel on the property and phone and power lines to it but the power has not been turned on during the current seller’s ownership of the property because the wiring in the house was outdated.This property is like a “fixer” with all the tear-out work done already.  The foundation, roof, and siding all seem to be in serviceable condition so the house has good structural value and the interior is ready for you to put in flooring, drywall, kitchen cabinets & counters, and other finishing touches to make it your own little get-away. Here are some pictures of the property along with a map of its proximity to the townsite of Mt Hebron, CA:

For more information about this property or others in the area contact Jessica Murr by calling 530-941-6061 or emailing myagent@realtorjessicamurr.com.  You can also leave a comment at the bottom of this post for others to see your question and the answer.

Fha 203 (k) rehab

View more presentations from Jessica Murr, Real Estate Professional.

This slideshow was created by a lender to illustrate the usefulness and process of the FHA’s 203K Rehab Loan.

That™s right, you don™t have to close escrow by April 30, 2010 to get up to $8,000 in federal tax credit, you just have to have your house under contract!   If you were like millions of people across the country that thought you only had one month left you are in for a great surprise!  

If you and the seller can agree on a sales contract by April 30, 2010 you have an additional 60 days (until June 30) to close escrow.   A lot of people don™t plan on buying and closing escrow on their home in the next month but what if all you had to do was make an offer and had 90 days to close?   Does that fit your time table?

Read more about it on the IRS website: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204671,00.html

Need more convincing? How about the National Association of Home Builders website: http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/faq1.php#9

And lastly, Frontdoor.com™s article by Annalisa Burgos: http://www.frontdoor.com/Home-Finance/Tax-Credit-to-Benefit-Both-First-Timer-Buyers-and-Current-Homeowners/55352

If you or someone you know is planning to buy or sell real estate in the far Northern California region and wants to know more about the 1^st Time Homebuyer Tax Credit send them my way!   They™ll thank you for it.

Jessica Murr is a licensed Realtor in California serving the Shasta and Siskiyou County region in far Northern California. She specializes in luxury homes and developable land as well as commercial sales and leases. Her services to clients include 24/7 access and mastery of social networking to keep both buyers and sellers up to speed on every step the market takes. Jessica has established herself as the Online Real Estate Professional of Choice for all aspects of far Northern California Real Estate.

Jessica MurrRealtor530-941-6061 (Blackberry)Richter Scale Real Estatewww.RealtorJessicaMurr.comDRE License # 1777426“I don’t follow Real Estate – I’m leading the way”

**I use online social networking to maximize my marketing and learn more about the ever-changing real estate market**

Follow me on Twitter:http://twitter.com/ca_realtorWrite something on my wall on Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/realtorjessicamurrBecome a professional connection on LinkedIn:http://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicamurr

Read my blog:http://realtorjessicamurr.featuredblog.com/

In the last few years the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has created and enforced rules prohibiting FHA buyers from purchasing properties from sellers who had owned the property less than 90 days. This was to protect buyers from someone who might get a screaming deal from a kind old lady and then turn around and jack up the price to sell a month later when prices were climbing faster than the tide comes in. Today, because these predators are all but extinct in the current housing market, there is not much threat of being swindled by a œflipper.

The newest problem affecting neighborhoods is foreclosed houses sitting empty, not being maintained or repaired, being vandalized and bringing down property values. Because of the rules about owning property at least 90 days even banks who owned these repossessed houses had to hold them for 90 days before an FHA buyer could buy them. Effective February 1, 2010 these houses no longer have to sit for 90 days waiting to be financed by FHA secured loans.

This will affect the majority of homebuyers in the U.S. because a large percentage of buyers only qualify for a loan underwritten by the FHA. FHA loans require a lower down payment, offer much cheaper mortgage insurance, and will allow a borrower with a slightly lower credit score to purchase a home. Think of it this way: non-FHA loans are for people who don™t need to borrow the money and FHA loans are for the rest of us.

Now, when banks foreclose on houses they can go in, assess the property, make any necessary repairs, and put the house up for sale right away instead of waiting 90 days so that it is available to all buyers. So if you are watching the foreclosure market waiting for your dream home to become available for you to purchase it you won™t have to wait as long thanks to the new changes in FHA lending laws.

Click here  to see the Government™s Housing and Urban Development article on this subject.

For more information on buying foreclosures visit my blog, œAre Foreclosures Good Deals?  Are you a seller and want to take advantage of these new changes to lending laws? I have a blog to help you get your house ready for sale  hereand a blog about why your house hasn™t sold yet  here.

Jessica Murr is a licensed Realtor in California serving the Shasta and Siskiyou County region in far Northern California. She specializes in luxury homes and developable land as well as commercial sales and leases. Her services to clients include 24/7 access and mastery of social networking to keep both buyers and sellers up to speed on every step the market takes. Jessica has established herself as the Online Real Estate Professional of Choice for all aspects of far Northern California Real Estate.

Jessica MurrRealtor530-941-6061 (Blackberry)Richter Scale Real Estatewww.RealtorJessicaMurr.comDRE License # 1777426“I don’t follow Real Estate – I’m leading the way”

**I use online social networking to maximize my marketing and learn more about the ever-changing real estate market**

Follow me on Twitter:http://twitter.com/ca_realtorWrite something on my wall on Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/realtorjessicamurrBecome a professional connection on LinkedIn:http://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicamurr

Read my blog:http://realtorjessicamurr.featuredblog.com/

So you™ve listed your house for sale, your agent has come and taken pictures, your listing is on the Multiple Listing Service, you have seen it in the newspaper and in the real estate magazines but you haven™t had a single showing. What™s wrong???

Well, if you™re selling in far Northern California I can tell you it™s probably one of three things:

1) You™re priced too high

2) Your house is not appealing to buyers

3) Your agent is not marketing your house in the right places.

So, how do I tell if I™m priced too high? I™ve learned from my own experiences as well as the feed back from buyers, sellers, and agents all over the northstate that houses sell faster when they are priced competitively. Before you decide œcompetitive pricing is pricing below comparable properties, understand that competitive pricing is listing for a price near what comparable properties have SOLD for recently.

Look at comparable properties and consider what criteria truly make that property comparable to yours. Basics like squarefootage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and geographic proximity. If you have a two bedroom, one bath, 900 square foot home, it is not comparable to a four bedroom, two bath, 1500 squarefoot home just because it™s only two houses down. Also, just because you own a 5,000 squarefoot home 40 miles from the closest town does not make it more valuable than a 1200 squarefoot home in a suburban part of town 5 minutes from the commercial district. You need to ask your agent what features make your home comparable to others and only look at properties similar to yours.

Next, look at the SOLD price of those properties. It doesn™t matter what these people were asking for their houses, and it doesn™t matter what comparable properties that haven™t sold are listed for; all that matters is the bottom line “ the sold price. If you price your home near that dollar amount you are saying to buyers, œI am fair and reasonable and buyers will be fair and reasonable also.

Lastly, when looking at these comparables make sure they are homes that have sold recently. You should not consider homes that sold more than 6 months ago because an appraiser won™t and neither will your buyers when they decide what a fair and reasonable offer is. I don™t care that your house might have sold for $350,000 in 2005. You didn™t sell it in 2005, this is 2009. Let go of the past. If comparable properties are selling for $220,000 then your house needs to be priced close to that. Remember, the value of ANYTHING is only what an able buyer is willing to pay. If you are determined to list your home for more than 15% above what comparable properties are selling for, don™t waste your or your agent™s time. Wait it out, hang out for another 5-10 years when things are on a steady rise.

Alright, we™ve gone over the comparable sales, we™ve priced our home competitively, we are ready to be fair and reasonable, but we STILL don™t have any buyers touring our house! Why isn™t our house appealing to buyers?….

Take a look at your pictures first. Is there clutter? Are their bright distracting colors? Is there a dead lawn out front, broken or dirty windows, kids™ toys laying around? Those have got to go. Clean your house, I can™t stress that enough, in fact I™ve written about it before, check out my blog, œTips for For Sale By Owners. Clean your house so clean that those HGTV people couldn™t find anything left to criticize. If your version of clean is that everything is stacked neatly in the corner or that the pile of papers is under the desk instead of on top of it, HIRE A CLEANING SERVICE. They™ll come to you; they will clean EVERYTHING (even the nasty crud growing behind the toilet); they get it done in one day; they bring their own supplies. Where™s the down side? For $100 (or maybe more if your house is a special kind of yikes) it™s done and your home will now be more attractive to buyers.

But my house is clean! It™s spotless, the cleaning service said there was nothing to do here.
Okay, why else might your house not be appealing? Dated furniture? Questionable paint schemes? Is it just ugly? Maybe not to you, but you™ve been decorating this house and putting things in it that YOU like, not what a buyer is going to like. Use a critical eye, ask your agent, ask some friends and neighbors, and if no one can give you any helpful tips call a professional stager.

Go to www.RealEstateStagerAssociation.com and find a stager in your area. Stagers will come to your house, take the tour, prepare an estimate, work with you to see what you can afford, and get the most important things taken care of first. Check out the difference in this room before and after a stager was brought into the picture:

..

..Finally, we™re priced right, our house looks so good we are considering keeping it and not selling after all, but we STILL don™t have any buyers looking at it!! What gives??….

I hate to say it, but maybe your agent isn™t using the right tools to market your home. Is your home on the agent™s website? The broker™s website? Realtor.com? Are all the pretty new pictures up there? (The more pictures the better!) Is the price correct? Is your listing being syndicated to other real estate websites for maximum exposure? Is your agent writing about your listing in his/her blog? Is your agent using online social media to share your listing with savvy buyers? YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Flikr, these are all places you should be able to find your listing. Pictures of it, links to it, descriptions of it, lots of info! Social media is not a trend that is going away. It is not a œphase and it™s not a thing the kids are doing. It is the newest way to connect and communicate and share with the world. Newspapers around the globe are going broke because people are going online to get their information and news. Buyers want the newest, latest, greatest knowledge and they want it as fast as a click of a mouse. They don™t want to search through a dozen magazines and as many newspapers to find their home, they want that information as accessible as any one and online media is the place they look for it. So if your agent isn™t using social media to market your listing, he ought to be. If neither of you is familiar with it and you would like some help, email me. I™ll be glad to share my knowledge and give you both some tips that will help move your property from œFor Sale to œSOLD.

Jessica Murr is a Realtor in Far Northern California specializing in luxury homes, ranch properties, real estate sales consulting, social media and networking, first time homebuyers, and real estate investment planning. For more information on this topic or any other, send her an email at JessicaMurr@RichterScaleRE.com.

I want to be your resource for real estate information and trends. I don’t follow real estate, I’m leading the way.

I also use social networking to maximize exposure for my listings and provide the best marketing possible. Find out how I can sell your home or ranch quickly and for the highest possible price using online social media by visiting my sites:

Twitter

Facebook

LinkedIn

Blogging

Jessica Murr Richter Scale Real Estate “ Realtorâ„¢
Platinum Property Management “ Owner, Manager
Mt Shasta Real Estate Consulting “ Owner, Consultant
Blackberry: 530-941-6061
Email: JessicaMurr@RichterScaleRE.com
Website: www.RealtorJessicaMurr.com

Relax in this 2200+ sqft home on Lake Shastina. Extensive decking and balconies looking out over the water make outdoor entertaining a breeze and the five bedrooms make this a perfect getaway for family, guests, or full time residents. Home features brand new stainless steel appliances, tile countertops, new carpeting throughout, newer composition roof and wooden siding. Heating this home is no problem in the winter with two wood stoves and two monitor heaters. Double pane windows help conserve energy and the heat pump keeps you cool no matter how hot it is on the water.

MLS # 98009

Jessica Murr provides both buyers and sellers with real estate transaction services and advice as well as tenants and landlords with management services in the Siskiyou, Shasta, and Trinity County Regions of far Northern California. I want to be your resource for information and answers to all your real estate questions. Ask me how you can get $1,001 or more on your next real estate purchase.

Jessica Murr Richter Scale Real Estate “ Realtorâ„¢
Platinum Property Management “ Owner, Manager
Mt Shasta Real Estate Consulting “ Owner, Consultant
Mobile: 530-941-6061
Email: JessicaMurr@RichterScaleRE.com
Website: www.RealtorJessicaMurr.com