Five Quick Tips For Selling Property For More Money

The real estate market seems to be coming back to life and prices are certainly rebounding here in Pinellas County and throughout Florida.

If you are thinking about selling, now is the time to maximize your opportunity to sell your property for the highest possible price.

So, what tricks can you use to separate your house from the competition and get the highest price for your real estate today?

Here are five time-tested ideas that I've seen work over and over and over and over ...

1. Photography.  We live in a highly visual age.  The better your house looks on-line or in printed materials, the more likely it is to sell faster and for a higher price.  So, you have to get high quality photos of it.  One way is to hire professional photographers to shoot your home inside and out.  But honestly, with today's foolproof cameras and digital technology, almost anybody can take great interior and exterior photos.  There is one trick to great photos: use a camera with a good flash.  When you use the flash inside, it eliminates shadows.  Shadows make your rooms look smaller because they are actually dark spots in the image.  Dark spots reduce detail and make rooms look smaller.  Also, flash allows you to shoot toward windows without causing backlighting and silhouettes that hide the lovely details of your rooms.  So, always use a camera with a flash.

2. Music.  If your property will be shown when you are not present, turn on some background music.  It creates a relaxed, easy-going mood that makes your property much more inviting.  Don't play it loud ... remember, it's background music.  Personally, I think easy listening jazz is the best kind of music, but classical is just about as good.  It's a matter of taste and the style of your home.  Stay away from hard rock and rap.  It's too distracting and sets the wrong tone for most home viewing.  If you have a computer with some good speakers, try Jazzradio.com and select something you enjoy from the various program options.  It's a can't miss approach that will bring extra money to your sale.  Why?  Because it helps people like your house even more ... and the more they like it, the more they may be willing to pay for it.

3. Entry.  This is really easy.  Back in the day, we used to call this "curb appeal".  Some of us old-time real estate agents still do.  All you have to do is dress up the front of your house.  I like to put a few flowering potted plants near the front door.  It gives the entry some color and makes things look fresh and fun.  You might want to add a nice new welcome mat while you're at it.  And if the front door needs painting, do it.  It will make a difference that will pay big dividends.

4. Closets.  There is an old saying in real estate: "Big closets sell little houses".  It's true!  In order to make your closets and pantries look larger, all you have to do is get rid of the clutter.  Away with all those old shoes on the floor of the bedroom closet.  Take all the old clothes that you'll never wear over to Goodwill or Salvation Army.  Spend a weekend cleaning out and straightening up the garage ... at least get it to the point where one car can be parked inside!  You will be surprised how de-cluttering your closets and storage areas will make them look larger.  Besides, you're going to have to pack all that stuff when you move, so why not get a leg up on that chore now.  This, folks, is a money maker.

5. Clean.  Nothing says "Yuckpooey" more than an unclean house.  When a buyer says "ugh", you can kiss the sale goodbye.  So, before you put the house on the market and every day thereafter, clean, clean, clean.  Get the whole family together and make things bright and sparkly.  Get rid of odors.  Bleach out stains.  Wash in corners.  Mop up everything.  Dust.  Dust.  And then, dust again.  Never leave a dish in the drainer.  Never leave a sock on the floor.  Hang all the towels.  You know the drill.  As an old real estate friend of mine used to say; "make it look like a model home everyday".   

Now, sure, there are probably fifty other things I could include as tips for getting a higher price for your home.  But I'll guarantee you this, if you do these five things religiously, your house will sell for the highest price, in the shortest time, and with the least inconvenience to you. 

Try it!  What have you got to lose, except your property!

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Why We Need FHA Mortgages Now More Than Ever

Once upon a time, years and years ago, at a condominium I can't remember very well, for a buyer who may not even live there anymore, I presented an offer on a property in which the buyer was going to obtain an FHA-insured mortgage.

The seller agreed to the offer, we put the unit under contract, and the buyer applied for his approval meeting with the condo board.  He never got the meeting.  Some weeks later I found out that the condo board looked at the offer and held their nose in disgust.  Later, I was told that the president said "we don't want those kind of people here."  He meant that they did not want lower income people who had to "hang on by their fingernails to an FHA loan."

Today, as a result of the bursting of the real estate bubble, the overall financial crisis, the bank bail-outs, stagnant incomes, unemployment and all the rest, those people make up roughly 50-percent of America's population.  They have an annual household income of less than $50,000.  The purchase of their first home represents their best -- and perhaps only -- chance to gain some kind of financial security to help support them in their old age.

For millions of these people over the years, FHA has been the lifeline for finding a way to obtain home ownership.

Given today's economic climate, there are those in Washington, DC and elsewhere who feel we should stop loaning money to these people.  They believe that low-to-moderate income families should qualify for a conventional mortgage rather than use an FHA program.  Right now, they are drafting rules -- known as the Risk Retention/Qualified Residential Mortgage (QRM) rule -- that make home ownership possible but extremely difficult for most people because they limit FHA and encourage conventional mortgages.

How difficult?  Try this on for size; the rule calls for people to make a minimum down payment of five, ten or even twenty percent of the purchase price. 

What does that mean in real terms for a moderate income family?

Simply this.  The Mortgage Bankers Association estimates that for a family earning the median income in this country, it will take up to five years to save the five percent down payment.  It will take up to nine years to save a ten percent down payment.  And if the rule calls for a twenty percent down payment, the middle class family will have to spend up to eighteen years saving to make a down payment.

Take a 28 year old couple who have just decided to start a family and buy a home of their own.  If they are required to get a conventional mortgage with a 20 percent down payment, the estimate is that they may be about 48 years of age before they can make their dream come true.

That really is not fair.

Home ownership remains the fast track to financial security in this country.  To make home ownership more difficult, or to force the delay of such a financial opportunity for so many of our fellow countrymen, is simply an outrage.  What is more, in the long run denying the opportunity to obtain some level of financial security means that an aging population will have fewer assets and be less able to care for itself with the passage of time.  Supporting this aging population in the future will put an even greater burden on future generations.

The QRM rules being considered now are unfair to the current population and will be even more unfair to the next generation who will have to support their seniors.  Before these rules are finalized, all Americans need to take a close look at what they mean and their impact on the financial future of all of us.

Frankly, I think we need to keep FHA around.  And VA, too!

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