My Home Isn’t Selling–What gives?
In this economy and depressed housing market, one of the biggest questions people are asking is, why isn’t my home selling? The home could have been on the market for months and no purchase offers have been made.
Maybe it is time to examine your selling strategy to see if you can make some changes to get that house moving in the direction — toward a sell and closing.
Keep abreast of the homes that have sold in your neighborhood. If 90% of the homes in your market aren’t selling, your home has to outshine the 90% to get into the top 10%. Don’t depend on facts or figures about completed sales beacuse the data may be wrong. Look at pending sales figures for the most up-to-date information. These are the homes you want to copy.
Is your home comparable to the pending sales? Take a critical look at your home. Does it need repairs? Upgrades?Do the top 10% of homes that are selling have new carpet? Replace yours if you don’t. Paint the walls a neutral color.
Photography
Do you have good photos of your home? Do you have more than one photo? Hiring a professional photographer may be your best idea. If you find a photographer that is experienced in real estate, they can help you get each shot set up. If your photographer is not very experienced then have him shoot wide angle photos with plenty of light showcasing your home’s best feature.
Unless your bedrooms are significantly different, just photograph the largest one.Be sure that you or your photograher doesn’t appear in any of the photos.Don’t photograph your hallway if it is narrow and dark. Take many pictures of the kitchen from different angels. Set the dining room table with a neutral table cloth and your best china before photographing it. Make your living room look more spacious by moving out some furniture.Take pictures of the flower gardens, the backyard, and the front door. Add a good caption to each photo.
Another method for attracting buyers is going to http://www.findbuyers.com for a unique approach in buyer and selling matching that works like a dating site. Findbuyers.com uses a 30 point matching system to ensure you find the house you want, in the area you want. We have clients in the Washington DC Metro area and most major cities in the Mid-Atlantic region. Signing up is free, so go to http://www.findbuyers.com and register, today.
The Importance of Getting your Finances Straight Before Buying a House
You have made that all-important decision to buy a house. Your dream is finally close to becoming a reality. Once the decision is made, the real work begins. Straighening out your finances is imperative.
Pay Down Your Debt
When you begin the process of looking for a lender, you will find that most want your total debt to be no more than 38% to 40% of your gross income.
For example, is your income is $3000 a month, and then the bank figures your total debt can be $1240 a month. If you already have $1000 in debt, you will only have $240 left over for mortgage payments. To reduce this number, pay off credit cards and car loans to increase your borrowing power.
Begin with the highest interest items first, normally credit cards. Then, move onto student loans and lastly, car loans.
It is always a good idea to get into the habit of paying off your credit cards completely each month and never carry a balance. Few things can kill the dream of homeownership quicker than credit card debt.
If you are finding this difficult to do, then follow the rule of pay-yourself-first. That means, take 20% of your pay check to pay for something you really want or to put into savings. In this case, it is making a credit card payment.
If you take care of everything else first, you may never have enough to pay down your credit card debt.
Get the Down Payment Together
If you don’t already have a savings account, get one now. You can learn to save money by using the pay-yourself-first technique. Every time you get a paycheck, put a pre-established percentage into your savings account and then make certain you leave it alone while your down payment accumulates.
A seperate savings account for your down payment that will allow you to see what you are accumulating toward your dream of homeownership. When you pay yourself from every paycheck, you will be surprised how fast the balance grows.
If you want to qualify for a larger home loan, a large down payment is the key to qualification.
Clean Up Your Credit Report
Good credit not only helps you qualify for a loan, it also allows you get a better deal when you do get the loan.
Lenders will look at your credit report. Bad credit doesn’t mean you will not get the loan, it just means you will have a much higher interest rate and you will be required to pay a much larger down payment than someone with a good credit score.
Credit Report vs. Credit Score
Did you know that your credit report and your credit score are two different things? Your credit report is a list of thing like your credit card and bank accounts, outstanding loans and you payment history. Your credit score is a rating of how good your credit is, based on your report. In other words, your credit report is a bunch of pages and your credit score is a number from 300 to 850. Pay attention to both of these if you have decided to prepare for homeownership.
Taking a few months or even a couple of years to get your finances in order will help you get your dream home.