Put My Property On The Market Now – Are You Kidding Me?
Monday, December 05, 2011
When you look at your holiday calendar you may find you are overloaded with seasonal obligations such as shopping, entertaining, charity work, decorating the house, and much, much more. If you are also trying to sell your home, you are under extra pressure to keep your home in “showing” condition. And that’s probably the last thing you need before the holiday spirit is broken!
Therefore. it is understandable why you may be tempted to take your home off the market during the holidays. Better to just pack it in and start fresh in January, right? Maybe not! We believe that taking your home off the market during the Holiday Season is a mistake.
For many in the real estate industry, the holidays are one of the best-selling periods. Why? Because most people take off from work during this time of year and many find this to be a great time to look for a new home!
Before you take your home off the market, consider the following points:
Although buyer activity may appear to slow down, the buyers who are actively looking during the holidays are that much more serious.
Many buyers deliberately choose to shop for a home after the busy spring and summer rush. They know that it will be easier to look, and that negotiations will be less stressful. They may not have children, or they may have grown children, so moving to accommodate the school year isn’t a consideration. Finding the right home at the right price, however, is.
Relocating families often don’t have a choice in when they can leave for their new destination. Although 68 percent of transferring families have children, many families have to transfer during the middle of the school year. These families are that much more motivated to get their families settled in before either before the January semester begins, or to arrange for the move during spring break in March. If you sign a contract by New Year’s Eve, the timing couldn’t be more perfect!
During the Holidays, our culture focuses on family and the home. Allowing buyers to view your home during this most hospitable of seasons lets them better picture their own family life in the attractive environment you have created. Afterall, when is your home ever more beautiful and inviting? You have cleaned and decorated, and your home looks like a picture postcard. If the results are good enough for family and friends, they will surely be good enough to impress buyers!
Finally, with reduced inventories and motivated buyers, you could very easily have ‘good luck’!. You may find you have more showings than you would if your marketed your home during a busier time of the year!
- Scott Askew
Posted in: Tips for Sellers
Ooh, That Smell!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Wasn’t Thanksgiving great! Full, grateful, stomachs thanks to your cooking prowess!
But have you ever been in your kitchen and caught a whiff of rotten food or sewage? I have. First, I go to the trash can. If that is not the source, I then put my nose to the sink. Yuck! That’s it! My sink smells! I then turn on the water and run the disposal…but the smell lingers. Has this ever happened to you?
If you find a bad odor coming from your disposal, it could be caused by debris that has collected on the underside of, or beneath, the disposal’s rubber flapper.
Here are the three things to do to make your disposal lose its unpleasant scent:
1) With the disposal OFF, wipe the underside of the rubber flapper with a coarse rag or pad and detergent. Make sure not to stick your hand too far into the disposal!
2) After cleaning the underside of the disposal flap, turn on the water to the sink, then turn on the disposal and dump a couple of handfuls of ice into it. The ice will not dull the blade, but will actually clean debris and gook off the blade.
3) Now, with the disposal running, drop in a few lemon, lime, or orange peels. They will not only leave a pleasant scent, they also do a good job of breaking up debris and gook.
There, isn’t that better!?!
- Scott Askew
Posted in: Intown Living
A Thanksgiving Blessing
Monday, November 21, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving!
If you’re called on to bless the family feast, and are lost for words, here is what I will be saying. Feel free to slice and dice to fit your needs!
A Thanksgiving Day Blessing
God - Thank you for the universe you created and all the plants, fish, and animals, including humans, placed here on this earth for your, and our, enjoyment.
We are thankful for our United States of America’s forefathers, who built the greatest country the world has ever known.
We are thankful for all the sacrifices made by our mothers, fathers, grandparents, great grandparents, and all of our ancestors native to America and those from England, Scotland, Ireland, and many, many other countries who made it possible for us to arrive at this station in life.
We are thankful for all the soldiers throughout the centuries, who have sacrificed all they had, and have, to allow us to enjoy the lives that we enjoy today.
We are thankful for our brothers, our sisters, husbands and wives, our children, grandchildren, niece, nephews, grand-niece and grand-nephews, who provide us with much happiness and provide support when we need it most.
We are thankful for our friends that help us celebrate the good times and are by our side to help us through the hard times.
We are thankful for our good, physical and mental, health.
We are thankful for the teachers and mentors who have given us the knowledge to prosper in this world and to help us become the best that we can be.
We are thankful for our business associates who work with us everyday.
We have much to be thankful for – and it all comes from you. Thank you.
In God’s name we pray - Amen
- Scott Askew
Posted in: Intown Living
When Home Buyers Should Get A Survey
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Most lenders do not require homebuyers to have a new survey done in preparation for closing. But, as you know, lenders do have the buyers buy lender-coverage, title insurance protection for survey problems at time of closing. (Keep in mind that lenders do not require buyers to get owner’s title insurance, but they do require lender’s title insurance to protect the lender!)
Most buyers have learned that it is a good idea to get owner’s title insurance, and there are many situations where it is also smart to get a new survey done.
What properties should definitely have a new survey?
1. New construction - The builder may have a survey in connection with the construction loan, but make sure that the survey includes driveways, walkways, boundary fences and walls, parking pads, patios, and sundecks.
2. Properties that have been rebuilt or remodeled – Many builders are squeezing large houses onto small lots, and only a survey will show if any building lines and setbacks have been violated.
3. Older properties with small frontage or narrow width – Many of these houses have been enlarged over time, plus there are often encroachments of driveways and fences.
4. Properties with long legal descriptions (metes and bounds) rather than short legal descriptions (lot number, plat book and page) - It is very helpful if the long legal description refers to the previous survey that was used to write the long legal; in this case a copy of the previous survey may suffice.
5. Any properties that are made up of more than one “tract” or “parcel”, usually because the parcels were acquired at different times or because neighbors have “swapped” some property to accommodate a driveway encroachment or fence encroachment.
- Scott Askew
Posted in: Tips for Buyers
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