Home staging is creating a fantasy world for prospective buyers. You want people to come into your house and be able to imagine how the house would look if it were theirs. To do this, you have to remove your personality from the house so that it’s easier for a purchaser to see themselves living in your house. Sometimes it’s hard, but when you talk in dollars, you can make thousands more and sell your home sooner. With these 7 tips, you can make your home look even more attractive to buyers.
1. Declutter
All those books that have been holding up the dining room table? Put them back on the shelves and toss the table out or repair it. Items that are extraneous should be stored out-of-the way while people are touring the home.
2. Repair
You may be able to overlook the fact that one cupboard’s door constantly falls off when you open it, but buyers will think that it’s an indication of the overall repair of the house. If you can’t be bothered to fix a cupboard door, what else haven’t you bothered to fix, they’ll wonder.
3. Clean, clean, clean
The house cannot be too clean. Period. Get a cleaning company or friends to help you. Remember that people looking to buy a house may poke into places that casual visitors wouldn’t, so clean out-of-the-way spots, too.
4. Greenery
Fresh flowers and well maintained potted plants both brighten an area and are soothing to the eye. They also give an impression of space, since plants remind people of the great outdoors.
5. Think Fresh
Unless you’re next to a pulp mill or a dairy farm, opening up the windows will allow fresh air to enter the house and revitalize the atmosphere. Even in winter, turn off the heat and open up the doors and windows for 15 minutes. Turn the heat back on in enough time for the house to reach a pleasant level.
6. The Heartless Friend
Get a friend who isn’t going to shroud what they say in polite euphemisms to go through your house. Take notes of what they notice, what they like and what they dislike. Get several heartless friends if you can – what they notice is what buyers will.
7. The Homestager
There are people out there who specialize in home staging. For a fee of around 500-1000, they will come in and give you advice on how best to present your home. A homestager also has a number of props in their arsenal to place in your home to make it more attractive to buyers.
Watch the video related to home repairs
New home buyers negotiate with the seller to make home repairs. Thisvideo is part of My First Place show SHOW DESCRIPTION :My First Place follows the journey of real-life first-time buyers through the trials of finding and financing their first place. Every episode offers useful nuggets for viewers who want the latest info on securing financing in a down market, plus proven know-how straight from real estate professionals! See a set of first-timers and their realtor along the stress-filled journey, including the exciting search for the perfect home, learning the pitfalls of financing, the best bidding strategies and how to survive the home inspection. Their journey ends in the emotional culmination of homeownership ¿ or sometimes not. Inevitably there’s a compromise to reach closing on a new home for the first time.
Help answer the question about home repairs
My employer does not allow borrowing against my 401k. Can I roll a some $ into another acct. for home repairs?I need to do some much needed exterior repairs to my home.
I would like to borrow against my current 401k, but my employer does not allow this.
Can I roll a portion into another type of investment acct. without any recourse and borrow against it and pay myself back?
If you are not really a home repair guy, PLEASE do not tackle these jobs. If you mess it up, which you probably will (because these are complicated renovations) it will cost more in the long run for an expert to come in and make right. Get an expert in the first place. Besides, it won't take as long. And consider the fact that, home repair is the best way for a couple to start picking fights over piddly things. LEAVE IT ALONE!!
Typical 1000-3000 Sq FT Home:
Roof: $4000-$8000
Windows: $1000-$4000
Electrical Upgrade(s): $5000 minimum
There are tons of variables though, you really need to get quotes from 2 or 3 contractors, or call Home Depot?
You should always get at least 3 estimates. If they are all way different get a few more. Talk to people you know and get referrals. Word of mouth is the best advertisement for contractors. You should consider a bid in the middle range of the estimates that you get and consider how the company works. Do they stick with one job until the job is done or do they start 3 or 4 jobs at once and finish whenever.
To answer your other question, you can figure Labor costs to be about 60% of the job total.
If you’re working through a recognized organization, then write some local building supply stores asking for donations. There may also be some salvage companies in your area that have surplus.
Keep an eye on your local freecycle group, if there is one; and keep checking the freebies section of your local paper or on-line classifieds site.
It’s a really bad idea to do it that way. The proper way is to remove the entire old plug. It is screwed onto screws in the bulb socket. Using a brand new plug, attach the wires to the screws (make sure hot to gold etc), This way, you can feel alot better about your repair, and know there are no shoddy electrical taped up breaks in your cord.
If you are living in a HUD home try these websites: http://www.hud.gov/improvements & http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa061100e.htm
If it is not a HUD home, try this site: http://www.homebuyerfunds.com/local_home_repair_grants.htm
Here is some general info: http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/wa/SFH504lg.htm
Most of the time you have be a qualified on the basis of income (the lower, the more likely the qualification & approval).
Good luck!
HUD does not offer grants to individuals, whether for buying a home or repairing a home
http://www.hud.gov/grants/index.cfm
"While HUD does not offer direct grants or loans to individuals, we do work through local governments and non-profit organizations to make financial assistance and counseling available."
There are low cost government housing loans available, but not grants. An example of housing grants is for those afflicted with AIDS (14.241 Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS http://12.46.245.173/pls/portal30/CATALOG.PROGRAM_TEXT_RPT.SHOW?p_arg_names=prog_nbr&p_arg_values=14.241 )
You can go to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) http://www.cfda.gov and Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov – these are two sites created by the federal government to provide transparency and information on grants. Browse through the listings and see if you can find any grant that would support your purposes. You can find grants for housing on this page http://12.46.245.173/pls/portal30/CATALOG.FUNCTIONAL_PROGRAM_TXT_RPT.SHOW?p_arg_names=func_cat_cd&p_arg_values=ML
HUD has a program called Homeownership Voucher Program that can help you with the monthly mortgage and other homeownership expenses http://www.hud.gov/offices/pih/programs/hcv/homeownership/
The question does make sense and is a good one. Most loans do not allow you to borrow money for repairs unless you put a huge sum down and then, what is the point.
However, there is a FHA loan out there that does allow you borrow for repairs but it is very restrictive, most lenders don't want to do it, and as far as loans go you are better off buying a home already improved.
To answer your question directly, a regular FHA loan will not allow you to "cash out" for repairs. Way too risky from their point of view.
One possible way is to get a 80% conventional loan, a 15% second mortgage, put 5% down, and then get it re-appraised. If it appraises at a higher amount they will loan off that amount giving you cash for improvements. But this can be hard to do if you credit is not excellent; like 720+
Hope this helps.
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