We Buy Houses!

This is the third post in a four blog series. Find pointers 11-16 in this blog. For more tips & ideas, visit Part 1, Part 2 & Part 4.

Imagine visiting a house with a very beautiful colonial exterior. You step in and it looks more like a fraternity home on campus! How would you react?

Surprises are always welcome, but if not done tastefully it can put people off from the get-go.

You’ve put on your charm and worked hard to make your home’s exterior look picture perfect! It’s time to take it to the next step. Create a little story or theme that flows from outside to the walls within. Here are some helpful hints that you could consider while staging your home to sell.

Declutter and stage a room with neutral colors.

INDOORS

11. Packing: Put away everything that you don’t use regularly. To that list add personal mementos, collector’s items and souvenirs. If it distinctly reveals your personality, it’s time to tuck it away in the storage.

12. Interior: Some people recommend leaving the house empty so that people can imagine their own lives in those open spaces. Don’t spend too much money. Make it as minimalistic as possible. Invariably, people would want to bring furniture and pieces that compliment their own style.
However, you could also decorate some areas – like the living room or master bedroom. If you want a few useful tips for staging a home, visit our website for more ideas.

13. Flooring: Whether carpet or wood, make sure you observe the condition of your floors. Look for evenness in color tone and texture. Shampoo or apply wax if needed to make the floor look clean.

14. Painting: Chipped, faded walls could devalue your home. A couple coats of fresh paint will do wonders to a living space! Avoid dark shades; they tend to make the room look smaller. If you want to add color, look at using neutral shades with one accented wall. Also, pay special attention to the ceilings. A nice white ceiling can make your space look a lot bigger.

15. Cleaning Areas: You don’t want anyone thinking ‘you missed a spot.’ People often forget to clean underneath furniture, behind household appliances, ceiling fan blades, light fixtures, and the skirting around walls. Double check to make sure yours are dusted, scrubbed, brushed, washed, or vacuumed as needed.

A living room with wide open spaces and natural light!

16. Lights & Windows: Take a second glance at fixtures, bulbs, and window dressings. Uniformity is key! Look for bright bulbs and replace all with the same kind. If a room has more than one window, it’s nicer to use the same window treatments everywhere. If people come in during the day, keep window treatments open to bring in natural light and make the room feel more airy. If it’s later in the day, put all the lights on to brighten up your space.

Well you could do it all yourself. But if you still think you need a faster way to sell your house, we might be able to help you. In the past five years, Express Homebuyers has sold over 800 homes within the DC metro area. We are ready to assist you. If we can’t sell your house in 60 days, we guarantee to buy it from you, no matter what the condition.

Just call us at 877-804-5252 or visit our website to chat with a representative.

This series will be continued. For more tips to sell your house fast, continue to read our blogs.

If you have any tips or suggestions that you’d like to share, please feel free to comment on this blog post.

Where Did All This Stuff Come From…?

Whether or not you’re planning to sell your house any time soon, it never hurts to get things in order.  Even the tidiest homeowners are amazed by how quickly houses can become inundated by the clutter and items they accumulate.
Here are some easy tips toward consistently maintaining order and balance in your home, and ensuring that come sale time you don’t find yourself waging the war against disorder for the first time.

You Need Discipline and a Game Plan

• Instead of dabbling and making gradual improvements here and there throughout the home, focus your efforts on one room at a time.  Don’t move onto another room until the task at hand has been thoroughly completed.
• Force yourself to stay disciplined, and adopt the “in and out” approach.  For every new item you add to a room, remove an older one.
• If you have kids, make the cleaning process fun for them (yes, it is possible).  Whether it’s by giving them incentives to keep their rooms tidy and their personal belongings out of public spaces, or showing them how rewarding the result can be give them a tangible reason(reward, privilege, bribe)  to observe these rules even when they haven’t been reminded to.
• Have a vision of what the room SHOULD look like before you tackle it.
• Use hangers to sort the clothes you wear the most from the ones you break out only on special occasions.  Needless to say, garments that are out of season should be kept separately (a sealed, moth-proof rack for your hangers can be a crucial investment for your basement/attic space).
• When considering whether or not to retire an item, force yourself to decide whether you really, REALLY need it.  If you have a hard time deciding, you know what to do.
• Treat your kitchen as a sacred area: the real estate that includes your stove, sink, refrigerator and countertops should be occupied by useful items only.

When it comes time to sell your house fast, you will be more than rewarded for the work you have done on the front end. Of course, if you do decide to sell your house in the Maryland, Washington DC or Virginia area, give us a call. We can help.

You’ve probably been hearing a lot about short sales in the past few months- chances are you know someone who’s been through the process. And if you’ve been hit as hard by the current recession as many have been and have a home you’re having trouble affording, you may be considering a short sale as a viable option.

What’s a Short Sale?

Let’s assume you understand the basics of the concept, and are familiar with the broad strokes: basically, a short sale is what occurs when a lender agrees to accept less than the amount owed against a home because there is no longer enough equity to sell and pay all costs of sale.  Put simply, if your payments are in arrears and it’s looking more and more like the lender won’t be able to recoup the full cost of the home, a short sale may be their best way of their getting something rather than nothing.

It Isn’t Perfect, But…

There’s no question that a short sale is far from an ideal outcome for anyone who owns a home.  If you find yourself in dire straits with either foreclosure or a short sale looming as your only two options, which do you choose?  Consider which does more damage to your credit?  Opinions on this topic vary, but the bottom line is, they both do a lot of harm.  Foreclosure typically knocks between 200 and 300 points off your score, while short sales have been known to trim your credit rating by anywhere from 100 to 300 points.  Bottom line: your credit will suffer either way, although you have a slightly better chance of losing less money and credit rating if you work with a real estate agent and negotiate a short sale.

It’s a Way to Protect Your Credit Rating.

We understand how hard it is for anyone to be facing these possibilities; if you’d like to know more about this process or have any other real estate questions answered, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Express Realty Services has a fully-staffed short sale department; we can help you work through every facet of your short-sale negotiation.