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The Basics of Staging

In an earlier blog, Do It Yourself: Staging Your Home to Sell, I talked about our decision to forego a professional staging expert and stage our home ourselves. In getting ready to show our home, we first needed to get down to basics. Here are some of the first things, the very basic things we did to stage our home: De-personalized: We needed to give the sense that no one actually lived in the home; that it was just waiting for the right people to simply move in. Anything personal that could connect our house specifically to us was removed … Continue reading →

Simplifying Bedding Storage

At our old house, we were blessed with huge closets which made storing everything so easy. We even had a walk in cedar closet! Our current home, however, is a little anemic in the closet area, at least compared to what we were used to. Instead of a huge closet to store all of our bedding (and health and beauty stockpile items, and the iron, and the hairdryer, and seasonal stuff), we now have a tiny linen closet in the hallway that barely holds our towels and wash clothes. This little storage situation has forced us to simplify our bedding … Continue reading →

Avoid Rent to Own

While renting to own might be a good idea in real estate, it is seldom the right thing to do when it comes to goods. In fact, rent to own or rental centers may be one of the biggest scams out there. Avoid it. Why should you avoid rent to own? It is very simple. It doesn’t make sense financially, and you’ll wind up paying three or more times the actual cost of the item. Plus, the item you rent is usually at least last year’s model. In many cases, it has also been previously rented. So, in essence, you … Continue reading →

How to Save Money When You Move

The real estate season usually peaks in the summer, which means that many families are either getting ready to move or have just moved to a new home. There is a lot of expense involved with moving. But with these tips, you can save hundreds of dollars. Moving Supplies and Services Moving can be a big expense; from closing costs or deposits to the price of movers, it starts to add up. We, ourselves, are in the middle of the moving chaos. We’ve found our perfect home and are waiting to sell our current one. Check out: The Frugal Move: … Continue reading →

De-cluttering with Young Children

I love to de-clutter our house. I get to a point where the stuff is just too overwhelming. This is especially true when it comes to toys. Toys have a way of sneaking up on your until every bin, box, shelf and even the floor is filled with toys. De-cluttering is tough in and of itself. But how can you get it done when you have young children at home? Here are some tips. Work around the kids schedules. De-cluttering doesn’t have to take one solid block of time. If you your kids nap for an hour, concentrate on one … Continue reading →

Sell that House!

Here are the four easy things you should do to prepare your house for a sale. Doing a little work now will save you a big headache later. Clean up the entryway Buyers spend a lot of time in the front of your home. Whether they are gazing at the house from the curb or waiting on the front steps for their realtor to arrive, the entry way gets a lot of examination. Focus on this area to make sure that it is clean and in perfect shape. It is your home’s first impression. Paint the front door, replace worn … Continue reading →

When Will Home Sales Bottom Out?

Is there a final end is sight to a declining housing market? Will home sales improve this year, next year or in 2010? Bakerate.com conducted a study, bring together a panel of experts in the industry, and this is what they found. One thing to understand about forecasting the housing market is that although it is based on good solid information, such as foreclosure rates, job growth, new construction figures and home sales and prices, that it is still forecasting. No one really knows the future, including the weather, although we can make some educated guesses. The next thing to … Continue reading →

Is the Short Sale Right for You?

Despite the downsides, the reality is that sometimes you have to sell your home even in a bad housing market. One result of this mark is the increasing popularity of the short sale. What is a short sale? Well, there are two applications for the definition. In the first, you are selling your home for less than you paid or for less than what you have remaining on your mortgage. You are in negative equity. It doesn’t seem fair, but if you purchased your home in the last two to five years, and need to sell it today, this negative … Continue reading →

Setting the Price of Your Home

One of the biggest issues in today’s real estate market is how to set the price of your home when it comes time to sell. During the boom, you could ask for the sky, and chances are that bidding wars would bring you the moon as well. Today, that isn’t the case. Here are some tips to help you set the price of your home before you put it on the market. First let’s talk about the real estate agent or broker. Contact at least three different agents and ask them to do a market analysis on the price of … Continue reading →

Reasons to Move

With the media constantly talking about the housing market, people wonder if they really should move, selling their old homes and or buying new homes. I get these questions a lot. While the house market can be scary, the truth is that sometimes you have a good reason to move, and that reason may overshadow any downsides to selling a home right now. And the truth is that even though you may take a hit on your current home, you can still purchase another home for a good price, so things may just even out. I have three friends at … Continue reading →