I’ll just wait a couple of months to make my home look like a new home on the market.

I hear this statement all the time. “I’ll wait a couple of months and then put my home back on the market.. That way it will look like a brand new listing!”.

Let’s use a couple of examples for this:

1) A home just showed up on the market. It looks great! You haven’t gone to see it yet, but you are excited… You call your agent to get some info and schedule a showing… Your great Realtor informs you that the house was just listed, but 3 months ago it had expired from being on the market for a year at the same price and had not sold..    What thoughts run through your head about the house now?

2) Same scenario as above, except this time the home has been relisted after a year?

What are your thoughts about the two scenarios above? Don’t go reading my thoughts until you have thought about each one above… I’M SERIOUS, THINK ABOUT IT!!! hehe

Did you think about the 2 above, or are you looking for a spoiler?!?! /tease

There really is no right or wrong answer to these scenarios, but in the first scenario, the thoughts that run through my head are:
1) Gotcha! You just want me to think your home is new on the market, but it’s prolly still the same old house that is overpriced, has problems, or no one else wants…
2) What have you done in the past 3 months? Is there anything new in the listing description that would tell me you did some work on the house in the 3 months? Will the listing agent stutter and not have an answer to this question when asked?
3) Is there better homes in that area/price range?

In the second scenario, I am more likely to give them a little leniency, but I will be looking for changes that have been made to the property in the past year. I also will be very interested to see what their competition is like, and what price they are at now… I will harass the listing agent to see what the inside scoop is on the property/sellers as well..

Maybe I am different than most people…  Maybe I am the only person(Realtor) who looks at these things, but in my mind they will become negotiation tactics for if we decide to make an offer.

I offer up these examples because a lot of people, who are looking to relist their homes, are asking me these questions. Maybe the home needs repairs, or maybe the previous realtor might have messed up some stuff in the listing, but most of the time it’s a price issue. Get a GOOD second opinion on if your home was listed correctly, all the i’s dotted, and t’s crossed, and if everything looks right, then you probably have a price issue.

If a home doesn’t sell in 6-12 months, no matter the market, chances are good that it is less of a value than other homes in the area. Overpriced homes sell their competition. Realtors take buyers through overpriced homes to show the value of lower priced homes… “Look, they want 375k for this house, and didn’t we just see one that was a bit nicer for 350k 1 street over? Hrmm, we better go buy that house 1 street over before someone else does!” An over priced home compels urgency on the part of buyers… It’s like a blue light special on aisle five, that you dont really want or need, but it’s a great deal, so we better take advantage of it… Does that make sense?

If you have been on the market, there is no point in staying off the market for any length of time.. Get a new contract signed, and when it gets put into the system you should make sure you get a new MLS/BLC number. I’ll just warn you in advance that any realtor, even the bad ones, are going to see that you were on the market previously.. There is even a link on every single listing that is labeled “History”… One simple click and a realtor knows you were listed previously with a different agent, or the same agent.. Heck, I can look back into the late 90’s on my BLC system to see what history a home has. Kind of fun to hit someone up with a “Hey, you paid 310k in 2001 for this home!” and see the look on their face.. hehe

Try the new mls/blc number trick if you want to, I do, but when push comes to shove, the jig will be up.. hehe

Side Note: I use the new mls number, not because i want to fool anyone, but because it gives my listing a second chance to be viewed by a potential buyer. Price reductions work the same way. In our BLC system, a lot of agents use Client Gateways, basically they setup a search for their buyer clients, and then the buyers can mark homes that are interesting, possibilities, or not-interesting. A new mls number will give your home that second chance to be spotted if it was marked not-interesting via a rash decision.

MLS = Multiple Listing Service.

BLC = Broker Listing Cooperative(Same as MLS).

How to get around those pesky planning commisions… NOT!

Lee’s Notes: Saw this article in the UK, and figured I would share… Funny how people try to finagle the system.. I would think they will be told to tear the building down, just to make an example of them.

Hiding a needle in a haystack is easy enough.

But Robert Fidler kept something much bigger concealed among the piles of straw down on his farm… a castle.

Over the course of two years, he managed to secretly – and unlawfully – build the imposing mock Tudor structure in one of his fields, shielded behind a 40ft stack of hay bales covered by a huge tarpaulins.

The family hid the house behind hay bales 40ft high for four years while it was being built – in a failed bid to avoid having to apply for planning permission

An Englishman’s home is his castle: The Fidlers dream home complete with ramparts and cannons

Once it was finished, he and his family moved in and lived there for four years before finally revealing the development – complete with battlements and cannons – in August 2006.

Mr Fidler claims that because the building has been there for four years with no objections, it is no longer illegal.

But he is under siege from council planners, who say the castle at Honeycrock Farm, Salfords, Redhill, Surrey, will have to be knocked down.

“I can’t believe they want to demolish this beautiful house,” said 59-year-old Mr Fidler. “To me they are no different than vandals who just want to smash it down.”

Mr Fidler, a farmer, erected the disguise in 2000 out of hundreds of 8ftx4ft bales of straw and covered the top with blue tarpaulin.

The Fidler’s country kitchen is located in the turret of their ‘castle’

After building the castle on the site of two grain silos at a cost of £50,000, he and his wife Linda went to extraordinary lengths to keep it secret. That included keeping their son Harry, now seven, away from playschool the day he was supposed to do a painting of his home in class.

“We couldn’t have him drawing a big blue haystack – people might asked questions,” said 39-year-old Mrs Fidler.

Mr Fidler, who has five children from a previous marriage, said: “We moved into the house on Harry’s first birthday, so he grew up looking at straw out of the windows.

“We thought it would be a boring view but birds nested there and feasted on the worms. We had several families of robins and even a duck made a nest and hatched 13 ducklings on top of the bales.”

But neighbours were unimpressed.

One said: “Nobody thought anything of it when the hay went up. It was presumed he was building a barn or something similar.

“It was a complete shock when the hay came down and this castle was in its place. Everyone else has to abide by planning laws, so why shouldn’t they?”

Problems began last April when Mr Fidler, thinking he had beaten the planning system, applied for a certificate of lawfulness which is given if a property is erected but nobody objects to it after four years.

But Reigate and Banstead Council says the four-year period after which the building would be allowed to stay is void – because nobody had been given a chance to see it.

The matter will now be decided in February by the council’s planning inspector, who could give the Fidlers as little as six months to tear the castle down.

The family are not alone in falling foul of planning laws.

Last November pensioners Eileen and Eamonn Kelly were told they would face prison unless they demolished the one-bedroom extension on their semi-detached home in Swanley, Kent after planners said it was “out of keeping” with the area.

More recently around a dozen Britons living in Spain have had their homes torn down after a clampdown on illegally built properties built on the coastline.

A spokeswoman for the Reigate council said: “Mr Fidler has built the house without planning permission, not sought retrospective planning permission and now claims it is legal because it has been up for four years.

“We don’t think the four-year rule applies because it had been hidden behind bales of hay.”

Thinking about completing some remodeling and wondering how it will affect your resale?

I have been flipping homes for over 15 years. I do most of the work myself, but recently I received a letter from a home owner who knows she is going to be selling in roughly 5 years.. Was a pretty long response, and I figured maybe some of you, internet playground peeps, would like to hear my thoughts as well….

When a buyer looks at a home, they want to make sure the kitchens, baths, and major systems(furnace, a/c, kitchen appliances, roof, etc) are up to todays standards. People aren’t too fond of the old octopus heating system that takes up an entire basement.. hehe Not that you have one of those, but you know what I am saying.

If you plan any major remodeling(add/remove walls, additions, etc) General Rule of thumb is to make the home open and airy.

When it comes to bath and kitchens, you need to put the minimum quality on par with the neighborhood. If you go above that your ROI(return on investment) will reduce. On that note, if you plan to be in the home for a while then buy what you will enjoy! Just realize you might not get the ROI you expected come sale time. Upgrades might push you into the lead against comparable properties, but don’t count on it. Does that make sense?

As for paint, etc. If you are specifically looking for resale, then try to stay neutral. That isn’t to say you can’t have some deep or bright colors, but be prepared for repaint. Another thought is to just paint one wall in a room a dark/bright color. It gives you the tone you want, and will be easier to change at a later date(if necessary). Stay away from painting ceilings dark/bright colors. Dark/bright colors, especially on a ceiling, have a tendency to make a room look smaller.

As for flooring: You don’t want to go too bright, deep, etc.. Flooring isn’t as easy or cheap to change. That being said, I have dark hardwood floors in my basement.. I like them, and I don’t think they will be too much of a hindrance come sale time, but I also realize they could be.

 For our region, here’s the average return on investment for some common projects:

Bathroom remodel                    Midwest 78.3%
Deck addition                           Midwest 89.7%
Window replacement                Midwest 82.4%
Attic bedroom                          Midwest 79.2%
Family room addition                Midwest 77.3%
Roofing replacement                 Midwest 81.8%
Master suite addition                 Midwest 72.2%
Major kitchen remodel              Midwest 72.6%
Basement remodel                    Midwest 68.9%
Sunroom addition                     Midwest 67.0%

Obviously, those can all change depending on how extravagant/inexpensive you go on your upgrades/remodel.

Remodeling can be exciting and great fun.. Enjoy it! 

You thought your home theatre was nice?!?!

Before my son was born, we realized we needed to finish the basement so we could move our home office out of “his” room.  I finished the basement, and my last dying gasp of childless adult life was thrown into the basement home theatre I built.. I bought for the future, meaning, I knew I wouldnt be able to buy for another 5′ish years, and even then, not this lavishly… I thought I had it all… I WAS WRONG!!!!!  This link shows people who built home theatres to rival the best of them… Maybe someday, but i doubt it… hehe

 

You say you won this home in a raffle? – Stories from the field!

Some stories are mine, some are from other agents… I’ll just pretend they are from another agent so my clients don’t get mad at me.. hehe

1) Agent01 received a phone call from a person who wanted to interview agent01 for listing their home. After doing some preliminary research Agent01 figured their price wasn’t too far off, so went looking for other problems with their home. What do you know, their listing had a few glaring errors. Wrong School District, Wrong zip code, tax info incorrect. Listed the home making the changes. BINGO! Home sold in 14 days. Side Note: They had been on the market for 6 months previously.

2) Agent01 received a phone call from a person who wanted to interview for a new agent. Agent01 started doing research and figured out home had been on the market for 4+ years and had been won in a raffle, and NEVER lived in….  Home had been listed at 375-385k the entire time. Home was in a neighborhood that was actually 3 seperate sections, and had prices ranging from 200k-1mil+.. Short look at the numbers showed 6 homes in their sq ft’age/# bedrooms had sold in the past year, and the avg price was 379k. When you realized there was 3 seperate neighborhoods, and put in the homes in this specific neighborhood, quickly realized only 3 homes had sold in past year(1 every 4 months), and the avg price was 325k… They didn’t want to reduce that much, and Agent01 didn’t want to waste their time or his. Interesting to note the agent who did take the listing talked them down to 370k, but signed them to an 8 month contract. I hope they sell for the price they want, because the current contract has their home listed through the best months to sell… They will come up for renewal in September which is pretty late in the selling season… Hope they sell, I really do!

Have I mentioned lately that you need a good Realtor who can do the research so you can make informed decisions? There is a statement in real estate that really hits home. “Dont make your home the advertisement for other homes!”… Basically, don’t price yourself where you make your competition look better! You need to be the best home on the market in your price range, or you are going to sit until you are the best home. Who knows when that will be, especially with new homes hitting the market all the time… Hope that makes sense.

Cute puzzle piece desk set!

I found this item on www.babygadget.net.. it’s a cute idea for a desk/chair combo that would be easy to build using plywood and a sabre saw… cut your square sides, cut a puzzle design out of them, and make an inner chair… wahlah.. cute little table/chair combo…. obviously there is a step I missed where you sand and paint, a lot, but I digress

of course if you arent very handy, you could buy one for relatively little money… but where is the fun in that…

Multiple offers on a home in this market?

Just wanted to send a little note to all the doom and gloomers…

End of November, I was working with a buyer client. First week we found a little 2 bedroom house that had been on the market for almost a year with no activity. We made an offer, and were informed “We have multiple offers on this house, so send us your highest and best offer!” I was in shock… I even (laughingly) told the listing agent so.. “Try that lie on someone else please.. hehe  This house has been on the market for almost a year and hasnt had a price reduction.” Her response, “I know, i cant believe it either, but it’s true!!!”.. I thought she was bluffing, informed my client of such, but also told him i would be happy to write a higher offer if he wanted to. He decided to stick it out with his original offer, and the next day it pended, and we werent the buyer…

2 weeks later we were out looking at houses again, and we found a nice little house at a nice price, and we made an offer… “We are in a multiple offer situation, please submit your highest and best offer!”…. My jaw dropped to the floor… This time we didnt take any chances, and offered full price offer w/20% down… We lost the house AGAIN!!!! Someone outbid us…. I couldnt believe this buyers luck.. 2 different houses, 2 different listing agents, and we cant buy a house to save our lives….

Friday I completed a price reduction on one of my listings, and completed some new marketing.  We haven’t had a nibble on this house, and the contract was going to expire end of this week, and I finally convinced the seller to take a price reduction… We dropped the price by 5+% from 170k to 160k…. Not a lot, but by Saturday we had 3 showings scheduled, and by Monday I had two offers to go over with my sellers…

3 things determine if your home sells.. Marketing helps, but these are the biggies!

1) Location

2) Condition of the home

3) Price

 Just goes to prove, there is fish in the sea.. You just need the right bait to catch one! Once you have the right bait, WATCH OUT!!!!

Save on heating this winter!

Lee’s Notes: Found this and am shamelessly stealing it from Real Simple. Good tips!

Money-Saving Home Heating Tips

The average American family will spend $1,000 on heat this season, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration projections. Take a bite out of that with the following measures. (The savings estimates from the Edison Electrical Institute refer to your annual energy bill; results will depend on many factors, such as region.)

Check Filters and Vents

To keep the heat flowing freely and protect the furnace from being overworked, check the filter monthly and replace it every three months (see Furnace Filter Replacement Reminder). Be sure furniture, drapes, and rugs don’t block air vents, and keep grilles dusted to discourage lint and dirt buildup.
Frequency: Check filters and vents each month; replace filters every three months. Lee Note: In winter month recommend replace every 1 month.
Potential Savings: 10 to 15 percent.

Lower the Water Temperature

Instead of keeping the water heater set at the usual 160 degrees, lower it to 120. Does this mean you won’t get a hot shower in the morning? No. You’ll just start with water less scalding than usual, says Doug Anderson of Energy Star, part of the U.S. Department of Energy. Water-heater thermostats can be inaccurate, he adds; check yours by sticking a cooking thermometer under a running tap, then adjust the thermostat as needed.
Frequency: Once per winter.
Potential Savings: 10 to 15 percent.

Shut the Damper

When not in use, a fireplace can be a major heat waster. Since warm air rises, yours can rush right up — and out — the chimney. Always close the damper (the metal plate that opens and seals the chimney stack) once the fire is safely out. Shutting glass fireplace doors does the same job.
Frequency: Daily; double-check at night.
Potential Savings: 2 to 18 percent.

Close Off Unused Rooms

There’s no reason the whole house needs to be warm all the time. Close doors to, and heating vents in, any room you’re not using, especially upstairs (the farther from the basement the heat has to travel, the harder the heater has to work). This way, the heater can more efficiently keep the rooms you are occupying nice and toasty.
Frequency: Daily.
Potential Savings: Up to 3 percent.

Use Ceiling Fans

The ceiling fan that cools you all summer can warm you in winter. Using it on the reverse setting (most fans have one), set on low, pushes warm air that has risen to the ceiling back to the ground. This lets you adjust the thermostat down a few degrees without suffering for it.
Frequency: Daily.
Potential Savings: Up to 3 percent if you lower the thermostat.

Heat-Saving Products for Cracks and Windowpanes

Spray Foam

A dollop sprayed through a thin nozzle expands, like hair mousse, to close cracks 1/2 to 3 inches wide in walls and floors. Foam’s main ingredient, sticky polyurethane, makes it ideal for sealing around pipes (not hot ones, though) and filling odd-shaped gaps. It takes seconds to spray (several hours to dry) and costs about $6 a can.

Caulk

For gaps 1/2 inch wide or smaller in walls and floors, use silicone or acrylic-latex indoor-outdoor caulk. If you’re caulking near a heat source (chimney, furnace, hot pipe), use high-temperature caulk. Applying it in a nice, straight line takes minutes (about two hours to dry); a tube of caulk and the gun you apply it with cost about $5 each.

Window-Insulating Film

Short of installing more energy-efficient windows, the best thing you can do to cut down on heat loss through panes is to cover them with clear insulating film. To install it, you lay a sheet across the glass and tape it to the frame, then use a blow-dryer to shrink it, which makes it adhere to the glass. The process takes 10 to 30 minutes; the film comes in many sizes and costs about $6 for three big windows’ worth.

Heat-Saving Products for Furnaces and Sill Gaps

Furnace Filter

Replace a dirty, flat filter with a pleated one, which has more surface area to capture dirt. It takes about 10 minutes and costs about $15.

Programmable Thermostat

Set it to get the heat going before you wake (no more shivery mornings) and to shut off when no one’s home. Buy one with the Energy Star label for about $70 and you’ll save up to $100 each year on heat. It takes about an hour to install.

Self-Adhesive Foam Weather Strip

To seal a gap in a closed door or window, apply a strip of foam tape to the top of the frame. You’ll need less than five minutes per door or window and pay $2 to $4 for 10 feet of tape. It comes in 3/8- and 3/4-inch widths.

Door Sweep and Saddle

Keep out drafts that sneak in under exterior doors by installing a door sweep (a metal strip with a rubber flap that is screwed to the bottom of the door) and a saddle (a threshold bolted to the existing one so the door meets it flush; buy metal or wood, which are more durable and weather-resistant than rubber). It takes less than 30 minutes to install both a sweep and a saddle, and they cost about $10 each.

Heat-Saving Products for Water Heaters

Insulation Blanket

Swaddle your water heater in a cozy insulation blanket to keep the heat from dissipating in a cold basement or closet. Usually made of plastic with fiberglass insulation, the blanket wraps around the heater and is taped or strapped on. (Make sure it doesn’t cover the top of the heater or the door that opens to the pilot light.) It takes less than 30 minutes to install and costs $5.

Foam Pipe Insulation

If your heater’s hot-water pipe travels a long way through an unheated part of the house, such as a cellar or a garage wall, the water it’s carrying can lose a significant amount of heat before reaching your bathroom (hence those lukewarm showers). Energy Star’s Doug Anderson suggests covering the first 5 to 10 feet of the pipe coming out of the heater with foam pipe insulation, which fits over the pipe like a sleeve — “an inexpensive fix that goes a long way.” It takes less than 10 minutes to wrap the pipe and costs about $3 for four three-foot tubes (check the diameter of your pipe before you shop).

DIY Safety First Aid Kit!

Lee’s Notes: Shamelously stolen from Gadling. EVERYONE should have one of these kits in your home, and car(s). I backpack a lot, and my first aid kit for backpacking is insane.. Have I had to use it, YES I HAVE!!! Have the scar on my hand to prove it too.. 2″ laceration and we were 10 miles out from the car…

Nobody ever asks where the first aid kit is when something good has happened. In fact, they’re traditionally one of the first things left behind, in the interest of size and weight. This brings me to the most important rule of a kit: “You can’t use it if its not with you.” I like to think of my kit as an insurance policy that I hope to never use.

When somebody begins to make a first aid kit for travel, they often ask a few friends. They may even ask a nurse or doctor. This is when it gets complicated. If I carried everything I was told, “you have to have this,” I would have a steamer trunk full of gear. This is not a real world solution. The key is to recognize a few special needs of the individuals who will be using the kit, and the locations they are traveling in.

Search and Rescue teams have a tendency to compartmentalize their equipment: One bag contains climbing rope, one box contains life vests, and so on. This method is great, especially with health kits. Ideally, a traveler will be armed with a few smaller kits that they have prepared in advance to be ready to use depending on the adventure. Think of it as a carpenter selecting the right tool for the job.

The first kit that should be the basis of all the others is the “Basic Travel Kit” set forth below. It will be highly customizable depending on the health needs of the travelers, length of travel, and destination. This is the kit that is ideal to bring on a trip through larger, developed cities and towns where advanced medical care is easily found and re-supply of medicine is possible.

The center of the kit is the person’s home medications. If somebody is taking regular medication at their house, they should, of course, continue to do so while traveling. An important thing to remember is to bring enough medication for the length of the trip, and spare for those unexpected layovers, cancellations, storms, or finding that perfect spot and staying an extra week. A spare set of eyeglasses and copies of all home medication prescriptions is also a good idea.This kit is made to be packed into a polycarbonate water bottle, which provides a crush proof and watertight container. You can also drink out of it, too.

1. Tylenol/Paracetamol (pain and fever reduction)
2. Ibuprofen (pain and fever reducer, anti-inflammatory)
3. Antihistamine (allergies, sleep aid)
4. Pseudoephedrine (nasal decongestant, helps with “ear pop” from planes)
5. Loperamide (anti-diarrheal)
6. Multi-tool (Macgyver always had his)
7. Safety pins (quick fix for clothing, making an arm sling, emergency cloth)
8. Sun screen (SPF 15 minimum, small bottle)
9. Bandanna (sling for arm, dust mask,
10. Antiseptic towelettes (cleaning hands and wounds)
11. Electrolyte packets (for replacing loss due to vomiting or diarrhea)
12. Matches (light source, fires)
13. Tweezers (removing ticks, thorns, cactus, sea urchins, etc)
14. Mole skin (blisters on the feet)
15. Band aids (minor cuts and scrapes)
16. Gauze roll (minor cuts and scrapes)
17. Antibiotic ointment (minor cuts and scrapes)
18. Portable flashlight (looking into mouths, dark rooms)
19. Thermometer (is that really a fever, how high)
20. Latex gloves (protect yourself first)
21. 4 x 4 gauze pads (minor cuts and scrapes)
22. Hand sanitizer (dirty hands mean infected cuts)

Most craft stores have small resealable baggies used for carrying beads. These make excellent containers for individual medicines, not taken on a regular basis. The baggies are large enough to hold only a few days of medication, and can be written on with a sharpie. The point is only to deal with emergencies, not manage a problem that may require assistance. This kit is designed to be used in areas with a pharmacy or retailer to re-stock, when the kit gets depleted.

For initially building your kit, you can never go wrong with Adventure Medical Kits. They can be purchased from many retailers or directly from their site. The medicines are pre-packaged and more than half the stuff you need is already there. This can be added to your own kit, with a few other items.

The majority of traveler’s health problems, in larger cities or urban areas, consist of influenza like symptoms, diarrhea and fevers. I like to call them “nuisance illnesses”; just enough of problem to slow down a great trip but not requiring help. Bug bites, nausea, sun burn, diarrhea and the sniffles top the list.

Travel to more exotic destinations with harsher climates, or participating in specific recreational activities often require a supplemental kit. The point of this kit is to provide basic medical supplies to treat common ailments, either stabilizing before seeking more advanced care or managing the problem yourself. Hopefully, you’ll never have open this kit after you make it!

Wooden Clocks to modern up the look of your home!

Was out of town yesterday so i didnt get to post… You prolly didnt miss me anyway.. hehe

I play around with woodworking, metalworking, glass blowing,etc.. This site has some interesting modern looking clocks. These would look great hanging on your wall.. THEY SELL PLANS TOO!!!