Archive for the 'Selling Real Estate' Category
Aug 18, 2008, post by Oldman
Row homes are a classic housing style that is enjoying a revival because of the advantages it brings to home owners. Owners have full control over the building and the ground on which it is built. Since there is no common area to maintain, there is no home owner association, and no HOA fees.
In high density areas, a new style of row home is cropping up – homes that are contemporary in style, designed with outdoor patios, decks, roof gardens, and built with sustainable materials. This means minimal maintenance and greater affordability. During construction, some row home contractors offer retrofitted design options.
Several inches of space, covered by flashing and hidden from view, usually separate row homes from each other. This style of construction makes it unnecessary to have a homeowners association. Legally, these homes are considered separate entities due to the 2 or 3-inch separation between homes. Outwardly, they look like attached town houses. The properties are divided from each other by an imaginary lot line, making it possible for each owner to have full control over the home and the land.
This centuries old style, row homes, can be found throughout the world, in New York, Paris, London, New York, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia. The style and type of material used in constructing row houses vary. Many homes are primarily red brick in construction, with stone and marble accent. Some communities have homes that are built of solid granite. In architecture and city planning, a row home or terrace house is a style of housing in use since the late 17th century, where a row of identical or mirror-image houses share side walls. The first and last of these homes is often called an end terrace or end unit, and is often larger than the homes in the middle.
In the United States, Thomas Carstairs, a Philadelphia builder and architect designed the first row houses or terrace housing in 1799 for the Philadelphia developer William Sansom. Carstairs Row in Philadelphia was part of the first speculative housing developments in America. Many of Philadelphia’s row houses date back to colonial times. Prior to this time houses had been built individually, not in rows. In Philadelphia, Baltimore, San Francisco, and Washington DC, homes built side by side with the dividing walls being common on each are simply called row houses or row homes, and are quite common. In New York City and various urban centers around the country, a particular type of row home made of a brownish-red sandstone is called a brownstone. Despite the narrow lots, many brownstones are relatively large. Some newer row homes in these areas are often referred to as “attached houses”. In much of the Southern United States, they are referred to as row homes. In the Midwest and Great Plains they are referred to as “townhomes.” In the United States the term, “row home”, usually describes a two story, housing unit that shares a wall with one or more neighboring units.
May 09, 2008, post by Oldman
1. Hang out during an open house.
No matter how nice you are, you’re bound to make the buyers uncomfortable, and they won’t be able to visualize themselves living there.
2. Say “My price is FIRM!”
It’s the real estate equivalent of saying, “Go away!”
3. Refuse to do needed repairs.
Although it’s hard to put money in when you’re trying to get your money out, if you wait to make the repairs after the buyer’s inspection, the buyer will take you to the cleaners for each Read the rest of this entry »
May 09, 2008, post by Oldman
As a rental property owner, I am always looking for ways to maximize the rental income and keep my units marketable without having to do any major renovations. I am always keeping my eye out for potential properties that I can buy, and easily rent out that will cover the mortgage and a little more. That being said, one of the biggest mistakes that I see other landlords and rental property owners make is that they are reluctant to or just flat out won’t put any money into their properties because Read the rest of this entry »
Mar 29, 2008, post by Oldman
Fannie Mae announced yesterday the details of the new conventional loan limits. While these changes were made to buoy the sagging home finance market, please note the measures are conservative.
In a nutshell, here are some of the highlights:
1. The new loan limit for San Diego County will be $697,500
2. Eligible products are 30 and 15 year fixed rate mortgages and 5/1 adjustable rate mortgages – both fully amortizing and interest only.
3. Borrowers with existing first and second mortgages can NOT consolidate the two loans.
4. Borrowers must wait six months from their purchase or last refinance before closing loans on this program.
5. No cash out refinances loans will be permitted. Read the rest of this entry »
Mar 28, 2008, post by Oldman
by Glenn Curtis
1. Request Your Property Tax Card and Study It
Few homeowners realize they can go down to the town hall and request to view (or receive a copy of) their property tax cards from the local assessor’s office. The tax card provides the homeowner with information the town has gathered about the property over time.The card includes information about the size of the lot, the precise dimensions of the rooms, and the number and type of fixtures located within the home. Other information may include a section on special features, or notations about any improvements that have been made. Read the rest of this entry »
Mar 26, 2008, post by Oldman
No one can argue that deciding to sell your home is a heart wrenching decision. Unless you are amongst the few that like jumping from place to place, odds are you have spent quite a bit of time turning your house into your “home”. Your precious weekends have been used painting each room, mulling through furniture showrooms, and creating a place on this planet that is all about you and your family. Now the time has come to leave. But the misconception that you face is that merely putting a for sale sign in the yard will sell the property. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
In today’s fallen housing market, the amount of time a property sits on the market can be a death sentence. The longer you wait for buyers creates an opportunity to offer a lower price. The way to get your home noticed fast and sold even faster is to market your home to the buyer. This redecorating for the means of selling is called staging. This secret amongst the real estate world has helped endless property flippers move their inventory even in the worst of housing markets.
If you have never heard of staging, you are probably wondering how this can help me. Staging changes the way your look at your home. The moment you decide to sell your property, the way you see your home should change to that of a buyer. Before hiring an agent and sticking a sign in the yard, there is alot of work to be done. From neutralizing the paint to depersonalizing the decor, things must change in your home to get the greatest return. Staging has be known to bring in offers above the asking price after the seller received multiple offers. Now there is no guarantee, but it is in your best interest to keep your options open.
I myself have used staging to give me huge returns. My first home was a condo that I was selling instead of keeping as a rental property. I learned how to stage the property after hearing about it from a friend that was flipping properties with great success. I had made the decision to sell the condo myself so I could save money, but there were alot of condos for sale in my development. I took about 6 weeks painting and repairing the little things I had ignored for years. Rented a storage unit and moved alot of my things out to make the space appear larger. I put a for sale sign in the window and was on my way. Two weeks later I was under contract and the buyer wanted to close as soon as possible so he could get renters in by year end. I thought this was just a rare case, but I was wrong. I have used these same steps for assisting friends and family to sell homes with great success.
My last testament to staging was just last year (2007). I was moving out of state and started the steps to stage my home in January so I could get it on the market once it was Spring. My next door neighbors were trying to sell, too. They listed their home prior to mine so they could get a head start on the market and hoping to edge me out of a sale. The homes were similar in size and details, but the big difference was they just hired an agent and put the sign in the yard. Mine was listed in March, under contract beginning of April and closed in May. Their home is still on the market right now and they have lowered their price 4 times!
Staging makes the most of home and helps others see the charm in your home that drew you to buy it. If you want more infoClick Here!
About the Author, Stacy Tuttle
Stacy is a DIY queen, who figures out how to do things herself and passes on the info to others. Read the rest of this entry »
Feb 05, 2008, post by Oldman
By: David Chazin
In conjunction with Sagemark Consulting, a division of Lincoln Financial Advisors, a registered investment advisor. Mr. Chazin is a regular contributor to PlannerConnect.com. This article is for educational purposes. 1031 exchanges have restrictions and limitations.
When the time comes to sell your real estate, some owners of highly appreciated real estate could be staring at a substantial capital-gains tax bill. Read the rest of this entry »
Jan 13, 2008, post by Oldman
From a recent article in the New York Times, January 4, 2008.
I live in coastal Southern California where prices have been insane for a long times (5 years). Only 15% of the folks who work here can afford to buy here (we get “paid” in sunshine dollars). Luckily my husband and I have owned our homes for long periods of time. We got burned many years ago in the midwest when we were just starting out, and made a decision to own any home for at least ten years after that. Read the rest of this entry »
Oct 27, 2007, post by Oldman
You may have heard of Zillow.com or you may have even tried it yourself. Zillow has a web site that gives free estimates and offers various online tools for real-estate buyers and sellers. It makes money from online advertising, selling ads to brokers, banks, contractors, appliance retailers and anyone interested in reaching homeowners and buyers.
The big idea behind Zillow is to make real estate more like a stock exchange, a transparent market where all information about every property is readily available, and as a result pricing is perfect. The problem with building such a system is that “the best information about the real estate market is locked up in people’s heads. Read the rest of this entry »
Sep 19, 2006, post by Oldman
Why would you want to make your home into a boarding house? Maybe you shouldn’t. I enjoyed having people living in my house, and most of them became friends. On the other hand, you might not like that arrangement. I hated being a landlord when I owned rentals that were not my home. Each of us is different.
Consider Your Room Rental Options
You don’t necessarily have to live with the room-renters, so consider all the options available. You could do any of the following: Read the rest of this entry »
