All posts by Bettina Settles

My clients appreciate my compassion, empathetic nature when dealing with them and their transaction but more than willing to educate in a simple way to make a complex transaction understood. Being accessible and cooperative when it comes to dealing with clients and cooperative agents has earned me high praises from both. They have learned that I am dedicated, honest, and knowledgeable and can become very persuasive when it comes when working a transaction for my clients.
buying, commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, planning, selling, Team work, tips

ARE YOU LOOKING AT THE RIGHT HOUSE FOR YOU?

Leave a comment

question mark 2Many individuals who are making out their wish list for buying a home many times just think short term and not about resale. Many of us list our needs and wants and try to match the home we are looking at only to our wish list.

Each type of home has its advantages or disadvantages and there is no truly right or wrong. It does help when you go home shopping to not only think about the short term satisfaction but also long term outcome when deciding on buying a certain style of home.

A good example could be a single individual looking to buy their first home for their residence. Many times they just look at a one bedroom, 1 bathroom, and 1 car garage cottage, or a bungalow style home or maybe a small condo not anticipating that they might start dating and possibly have a growing family a few years down the road. When it comes time to sell their small bungalow the number of buyers that may be interested in their small home or condo may be a lot of smaller than with another type and somewhat larger home.

When looking to buy a home consider thinking long term. Sometimes it might be better just to rent for a while rather than buying till you know your plans for your future such as your career dreams. These type of decisions may lead you to move to another state.

If you decide you would consider your long term plans such as a life partner or a growing family, you might consider a larger home with more garage space, more bathrooms and bedrooms. In the beginning you could use the bedrooms as an exercise room, office space, pool room, or guest room that could easily be turned into bedrooms if needed. On the other hand you might anticipate that after your children have grown and left the home you may have aging parents that need to move in with you due to health or other circumstances.

Finding a new home that fits your needs is very exciting. Just think long term when choosing which home on which you would like to make an offer to buy.

Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, selling, Short sale, Team work, tips

Can I sell my home right now or should I wait a little longer?

Leave a comment

questionIn several corners of the US, the housing market has started to pick up but in the majority of the US you can feel the anticipation in the air of sellers who are ready to make the move to put their home on the market. However, they may be holding off because they don’t know where to turn for answers to their questions.

We all know different areas have been hit by the downtrend in home sales somewhat harder than others and the home prices have been low. There are many areas who have not seen a home sale in over 6 months. This makes things a bit interesting for everyone wanting to sell.

When you have made the decision that it is time to put your home on the market, or maybe you were put in a situation forcing you to sell, the first thing I recommend is to interview several real estate agents to help you in the process.

During the interview you should try to learn about the qualifications of the agent. If those qualifications are suitable try building a relationship with the agent. Keep in mind that the relationship with this agent could last a long time through the selling process and you are building the relationship with the agent, not the company they work for. I have personally seen homes that received an offer after 4 days of being put on the market, but did not close for another 5 to 6 months. There have been homes on the market for 6 to 8 months but closed in less than 2 weeks.

You can tell what the sales market is like in your neighborhood by watching how many sales signs there are and how long they are posted in front of the homes. Homes that have signs posted in their yard for longer periods of time may indicate that the market is not good at the present time and you may need to wait to put the house on the market. Yes, the interest rates are still low and there are buyers out there who want to buy. But sometimes you need to bide your time and wait just a little longer, unless of course your situation does not allow you to wait.

If you need to sell due to your circumstances, it is especially important to have a solid relationship with the agent you work with. Keep in mind that there are some agents that are better a buying and others that are better at selling. The one you used to buy your home might not be the right one to help you sell it. This is not always the case but you need monitor this when using the same agent. During the interview you need to find out the agents experience with a slow market as well as their experience with lenders and short sales. This is useful in case you receive an offer that is less than the amount needed to cover your mortgage.

buying, commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, selling, Short sale, Team work, tips

SHORT SALES ARE STILL PART OF TODAY’S MARKET

Leave a comment

inboxEven in today’s market there are many homeowners who are still considering selling their home through the short sale process due to personal hardships they are facing.

Hardships can take on many forms. The loss of value in a home or not budgeting your income well enough are two examples that can lead someone to decide to short sell their home but they are not really hardships. To qualify for a lender approved short sale you need to have a valid hardship such as a divorce or death for instance.  There are many more valid hardships.

Some homeowners will decide strategically (voluntarily) to default on their mortgage even so they do have the ability to make their monthly payment and don’t have a valid hardship. They do this with the intent on achieving approval for a lender approved short sale. Just because you voluntarily default on your mortgage does not mean you will receive approval for short sale. You will still need to prove the validity of your hardship prior a lender approving you for a short sale.

As buyers and sellers we need to be informed of the ins and outs of a short sale while keeping in mind, that when you as the seller opt to sell your house through a short sale, you might not be able to buy anther home for about 2 -3 years. This would be at the discretion of the servicer and what type of mortgage you had previously.

As the buyer you might need to have some patience during the closing process because it is the seller’s lender who has the final say so on the sale of the house and not the seller. You also need to be willing to be pre-approved (not pre-qualified) for a loan. Many homes are being sold “ASIS”. You can have your home inspection but most of the time the seller is not able to make any repairs.

For additional information about short sales or selling real estate in general feel free to contact our office.

commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, selling, Team work, tips

HOW DO I PRICE MY HOME?

1 Comment

Magnifying Glass and U.S. Fifty Dollar BillQ: I’m about to put my home on the market. What factors should I consider when determining a listing price?

A: The ten main factors that influence the value of your home are:

1. Interest rates: The lower the interest rates, the more buyers can afford to pay.

2. Supply and demand: Are ’for sale’ signs springing up all around the neighborhood? If there are a number of homes similar to yours on the market, consider them your competition. What can you do to set your home apart and make it potentially more desirable than the other listings? This will attract more buyers. On the other hand, a small number of homes for sale can result in competing bids that drive prices up.

3. Economy: Is the economy improving or sliding? This will affect buyers’ confidence in their ability to manage debt.

4. Location: Are you in a desirable neighborhood, with key services such as schools, doctors, and shopping nearby? Are there factors that make your neighborhood less desirable, such as environmental issues or traffic problems?

5. Condition: Do you have an older home that needs updating to modern standards? Have you kept up with repairs? Is the house clean? Does your house make a good first impression? (This is called “curb appeal.”) How much can you reasonably do to fix it up and still get your fix-up investment back in the sale?

6. Timing: Do you need to sell quickly or can you wait for a better time in the market?

7. Size: Will your home appeal to a growing family or to those who are downsizing?

8. Amenities: Does it include features that are popular, such as low-maintenance landscaping or granite counter tops?

9. Terms: How flexible are you with respect to the sale? What’s excluded? If you are downsizing and have substantial equity, have you considered offering financing? Carrying financing can make your home very appealing to someone who cannot get approved for a loan and also help you sell for the maximum price.

10. Attitude: How committed are you to selling now?

To determine your home’s value:

  • Research the housing market in your area. Browse the Internet, local newspaper ads and free ’For Sale’ publications. Visit open houses in your neighborhood to get a general idea of the current market.
  • Get a comparative market analysis (CMA) from a REALTOR®. A CMA compares homes that are currently available and those that have sold in your neighborhood in the past year. The more similar the features — square footage, number of rooms, lot size, etc. — and the more recent the data, the more accurately it reflects the current market. Don’t confuse listing price with sold price — the most important factors in the CMA. REALTORs® usually do CMAs for home sellers at no charge.
  • Have your home appraised. An appraisal estimates your home’s market value. A lender will require an appraisal to finance a prospective buyer. For residential properties, a professional appraiser will either compare your home to similar properties that have sold in the area or, for new properties, estimate how much it would cost to replace the existing structure if it were destroyed.

To maximize your home’s value:

  • Eliminate clutter and clean. The more you can clean your home and keep it tidy, the easier it will be to show, and more buyers will see it at its best.
  • Paint and repair. First impressions count. Improve the appearance of your home with a coat of fresh paint. Take the time to fix any dripping taps, broken tiles or cracked widow panes.
  • Consider hiring a home stager. A professional home stager can help you enhance the selling potential of your home by showing you how to arrange your home to appeal to buyers. Whether it’s rearranging furniture, minimizing belongings, lending you accessories or renting furniture, they work with you to show off your home’s best features. Many will also coordinate hiring professionals to do cleaning, painting and minor repairs should you choose to do this.

What’s the right price?

Generally, aim for your list price to be between 2.5 to 5 percent higher than what you expect the selling price to be. Pricing strategies vary with the market. If it’s sluggish, price lower. If it’s active, price close to your expected selling price to stimulate competing offers.

Remember, your home is easiest to sell when it’s first listed. During the first couple of weeks, you’ll get a flurry of interest on the part of agents eager to preview it for their clients. If you price it too high and they can’t sell it, your home may linger on the market and become old news. Prospective buyers may think you’re becoming desperate and lower their offers. As a result, you could end up having to accept less than you normally would have received.

commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, selling, Short sale, Team work, tips

EASY NO COST SELLER IDEAS TO SELL YOU HOME WHEN YOU ARE IN TROUBLE.

Leave a comment

piggy bankMoney is tight and you are faced with having to sell you home but you do not have any money to fix or repair the home? The home then will have to be sold AS-IS.

 

Here are several things you can do to give your home the best chance to sell quickly, even if it needs repairs.

 

Think of what you can do rather than what you cannot do.

 

None of the ideas listed below cost you any money and it is possible they may make you some money! (OK one maybe will but only if you have no other option).

 

  1. In the sellers disclosure identify what needs to be repaired. Better to disclose than to hope they will not see.
  2. Start clearing out and selling items you do not need. Look in every nock and cranny.
  3. Take down all your personal pictures and notes from the walls, desks, tables and refrigerators. Buyers are not interested who is in the house. They want to know about the house.
  4. Vacuum all the carpets in the house including under the bed, couch, and chairs.
  5. Deep clean all of the bathrooms, and the Kitchen. Do not forget behind the stove and under the refrigerator. People will pull the shower curtain to see how clean the shower is.
  6. Take a damp sponge and clean the finger smudges off the walls by the light switches and other places you can find. Don’t scrub hard. Be very gentle.
  7. Clean out overstuffed closets, and if you can, put the excess into storage or sell it.
  8. Organize your kitchen. Get rid of the junk drawer. We all have one.
  9. Clean off the kitchen counter top. If you keep it cluttered, you tell buyer that you do not have enough room to store your items, or the other message you might give them is it will take me months to move out! Or I have too much stuff to move!
  10. Clean out the garage and once again, when you have to store or sell some of the items you have, then do so! Once again, do not use the garage as storage unless you are planning on telling the buyers that the house is too small and does not have enough storage.
  11. Clean up the yard. It will have better curb appeal.
  12. Mow the yard and keep it trimmed.
  13. Ask friends or family members if they maybe have some plants you could plant in your yard when you have none.
  14. Clean your windows and open the curtains to let light in.

 

All these ideas, unless you need to put stuff in to storage, will cost you no extra money. All what this will cost you is your time and effort to get it done.

 

The faster you can sell your home the faster you can get back on track and the faster you might be able to get into a new home. The longer it takes the larger your shortfall will be. In this case time is money.

commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, selling, Team work, tips

SELLING A HOME IS A TEAM SPORT.

Leave a comment

Business Team Signing Contract……and you the seller have a very important part.

 

Houses sell best when the selling Team works together and you as the seller are part of the team. Nothing new, but now let me explain what I mean with this.

 

Your part is to make sure your home put’s its best foot forward. Without this very vital contribution the rest of the Team will not have an easy time doing their part. The other team members have the job of selling what you have. Not preparing the property for sale.

 

The Marketing part of the selling is done right after you have finished signing the Listing contract. Most of the REALTORS® will advertise the house online and with fliers that are available in the flier box right in front of the house.

 

One of the seller’s parts of the Teamwork is to de-clutter the house and to put their personal possessions away during showings. Now, the Buyer who has read the web advertising, reviewed the pictures of the home which were posted online, and reads the property remarks:” Roomy home, with ample storage”, will go through the house and find it as it described rather than finding the kitchen full with clutter and stuff and the toothbrush dirty in the sink or dirty laundry on the floor and being disappointed.

 

I know this is a drastic example but this is to show how important the seller’s role is in being part of the selling team.

 

The REALTOR® is there to help as a coach in preparing the property to sell and to get the team to the finish line. Everyone is a vital part of the team.

buying, commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, selling, Team work, tips

DOES YOUR HOUSE HAVE A SMILE OR A FROWN?

Leave a comment

house 2 beforeListening to a presentation about the correlation between a smiling face and a longer life span of a person reminded me of pictures of homes that are offered for sale.

How many pictures of homes did you see on the internet that showed a genuine smile and how many more do you see that are frowning?

house 2 afterYes…a home can either smile or frown through pictures.

It has everything to do with how you as the owner take care of your house inside and out and how you prepare your home for the photo close-ups. When the decision is made to sell your home, you need to prepare it for its’ best smile for the close-up photos inside and out.

You may need to consider reducing the amount of personal items you have as decorations, including family pictures you have in the house. This would be also a great time to make more money by holding a yard sale or just consider getting a storage unit. I would advise against storing any items in the garage.

Clean the house inside and out. When you don’t have time, hire a cleaning company to help you with the cleaning and I would advise cleaning every nook and cranny on the inside of the house. When needed repairs are made touch up with paint. The bigger the smile on your house during for the photos, the more buyers and potential full price offers you will attract.

buying, commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, Team work, tips

Here comes another Tornado Season

Leave a comment

We are here once again. Another tornado Season and the ones who live in Tornado Alley know very well that nothing can be done against Mother Nature, other than being prepared and ready to take cover.

Don’t be complacent when a tornado is heading your way. By that time it’s usually too late to make a plan.

Designate a “Shelter Area” in your home. For a Home that is not a Trailer move to the lowest level of the house such as a basement or under a stairway. When you have no basement available use the smallest room or hallway on the lowest level and put as many walls between you and the storm. The place you choose needs to be away from windows.

When your home is a Mobile home, you need to find a designated storm shelter. A mobile home, even when tied down, will offer little or no protection during a tornado.

Buy a weather radio or download a weather app to your smart phone.

 

Assemble a “Disaster Supplies Kit”. The American Red Cross recommends a “disaster supplies kit” containing the following items:

 

•         A first aid kit with essential supplies and medication
•         A battery powered radio, flashlight, and extra batteries
•         Canned and other non-perishable foods. Don’t forget a hand-operated can opener
•         Bottled water
•         Candles and matches
•         Sturdy shoes and work gloves
•         Cash and credit cards
•         Copies of vital paperwork like driver’s license, birth certificates, insurance papers, credit cards, vehicle keys, medical cards…..

 

Know the Difference between a watch and a warning.

 

•         A tornado watch means that weather conditions are favorable for the development of tornadoes.  Stay alert and keep tuned in for further advisories.

•         A tornado warning means that a tornado has actually been sighted. Warnings are issued for individual counties and include the tornado’s location, direction and speed.

Do not try to outrun a tornado with a vehicle. Take shelter when a Tornado Warning has been issued. Tornado “watching” is best left up to the professional.

buying, commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, selling, Team work, tips

CENTRAL INDIANA HOME STATISTICS UPDATE

Leave a comment

Rising profitsThe Central Indiana’s housing inventory remaining low is not surprising. We had an unusually harsh winter and many homeowners were reluctant to list their homes for sale. With the warmer weather we should see an uptrend in available homes. With the interest rates remaining low, and forecasts indicating no huge increases until 2015, we could have a great 2014 selling season.

Here in central Indiana we have seen a slow but sure increase in home pricing based on the local REALTOR Association information. Over the last 6 months the average home price saw an increase of 8.7% and most of the homes sold in Central Indiana received offers that were 91.8% of their original asking price.

In the nearby area of Brown County, the increase of properties available indicated a 41.2% over last year. Morgan County did not perform as well showing a decrease in available listings indicating a 30.1% over last year. Decatur County has seen the largest increase in home pricing over last year with 44.8% in comparison to Putman County where home prices decreased over last year by 10.7%.

buying, commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, selling, tips

Tips to keep you home insurance low.

Leave a comment

safe1. Shop around

Take your time before get your home owners insurance. Get referrals from people you know and do your research. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners www.naic.org has great information for you.

 

2. Keep your deductible high

The higher you’re deductible is the better your premium will be. When you can afford a $1000 deductible you can safe up to 25% on your premium, most insurance companies asking for a $500 deductible.

 

3. Don’t include the land in your insurance

The price you paid for your home includes the land it stands on (in most states) and it is not in risk of being stolen or fire (you could just make sure the trees are covered). The land will always be there so consider not including it in the coverage.

 

4. Keep all your policies with one company

When you keep all of your policies with one insurance company, like the house and your auto, you can save with a multi-policy discount. Depending in the insurance company it can vary between 5-15%.

 

5. Disaster proof your home for your area.

You may be able to save on your premium when you retrofit your home to make it more resistant to windstorms. Older homes may get a break when they are being modernized with new heating, plumbing, and electric. You need to contact your insurance agent for further assistant on this.

 

6. Add to your home security

Adding a smoke detector, fire extinguisher, deadbolt locks and a monitored security system could get you a possible insurance discount of 5%. Before you do any modifications like this contact your insurance agent for recommendations.

 

7. Look for other discounts

Non-smokers can get you a discount with some insurance companies. When you are 55+ and retired, and you live in the home most of the year, you could qualify for another discount.

 

8. Credit Score

Keep a good credit score, the better your credit the better will be your insurance premium. Make sure you check your credit on an annual basis.

 

9. Don’t move from insurance company to insurance company

Some insurance company give special discounts for long term policy holders. The longer you stay with the company the higher the discount will be. You could be eligible for discounts from 5-10%.

 

10. Annual policy review

Did you add a floater for the high end computer you no longer owned or grandma’s jewelry you have sold at auction? Check and see if you had something included in your policy that you no longer own. Have it removed and save the difference.

 

11. Private insurance VS. Government plan

Government plans are higher than private insurance plans, especially in high risk areas. Check for possible private insurance carriers who might insure homes in a high risk area. A high risk area is for instance along the coast or areas of high crime.

 

12. Shop for insurance before you buy

Call your insurance company before you buy and they will let you know what type of home will have a more reasonable insurance premium.  Some things the insurance company will take in to account are the age of the home, the age of all of the systems (plumbing, heating), age of the roof, and possibly the type of siding.

 

13. Check the CLUE Report

For many homes you can find a report which shows the insurance claims history of the home. With this you could decide what potential problems the property might have.

 

14. Other insurance

Remember that when your future house is in a flood plain you have to get flood insurance. That could add in an average of about $400 annually to your insurance premium. When your house is in an earthquake prone area you also need to buy a separate earthquake policy. Earthquakes are not covered under a standard policy.

 

Disclaimer: I am not an insurance agent or an attorney. For legal advice or any advice regarding this topic contact your insurance agent or legal counsel.