Increase the Value of Your Home, Inexpensively

family in new house

Considering selling your home by next Spring? You will want to get the best price, of course, so start now by getting your home in tip-top shape. You don’t need to spend a lot of money and can do much on your own. Here are a few ideas and if you need guidance, calling the most experienced Realtor to visit and give you advice is always a good idea.

Deep Clean: Start with decluttering every room and closet. Donate, sell or throw away things you don’t use anymore. Vacuum, mop, & dust every surface, every vent, every blind and scrub the bathrooms. Get down on the floor and get your baseboards and lower cabinet doors wiped down. Wash the walls and make all your windows sparkle. Steam-clean all the carpets. These are all perfect cold, Winter day chores to tackle.

Paint: While you may love your brightly painted rooms, they make it harder to sell as the potential buyer usually can’t see beyond your taste. Use neutral colors and watch as minor flaws are hidden and the rooms are brightened. Simply paint the trim and see a new room appear! Just updating paint jobs, especially in the master bedroom the entry foyer, living room, and kitchen can increase the value of your home.

The Face of the Home: Rent a power washer if you don’t have one and transform the exterior of your home from “lived in” to “like new”. Use it on the siding, brick or wood, sidewalks, driveways, decks, porches, garage doors, any porch furniture that is left out and windows.

Landscaping: Depending on the time of year – if it’s right now, Fall, get the leaves up and off the ground. Rake out gardens and pick up sticks. Cut down any low hanging branches or twigs. Removed dead shrubs and make sure the property is well-edged.

Spruce Up Your Kitchen: No need to gut and rebuild. Add value by replacing cabinet hardware, the faucet in the sink, even appliances if they are dented or overused. Repaint walls and even cabinets.

The Bottom Line: There are so many ways to upgrade your home before you sell it and literally up the value by thousands. A simple change of light switch and outlet covers make a world of difference. So, if you are waiting until Spring to list your home, spend the dark Winter months knocking off a to-do list!

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Title Problems As a Property Buyer

Are you questioning whether you really need title insurance when you buy your home? Every home and piece of land has a history and with a good and thorough title search, you can unpack any issues that could be tied to your purchase. Having title insurance assures you that even after you close on your property, you are protected from any title problems that may arise in the future. What issues?

PUBLIC RECORDS: Mistakes and errors happen but you do not want it affecting your home. The errors can be disastrous and cause you an undue financial burden to resolve. Simple clerical or filing errors could affect the deed or survey of your property.

UNKNOWN LIENS: Prior owners of your property may have left unpaid bills. And, even though the former debt is not your own, banks or other financing companies can place liens on your property for unpaid debts even after you have closed on the sale. This is an especially worrisome issue with distressed properties.

ILLEGAL DEEDS: While the chain of title on your property may appear perfectly sound, it’s possible that a prior deed was made by an undocumented immigrant, a minor, a person of unsound mind, or one who is reported single but in actuality married. These instances may affect the enforceability of prior deeds, affecting prior (and possibly present) ownership.

MISSING HEIRS: When a person dies, the ownership of their home may fall to their heirs or those named within their will. However, those heirs are sometimes missing or unknown at the time of death. Other times, family members may contest the will for their own property rights. These scenarios – which can happen long after you have purchased the property – may affect your rights to the property.

FORGERIES: Unfortunately, we don’t live in a completely honest world. Sometimes forged or fabricated documents that affect property ownership are filed within public records, obscuring the rightful ownership of the property. Once these forgeries come to light, your rights to your home may be in jeopardy.

UNDISCOVERED ENCUMBRANCES:  At the time that you purchase your home, you may not know that a third party holds a claim to all or part of your property – due to a former mortgage or lien, or non-financial claims, like restrictions or covenants limiting the use of your property.

UNKNOWN EASEMENTS: You may own your new home and its surrounding land, but an unknown easement may prohibit you from using it as you’d like or could allow government agencies, businesses, or other parties access to all or portions of your property. While usually non-financial issues, easements can still affect your right to enjoy your property.

BOUNDARY/SURVEY DISPUTES: You may have seen several surveys of your property prior to purchasing, however, other surveys may exist that show differing boundaries. Therefore, a neighbor or other party may be able to claim ownership to a portion of your property.

UNDISCOVERED WILL: When a property owner dies with no apparent will or heir, the state may sell his or her assets, including the home. When you purchase such a home, you assume your rights as the owner. However, even years later, the deceased owner’s will may come to light and your rights to the property may be seriously jeopardized.

THE BOTTOM LINE: A title insurance policy will be your best protection against those and many other title problems that may become known after you close on your transaction.  Title First Agency is proud to be one of the few SSAE 18 certified title agencies in the nation. After you close on your new home, we record the deed and the mortgage at the courthouse (returning the original recorded deed to the new owner and the mortgage to the lender) and prepare the owner’s and lender’s title policies. Following the recording of the deed and mortgage, the buyer will receive (via the mail) the original recorded deed and the original title insurance policy, if applicable. It is wise to keep all of these documents in a safe place.

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Guide to Closing a Real Estate Deal

Closing a real estate deal, signing the papers to make a home yours, can be stressful and long and it involves many steps and procedural formalities. Many things must happen before you arrive at the closing. Here are a few important guidelines that need to happen between the moment your offer is accepted to the moment you get the keys to your new home.

Open an Escrow Agreement

An escrow account can be held by a neutral third party on behalf of the two principal parties involved in the transaction. They will hold all the money and documents related to the transaction until all is settled. A contract or escrow agreement is drafted, which the closing agent reviews for completeness and accuracy.

Title Search is Conducted and Title Insurance is Obtained

Once the title order is placed, the title company conducts a search of the public records. This should identify any issues with the title such as liens against the property, utility easements, and so on.  If a problem is discovered, most often the title agency will take care of it without you even knowing about it. After the title search is complete, the title company can provide a title insurance policy.

There are two kinds of title insurance coverage: a Lender’s policy, which covers the lender for the amount of the mortgage loan; and an Owner’s policy, which covers the homebuyer for the amount of the purchase price. If you are obtaining a loan, the bank or lender will typically require that you purchase a Lender’s policy. However, it only protects the lender.

It is always recommended that you obtain an Owner’s policy to protect your investment. The party that pays for the Owner’s policy varies from state to state, so ask your settlement agent for guidance before closing.

Obtain a Closing Disclosure

Your lender must provide a Closing Disclosure to you at least three days prior to closing. Your lender may also have a closing agent provide the Closing Disclosure to you three days before you close your transaction.

If you or your lender makes significant changes between the time the Closing Disclosure form is given to you and the closing, you must be provided a new form and an additional three-business-day waiting period after receipt of the new form.

If the changes are less significant, they can be disclosed on a revised Closing Disclosure form provided to you at or before closing, without delaying the closing.

Be Ready to Close

As the closing day approaches, your agent will order any updated information that may be required. Once the agent has confirmed with the lender and the seller, a final date, time and location of the closing will be set.

On the day of the closing, all the work is complete. You are clear to close. A good Realtor will have been managing and making sure all the paperwork is done and getting the closing process prepared for you.

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Selling A Home in January

Unfortunately, many people assume incorrectly that homes do not sell in the winter. Spring wins as people believe it is the best time to sell, but a good realtor will tell a seller that putting their home on the market in January to beat the competition.  After the holidays, people are back at work and looking online for their next move, and with the mindset of so many sellers to wait until Spring, the home on the market in January will have less competition. 

Real Estate becomes flooded come spring and summer and is dominated by high supply and high demand, meaning a home becomes one of the many for sale. Think about selling in a period of high demand but low supply, and being one of the few and standing out from the crowd and with less risk of getting lost in a market overload in the Spring. 

Redfin, a real estate organization, took a look a home sales from 2010 through 2014 to determine how well homes sold based on the season. The findings were surprising for many people, because they went against the standard assumption that winter was a time to avoid trying to sell a home. They found that, indeed, homes did sell best in spring, but only by a small margin. The next best time to sell a home turned out to be winter, followed by summer and then fall. Winter home sales were only one percentage point lower than the figures for spring, with summer trailing quite a bit behind.

The buyers are more serious in the cold, dark months of January and February. It’s not so hard to go house hunting in the beautiful months in Spring and Summer, but to go out in the frigid temps to look at homes means that buyer is motivated. 

January is the most popular month for corporate transfers. People who are transferring for work are highly motivated buyers and are limited to the time they can spend looking for a house. Take advantage of this situation, especially if living in an area with corporate headquarters, or major employers. 

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