realtor Archives - Page 24 of 27

Selling Your Home Steps to Take

1. Prepare your home for maximum earnings There are simple steps you can take to maximize your home’s appeal.

2. Enlist the help of a Realtor® to market and sell your home When selling your home, a Realtor® can provide expertise in valuing and advertising your home, qualifying and screening potential buyers, and negotiating contracts. If you are not able to enlist help from a Realtor®, Title First can provide you with assistance.

3. Negotiate a contract When you receive an offer for the purchase of your home, it must be in writing, generally on a preprinted real estate purchase contract from your local bar association or board of Realtors®. You may modify or alter the offer in any way you, your Realtor®, or your attorney wish. Offers and counter offers are made until the terms of the contract have been fully agreed to by all parties. When assessing offers and making counter-offers to the seller, don’t feel pressured to accept less than the value of your home.

4. Close on the property Before your home is officially sold, you must sign all appropriate documentation at your closing.

The closing will typically be held at a Title First office, the office of your realtor, lender or attorney, or sometimes on-location. Because your home represents one of the most significant investments you will make throughout your life, it is important that you feel comfortable with all the information being presented to you during the closing procedure.

Title First is dedicated to walking you through this important process with care and attention. When it’s time to set up your closing, don’t hesitate to tell your realtor or lender to call Title First, or feel free to give us a call if you’re working by yourself.

Be prepared for these seller’s fees commonly seen at the closing

Fees: Current loan payoff Conveyance fee, Title insurance examination, Title insurance commitment/premium for owner policy

Documentation to provide your Realtor® with: Tax receipts, Utility bills, Mortgage Payment

Information to provide to Title First: Your mortgage company name, address and account number. Any existing title insurance policy.

Share This Post

Get Your House Ready to Sell in Thirty Days

It can be a lot of work. But it can be done. Getting your house ready to sell in thirty days. The goals being available by the Spring 2019 Market, and getting top dollar. Expert Realtors will tell you that with motivation, hard work and focus it can be done.

Disconnect personally to your home. Invite a friend or family member over to look around to see what you do not. Fresh eyes can see where repairs are needed – it’s funny how a homeowner misses something simple that they see every day – and can be fixed easily.

Depersonalize rooms. Pack up photographs, family heirlooms, Buyers have a tough time seeing past the personal. They will need to imagine their own photos, art and other effects in the home without the distraction. It’s OK to leave a few framed photos around to make the home seem inviting and well lived in.

Declutter. Box up books from bookcases. Pack up knickknacks. Clean kitchen and bathroom counters. This can also mean removing extra pieces of furniture to be able to show the full potential of a room’s size.

Consider hiring someone to come in and make your home shine. Someone to clean beyond the usual day to day or weekly cleaning. Remember the first impression is the strongest. Dirty floors, dusty surfaces, and bad smells can ruin that first visit to your home. Empty out closets, drawers, under beds, and kitchen cabinets. Less makes everything appear more.

Paint the walls. Stick to whites, light grays, and light beiges that will make your home appear bigger, brighter and more welcoming. Adding a fresh coat of paint to your home will also help cover the wall’s imperfections and convey a blank slate to potential buyers.

Spruce up the exterior of the home, even consider hiring a landscaping company. Plenty of times, buyers pull up to a home only to back out because they don’t like the way the exterior looks. Get rid of dead plants, trim overgrown bushes and trees, freshen up the ground cover, add flowers that will survive the March temperatures for a punch of color. Adding new hardware to the front door or giving it a fresh coat of paint is a cheap thing to do and can speak volumes.

Thirty days is ample enough to get your home ready to sell. Find the best Realtor in your area and have them tell you what you will need to do to sell your home fast. The Spring and Summer selling market are typically the very best time to sell, but forewarning: there will be an increased inventory and the competition will be steep. Buyers will be pickier so you will need your home in it’s best shape as well as priced right.

Share This Post

Here’s Why You Need Title Insurance

A fire destroys only the house and improvements. The ground is left. A defective title may take away not the only the house but also the land on which it stands. Title insurance protects you (as specified in the policy) against such loss.
A deed or mortgage in the chain of title may be a forgery.
A deed or a mortgage may have been signed by a person under age.
A deed or a mortgage may have been made by an insane person or one otherwise incompetent.
A deed or a mortgage may have been made under a power of attorney after its termination and would, therefore, be void.
A deed or a mortgage may have been made by a person other than the owner, but with the same name as the owner.
The testator of a will might have had a child born after the execution of the will, a fact that would entitle the child to claim his or her share of the property.
A deed or mortgage may have been procured by fraud or duress.
Title transferred by an heir may be subject to a federal estate tax lien.
An heir or other person presumed dead may appear and recover the property or an interest therein.
A judgment or levy upon which the title is dependent may be void or voidable on account of some defect in the proceeding.
Title insurance covers attorneys’ fees and court costs.
Title insurance helps speed negotiations when you’re ready to sell or obtain a loan.
By insuring the title, you can eliminate delays and technicalities when passing your title on to someone else.
Title insurance reimburses you for the amount of your covered losses.
A deed or mortgage may be voidable because it was signed while the grantor was in bankruptcy.
Each title insurance policy we write is paid up, in full, by the first premium for as long as you or your heirs own the property.
There may be a defect in the recording of a document upon which your title is dependent.
Claims constantly arise due to marital status and validity of divorces. Only title insurance protects against claims made by non-existent or divorced “wives” or “husbands.”
Many lawyers, in giving an opinion on a title, protect their clients as well as themselves, by procuring title insurance.
Over the last 24 years, claims have risen dramatically.

Dedicated to innovation and passionate about service, Title First Agency is your comprehensive, nationwide resource for title and real estate settlement services. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Title First has branch offices throughout the Midwest and a robust virtual partner network throughout the country. Title First got its start in 1956 as an affiliate of a local law firm and has since emerged as one of the largest independent title agencies in the nation.

Proudly servicing Realtors, lenders, builders, developers, law firms, buyers and sellers, Title First is equipped to serve your residential and commercial title and settlement needs. Title First Agency. Your title company.

Share This Post

Get Your Home Ready to Sell in the Spring Market

Spring is right around the corner and while we are in the cold, gray days of February, now is a perfect time to get your home ready to put on the market to sell during the Spring market!

Start purging and packing. Go through your closets, attic, garage, basement, junk drawers and decide what you can throw out and what you want to save but don’t need and can box up. Reducing the amount of clutter will help potential buyers visualize how they might use the different areas. Plus, the less you have in a closet – the bigger it will seem.

Make improvements especially in the kitchen and bathrooms. It doesn’t need to be expensive. For instance, how do your kitchen cabinets look? Are they chipped or are the knobs falling off? Replace or repaint them, tighten the knobs or replace the hardware completely. Regrout tile where needed, caulk the shower and tub, replace switch plates and doorknobs- all this will give the bathroom a fresh look without breaking the bank.

How is your front door? The front hallway? The first thing a potential buyer will see when they come to your home. Give it a fresh coat of paint and clean or replace the knob and knocker if there is one. Look around at the foyer area and notice if you need to update the walls with neutral paint or clean the trim, if any.

Use neutral, gray or white paint on the walls in each room. Another relatively cheap and easy thing to do in the Winter months to get ready for Spring. Don’t just touch up – paint the entire wall. Now is the time to paint over the bright colors you may have used. If you have carpeting in any room, consider replacing to hardwood which will help the home sell, or at the very least get a good professional cleaning.

Go room to room in your warm home while the February snow is falling outside and scrutinize everything from switch plates to ceiling fans. Look for the tiny flaws that you haven’t noticed like cob webs in between the storm & the window. Have you dusted the shades? Cleaned the curtains? Not something people think to do on the weekly, but can make a huge difference. Simply get on the floor at kid and dog level and wipe down the baseboards and look for little fingerprints to wash away with mild soap and water. Put the brush attachement on your vacuum and run it over the walls.

The Bottom Line: It’s surprising, the little things you don’t notice daily in your home. But, taking the time and seeing things through the eyes of a potential buyer can greatly help to get your home ready for Spring. Sometimes asking a friend to come to do an honest walk through and point out problems will help. Now, might also be the perfect time to find a Realtor and have them come in your home and give you their feedback as well.

Share This Post

Protecting Our Clients Information

With wire fraud and email hacking on the rise, we must all become more diligent in protecting our clients’ information. At Title First Agency, we take security seriously and we put our company through a rigorous audit (SSAE 18). In December, we had a perfect report for the 4th year in a row. This is one of the steps we take to make sure our clients’ data is safe and secure. Title First is one of only a handful of title agencies across the country to go through these audits

Another aspect of protecting our clients’ information is educating prospective buyers, sellers and real estate professionals about the dangers of wire fraud and email hacking. While buying and selling a home is an exciting time, there can be pitfalls for unsuspecting consumers. We’ve made a video with four tips to protect money and advice on what to do if targeted by a scam.

Title First Agency’s software platform and third-party integrations are crucial to providing our clients with the most efficient title services. Our objective is to continually refine state of the art technology to assist with compliance. This is achieved by working with the top technology providers in the business. We also work closely with residential realtors and their clients, through the escrow and title process to make sure that proper steps are taken to successfully close.

The Bottom Line: Protecting against wire fraud and email hacking requires all parties of a transaction to stay diligent throughout the process. If there are any questions regarding potential wire fraud, email hacking or anything else that feels “off”, Title First Agency is here to be contacted to discuss any issue with our agents.

Share This Post

Are You Ready For Your Interior Home Inspection?

It’s in a seller’s best interest to make sure their home is as ready as possible for inspection. All homes that have been lived in usually have a bit of damage from simply living in it. After your home has been on the market and someone is interested in buying it, you have to pass the inspection. Home inspection seems nerve-wracking but they are necessary before any sale. There are a few things you can do to be prepared for the day when the interior of your home is being inspected.

Heating, Cooling, Water Heater: Each should have a date of their last inspection on them. If not, they could be flagged by the inspector. If you can’t find a sticker, have your Realtor give you the name of a licensed contractor to come to have a look to see if any repairs or changes should be made and make sure all are running properly.

Bathrooms: How is the grout in the shower, around the sink and in the tub looking? This one is an easy remedy if you see any cracks – match the grout color and fill in the damaged areas. Make sure any pipe work that was performed meets legal standards and guidelines. For example: If you put in your own custom shower, note that the inspector will check below the surface to make sure that the membrane was installed properly and there isn’t water leaking below the shower that could damage the sub-floor and drywall. The inspector will flush all the toilets and listen for any leaking sounds. Often you will just need a flapper valve if you hear a sound. Cheap fix.

Electrical: Test your outlets. For as little as $10, an outlet tester can be picked up at a home improvement store. An inspector will try every single one in your home. Be sure the cover plates are not cracked – another cheap and easy fix. Every light fixture should have a working bulb and your smoke detector should work.

Plumbing: Fill all your sinks part of the way and then pull the plug to see if they drain normally. Did it take a long time to fill the sink? It might be because you have low water pressure and is often a really easy fix. Occasionally, this could be an indication of a bigger problem within your plumbing system. It’s best, at that point, to hire a professional to come to see before an inspector. Check inside cabinets under sinks for moisture or around the valves.

Kitchen Appliances: Repair any that may need to be fixed as the inspector will run the dishwasher, the stove, oven, garbage disposal, vents, and fans. If you bought a new appliance while you lived in the home and installed it yourself, mistakes may have been made during setup. Check the water and drainage lines from a new dishwasher or refridgerator.

Windows & Doors: Each window should be able to open, close and lock. If you find any hard movement, it can be easily fixed using spray silicone from the hardware store. Repair any caulking around the doors and make sure all the knobs/deadbolts are working properly.

The Bottom Line: This is just a quick checklist of some of the things that you, as a homeowner, can look for and fix before an inspection inside your home. Some of the issues may need the help of a professional. The best advice we have heard is if you want the inspection to go smoothly, have your home inspected before it even goes on the market. This way, anything you can’t fix yourself, you will have time to find a reasonably priced contractor instead of rushing and paying top dollar after the fact.

Share This Post

Smooth Real Estate Transactions

Buying a home can be chock full of complications and setbacks, or it can go remarkably smooth and fast if it is planned carefully. The Realtor needs to stay focused and be the voice of reason as they facilitate the process at closing and make sure all parties have completed all unfinished business prior to coming to the “closing table”. Here’s a quick list that Realtors can use to ensure a smooth closing.

Repairs: The Realtor should check on the status of all repairs that were to be made on the home the day before closing. If there was an agreement that something needed to be fixed by closing, make sure that it is. If there was an arrangement for repairs to be taken care of after closing, make sure all the necessary paperwork shows this as fact. A final walk-through should be done with the buyers. The sellers should make sure, with their Realtor, that the property is in the condition promised and all of their personal items are removed.

Title Insurance: All of the title work should be checked to ensure clear title and that the property can be transferred without any obstructions. Should there be any title issues that might include judgments or liens, they must be settled prior to the hour of closing. The moment of truth in a real estate transaction happens at the closing table. Title First Agency will work hard to ensure a seamless experience for you and your clients. From contract to closing, we handle all the details to help a transaction run smoothly and close on time.

Financing: The lender should be contacted the day before the closing to be certain that all the documents they need have been received. Occasionally, the closing is delayed due to one document or one final verification. The interest rate for the loan should be locked as well as the final mortgage and monthly payments. The Realtor should make sure the buyer has all the funds available and ready to close. Having everything in hand the day before gives both the buyer and the seller 24 hours to review everything and have any questions ready, errors noticed or points not understood addressed.

The Bottom Line: A thorough Realtor will make sure the buyers are ready for the closing. First-time buyers may not realize all the people that could possibly be at the closing table, and all the paperwork there will be that needs their signature. The buyer needs a cashier’s check or arrangments made to wire the closing funds to the escrow company. The seller should bring all the keys, garage door openers, alarm codes and any other controls to the settlement. The Realtor should make sure and confirm that all utilities have been disconnected by the sellers and set up ready for the buyers upon closing.

Share This Post

Is It Time To Sell Your Home?

Are the walls closing in on you in your home? Are you feeling cramped? Maybe you have TOO much space and have launched all of your children and are ready to downsize. Are you ready to find your next home? Are you on the fence whether it’s a good time to sell or not? Of course, you want top dollar. So what are some of the signals that now is the time – or not?

Positive Equity: The current market value of your home, less what you owe. If you can sell your home for more than you owe, you will benefit from positive equity. This can enable you to have enough money for closing costs and putting money down on your next home. At the very least, you want to be able to sell enough to cover the current balance of your mortgage. If none of this applies to you, there are many things you can do to improve the equity of your home, including home improvements. Speak with a skilled Realtor to know what you should repair, replace or upgrade.
Strong Market: You probably have a general idea of what is going on in your neighborhood – what the trend is; who is selling; what has sold and for how much. But, call your local Realtor and get the comps and find out exactly how hot the market is. You’ll be able to learn how long a home was on the market until it sold, what the price per square foot has been and if that number been increasing or decreasing. If it’s been low average days on market, it’s a pretty positive sign the market is hot for sellers.
Remodeling Won’t Raise The Value: Sometimes it’s beneficial to make updates in your home and you know that updating your kitchen or adding another bathroom will help you sell your home for top dollar. But, making an appointment with a reputable Realtor to find out if adding money to your home will be worth it. Depending on the real estate in your neighborhood and what buyers are looking for, doing less may be more. Your Realtor will help you to understand what the market is doing – the rule of thumb is not to raise your home’s value any higher than 10 percent of the average cost of homes in your neighborhood.

The Bottom Line: Is it finally time to sell? There are many signs, we’ve just listed three. Talk to a Realtor, meet with a financial advisor or mortgage lender and make sure it makes sense financially. Being house poor is a reality, and as much as you want a larger home – or even a smaller home – it might not be the right time for you.

Share This Post

Skilled Staging and Selling Homes

unwrapping a package

Prospective home buyers never like walking into an empty house where they can’t imagine themselves living. There should always be furniture and accessories to make the house, feel like a home. Hiring a professional Stager can help lessen the time a home is on the market as well as boost the offered price. The best Stager will create an environment that will help the buyer feel the “at home” feeling and never even consciously know exactly why!

It’s always hard on the sellers. They have loved their home and don’t see what a “stranger” in their home sees. Buyers like everything “spelled out” for them and may not be able to see that the dining room is really a family room. Or windows with different treatments may make the room look brighter and bigger. Rearranging furniture to balance and maximize a sense of space in rooms is key to the staging process. Too big a cozy couch that the seller loves could possibly dwarf the room it’s in. Sellers don’t often see that boxing up knick-knacks and family pictures can actually add more value to a room.

Many sellers are told to paint walls in a classic ivory and beige color scheme. That’s fine, but putting a twist on that to stand out from other homes on the market is a great idea. This way, at the end of the day, after a buyer has looked at many homes, they can easily call it to mind. The overall goal is to make each room feel fresh and inviting and easy for buyers to envision themselves and their belongings in. Grey, a very light blue, pale serene turquoise, charcoal, yellow – all accented with white are always pleasing. A skilled Stager will put a seller on the right path.

The Bottom Line: The seller’s goal is to have the house that potential buyers remember. The home that makes they can feel and see themselves living in. Open all the doors. Get rid of old window treatments. Rip up carpeting. Take down and box family photos. Fake plants, fake food and blow up mattresses are a turn-off. Buyers open closets and cabinets! Remember to make sure they are organized and clean.

Share This Post

Pocket Listing

What is a “pocket listing” and why do you hear about it so much? Some home sellers like the benefits of a private transaction. Thus, when a Realtor and a seller sign a listing agreement that permits the seller to place their home for sale without adding the information into the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) it is called a “pocket listing”.

The biggest advantage of selling your home as a pocket listing is for the privacy. The general public doesn’t get to see pictures of it online, and they are not able to just come “take a look” out of curiosity. These sellers don’t want strangers wandering through their homes. They don’t want the hassle of the constant showings, they simply want only the pre-qualified and vetted serious buyers.

Homeowners prefer selling their home as a pocket listing for many reasons. If the seller has just gone through a life-changing event (a divorce, death, new baby, etc) and they often want their home sold as quickly & quietly as possible. Maybe, they just want to test the market, get an idea of what buyers are willing to pay for their home. Being a pocket listing means the general public does not know how long the buyer has been trying to sell it. No listing on MLS means no public eye, which can lessen the stigma that is inevitable if a home sits too long on the market publicly. Another plus? If the buyer wants to lower the price, buyers won’s see it and won’t be able to use it to negotiate.

Bypassing listing a home on the MLS provides a jump start and the home often sells for the full price due to the fact that they are listed in a defined, focused market. But, the unfortunate side to this is that it may sell, but might not be at the very best price. When the pool of potential buyers is restricted, the seller doesn’t know what the home could actually bear since it is never actually on the market.

The Bottom Line: Pocket listings can be advantageous in the real estate market, especially in specific cases where sellers require privacy and want to have control over the buyers who see their homes. But along with being a pocket listing comes potential hindrances that can warrant consideration. An experienced Realtor will be able to walk you through all the details of how your specific home would do as a pocket listing.

Share This Post