10 Affordable Home Makeovers!

From the Cary Home Page:

Many home buyers are finding it hard to get a home loan these days.

Some have decided to just stay in their present home and do some updating and upgrading.

Here are 10 affordable "redos" you might want to think about for your home:

 1. Make Rooms Gender Neutral

 2. Paint Neutral, Healthy Colors

 3. Camouflauge Dated Paneling
 4. Modernize the Kitchen

 5. Create a Spa-like Bathroom

 6. Hang the Right Window Properly
 7. Lighten Up
 8. Anchor Furnishings with a Great Floor
 9. Hang Inexpensive but Appealing Art
10. Improve Curb Appeal

To see a slide show from "Realtor Magazine" and descriptions of each of these projects, check out this presentation.


Kwik Kwote: "The essential thing is not knowledge, but character." --Joseph Le Conte

Know Your Real Estate: "LIVING AREA"...space in a home that is intended for human occupancy and is heated, finished and directly accessible from other living areas in the home.

To SEARCH FOR HOMES in the Cary-Raleigh area of North Carolina, visit the Wake County Real Estate Center. Or, email me at tim@timhaag.com. Or, for a no pressure chat, call me at 919.389.7135

Home Mortgage Fraud...Alive and Well in North Carolina

From The Cary Home Page:

Whoa!

Forty-one people...in 4 states...have been charged in a home mortgage fraud operation!

One of the states is our own home...North Carolina, along with New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Among those arrested are 6 lawyers, 7 loan officers, 3 mortgage brokers, an accountant and an appraiser.

A huge amount of money was involved...lenders were defrauded of $64 million in home mortgage loans.

The crackdown was called "Operation Bad Deeds" by federal agents.

Sadly, uncaught scams like this allow a few people to make millions of dollars at the rest of our expense.  I say, let them grow old paying for their greed in prison!

Thankfully, federal, state and local authorities were on top of this massive scheme and "stopped it in its tracks".

Want more details? Check out this article at NewsGeni.us. by Larry Neumeister, Associated Press.


Kwik Kwote: "Impossibilities are merely things which we have not yet learned." --Charles W. Chesnutt

Know Your Real Estate: "DEPRECIATION"...a decrease in the value of property. Some reasons are aging, decreased demand for the property, wear and tear and introduction of factors on or off of the property that pull the value down.

To SEARCH FOR HOMES in the Cary-Raleigh area of North Carolina, visit the Wake County Real Estate Center. Or, email me at tim@timhaag.com. Or, for a no pressure chat, call me at 919.389.7135

Home Buyers are Moving Up...Really!

From the Cary Home Page:

What is the number 1 reason home buyers are moving?

This might surprise you...given the recession we are experiencing. The main reason home buyers are moving is to live in a bigger or better home!

Why? Lower home prices and rents as well as the federal income tax credit for first-time home buyers have both influenced decisions to "move up". 

A survey commissioned by Relocation.com found home buyers moved for the following reasons (in order from most important to least important):

1. Live in a bigger/better home

2. Live in a better neighborhood or area

3. Be closer to family or friends

4. Live in an area with a lower cost of living

5. Change in marital status

6. Because of school, job loss, retirement or foreclosure

In the Raleigh-Cary area, move-up home buyers relocating to the Triangle has slowed down considerably. This is partially due to fewer employment opportunites. It is also greatly affected by the fact that many potential out-of-town homebuyers cannot buy here because they cannot sell their current homes.

Kwik Kwote: "Failure is an event, never a person." --William D. Brown

Know Your Real Estate: "APPRECIATION"...an increase in the value of property. Some reasons are inflation, increased demand for the property, remodeling and removal of factors pulling the value down.

To SEARCH FOR HOMES in the Cary-Raleigh area of North Carolina, visit the Wake County Real Estate Center. Or, email me at tim@timhaag.com. Or, for a no pressure chat, call me at 919-389-7135

Cary in Top 5 Places People are Making Their Home!

From the Home Page

Wow...Cary makes the news again! The Raleigh-Cary Metropolitan Statistical Area is among the top 5 places in America that became homes to the most newcomers in 2008.

According to an October 1st article at Forbes.com, several of the top 10 most attractive areas include college and university towns where students and education professionals help welcome outsiders to make their homes there. The Raleigh-Cary area is among them.

William Frey, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution says "If there are lots of newcomers, it's easy to make friends; there's a sense of vibrancy there". Places that don't have a lot of new migrants tend to be older and more stagnant".

The ratings are based on the number of newcomers as a percentage of the area's population.

Here are the top 10:

 1. Colorado Springs, Colorado
 2. Provo, Utah
 3. Bakersfield, California
 4. Austin, Texas
 5. RALEIGH-CARY, NORTH CAROLINA
 6. Columbia South Carolina
 7. Cape Coral, Florida
 8. Lakeland, Florida
 9. Palm Bay, Florida
10. Bradenton, Florida

For more details, see the entire article, which also names the 10 locations where the fewest newcomers are making their home.


Kwik Kwote:  "The sound body is the product of a sound mind." --George Bernard Shaw

Know Your Real Estate: "APPRAISAL"...the professional opinion or estimate of the value of property. For example, "The appraisal indicates that the market value of your home is $250,000".

To search for homes in the Cary-Apex-Holly Springs, NC area, take a look at Triangle Estates Realty. Or, email me at Tim@TimHaag.com . Or, for a no pressure chat, call me at 919-389-7135

Get Your Home Ready to Sell...Fast! Showing Dos and Don'ts.

From the Cary Home Page

This is the final installment in the series of posts about how to give your home the competitive edge when you are ready to sell.

So get going!

1. Getting Geared Up

2. Do the Easy Stuff First
3. Sharpen up Your Home's Curb Appeal
4. Home Staging Basics
5. Home Showing Do's and Don'ts

It's been a long time since it was harder to sell a home!

In fact you will be competing with a slew of other home sellers in the same boat. You'd better pay attention to EVERY detail that will give your home the competitive edge you absolutely need in this market.

One of the very best ways to compete is to make your home "drop-dead" gorgeous and ready to move into without the buyers having to "lift a finger" to make it move-in ready.

Knowing how to show your home can also give you the edge over your competition while your home is on the market.

SHOWING DO’S:

- Clean the home from top to bottom

- Mow your lawn

- Send pets to the neighbors

- Keep things organized and clutter free


SHOWING DON’TS:

- Leave valuables out and on display

- Leave pictures or personal effects out

- Clutter the closets (you can count on buyers to open them)

- Allow pet's fur or smell to permeate the house and turn off buyers (always vacuum up fur and neutralize any pet odors)

- Don't let just anyone into your home (it can be dangerous and non-productive)

Take a look at http://www.realtor.com/ to find the "Home Sellers Guide to Success" under the “Advice and Ideas” section.


Kwik Kwote: "Much of the work of the world has been done against seeming impossibilities. The thing is to get the work done."  --Dale Carnegie

Know Your Real Estate: "ANCHOR TENANT"...the main tenant in a shopping center, e.g. Wal-Mart.

To search for homes in the Cary-Apex-Holly Springs, NC area, take a look at Triangle Estates Realty. Or, email me at Tim@TimHaag.com. Or, for a no pressure chat, call me at 919-389-7135

SOCIAL MEDIA...The Latest Fad?

From the Real Estate Home Page

I thought maybe you could use another little diversion from the "Get Your Home Sold..." series.

Do you think social media has found a home?

Is it just a fad? Or, a fundamental shift in the way we communicate?

Check out this video from Russell Shaw in the October 1, 2009 Agent Genius Blog.

This is one of the most effective and succinct presentations about the exponential growth of social media that I've seen. The video is pretty fast and busy, so get ready for the ride! 

You might also want to share it on your blog or through your social media outlets to increase your presence on the Web!

The Social Media Revolution

Kwik Kwote:  "Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement" --Henry Ford 

Know Your Real Estate:  AMENITY: Something that adds extrinsic value to a property.  Some examples are a location overlooking a lake or in a prestigious neighborhood, a neighborhood clubhouse, pool and tennis courts, and being surrounded by higher priced homes than your own. 

If you'd like to search for homes in the NC Triangle, go to Triangle Estates Realty. Or, email me at Tim@TimHaag.com . Or, for a no pressure chat, call me at 919-389-7135

Get Your Home Ready to Sell! Staging Basics.

From the Real Estate Home Page

This is the fourth installment of a series of posts about how to give your home the competitive edge when you are ready to sell.

So get geared up!

1. Getting Geared Up (today's post is the 1st of 6)
2. Do the Easy Stuff First (next post)
3. Sharpen up Your Home's Curb Appeal
4. Home Staging Basics
5. Home Showing Do's and Don'ts

It's been a long time since it was harder to sell a home!

In fact you will be competing with a slew of other home sellers in the same boat. You'd better pay attention to EVERY detail that will give your home the competitive edge you absolutely need in this market.

One of the very best ways to compete is to make your home "drop-dead" gorgeous and ready to move into without the buyers having to "lift a finger" to make it move-in ready.

In the next, and final, installment, we'll share some Do's and Don'ts for showing Your Home.

So...log back in and see what's in the next post!

Now...let's talk about staging.  What is it?  Why should you care anything about it?  Here's why...

Staging allows you to make your home look like a model and "WOW" prospective buyers.  Remember, these are the buyers who were sufficiently impressed by the curb appeal to come inside for a further look.  Don't disappoint them, now!

What is staging, anyway? Staging is the process of enhancing the impression a prospective buyer has about your home.  It is all about removing things from your home that make it look smaller, drab or dated.

The key to staging is to get prospective buyers to picture themselves in the home.

You can begin by focusing on these staging basics:

DECLUTTER – Remove “you” from the home (meaning pictures and personal items). Replace personal photos with scenery or postcards. A good rule to follow is to have no more than 3 items on any surface.

Kitchen counters should have only items that "dress-up" the kitchen. And... whatever you do...take all of the magnets, photos, calendars, etc. off of the refrigerator!

NEUTRALIZE – Neutralize the rooms with light-colored paint, like creams, tans and white. Be careful with white...it can look sterile unless it is complimented by carpeting, furniture, drapery and artwork.

Keep bright colors to a minimum. Use neutral and natural colors that can work with buyers' different tastes, styles and furnishings.

KEEP IT CLEAN – Nothing sells better than a clean and well-maintained home. Always keep the home feeling and smelling clean for showings.

Here are some inexpensive updates that can make a big difference to buyers:

— New bed treatment (especially for the master bedroom)
— New towels
— Fresh paint
— Replacing old lamps or lighting fixtures

Decorating compliments Staging. The focus of decorating is to bring things into the home to make it look gorgeous. Staging involves taking things out to make it look gorgeous.

Start with these staging suggestions and talk to a real estate professional about what will give your home the "biggest bang for your buck".

Also, log in to http://www.realtor.org/. Enter "staging" in the search box and you’ll find the "Field Guide to Preparing and Staging a House For Sale". It will give you in-depth staging and curb appeal suggestions.


Kwik Kwote:  "If you believe in what you are doing, then let nothing hold you up in your work."  --Dale Carnegie

Know Your Real Estate:  "AD VALOREM TAX"...a tax based on the value of your home.  For example: If the county ad valorem tax rate is 1%, your tax will be $1.00 for every $100 dollars of your home's assessed value.

If you'd like to search for homes in the Cary-Apex-Holly Springs, NC area, take a look at Triangle Estates Realty. Or, email me at Tim@TimHaag.com. Or, for a no pressure chat, call me at 919-389-7135