Category Archives: Home Sellers

What to Consider When Moving For Retirement

Usually, the only thing you’d think about when moving is location, location, location. However, when you’re moving for retirement, it’s never the same thing – you have to consider several factors because things will never be the same once you retire. For one, you won’t be earning the same money you usually earn from a regular day job. This means that when you retire, you should be keen on your expenses. Healthcare will also become a necessity during this phase of your life. To ensure that your move during retirement will become beneficial to you in the long run, consider these questions:

 How much is your monthly budget?

This is probably one of the most important things to consider when you’re planning to move for retirement. For you to have a successful retirement, you should have an idea of how much are you willing to spend on it. You can budget for retirement by looking into your monthly expenses. Determine how much you’re spending for mortgage payments, car payments, and other recurring bills. You should also keep track of how much are you spending on leisure activities such as dining out, groceries and shopping. If you need assistance in doing all of these, you can use a mobile app (there are a handful of apps online) or hire a financial advisor. All of these can help you in your budgeting, especially if you don’t have any idea of how to do it. After considering your expenses, take note of all the possible sources of income every month. Once you have these numbers, it’ll be easy for you to come up with a monthly budget which is suitable for your needs and wants.

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How to Optimize Home Staging for Virtual Home Buying

Home staging is the revamping, repairing and redecorating of a property to make it as attractive to prospective buyers as possible. The idea behind it is to showcase a property at its best and to help viewers see past it being someone else’s home and rather envision it as their own!

The novel coronavirus pandemic has made searching online and virtual tours a necessity. Real estate has embraced this virtual world, so if you’re using home staging to sell homes, you may need to change your tactics to suit the digital market. Take a look at our ideas for making your listings more attractive to buyers:

Basic Home Staging Advice

A lot of home staging advice applies to in-person and online situations. Here’s what to do before you open up your house and showcase it to any interested parties or prospective purchasers.

·  Get Cleaning: The cardinal rule before you show any space that you want to sell is to get it as spotless as possible. All surfaces need to gleam!

·  Declutter and Depersonalize: You’re selling the space and not the stuff inside it. The home needs to be a blank canvas where a lead can imagine themselves living in it.

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How to Use Social Media to Help Sell Your Home

Are you wanting to help your agent sell a home you just listed? Social media can help! Although few people see a house on social media and decide they gotta have it, it is a great place to make people notice your property and share it with their friends who are looking for a new home. There are many things you can do to market a home you are selling online. In this article, we are breaking down ways to use social media to sell your home faster and for more money.

Things to Focus on When You Use Social Media to Sell Your Home

Like any marketing campaign, using social media to sell your home requires a good strategy, especially if you want to sell and move in the off-peak season to prevent unplanned costs during relocation or if something about your home makes it hard to sell. Your agent will have their own marketing campaign ready to go, but you can always ask for tips on how you can market on your own time as well!

Know Your Target Audience 

Every social media platform is different and if you are wondering which one would be the most effective, you should ask your realtor who they think is best to attract. For instance, if your demographic is twenty-somethings, Instagram would be the best fit. But if your target audience are senior citizens, Facebook is a better option because very few of them use Instagram. However, there are always exceptions, and the social media channel you least rely on could easily be the one.

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House Hunting Red Flags

Buying a new house can be an extremely exciting time. Because of that excitement, it can be easy to rush into buying a house that may appear perfect for you without giving it a thorough look.

There can often be red flags that are overlooked or hidden when house-hunting, but are extremely important to take note of. Tell tale signs that the house you’re interested in may not be what you think. They are often subtle and can go unnoticed. Be sure to take extra caution when house-hunting and be on the lookout for these red flags. 

Odors / strong air fresheners

If you walk into a home and the first thing you notice is the strong smell, this is a very important indication that something could be wrong. No smell should be so overwhelming that it hits you right when you enter a home – whether it be an air freshener or an odor. If it’s an odor, such as pet urine, this could indicate that carpet is saturated with it and needs to be replaced. Or if you’re smelling a strong air freshener, it could be that the owner is trying to cover up a smell of a worse problem in the house. Either way, pay attention to strong smells when house-hunting. 

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Tips for Long Distance Home Buying and Selling

Buying or selling your home is a procedure that’s hard to handle if you don’t have any previous experience or knowledge on the subject. And if it’s a long distance home buying and selling that we’re talking about – it’s even harder.

Long distance moves come with their own specific challenges that people who are moving locally do not face, from organizing the logistics of the move to shipping your belongings. Moving to another state with professional help is much easier than moving on your own; yet, with additional problems arising from the home buying and selling process, it is still very hard to smoothly pull it off. With this in mind, we’ve prepared a handy guide on long distance home buying and selling.

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How to Increase Your Home’s Resale Value

People are always asking how they can get more money for their house when they put it on the market. While some of the things that determine your home’s value are out of your hands (location, age, layout), many buyers are willing to fork over a little more when certain upgrades have been made. Below are some suggestions for projects and improvements that can increase your home’s resale value. 

Invest in Energy Efficiency

It’s the 21st century, and green is the name of the game! Not only do energy-efficient updates help protect the environment, they also save you more money by reducing utility bills. Now we’ve all heard of those little energy-saving hacks like unplugging your phone charger and washing your clothes in cold water — but those aren’t the kinds of things that are going to add value to your home. If you want a greater resale value, you have to think bigger. Consider one of these upgrades:

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How to Get Rid of Large Items in Your Home

Whether you are refurbishing your home or moving to a new house, knowing how to get rid of large items in your house and unwanted furniture is a real challenge. A damaged car, unwanted furniture, and other large items in the house require a good process. In this list, we have indicated some tips that could help you get rid of old items to create space for newer decor in your house.

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Tips for Moving Stress Free

Moving is always a source of stress, but there are several ways you can get through the process and work through those boxes as efficiently and quickly as possible. Check out these tips to moving without the stress and hassle.

1. Adopt a solution-focused attitude

You can’t control everything, but you can choose how you react. If you see moving as a challenge, you’re more likely to see options and solutions to difficult situations. Staying optimistic and positive will help you keep calm and open to new possibilities. In contrast, if you see moving as mostly a negative experience on par with getting a tooth pulled, your natural response could be to shut down, avoid, and procrastinate — which will only lead to more stress. While there’s no doubt that moving involves stress and work, you can make things easier on yourself by deciding to move forward one small step at a time. 

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How To Prepare for Your Move

When figuring out how to prepare for a move, it’s important to remember the details. With everything on your to-do list, make sure these tasks don’t get left behind.

Update your mailing address and subscriptions

We know it’s a pain, but to avoid surprises forward your mail at least 2 weeks before you move. Can’t live without your People Magazine or the tips from Better Homes and Gardens? Update your address early for any magazine and newspaper subscriptions you have. While you’re at it, be sure to update your driver’s license. Also, make sure to update  your voter registration information now so it’s taken care of in plenty of time for the next election.

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Prepare for Your Move by Packing Like a Pro

A huge part of knowing how to prepare for a move is knowing how to pack. What do you do with all those necklaces? How do you keep those electric cables organized? Here are our best tips and hacks to prepare you for packing like a pro.

Purchase the right packing supplies

Moving is expensive enough without wasting money on supplies you don’t need. For example, you’re going to want the right kind of boxes to fit your personal items. Have a lot of books but very few hanging clothes? Buying the appropriate shape and size of boxes can make all the difference when packing up your home.

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