Karp Real Estate

5 Tips for Starting Your Home Search

In today’s market, low inventory dominates the conversation in many areas of the country. It can often be frustrating to be a first-time homebuyer if you aren’t prepared. Here are five tips from realtor.com’s article, “How to Find Your Dream Home—Without Losing Your Mind.”

1. Get Pre-Approved for a Mortgage Before You Start Your Search

One way to show you’re serious about buying your dream home is to get pre-qualified or pre-approved for a mortgage. Even if you’re in a market that is not as competitive, understanding your budget will give you the confidence of knowing whether or not your dream home is within your reach. This will help you avoid the disappointment of falling in love with a home well outside your price range.

2. Know the Difference Between Your ‘Must-Haves’ and ‘Would-Like-To-Haves’

Do you really need that farmhouse sink in the kitchen to be happy with your home choice? Would a two-car garage be a convenience or a necessity? Before you start your search, list all the features of a home you would like. Qualify them as ‘must-haves’, ‘should-haves’, or ‘absolute-wish list’ items. This will help you stay focused on what’s most important.

3. Research and Choose a Neighborhood Where You Want to Live

Every neighborhood has unique charm. Before you commit to a home based solely on the house itself, take a test-drive of the area. Make sure it meets your needs for “amenities, commute, school district, etc. and then spend a weekend exploring before you commit.”

4. Pick a House Style You Love and Stick to It

Evaluate your family’s needs and settle on a style of home that will best serve those needs. Just because you’ve narrowed your search to a zip code doesn’t mean you need to tour every listing in that vicinity. An example from the article says, “if you have several younger kids and don’t want your bedroom on a different level, steer clear of Cape Cod–style homes, which typically feature two or more bedrooms on the upper level and the master on the main.”

5. Document Your Home Visits

Once you start touring homes, the features of each individual home will start to blur together. The article suggests keeping your camera handy and making notes on the listing sheet to document what you love and don’t love about each property you visit.

Bottom Line

In a high-paced, competitive environment, any advantage you can give yourself will help you on your path to buying your dream home.

Some Tips for Preparing Your Home for Fall/Winter Weather

As those fall leaves start accumulating, in addition to raking your lawn, it is also important to remove leaves and debris from your gutters.  Melting snow can collect in clogged gutters and then refreeze, creating an ice dam.  Ice dams cause water to pool under your shingles and then it can leak into your home causing extensive damage that often requires repairs to your roof and the water damage inside.

 

Verify that your sump pump is clean and draining properly.  Pedestal sump pumps can last 25 – 30 years, but a submersible one may last only 5 – 15 years.  We had a sump pump failure at our house this past spring.  Luckily we caught it quickly and minimized the water damage in our basement, but we still ended up with some unanticipated clean up expenses and general inconvenience. 

 

Any dead branches should be removed from your trees because these can easily be torn off of the trees in heavy wind conditions and cause damage to your home, nearby cars, or your neighbors’ home.  It is also a good idea to remove any tree limbs that hang over your roof, dead or alive.  This helps to prevent more leaves in your gutters and critters trying to get into your attic space.  If there are branches on or near any power lines or phone lines contact your local utility company for assistance.

 

Speaking of critters, in addition to keeping branches from hanging over your roof, there are a few other things you should do to keep birds and rodents outside. Seal small areas around doors, windows and crawl spaces.  The added benefit of sealing up any holes is that it could also reduce drafts in your home and save on heating costs.  Make sure there aren’t any holes in the screens on your attic vents.  Add a screen on your chimney cap. 

 

And thinking about chimneys...if you have a fireplace, you should get your chimney inspected and cleaned before your first fire of the season.

 

Lastly, check all of your smoke and CO2 detectors.  Some experts suggest that you do this every year when you change the clocks from daylights savings time. No special magic about doing it then, but it is a good way to remember to do this at least once a year.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Reality vs. Reality TV

Going on Vacation this Summer? Here are the Top 4 things to do before you leave!

1. Have an emergency plan in place

If you have a house sitter or a pet sitter, be sure to leave contact information of your service professionals, insurance agent, as well as a vet for any pets you may be leaving in their care. If you do not have a house/pet sitter, make sure your neighbors are aware of the dates you will be gone. Should anything go wrong and you cannot be reached easily, your neighbor/house sitter can contact the appropriate person.

 

2. Automate your lighting to make it look like someone is home

Don’t be obvious by leaving your house pitch black. Instead, install some timers or smart bulbs to create the appearance that you are still home. With timers or smart-bulbs they can be set to stay off during the day while the sun is out, but switch on once the sun goes down. Also consider installing motion sensor lights outside your home.

 

3. Remember to unplug

People remember to plan a packing and to-do list, but often forget to unplug their electronics when they are leaving for vacation. Next time you have a planned vacation, include unplugging electronics as part of your to-do list. Not only should you unplug your electronics for safety, but you should also adjust your thermostat and turn of the main water supply to save money if you’re going to be travelling for extended periods of time.

 

4. Hold off on social media

While it’s exciting to show friends on social media where you are and what you are doing, you are also broadcasting to everyone on your newsfeed that you are not home. Enjoy your vacation even more by waiting until you return home

8 Tips for New Sellers

While many people like to give advice to first-time home buyers, first-time sellers need some coaching too. If this is your first time selling, you might feel a bit lost. Here are my top eight tips for sellers on the North Shore:

1. Plan ahead for the costs associated with selling your home.

There are two types of costs associated with selling your home. The first category of costs is closing-related. This includes title insurance, transfer taxes (depending on where you live), paying off your mortgage, and paying outstanding real estate taxes. I can provide you with an estimate of these costs so you can understand what you will net from your sale.

The other costs are related to getting your home ready to put it on the market.  These costs will depend on the overall condition of your home, and how much you can do yourself, or how much you will spend to have someone else do it.

Chances are you’ve done some work on your home during the time you’ve lived there. You’ve made it your own, whether that’s major renovations or painting. As you start the selling process, it’s important to remember that not everyone will love every part of your house the way you do.

The reality of the current market is that most of the buyers today shy away from projects, big and small. This means that the more you can do to make the home truly move-in ready the better. Here are examples of projects to consider:

• Create a neutral color palette (yes, repaint the burgundy or lavender room that you love and get a solid-color cover for your floral couch)
• Fix any doors that don’t close properly
• Make sure all the light bulbs and lamps are working
• Eliminate lingering pet odors
• Clean or replace stained carpeting
• Refinish hardwood flooring
• Replace anything that is near the end of its useful life (roof, HVAC, water heater, appliances)
• Fix or replace anything that is obviously broken

If you can’t afford to address all of the projects that apply to your home, or you don’t have the time, at least get cost estimates so we can share that info with prospective buyers.  If there’s something you know you won’t be able to fix, we will disclose that from the very beginning so that it doesn’t come up after the buyers have their inspection.

2. If you’re considering selling your home alone…think it through.

You might be the biggest fan of those home sale HGTV shows, but that doesn’t mean you know how to sell a home in the real world and in your local market. As with most things on TV, the way HGTV sells homes is different from “real life.” Your home is your biggest investment. Do you really want to gamble with it? You might be leaving money on the table or you could make some costly mistakes. Give me a call – I can guide you through the process and give you the information you need to make good decisions.

3. Selling a home is a business transaction.

Don’t be offended by anything people say about your home (including me). I need to tell you the truth about your home in order for us to work together to get it sold. The way you live in your home now, and the way you will need to set things up to sell it may be very different. This may be uncomfortable for you, but it is necessary in order to maximize what we can get for your home.

Showing your home can be stressful. We’ll develop a showing procedure for your home and you will be able to confirm all appointments. However, please understand that last-minute showing requests are very common, and we’ll want to accommodate them as much as possible. The easier it is for agents to show your home, the more often they’ll do so. Last-minute cancellations happen sometimes, too. It can be frustrating, but it’s just part of the process, so it’s best to be prepared. 

4. Clean, declutter, and clean again and again.

You must clean and declutter your home before you put it on the market. And, you need to figure out how to keep it that way. There are tons of articles on decluttering, so I am not going into details here. The bottom line is “less is more.” You need to minimize the amount of furniture and stuff on display – since you’re going to be moving anyhow, just start packing up all your stuff and store it (if you have a basement just stack the boxes neatly in your basement). And don’t forget to neaten up all of your closets!

Speaking of neatness, I can’t stress enough how important this is. Most buyers judge whether or not a house has been well-maintained by how neat and clean it is. There may not necessarily be a true correlation between these two things, but first impressions are critical. The cleaner the house is, the better it will appeal the potential buyers. 

5. Price it right up front (and don’t pay attention to the news).

I’ve written a lot about common pricing mistakes, so I won’t go into details here. Please keep in mind that while you might see a news story about home prices increasing in one particular area. Well, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re increasing everywhere. Even within one area, there might be multiple market factors at work. For example, affordable homes might be selling quickly, but luxury homes are going slower. Or maybe condos are selling like hotcakes, but single-family homes are sitting on the market longer. I will help you understand what is going on in your market and what it means for your specific property.

6. Be smart about offers.

Once you’ve had some showings or a well-attended open house, you might start to get ahead of yourself and expect many offers. It may happen, it may not. Treat each offer seriously, and don’t assume there will be more. Don’t be “insulted” by a low-ball offer – remember this is a business transaction. Buyers may come in low to try to see how low you will go – I always thank buyer’s brokers for any offer and provide a response. Just because they come in low doesn’t mean we have to meet their offer. They took the time to write up the offer, and we can easily signal to them by our response that we aren’t going to go that low.

7. Be prepared for showings.

The first showing happens online, as your homes photos and listing details will be pushed out to hundreds of websites. Anyone with access to the internet can find out plenty of information about your home, from what it looks like from the street to property taxes. If people like what they see online then they will schedule an appointment to see it in person.

Have a plan in place for showings. What are you going to do with your pet(s)? Where are you going to put the private papers or bills that are usually on your desk? Where are you going to hide the laundry that you haven’t washed or put away yet? Where will you secure your valuables (jewelry?) so that they are out of sight? I usually recommend that my sellers have baskets or containers handy in their office and bathrooms that they can quickly put things into on days when showings are scheduled for a quick and easy showing prep.

8. Plan ahead for where you are going.

Below are some things to consider with regard to your actual move. Keep in mind that having two closings on the same day AND moving on that day can be incredibly stressful and I strongly advise against it (and I can help you develop a game plan for alternatives).

1. Are you planning to purchase another home, or are you going to rent?
2. Can you afford to buy your new home before your current home sells? If not, have you thought about those logistics? What if you sell your home and haven’t found a new place to purchase?
3. Have you considered renting for a while so you can take the time to find exactly the new home you’re looking for?
4. Are you considering new construction? If so, what is the timeline for the construction you’re hoping to purchase?

This might seem like a lot of information, but the bottom line is that you need to be prepared. These guidelines should help you navigate your first time selling. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. I would love to help you sell your North Shore home with the least amount of stress and for the highest possible price.

7 Things to Avoid after Applying for a Mortgage

Congratulations! You’ve found a home on the North Shore that you want to buy and have applied for a mortgage! You are undoubtedly excited about the opportunity to decorate your new home! But before you make any big purchases, move any money around, or make any big-time life changes, consult your loan officer. They will be able to tell you how your decision will impact your home loan.

 

Below is a list of 7 Things You Shouldn’t Do After Applying for a Mortgage! Some may seem obvious, but some may not!

 

1. Don’t change jobs or the way you are paid at your job! 

Your loan officer must be able to track the source and amount of your annual income. If possible, you’ll want to avoid changing from salary to commission or becoming self-employed during this time as well.

 

2. Don’t deposit cash into your bank accounts. 

Lenders need to source your money and cash is not really traceable. Before you deposit any amount of cash into your accounts, discuss the proper way to document your transactions with your loan officer.

 

3. Don’t make any large purchases like a new car or new furniture for your new home. 

New debt comes with it, including new monthly obligations. New obligations create new qualifications. People with new debt have higher debt to income ratios… higher ratios make for riskier loans… and sometimes qualified borrowers no longer qualify.

 

4. Don’t co-sign other loans for anyone. 

When you co-sign, you are obligated. As we mentioned, with that obligation comes higher ratios as well. Even if you swear you will not be the one making the payments, your lender will have to count the payment against you.

 

5. Don’t change bank accounts. 

Remember, lenders need to source and track assets. That task is significantly easier when there is consistency among your accounts. Before you even transfer money between accounts, talk to your loan officer.

 

6. Don’t apply for new credit. 

It doesn’t matter whether it’s a new credit card or a new car. When you have your credit report run by organizations in multiple financial channels (mortgage, credit card, auto, etc.), your FICO score will be affected. Lower credit scores can determine your interest rate and maybe even your eligibility for approval.

 

7. Don’t close any credit accounts. 

Many clients have erroneously believed that having less available credit makes them less risky and more likely to be approved. Wrong. A major component of your score is your length and depth of credit history (as opposed to just your payment history) and your total usage of credit as a percentage of available credit. Closing accounts has a negative impact on both those determinants of your score.

 

Bottom Line

Any blip in income, assets, or credit should be reviewed and executed in a way that ensures your home loan can still be approved. The best advice is to fully disclose and discuss your plans with your loan officer before you do anything financial in nature. They are there to guide you through the process. If you need any additional help, feel free to reach out to me!

Use Virtual Home Staging to Impress Buyers

When you are selling your home on the North Shore, “staging” it to appeal to buyers is the best way to sell it quickly and get the best possible price. Staging can include everything from simply decluttering and rearranging your furniture, to painting and actual remodeling projects. For vacant homes, we sometimes hire a staging company to bring in furniture and decorative items to help give the home the best look. Unfortunately, this isn’t always feasible. This is where virtual staging can make an impact.

 

What is Virtual Staging?

 

It is using technology to do what you can’t do in real life. We take professional photos of the property and then we can paint the walls, change the color of your cabinets, add furniture, make the grass green or the sky blue, and much more. If a house is vacant, or if you have renters that aren’t cooperating, virtual staging can be very helpful. Also, if you can’t afford to replace the old and faded carpeting, we can still show prospective buyers what the rooms would look like after they do it.

 

1. Online Shoppers

Because of the growth of technology, a home’s first showing is usually online as buyers search through various homes on the market to make their short list. Buyers click through a carousel of photos to visualize the home as their own. By having a set of nicely-staged, professional photos, your home will stand out online.

 

2. Add Design Details

Buyers like to see homes where they could immediately envision themselves living. Having updated furniture, welcoming rugs or plush pillows can help them do so. Virtual staging is an excellent, cost-effective way to add these little touches before listing your home online.

 

3. Digitally Declutter

Decluttering is definitely an important part of preparing your home for sale. If you can’t actually declutter your home, virtual staging can help you remove pieces that you might not have space to store. Whether you’re looking to get rid of something as large as a couch or a smaller item, virtual staging can take care of that.

 

4. Quick and Inexpensive

Actually staging your home can be very expensive. Purchasing trendy furniture and large rugs and re-painting cabinets and walls can take time and money. Virtual staging is less expensive than the alternatives, like replacing carpeting, and only takes a couple of days, depending on the technology you use.

 

Of course, we don’t want to disappoint buyers when they come to see the home in real life – so we will disclose that some photos have been virtually staged and in many cases we will show the before and after photos.  Here are some examples of virtual staging that my team has done in the past couple of years:

 

This living room would have been expensive to physically stage, so it's a great example of how virtual staging is a great, affordable tool.

 

One trend right now is painted kitchen cabinets, and often they’re painted white to brighten the kitchen. If you want to achieve the painted look but don’t want to put the money and energy into actually painting the cabinets, virtual staging can help. Check out this virtual staging example:

 

Adding furniture to an otherwise-empty great room is an excellent way to show off the possibilities of the space.

 

Overall, virtual staging can help you save time and money. You can help potential buyers envision how the home could look. Investing in virtual staging is a great way to show off your North Shore home in the best light possible. Give me a call today, and I can help you get started.

What Makes a House a Home for You?

We frequently talk about why it makes sense financially to buy a home on the North Shore, but for many people there are also non-financial reasons for home ownership that are more powerful or compelling. No matter what size or shape your living space is, the feeling of home ownership means different things to different people. This article describes some of the other reasons people choose to purchase a home.

1. Owning your home offers stability to start and raise a family

From the best neighborhoods to the best school districts, even those without children at the time of purchase may have this in the back of their minds as a major reason for choosing the location of the home that they purchase.

2. There’s no place like home

Owning your own home offers you not only safety and security, but also a comfortable place that allows you to relax after a long day!

3. You have more space for you and your family

Whether your family is expanding, an older family member is moving in, or you need to have a large backyard for your pets, you can take all this into consideration when buying your dream home!

4. You have control over renovations, updates, and style

Looking to actually try one of those complicated wall treatments that you saw on Pinterest? Tired of paying an additional pet deposit for your apartment building? Or maybe you want to finally adopt that puppy or kitten you’ve seen online 100 times? Who’s to say that you can’t do all of these things in your own home?

Bottom Line

Whether you are a first-time homebuyer or a move-up buyer who wants to start a new chapter in your life, now is a great time to reflect on the intangible factors that will make your North Shore house a home.

Help Buyers Fall in Love with Your Home

When someone is looking for a North Shore home, they are buying not only a home, but the feeling that comes over them when they walk through the front door. As a seller, you want to help the buyers fall in love with your home from that very first moment. I’ve put together a few tips to ensure that your potential buyers love what they see.

 

Take Great Photos

Since most buyers do their initial home shopping online, having great photographs is essential. Make sure your realtor is using a professional photographer. They will know how to capture the beauty of your home. Additionally, if you are planning to sell in the winter months, plan ahead and include some exterior photos of your home in the summer and/or the fall. This helps buyers see what the house looks like when it’s not covered in snow.

 

Clear Away Clutter

There are likely items sitting around your house that you aren’t using every day. Clear out all of the miscellaneous items that are laying around (papers, knick-knacks, old newspapers or magazines, small mementos from your trip to Mexico, etc.) and discard or store them.  Remove magnets and all items hanging on your refrigerator.  Keep only one or two decorative items on each shelf and table, and remove overgrown plants that take up space. If you have any appliances on your kitchen counters that you aren’t using all the time, pack them up. We want the buyer to focus on the house, not your personal belongings. It also helps to make a room look larger if you, remove unnecessary pieces of furniture. In general, less is more – keep everything simple.

 

Clean Up and Make Repairs

Remember that broken piece of tile in the bathroom you’ve gotten used to seeing? Now is the time to fix that and any other small repairs you’ve put off. Buyers will immediately notice things that need to be fixed. Take a look at your light switches, railings and door knobs. You probably have never noticed before, but they likely need to be cleaned. Have your carpets cleaned and organize your closets and drawers. Begin packing your collectibles, and store the boxes off-site or in neat rows in your basement. When buyers see an organized house, they’ll assume you have cared for it well.

 

Landscaping

In the spring or summer, you can add bright touches to your landscaping with some colorful annuals in your flower beds or potted plants near the door. In the winter you can put a dried flower arrangement outside your front door. If it’s been snowy, try to keep your walkways clear so buyers can begin to understand the outdoor layout.

 

Make the Indoors Inviting

Consider putting an extra throw pillow on the couch or a book on the coffee table. Little touches like these will help your buyers feel more comfortable. In rooms where there is an abundance of natural light make sure you highlight that. Replace dark, heavy curtains with lighter styles that let more light in, and make sure you clean the windows well.

 

At the end of the day, the most important piece to remember when selling is that you want potential buyers to love your North Shore home. Buyers are looking for the right home for them, not just any home. By making your home as welcoming and open as possible, you’re helping buyers envision their lives in their new home.

For more ideas on how to declutter, go to this popular website with info about The KonMari Method of Tidying Up: https://konmari.com/    

How to Save Thousands of Dollars in Interest on Your Mortgage

One of the most common loans you can get to buy a home is a 30-year fixed rate mortgage. If the thought of paying for your North Shore home over the course of 30 years seems daunting, here are some easy ways to shorten that term which will actually end up saving you money over the life of your loan.

Any additional payments to the principal amount (the original sum of money borrowed in a loan), helps to cut down the amount of interest that you will pay over the life of your loan and can also help to shave years off the loan as well.

When you make ‘extra’ payments toward your loan, the key is to let your lender/bank know that you want the extra funds to go toward your principal balance as they will not automatically do this for you.

You don’t have to double your mortgage payment to make a big difference either!

If you have a 30-year mortgage on a median-priced home ($250,000) with a 5% interest rate, you’ll be responsible for a $1,342.05 monthly principal and interest payment. Over the course of the loan, if you pay your exact monthly payment, you will have paid $233,133.89 in interest alone!

 

Paying a Little Extra Can Pay Off Big

1. Pay an additional 1/12^th of your mortgage payment every month

Benefit: In the example above, adding $111.84 to your monthly mortgage payment might not seem like a lot, but each year you will have paid one extra month’s worth of payments which will shorten the term of your loan by 4 years and 8 months, all while saving you $42,000 in interest! You can also make one extra payment a year for the full amount of the mortgage, which will help you pay it off early, too.

2. Pay an additional $50 per month towards your mortgage

Benefit: Fifty dollars might not seem like enough to make a difference on the term of your loan, but that small amount will save you over $21,000 in interest and will take over 2 years off the end of your loan. Twenty-eight years from now, you’ll be happy to pay off your loan that much sooner!

3. Make one-time lump sum payments when you can

Benefit: If you find yourself with a little extra money after a yearly bonus, a tax return, or from investment dividends, paying that money towards the principal can cut your costs. This option, however, is less predictable than the extra monthly payments.

If you have higher interest debts, like credit cards, consider using any extra funds you have to pay those debts down before applying that money towards your mortgage. Also, if you do not plan on staying in your home for more than 10 years, paying extra toward your mortgage might not make sense.

 

Bottom Line

If you’re wondering what strategies would work best for you to shorten the term of your loan for your North Shore home, let’s get together to answer your questions.