09
Aug
By First Rate Financial Group
Real Estate

4 Simple Tips To Make Sure Your Home Smells Inviting

4 Simple Tips To Make Sure Your Home Smells InvitingAs a diligent home seller, you’ve taken all your real estate agent’s advice about preparing your home for showings. You’ve de-cluttered, enhanced curb appeal and developed efficient strategies for leaving your home while viewings are taking place.

But have you given any thought to how your home smells to strangers?

Newcomers to your home will naturally be more sensitive to the smells of your house. Your nose is likely desensitized to your common household odors, but a prospective buyer may be put off by how it smells. Here are some ways to make sure your home smells inviting.

Don’t Burn Incense

If you enjoy burning incense, you might think this is a nice way to impart a lovely scent in your home. But don’t burn incense before showings. The visitors may be unfamiliar with common incense smells like patchouli, myrrh, jasmine and others. And if they can’t identify it, even a pleasant scent can be off putting. The best thing is to save your incense for when you’ve moved into your new home.

Move The Litter Box

If your cat uses a litter box, be sure to change or refresh it daily. This will help keep the scent from spreading throughout the home. Also, move the litter box to a less noticeable part of the home, such as the mudroom, garage or basement.

An odorous kitty litter box is more forgivable if it’s in an out of the way spot. And, as long as you let your cat know where it is, it will likely have no trouble adjusting.

Have Your Pets Professionally Groomed

Invest in professional pet grooming services to reduce the smell of dogs and/or cats in the home. Pet dander is not only an allergen; it imparts a musky scent that some homebuyers may not enjoy. A once a month grooming should be sufficient unless your pet is exposed to heavy rains or muddy conditions; in which case an extra grooming session is recommended.

Avoid Cooking Prior To Showings

Just like incense, if a homebuyer can’t recognize a scent, it can be off putting. Avoid cooking just before showings, if possible. Things like onions and garlic smell wonderful if you’re hungry, but not necessarily to a homebuyer. Of course, the scent of a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies is always appreciated – let’s be honest!

Don’t forget to take your home’s smell into consideration when preparing it for showings. These tips will help ensure your home smells its very best.

If you are in the market for a new home or interested in refinancing your current property, be sure to contact your trusted home mortgage professional.

08
Aug
By First Rate Financial Group
Real Estate

How To Find Motivated Sellers In Your Real Estate Market

How To Find Motivated Sellers In Your Real Estate MarketBargains in real estate may come from identifying motivated sellers who are willing to let a property go for less than it is really worth. Real estate investors who acquire properties at a discount from current market value enhance their success by increasing their profit potential. Real estate agents who list properties owned by motivated sellers increase their chances to sell a property quickly and have happy sellers who might refer them in the future.

Here are some tips on how to find motivated sellers:

Distressed Discounts

A property that lists for a long time and then the listing shows a discount is a clear sign the owner is becoming motivated. However, just because a property shows a discount from the original listing price, it still may not be a bargain. It is important to learn if the present owner has an unreasonable expectation. Check the recent comparable sales (comps) and then offer no more than 25% less than the sales price of the lowest comp.

Track Foreclosures

For real estate investors with the liquidity to do all-cash deals, tracking foreclosure dates creates opportunities. Properties may be bought just before the final foreclosure date at a large discount because the owner knows that the house will soon be lost anyway.

Short Sales

Another all-cash deal is the short sale. In this type of sale, the lender is driving the deal. The lender is willing to accept a steeply-discounted price to avoid an expensive legal foreclosure process. These homes almost always sell for way below market price and the seller is highly motivated.

Divorce Proceedings

A couple going through a disputed divorce may be forced to sell a home in order to be able to divide the assets owned by them. These are highly motivated sellers who may simply want to get rid of the home fast as part of the process of being finished with the relationship.

Estates

Another reason why a home may need to sell is if the person who owned it died. An estate sale may be a good deal if the executor of the estate is motivated. This happens if there are multiple family members who are impatient and have claims to a portion of the assets as their inheritance.

Will Pay Cash For Houses

A simple sign or flier posted many places with “Will Pay Cash For Houses” and a telephone number on it actually may work in some areas to find motivated sellers.

Personal Networking

Ask everyone if they know of someone who needs to sell a home quickly.

Summary

Finding motivated sellers is a useful thing to do for investors looking for great deals and real estate agents wanting faster-selling properties to list. Ask a homeowner why they want to sell to learn their motivation. Property owners who experience troubles create opportunities for others who are ready to help them sell a property fast and when the need is urgent.

If you are in the market for a new home or interested in refinancing your current property, be sure to consult with your trusted home mortgage professional.

07
Aug
By First Rate Financial Group
Real Estate

New York Penthouse Sells For $238 Million – Is This A Real Estate Bubble About To Burst?

New York Penthouse Sells For $238 Million - Is This A Real Estate Bubble About To BurstThe most expensive home sold in America, so far, was a New York penthouse that sold for $238 million in January 2019. It is on the top of a building that overlooks Central Park. The 26-story luxury condo building designed by Robert A. M Stern is nearly all sold out.

Who Has That Kind Of Money?

The proud buyer of the penthouse is Ken Griffin. His net worth is estimated to be $9.6 billion. He is the founder of the Citadel hedge fund. Griffin is 50 years old. A few days before buying the NYC penthouse, he closed on a home in London that overlooks St. James Park near Buckingham Palace. For that 200-year-old home, he paid just a paltry $122 million.

Griffin’s New York penthouse is 22,000 square feet of ultra-luxury living. It sold for more than twice the amount of the second palace record-holder in America. That is a penthouse on the One57 building, which sold for $100.5 million in 2014.

Boom Or Bust?

One might think that a penthouse sale setting a new almost unfathomable record would indicate a vibrant bullish market in New York residential real estate. Well, not exactly. It did raise the median sales price of a residential sale in New York City to over $1 million from being below this amount at the end of 2018. Prior to this sale, the median price was trending lower.

Forbes reports that the current economic trends are not normal. Usually, the NYC real estate market goes up when the stock market is up. However, the NYC residential real estate is down in spite of the robust economy.

Properties selling for top-dollar at prices that are hard to imagine could be a sign of a real estate market collapse. In general, the NYC residential market has been in a steady decline over the past year. The lowest number of closings in a decade happened during the first quarter of 2019.

Investor Uncertainty

There is a general sense of uncertainty for residential buyers in NYC, where the average one-bedroom condominium sells for over $1 million. Uncertainty makes potential buyers take longer to decide on making a home purchase in the Big Apple.

Add to this uncertainty, there is the new “mansion tax” that was approved by New York City as part of its budget in April 2019. The mansion tax is now 1% on residential sales of $1 million or more that goes up to a maximum of 4.15% on homes sales of $25 million and up.

Did you just do the math? Griffin would have paid $9.87 million for the new mansion tax if he waited until April 2019 to buy his penthouse. So maybe he feels like he got a bargain by saving nearly $10 million on the purchase?

Summary

In spite of the record price for the penthouse sale in NYC, the residential market continues to soften. The new mansion tax is not going to help sales either. Unless you have money to burn, as Griffin does, it may not be the best time to invest in residential properties in NYC if you hope to make a return on your investment when selling them.

Your trusted home mortgage professional is well-informed about the market trends in your area. Be sure to set up an appointment if you are in the market for a new home or interested in refinancing your current property.