STAGING STRATEGIES FOR YOUR HOME

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Staging your home is all about putting the best foot forward for potential buyers. By highlighting its most desirable features, you can draw more interest for your home and leave a lasting impression that is sure to help you sell it more quickly. Here’s what you should keep in mind as you prepare for your next open house or viewing!

  1. Help them visualize it as their own. Make it easier for buyers to imagine themselves making your house their home by removing personal memorabilia, knick-knacks, and photos. Instead replace them with simple décors, such as paintings, nature images, and plants.
  2. Think sleek instead of comfy. Modern-day buyers are leaning toward modern, crisp, clean interiors over comfy, homey looks. When staging your home, keep a minimalist mindset, and incorporate bright colors and metal accents.
  3. Deep clean the small spaces. It’s obvious to say you should clean your home before viewing, but don’t forget to cover your bases by deep cleaning the small spots. Take time to scrub porous areas like grout that may hold on to stains and baseboards where small pet hairs and dust love to cling.
  4. Spruce up your landscaping. The first impression your home gives to potential buyers is its exterior. Ensure you have a freshly mowed lawn, neat hedges and shrubbery, bright flowers, and a clean driveway.
  5. Set the mood. A home is so much more than just the way it looks, so you need to appeal to the other senses. Prior to having potential buyers over, set the mood by burning delicious smelling candles and selecting an upbeat, happy soundtrack to play in the background.

Amazing Mondays! April 27th

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I hope you had an great weekend!
As always, I like to start the week off right with some words of Motivation…

“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.”
~ Eleanor Roosevelt

I hope you have an amazing day and week!

Amazing Mondays! April 13th

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As always I like to start the week off with something to make your Monday Amazing!

I think now more than ever we need to pay attention to our mind and where it is taking us on a daily basis, this quote is a reminder.

“Your difficulty is not contained primarily in the situation which gave rise to it but in the mental state with which you regard that situation and which you bring to bear upon it.” – James Allan

Covid-19 Craziness and the Denver Real-Estate Market

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Advice on Forbearance

David Stevens used to be the FHA commissioner and Mortgage Bankers Association president. He is one of the MOST connected people in the mortgage marketplace in D.C. Here is what I learned from David–

  • No hardship letter or proof is required to receive forbearance; you just have to “attest” to your hardship. In other words, check a box.
  • Forbearance can be for up to 6 months beginning April 1st IF your loan is owned by Fannie, Freddie, or Ginnie. (Ginnie securitizes FHA and VA loans)
  • The borrower will have to make up these payments later either when they refinance (if they can) or sell their home as this principal balance and unpaid interest WILL BE ADDED TO THEIR TOTAL LOAN AMOUNT.
  • Forbearance does NOT mean no payment or free payment! There is NO free lunch.
  • No late payments will be posted to your credit report if you were current with your mortgage as of March. However, your mortgage will reflect that you are currently in forbearance in the comments section. This is critical to know!
  • David said he was told by one very large lender on Wednesday that they will NOT close a loan for someone who has been in forbearance. This means that you can NOT refinance or buy another home right away. I expect other lenders will follow suit soon as well. They might be able to get a new mortgage after forbearance; but it depends on what the servicer says in the comments section of the account. If the servicer says the loan was in forbearance or “borrower completed forbearance” I expect some lenders will treat this like a foreclosure. Then, buyers would have to wait 7 years to get a new conventional loan.
  • David asks that anyone who just closed on a new loan to NOT declare forbearance until after they have made at least 1 regularly scheduled mortgage payment. Why? As of right now if a borrower declares forbearance before they make their first payment then the loan will be considered in default by Fannie and Freddie.

Thus, forbearance may be a good option for homeowners who have NO other options, if they have lost their job and, have no money in savings. Remember, forbearance could keep you from refinancing into a better loan in the future or keep you from buying another home.

How will Covid-19 Effect the Market?

Some take aways from Ivy Zelman, one of the top real estate analysts in the country:

  • Builders and top RE brokerage websites are still seeing incredibly strong demand from buyers.
  • Real estate is still considered an essential business and consumers still want to buy homes to live in. I do not take this lightly and I am making sure that all my clients are doing everything as remotely possible.
  • Ivy’s biggest concern for housing is lending – she wonders if underwriters will slow down the process.
  • Ivy and her firm are still forecasting that home prices nationally will rise 3% this year, down from 5% before the virus. Why? Inventory levels have been so tight and may tighten even further now.

Housing Market Minute

The average sales price for March for both single-family and detached homes came in just over $490K. We still only have only one month of inventory and I don’t see this changing in the next few months. We have seen the number of listed homes withdrawn from the market increase, but at a slower rate than the previous two weeks.

(Data provided by REColorado for Aurora, Northglenn, Westminster, Lakewood, Thornton, Arvada, Englewood, Edgewater, Centennial, Littleton, Bloomfield, Denver, Golden, Lone Tree)

Much thanks to Lonnie Glessner much of the content was used from his newsletter!

Focus on What You Can Control

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You have power over your mind not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength

Well it is Monday! I hope you enjoyed time with your family👪, most importantly I hope you took some time to your self. Maybe read a good book📚, or watched a great movie🎥.

It took me a bit to decide what to put out for my Monday motivation! Weird times we are in, motivation may be challenging right now.

Especially if we want to be helping but are trapped not knowing if we can or if we will get someone sick. I found that I have to tune out the negative. The thing I do have control of is what goes into my mind and what I choose to focus on. So I thought this quote was appropriate. Make it a great day!!

“You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”

Marcus Aurelius

Take Care and Stay Safe!

  • You have power over your mind not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength
    You have power over your mind not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength

March 2020 Market Update

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Good News!  Buying your next home just got cheaper!!???  Investors are looking for safety with the news of the corona virus and have fled for safer ground  of treasury bills.  The result a sharp improvement for mortgage rates!!. 

Rates are in the 3% rate…With that being said here is my Denver Metro area market update. In the last 30 days there have been 2,229 new homes listed for sale and just over 1,934 home sales in the Denver Metro area. So not many people listing we are back down to  1 months of inventory available.  The average time homes are currently taking to sell here in the Metro Area is 32 days.  The average sales price is currently $457,896 average for both attached and single family homes.  

I have successfully helped families accomplish their real-estate goals here in the Denver Metro area.  The only way I have been able to accomplish and achieve this level of success is by providing world class service and always putting clients’ needs first. If you are considering selling your home or just curious about your home’s value contact me at 303-762-9848.