Real Estate Information Archive

Blog

Displaying blog entries 191-200 of 281

What to Renovate When Selling Your Home

by The Hat Team

Renovate your home to sell.

It can be hard to set a budget and stick to it when it comes to renovating your home. If you are planning on selling your home soon, you should go ahead and do a few renovations that may need to be done but do the ones that don’t cost a lot of money. Of course if your home has some issues and you feel you can get a lot more money out of your home if you make those renovations now, you may want to go ahead and do so. Below are a few tips on what exactly you should consider when renovating your home to prepare it for sale.

  • One of the best ways to prepare your home to sell is by renovating your walls and floors.  You can add paint to the walls of your home for a quick “pick me up” that will help your home appear newer than it is.  Refinishing hardwood floors or pulling up carpet to reveal hardwoods is also a great way to spruce things up around your home.  Be sure if you are painting to do so with neutral colors that will be pleasing to everyone’s pallet.  Likewise if you are putting down carpet, be sure to choose a neutral color.  If you are refinishing hardwoods, be sure to stay away from any dark stains that may turn some buyers away.  Stick with the natural light wood floors that seem to be so popular these days. ​
     
  • Doors are another place you may want to consider during your home renovations.  Replacing your front door with a steel door adds a great deal of value to your home.  Adding some new garage doors may help to add value as well.   Keep in mind you don’t have to spend a ton on these types of things, just replacing old with new will likely be enough.
     
  • If you don’t have the money to redo your entire kitchen, try upgrading by replacing old worn out drawer pulls or cabinet knobs.  You may also want to put a little paint on your old cabinets to lighten and brighten things up a bit.  Keep in mind if money is not an issue that kitchen renovations  can sometimes make or break the sale of your home.  If you need to” bling it out” and you have the funds to do it, go for it. 

Any and all renovations you do to your home in an effort to get more money out if it during a potential sale is a good thing.  Don’t go crazy spending a lot of money for cosmetic fixes but ‘DO’ do your best to make your home look like a shiny new penny!

Courtesy of Montgomery AL Real Estate Expert Sandra Nickel.

Reasons to Refinance Your Home Mortgage in 2016

by The Hat Team

Should l reinvest?

There are many benefits to refinancing  and some of those reasons you will find listed below. 

  • A lot of folks tend to rack up credit card debt toward the end of each year and have some credit card debt to pay off in the next year.  By refinancing your home you can put all of your credit card debt together and into the refinance.  It is much better to pay off your credit card at say 5% instead of the interest you may be paying such as 18%.  A good rule of thumb however if you do plan to use your refinance to get rid of your credit card debt is to cut the cards up and vow not to use them again.  Perhaps you can keep one credit card that is to be used for emergencies only.
     
  • Another great reason to refinance your home this coming year is to start saving towards retirement or even towards your child’s college education.  Both of these are good causes and if refinancing can help you get to your goal of savings for these two a bit more quickly then why not take advantage of it. 
  • One of the biggest reasons folks tend to refinance their homes is to get a better interest rate.  This is a very good reason to refinance because many times you can get a much lower monthly payment by having a lower interest rate and this may help you to more easily pay other bills that may have fallen behind. 
     
  • This last reason to refinance your home may sound a little out of place but if you happen to need a reliable vehicle and you haven’t been able to afford one, you can throw your car loan into the refinance as well.  This is good if you have been trying to make your old worn out car last as long as possible but it has finally begun costing you more in repairs than the car is actually worth. 

There are plenty other reasons to refinance your home  in the coming year and even some reasons why you may not want to.  Do your homework to see what is worth it to you and what is not when it comes to refinancing your home.  

Courtesy of Montgomery AL Real Estate Expert Sandra Nickel.

Tips To Eliminate Pet Odor So Your Home Will Sell

by The Hat Team

pet odor

If you have pets you know all too well just what a mess they can make, what you may not be aware of however is that they have a smell all their own that others who walk into your house may be able to smell more than you can.  If you have your house on the market you may need to do your best to eliminate the pet odor before you home starts showing so that you will be better able to sell your home.  Below are a few ideas and tips to help you get a head start on eliminating pet odor.

  • If your pet has an accident inside of your home douse it with baking soda as quickly as you possibly can after you soak up the urine with a towel.  Allow the baking soda to dry and then pat the area with a dry towel.  Once you have done all of this, be sure to vacuum the area.  The smell that once would have lingered behind after cleaning the soiled area will no longer exist.   
  • Another great way to rid your home of pet smell so that your home may have a better chance of selling is to make a fabric spray out of white vinegar and baking soda.  1 teaspoon of baking soda mixed with 1 tablespoon of vinegar will do the trick.  Put these ingredients together in a spray bottle and you will have a great way to get pet smell out of your furniture and other fabrics.  Spraying this concoction over your furniture before a showing is a great way to know that your potential buyers will not be able to smell that you have pets living inside of the house with you. 
  • A  HEPA  air filtration system is also a good thing to have if you have pets and you are planning to try to sell your home.  These types of systems cost as little as $100 and can make all the difference when it comes to the sale of your home.  One hundred dollars may sound like a lot of money but when you think that it may make or break the sale of your home it is nothing.  Be sure to always clean you’re air conditioning filtration system as well so that you will have clean air flowing throughout the house at all times just in case you have someone who wants to take a tour of your home at the last minute. 

Courtesy of Montgomery AL Real Estate Broker Sandra Nickel, Hat Team.

5 Tips For Creating More Privacy

by The Hat Team

privacy

So you have just made one of the biggest purchases of your life by buying a home of your own and now you need to make it a bit more private.  You have come to the right place!  Let’s look at a few tips for creating more privacy in your new home. 

  • If you happen to live in a big city where the houses are basically on top of each other you may want to line your floors with a lot of area rugs.  While this simple step to making more privacy in your new home sounds like a silly thing, it really will help to keep the noise level down to a minimum if your neighbors tend to be loud. 
  • Lined curtains are a perfect way to help your home feel like an oasis in the middle of the country even if it is not.  These types of curtains also help to filter out loud noises as well. 
  • If you have a spot on your windowsills to put planters they can aid you in making your home more private.  All you need to do is put some tall plants in the planters and voila, you will have more privacy from your neighbors. 
  • One good way to have privacy outdoors for your new home is by putting up a privacy fence.  Privacy fences can help to keep pets safe as well as make your outdoor area a nice place to “get away from it all”, which we can all use every now and again. 
  • Tall scrubs and trees are a great way to shield yourself from your neighbors and make your home feel more private.  Scrubs and trees will also help to make your new home more beautiful and help the environment as well. 
  • If you simply cannot feel enough privacy in your new home, you can hide in a reading nook under the stairs or in a small attic space so that you can escape from time to time from those around you.  If your new home doesn’t have a small space like this, you can likely make one quite easily. 

Lastly if privacy is extremely important to you, it may be worth your while to look for a home in the wide open country so that you don’t have to make any previsions for more privacy. 

Courtesy of Montgomery AL Real Estate Expert Sandra Nickel, Sandra Nickel Hat Team.

Tips to Downsizing Your Home and Saving Big

by The Hat Team

downsizing your home

Although the economy has improved some over the last few years, it doesn’t seem to be getting a whole lot better for most Americans.  A good way to save money is downsizing your home.  This is especially a good idea if you have already raised your family and you and your husband are left paying a mortgage on a home that is too large for you.  Let’s take a look at how downsizing your home will help you to save a bit of money, to live more comfortably as well as some easy ways that you can downsize.

  • One easy way to downsize is to look for a home that has a small garage or even no garage at all.  If you and your spouse are living in the home alone and your children are grown it is likely that you don’t have a bunch of stuff to store in a garage.  Buying a home without a garage is a great way to get more house for your money and to downsize your payment. 
  • Finding a home without a lot of land is another way to downsize and to save big.  You can find a lot of cute houses on the market these days that don’t have a ton of land with them.  It is also good to find a home without a lot of land if you are older and don’t have the stamina you once had to do all the yard work that is involved with a house with a lot of land attached. 
  • Buying a home that is one story is also a good way to downsize and to save when it comes to buying a new home.  Buying a home without stairs is good for when you get older as well because you won’t want to or may not be able to climb them once you get up in years. 
  • Realize that you don’t have to give up on the home of your dreams when you downsize.  There are plenty of adorable houses on the market that won’t break your bank account that are 1500 square feet or less.  Don’t let society dictate to you that you need a large house in order to fit in.  There are plenty of upsides to downsizing to a smaller home!

Once you set your mind in the right direction and you realize that you don’t need to have a huge house and that it’s no longer important to “keep up with the Jones’’ you will be well on your way to saving a lot of money.

Courtesy of Montgomery AL Real Estate Broker Sandra Nickel, Sandra Nickel Hat Team!

3 Tips For a Smooth Home Inspection

by The Hat Team

home inspection

Whether you are selling your home or you are looking to buy a home, there are a few things that you need to know to help your home inspection go as well as it possibly can.  Home buyers need to know that the house they are buying is in good shape and home sellers need to be on the up and up when selling their home. When it comes to home inspections there are a few tips that can help the inspection go smoothly and the process be as stress free as possible. 

  1. If you are selling your home and you have a home inspection on the schedule, do your part to make it easy on the inspector by getting your pets out of the house while he or she is doing the inspection.  Your home inspector may love and adore animals as much as you do but your pets being under their feet during the inspection will not make the job any easier. 
     
  2. During a home inspection, typically the potential buyers are inside alone with the inspector and they may want to look around to take one last look at things before making a final decision.  If you want to make a good impression on those potential buyers, you may want to clean up the clutter you have left laying around.  Believe it or not clutter can cause a potential home buyer to walk away without making an offer.
     
  3. As a homebuyer don’t freak out if the home inspector comes up with a list of things that need to be taken care of in the house.  You need to realize that most houses have some sort of upkeep or maintenance that needs to be taken care of and that inspector’s are known for being nit-picky.   Realize too that most everything can be fixed.  Even the dreaded mold and radon.  Realize as well that home inspectors cannot predict the future and won’t be able to tell you how long something will last; they will just be able to tell you that it needs attention. 

Hopefully these tips will help you out the next time you have a home inspector coming to your home, whether you are selling or buying.  Remember that the home inspector is there to help you not to harm you or to ruin your dreams.

Courtesy of Montgomery AL Real Estate Experts Sandra Nickel Hat Team.

Home Improvements To Sell Your Home

by The Hat Team

home improvement

Below are a few home improvements that will help sell your home this spring.

  • A fresh coat of paint inside your home is a great way to improve the way your home looks and get it ready to put on the market.   Try to keep a neutral theme if you can when painting because you want others to be able to see themselves living in your home and not the other way around.  You will likely be amazed at just how much difference a fresh coat of paint will make to your home. 
  • Panting your front door a color that pops is a great way to get awesome curb appeal.  Many folks will love your home simply because it has a red door and it stands out above all the others in the neighborhood.  Use a pop of color on your front door to your advantage when trying to sell your home!
  • Pressure washing your home is a great way to make it shine if your home is vinyl siding.  You may have lived in your house so long that you forgot what color your siding actually is until you pressure wash it.  This is another way to have great curb appeal when you put your house on the market. 
  • If your house has columns at the front it may be a good time to replace them or at least give them a fresh coat of paint.  Over the years columns tend to expand and crack and make the house look older than it actually is.  Give your home a facelift by taking care of issues like these before you put it on the market.
  • Refinishing your hardwoods is another way to make your home look its best.  You can do this yourself or you may want to choose to hire someone to do it for you.  Either way, refinishing your hardwoods is a great home improvement idea!

Courtesy of Montgomery AL Real Estate Expert Sandra Nickel.

5 Hacks For Childproofing Your Home

by The Hat Team

childproofing

You may or may not have small children living in your home but even if you don’t you might have a family member or a friend who does, so tips on childproofing your home may be advantageous to you.  There are several ways in which you can make your home child friendly so that you don’t have to worry about any little ones getting hurt or any of your stuff destroyed. 

  • The first and most important tip to make your home childproof is to cover your electrical outlets.  For some reason electrical outlets are very interesting to little hands and fingers.  The best way to keep the kids from exploring your electrical outlets is to buy covers for them.  Make sure to get the electrical outlets that are not that hard for you to pull out so that you don’t constantly have to try so hard to remove them when you want to use an outlet. 
  • This may sound silly but get on your hands and knees and travel around your home looking for things that might be dangerous.  You may find that you see much more clearly by getting down to a child’s level when it comes to childproofing your home.  Fix any issues you deem to be hazardous to kids while you are in this position.
  • Put glass items and valuables up high out of reach of children.  This will not only help keep children safe in your home but it will also keep your valuables from getting broken.
  • If you have anything sharp such as a fireplace with edges made from stone or brick you may want to buy covers for those edges to use when you will have small children around.  If you have little ones who live in your home you may want to keep these areas covered at all times. 
  • If you have a swimming pool, always make sure that someone is outside watching the children if they want to play in the back yard.  Even if you have the pool surrounded by a fence you need to make sure the kids are looked after if they are anywhere near a pool. 

Hopefully some of these ideas for childproofing your home will be helpful to you and will prevent an accident from happening.  Once you feel as if your home is childproof then you will no longer have to worry about little ones getting hurt and you can enjoy your new or existing home. 

Courtesy of Montgomery AL Real Estate Experts Sandra Nickel Hat Team.

4 Savvy Hacks to De-clutter Your Home

by The Hat Team

declutter

Now is a perfect time to de-clutter your home if you are planning on putting it on the market this spring. Getting rid of unwanted or unnecessary items will be a great help to you when you begin having your house shown.  Here are 4 savvy hacks to de-cluttering your home.   

  1. A great way to get rid of things in your home  that you no longer use or want is to invite your friends and family over to look through it.  Your sister for instance may have had her eye on your collection of vases for a very long time and by letting her have them you may be creating a stronger bond with her all the while cleaning your house of items you no longer need. 
  2. Having a yard sale to de-clutter your home is always a good idea especially when it starts getting warm outside.  Folks love to attend yard sales and many folks attend them on a regular basis.  One suggestion, if you decide to de-clutter via yard sale,do not put prices on your items.  Putting prices on your yard sale items is basically a waste of time.  You can easily talk about a reasonable price with a customer once they have shown interest in an item.  If you have the items priced many times the potential customer will not even let you know they are interested in purchasing the item because they think you have it priced too high.
  3. Donating your household items to charity is a great way to not only get a tax benefit but to help people in need.  If you want to go a step further in this process you can ask if you can hand out items for free to those who come in for help.  You may be surprised at just how good it feels to help those less fortunate than yourself. 
  4. If you have some time on your hands and you don’t have to worry about getting your house on the market quickly, you can always sell your items on EBay.  You may get more money this way but it can take a bit longer than the other ideas. 

Hopefully this list of savvy tips for getting rid of your unwanted household items will help you on your way to a more streamlined home.  Again, whether you are planning to stay in your home for a few more years or you are planning to put it on the market, cleaning things out is always a great feeling!

Courtesy of Montgomery AL Real Estate Expert Sandra Nickel.

Tax Rules for Gifting Real Estate

by The Hat Team

gift house

Did you give the gift of real estate this holiday? If so, you need to be sure to abide by the tax rules that are associated with giving such a large gift. 

  • It may be a good idea to give the cash for your loved one to purchase a house instead of purchasing a house for them.  You may think you know your relative or friend better than anyone but you may not know all their secret hopes and dreams because they may not tell you every little detail about themselves.  If you give cash to your loved one to buy a home you need to keep the amount at $14,000 or less.  The gift tax limit for a yearly gift called the annual exclusion allows you to give $14,000 cash or less to as many folks as you would like each year tax free.
  • Another great way to give the gift of real estate without disobeying any tax rules is to give the gift of a cash down payment. You will want to make sure that the loan officer knows that this is a gift and not a loan.  You will need to fill out the appropriate paperwork so that the fact that the down payment monies is a gift will be well clarified, otherwise you risk your friend or loved one losing out on getting their mortgage. 
  • If you would like to sell your children’s childhood home to them you may do so but be sure that you are careful how you do it.  Seller financing your home to your children is a great way to avoid being taxed to the max.  In this type of sale you basically will be given a small down payment and you will hold the note on the property.  This type of real estate gifting is great as long as you can trust your loved one to pay down the mortgage. 
  • Selling your home to your loved one at a low ball price is another way to give the gift of real estate all the while abiding by tax rules.  Of course the IRS may think you are crazy but once they see you are selling to a family member they will understand. 

Remember if you do decide to give the gift of real estate to abide by the tax rules and regulations and you will be sure to have some excited recipients! 

Courtesy of Montgomery AL Real Estate Expert Sandra Nickel!

Displaying blog entries 191-200 of 281

Syndication

Categories

Archives

   cdpe    crsHat Lady on Zillow