Realestate

JANUARY - MARCH 2016

Five good reasons to sell through an agent

Reducing renovation costs

The Listing Photos, description, certificate of location and inspection report: a realtor makes sure your sales listing is complete.

Marketing By using the services of a real estate agency, you give more visibility to your property and you can let skilled professionals handle the marketing. Your chances of selling quickly are much higher.

Organization Going through a realtor means your house gets more visibility and sells faster

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hen homeowners decide to put their property on the market, they are faced with the decision to use the services of a real estate agency or not. Are you hesitating? Here are five reasons to entrust the sale of your property to real estate professionals.

Knowledge of the Market

Fixing a home’s selling price is a difficult exercise. In addition to being neutral— your emotions could distort your assessment of the real value of your home—real-

tors know the market in your area as well as comparable properties. Allowing them to decide on an appropriate selling price.

Home Staging

Through their experience and expertise, realtors can advise you on what improvements should be made to your home before it’s put on the market, as well as the best ways to make it look as attractive as possible. Besides, they’re sure to have some home staging professionals among their many contacts.

Managing phone calls, promoting the property, planning visits and assessing potential buyers: do you really have the time and skills to take care of everything? And don’t forget that you’ll have to tidy up and clean your home before every visit.

Realtors are experienced negotiators who can get the best price for your property, while respecting the buyer. Best of all, they support you throughout the sales process.

How to get the most out of your home inspection

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ou wouldn’t dare skip the home inspection before you buy a home, would you? An inspection optimizes your chances of satisfaction by making sure you get and pay for exactly what’s there. It saves you from all those gut-wrenching reality checks that come as new homeowners begin to realize their investment is a real money pit.

Choose your home inspector carefully.

Thirty-nine states require home inspectors to have a license; this serves as proof that they have received the proper train-

ing. Your realtor can tell you what the regulations about this are in your state.

A good way to locate a trustworthy inspector is to ask your realtor for some referrals. Start with at least three and talk to each of them to get a feel for their skills, experience and credentials. Ask about their knowledge of home construction and current building codes.

Go along on the inspection. One of the biggest mistakes homebuyers make is to rely on a written report instead of going along

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verybody knows that home renovations cost money—sometimes a lot more than you expected.

However, substantial savings can be made if you plan your project well.

Here are four tips you may find useful.

Planning: Buying renovation materials without a plan is a risky business, as this sort of improvisation opens the door to impulsive and unnecessary purchases. Set your budget, make a list and stick to it.

Specials: Every year, most home renovation centers and hardware stores mark down their surplus inventory during special sales. Be on the lookout and take the time to compare prices.

You may need the patience of a saint, but you won’t regret waiting.

for the inspection. As you walk through the house together, from top to bottom, you’ll catch the inspector’s reactions to what he or she finds before it can be tempered. Ask questions as you go along, and take advantage of his or her savvy about defects and potential problems.

Materials: Discontinued lines of building and decorating materials are often sold at a discount. However, before you pounce on that batch of cheap slate tiles, make sure there are enough for your entire project. You should also make sure you have some extras.

Above all, make sure the home inspector you hire has a proven track record with happy customers to prove it. If you know exactly what you’re getting and what work needs to be done to make it your home sweet home, you can’t go wrong.

Painting: Check with paint retailers in your area to find out if they have discounted colors or cans of paint that have been returned. You have nothing to lose, and you may even find some great bargains.

Why you should buy a home in 2016 Rents have skyrocketed: Another reason home buyers are lucky is that rents are going up, up, up! In fact, rents outpaced home values in 20 of the 35 biggest housing markets in 2015. What’s more, according to the 2015 www.rent. com Rental Market Report, 88 percent of property managers raised their rent in the past 12 months, and an 8 percent hike is predicted for 2016.

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or those of you who happen to be planning on buying a home in the new year—or even just trying to— there’s a whole lot to celebrate. Why? A variety of financial vectors have dovetailed to make this the perfect storm for home buyers to get out there and make an (winning) offer. Here are six home-buying reasons: Interest rates are still at record lows: Even though they may creep up at any moment, it’s nonetheless a fact that interest

rates on home loans are at historic lows, with a 30-year fixed-rate home loan still hovering around 4 percent.

“Remember 18.5 percent in the ’80s?” asks Tom Postilio, a real estate broker and a star of HGTV’s “Selling New York.”“It is likely that we’ll never see interest rates this low again. So while prices are high in some markets, the savings in interest payments could easily amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars over the life of the mortgage.”

“In most metropolitan cities, monthly rent is comparable to that of a monthly mortgage payment, sometimes more,” says Heather Garriock, mortgage agent for The Mortgage Group. “Doesn’t it make more sense to put those monthly chunks of money into your own appreciating asset rather than handing it over to your landlord and saying goodbye to it forever?”

Home prices are stabilizing: For the first time in years, prices that have been climbing steadily upward are stabilizing, restoring a level playing field that helps buyers drive a harder bargain with sellers, even in heated markets.

“Local markets vary, but generally we are experiencing a cooling period,” says Postilio. “At this moment, buyers have the opportunity to capitalize on this.”

Down payments don’t need to break the bank: Probably the biggest obstacle that prevents renters from becoming homeowners is pulling together a down payment. But today, that chunk of change can be smaller, thanks to a variety of programs to help home buyers. For instance, the new Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Home Possible Advantage Program allows for a 3 percent down payment for credit scores as low as 620.

Mortgage insurance is a deal, too: If you do decide to put less than 20 percent down on a home, you are then required to have mortgage insurance (basically in case you default). A workaround to handle this, however, is to take out a loan from the Federal Housing Administration—a government mortgage insurer that backs loans with down payments as low as 3.5 percent and credit scores as low as 580. The fees are way down from 1.35 percent to 0.85 percent of the mortgage balance, meaning your monthly mortgage total will be significantly lower if you fund it this way. In fact, the FHA predicts this 37 percent annual premium cut will bring 250,000 first-time buyers into the market. Why not be one of them?

You’ll reap major tax breaks: Tax laws continue to favor homeowners, so

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JANUARY 21, 2016

you’re not just buying a place to live— you’re getting a tax break! The biggest one is that unless your home loan is more than $1 million, you can deduct all the monthly interest you are paying on that loan. Homeowners may also deduct certain home-related expenses and home property taxes.

January - March 2016 Edition Deb Geissler Publisher dgeissler@desertentertainer.com Jose De La Cruz Editor news@desertentertainer.com Kimberly Brucks Senior Marketing Specialist kbrucks@dmhnews.com Judy Telander Marketing Specialist jtelander@desertentertainer.com Sandy Cloyd Marketing Specialist scloyd@desertentertainer.com Agustin Alejandre Senior Graphic Artist ads@dmhnews.com ads@desertentertainer.com

(760) 776-5181 41-995 Boardwalk Suite L2 Palm Desert CA, 92211 www.desertentertainer.com On Newsstands every Thursday

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Titles registered and all contents copyright 2016 by Hi-Desert Publishing Co. All Rights reserved.

Discovering wall beds

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lso called “Murphy beds” or “retractable beds,” wall beds are available in many styles and configurations to satisfy a wide range of customer requirements. Keep reading to discover their many advantages.

Wall beds can be installed vertically or laterally. Their main advantage is that they can be made to disappear into the wall whenever you like. Their practicality is especially appreciated by condo- and apartment dwellers, as well as homeowners with small guest bedrooms. That’s because wall beds allow the space normally intended for sleeping to be used for different purposes, such as work, study and hobbies.

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Most wall bed models are incorporated into a storage unit with drawers, desk top and cupboards. Sometimes sections are provided for storing a computer or printer and for connecting electronic devices. With a wall bed, people who work from home can quickly transform a bedroom into an office without their clients ever knowing.

In addition, Murphy beds are perfect for little-used guest rooms, which can then be assigned new uses on a daily basis.

And, if you think these transformations will be complicated, think again. Recent models are designed to require only minimal effort—sometimes just the push of a button—to close them. And you don’t even need to remove the bedding.

Eliminating scratches and stains from wood

s your wood floor scratched? Is one of your favorite pieces of furniture stained? Fortunately, you can make them look like new (or at least limit the damage) by trying these tips.

Scratches: If your beautiful hardwood floor is looking ruined by a scratch, gather up baking soda, a small brush and some floor varnish. First, clean the

scratch with water and baking soda, rinse and let dry. Then apply three coats of varnish to fill the scratch.

White heat stains: A hot dish was put directly on your varnished wood table and now it’s “decorated” with an ugly white stain? Try to get rid of it by rubbing it with one of the following mixtures:

JANUARY 21, 2016

• One part turpentine to two parts linseed oil • A paste made of olive oil and salt • A paste made of olive oil and wood ash Ink stains: A bottle of ink was spilled or a pen leaked on a favorite piece of wood furniture? Cut a lemon in half, rub the stain with it and then wipe the wood

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with a damp cloth. Alternatively, spray the ink stain with hair spray and blot it with a paper towel.

If stains and scratches are deep and indelible, the item will have to be sanded completely and a new coat of varnish applied. For the best results, call on the services of a professional.

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