All Blog Entries by Bonnie Martin Designated Broker

zillowblog.com - Your home’s been on the market for a while now and you’re not getting any offers.  You might consider a staging consultation. Many home stagers will provide room-by-room assessments for homeowners, offering tips about paint colors, furniture placement, improving traffic patterns and more. Most consultations last about two hours and won’t break the bank at $150 to $250.

Or, you can use these five low-cost, do-it-yourself staging tips to create a space that sells:  No. 1: Cut the clutter, No. 2: Let the sunshine in,  No. 3: Clean, then clean some more, No. 4: Set the scene,  No. 5: Take new photos.  

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Insanely low mortgage interest rates—and the knowledge that they’ll eventually go up again—make a lot of people feel like it’s time to buy a house right now. And maybe it is … if you go about it the right way.

Buying a home is a major purchase (to put it mildly), and there are plenty of ways to trip up. But don’t worry—we’ve got your primer right here. 1. Don’t … buy a house if you’re planning to move again soon.  2. Don’t … bust your budget.  3. Don’t … forget about added costs.  4. Don’t … put down a nominal down payment.  5. Don’t … neglect to get everything in writing.  6. Don’t … skip the inspection.  7. Don’t … think a brand-new home entitles you to brand-new everything.

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When Kellie and Michael May decided to refinance their home in the New York suburbs, they wanted to take advantage of historically low interest rates. But before landing a new 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, they had to get through a home appraisal.

But the appraisal came back roughly $70,000 less than the $1,230,000 the Mays were expecting, and too low to support their new loan.

Here are eight ways you can bolster your appraisal:  MAKE SURE APPRAISER KNOWS YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD, PROVIDE YOUR OWN COMPARABLES, KNOW WHAT ADDS THE MOST VALUE, DOCUMENT YOUR FIX-UPS, TALK UP YOUR TOWN, DISTINGUISH BETWEEN UPSTAIRS AND DOWNSTAIRS, CLEAN UP, GIVE THE APPRAISER SOME SPACE

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The latest forecast from Fiserv (FISV) Case-Shiller predicts home prices will increase by an average of 3.3% annually over the five years ending September, 2017.

"2012 was the first year since 1997 that the housing market has resembled something [close to] normal," said David Stiff, Fiserv's chief economist. "For the past 15 years, home price changes and sales volumes have either been boosted by a bubble mentality or crushed by crash psychology."

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money.cnn.com - Homeowners can compare costs of similar remodeling jobs based on the size and type of the room, where they live and the materials they want to use with a new tool from real estate web site Zillow.

usatoday.com - Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages moved closer to historic lows this week, a trend that has helped drive a rebound in home sales.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage declined to 3.51% from 3.56% last week. That's near the 3.31% rate reached in November, the lowest on records dating to 1971.

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Add a photo, earn an extra few thousand dollars. Adding at least one photo to a residential real-estate listing can up the final sale price by 3.9%.

Photos are already fairly established in listings. Roughly 85% of online listings include photos, says Ken H. Johnson, an associate professor of finance at Florida International University’s Hollo School of Real Estate. But the type of photo matters, he adds.

A few other tips: 1.  Remove large pieces of furniture, 2.  Consider a paint job, 3.  Remember the front door, 4.  Look for details,  5.  Be your own editor.

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blogs.wsj.com - Homeowners, rejoice—Friday really is the best day of the week. In Mansion on Friday, we reported that homes listed on Fridays sold for 99.1% of the seller’s original asking price, the highest percentage of any day of the week.

Homes listed on Fridays also spent the least number of days on the market (81 days), and homes listed on Tuesdays earned the most home tours (2.41 home-tour requests), on average, according to an analysis by real-estate brokerage Redfin.

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homes.yahoo.com - Everyone loves the smell of freshly baked cookies, but don't expect that aroma to sell your home, new research suggests.

Homeowners are often coached to create pleasing aromas when potential buyers pay a visit. But complex smells, like baked goods and potpourri, are likely to damp enthusiasm for a fast sale for top dollar.  The best scents? Lemon, green tea, cedar, basil, and vanilla.

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homes.yahoo.com - Are you ready and eager to buy your first home, but not sure if you'll qualify for those historically low mortgage interest rates that are splashed across every real estate section?

 1.  Improve your credit
 2.  Decrease you liabilities
 3.  Put at least 20 percent down
 4.  Emphasize you job stability

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