Kelly Holmquist's Blog

Realtor Kelly Holmquist recommends planting brightly colored flowers to help homes for sale sell more quickly.

LONGVALLEY– It’s summer, and houses for sale are popping up like dandelions. Making a home standout in the summer means staging it so it’s the most attractive-looking home on your block from the outside as well as the inside.

If you’re selling a home, you’ve heard about staging your home. What you may not realize is that staging is different in the summer than in the winter. Here are 10 things The Holmquist Team tells its customers to do to make their homes jump out as the most desirable in their neighborhoods:

1. Step across the street and look at it as a house, not your home

Forget about all the good times you’ve had in that home and look at it like a buyer would: $$$$$. By adopting this mind set, everything else comes easier

2. Trim the trees and plants, take down hanging plants and wind chimes

You want visitors to see your home and how pretty it is. You also want to make sure there’s amble space for light and air to get through to the windows. Trim low-hanging branches and run-away bushes. Make sure windows and doors are visible from the street

3. Give the outside of your home a good cleaning

Make sure there are no sticks, branches or other debris on the roof. If your home has vinyl or aluminum siding, consider power-washing it, especially if there’s mildew anywhere. If you’re home needs paint, invest in having it painted. Don’t forget to clean your windows.

Get all the outdoor toys organized in one place and move the trash cans, hoses and similar utility equipment somewhere where they’re out of the way and not readily seen from the street.

4. Stage the front porch and the back deck or back yard

Don’t overdo it in either place. If you have a front porch, consider putting a couple of chairs or a bench on it, along with a small table. Add a vase of flowers on the table.

The backyard should definitely be staged as an extension of your home. At the very least, put a few chairs around a table with, perhaps, an umbrella. Put out a table cloth and set the table. If you have a special view or spot in the backyard, consider highlighting it with a bench or a couple of tables.

5. Green up your lawn and gardens

Make sure your lawn and gardens are well watered and brightly colored. If your lawn has large yellow spots, consider having a lawn service fix it. One professional stager suggested a quicker fix: There’s paint out there with colors that are close to that of your lawn. She suggests painting the spots.

Plant flowers that bloom in bright reds and yellows. If you don’t have a garden, consider planting one just to brighten the outside of your home.

6. Driveways

You can’t hide your driveway. If it’s paved, consider having it patched and sealed. If it’s gravel, consider adding gravel and having it rolled. If your driveway is beyond repair, consider replacing it. The only alternative is acknowledging that you may need to lower your price so the buyer can fix it.

7. Front doors

Your front door is a major part of your home’s presentation. Consider painting it a bright, but complementary color. Some stagers suggest adding a brass door knocker or kickplate or both. If your front door is old and in bad condition, consider replacing it.

8. Roof

Roofs are like driveways: You can’t help but see them. If your roof needs more than cleaning, you may want to consider replacing it. At the very least, if winter storms have left shingles broken or out of line, have them repaired or replaced. Discuss with your Realtor whether it’s worth replacing the roof or simply adjusting your price.

9. Fix and run your air conditioner

Open windows can give a home nice airy feel in the spring, but once the oppressive summer heat sets in, run your air conditioner. Let buyers enjoy the cool air of your home. It’ll make them stay longer and enjoy your home more.

10. Inside

The rules for inside your home are the same as they are for the rest of the year: declutter, clean and organize. Make sure your home, not its contents, are what buyers are seeing. Of course, in the spring and summer, make sure heavy curtains are down so there’s lots of light coming in. And put out vases of brightly colored flowers and bowls of fragrant, seasonal fruit in the kitchen.

By the way, if you have pretty photos of your home in the winter, put them out for buyers to see so they can imagine having, say, Thanksgiving in your home.

With the market beginning to come back to life, you don’t want your home to be left behind. Buyers today are expecting the home they buy to be ready for occupancy. That means you need to make an extra effort to make your home attractive and move-in ready to command top dollar and be competitive.

Ask your Realtor to use his or her trained eye to give your home a fresh look and offer you advice on making your home so attractive, there’ll be a sold sign on it before long.

If The Holmquist Team, part of Keller Williams Towne Square Realty, can help you, please call us.

People sell their homes for a variety of reasons. Among the toughest situations is the person who is behind or struggling with payments because of job loss, divorce or other problems. While the popular wisdom is that people can just abandon a home, walking away will lead to a foreclosure that sparks devastating long- and short-term financial, tax and legal implications for the former property owner.

An experienced seller’s agent can help you avoid such a desperate move. Among the options is a “short sale.” In a short sale, the bank allows you to sell your home for less than what you owe. The bank forgives the difference and you walk away with a smaller impact on your credit than you would with a foreclosure and nobody is chasing you for damages.

When I first started encountering short sales, the banks were the biggest problem. Bankers had no idea how to handle short-sales. Files were missing, banks had no system for tracking documents and everything was hand-written. It was a mess and nothing was consistent. In those early days, I had one bank approve a $250,000 loss in three weeks and another take more than a year to decide on a loss of $50,000.

Things have gotten better and banks now have standardized the process. A short sale can happen in 90 days from application to closing. These transactions, however, aren’t the norm and require an experienced attorney and Realtor to negotiate with the lenders. You also can’t get away with accepting any offer. Banks bring in an appraiser to make sure the home sells within an acceptable range of market value.

Even the federal government has gotten into the short-sale act. The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAFA) was created last year to help homeowners who apply for but do not qualify for a loan modification. The rules are:

• The property is your principal residence;
• The mortgage on it was originated before Jan. 1, 2009;
• The mortgage is owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac;
• You are delinquent in your payments or default is foreseeable;
• You can demonstrate hardship;
• Your total monthly housing payment exceeds 31 percent of your gross income;
• The unpaid principal does not exceed $729,750.

Talk to an experienced real estate agent about selling your home as a short sale. It’s not the best way to sell a home, but it’s better than a foreclosure.

By the way, the government considers any debt you don’t pay as income. Expect a 1099 IRS form from the bank for the amount of the shortfall that is forgiven. More information about that is here.

Buyers know there still are bargains to be found among short sales. They need flexibility because there’s no guaranteed closing date and they must be willing to accept some up-front expenses such as attorney’s fees, home inspections and so forth. Buyers need to make a reasonable offer because the banks are using appraisers now.

The good news is that the majority of homes have been well maintained and there aren’t many surprises. That’s because, unlike a foreclosure, the seller usually occupies the property until the closing and agrees to maintain it.

As with the seller, buyers need an experienced real estate agent to properly represent them. And the HAFA rules, while mostly aimed at the seller, also impact the buyer: 

• Buyers must present documentation of funds or a pre-approval letter from a lender. The seller will need to present this to his or her lender within three days of receiving the offer.
• Lenders must approve or deny the offer for the home within 10 business days.
• Settlement must take place within a reasonable period, but the lender cannot require a closing earlier than 45 days from the date of the sales contract unless the homeowner agrees.
• If you buy property under this act, you can’t sell it again for 90 days.
• Sellers can’t sell the property to a relative or anyone else with whom they have a close personal or business relationship.

You have nothing to gain by paying a third party to supply you with lists of foreclosures or so-called pre-foreclosures. Homes that are foreclosed and homes where the seller wants to sell short will be listed on the Multiple Listing Service when they are available. Your agent will watch for them and alert you.