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Making Your Home Picture Perfect

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, in real estate, that picture's worth translates to dollars and then, if it's an excellent picture, you can add another zero to that number. That's why helping us get the right photos of your home are critical.

Before having Carrasco Real Estate photograph or, in some cases, videotaped, your home you'll want to make sure that it's in the best possible shape. But what exactly does that mean?

Getting your home ready for a photo shoot is not quite the same as getting it ready to have dinner guests. Yes, there's the same cleaning rituals such as dusting, and picking up items lying around the house. But making a home picture perfect is about creating an atmosphere that's welcoming, interesting, and even beckoning viewers and then allowing us to capture it with our lens.

How is that done? For starters we'll use the right equipment to get the job done. Wide angle lens to make the home look larger and show off adjacent rooms in a single photo are one good method. Early morning and late afternoon photo shoots make use of the best lighting times in the day.

Before the shoot you'll want to add some props and take away the clutter. These should be your top priorities.

Let's start with empty rooms. Showing an empty house isn't ideal for in-person visits or pictures. Why? You can't get a feel for how to use the space and when you see an empty room in a picture and it's hard to grasp its size. The Wall Street Journal suggests bringing in props such as furniture (even just a chair and small table) that will help give the viewer a sense of scale.

If at all possible, rent, borrow some furniture to have at least a few objects in the room. You don't need as many pieces of furniture as you would have if you're living in the home, just some nice tables, lamps, and chairs to create a homey mood.

Kitchen comfort. Here's where you get to have some fun. Think of yourself as a set designer. Your job is to look closely at your kitchen and tuck away all the unnecessary objects. If you leave out an appliance (maybe a good-looking stainless steel one) hide the cord. The appliance isn't there for use–it's just a prop.

Now, add some other props–a basket of colorful fruit in a clear glass bowl (nothing too distracting). A plate of cheese and bread with a wine bottle nearby helps set a scene to make the viewer feel welcome.

When it comes to the exterior of your home, put away those unsightly garbage cans, the seasonal decorations, and those "no soliciting" signs.

Remember, you're making your home not only picture-perfect but model-home perfect too... and that could just be priceless.

Best Black Friday Deals? A New Home...

With all the deals going on we didn't want you to miss out on local home builders & their Black Friday Deals. It is usually big retailers offering flat-screen TV's and high-tech appliances that consumers covet. But this year local new home builders are getting in on the Black Friday action!

Search the MLS or Local Builder Inventory Now.

This holiday season is also the perfect time to start house-hunting. With the winter selling lull just around the corner, now is the perfect time to consider buying a home. Homes are much less expensive this time of year.

Contact us to learn more about the 3 BEST FREE BLACK FRIDAY INCENTIVES offered from local home builders & why buying real estate might be the best investment for you and your family this holiday season.

*Only 1 Incentive Coupon applicable per home. Incentives are not available with any other incentives or offers

Energy Effcient Homes?

Poll: Nine in 10 U.S. Homeowners Concerned About Home Energy Efficiency

Home energy efficiency is valued by the vast majority of American homeowners, with 89 percent of national survey respondents indicating that making their home more energy efficient is important to them personally.

Key findings from the September 2010 national survey include:

* Less than one in three homeowners believe their homes are "very" energy efficient
* While the majority reported knowing "a lot" about how to make their homes energy efficient, they mistakenly identified "older windows" as the top energy-loss culprit
* 90% said it is important to have a professional energy auditor who is "certified by an independent national organization"

"These findings are a call to action to the industry to help consumers tap into the true value of an independent energy audit," said Steve Baden, executive director, RESNET. "While the benefits of window replacement are obvious, it is often a less visible and less expensive repair – for example, sealing cracks around air conditioning and heating ducts – that can significantly improve a home's energy efficiency and cut homeowners' utility bills."

D.C.-based Clarus Research Group, a Qorvis company, conducted a market survey of 800 U.S. homeowners(1) on behalf of RESNET, an industry leader in the energy efficiency marketplace. The sample was defined as adults over 21 years of age who currently own a home or plan to purchase one within the next year. The survey was conducted by Ron Faucheux, Ph.D., president of Clarus and a nationally recognized research and polling expert.

Key among other survey findings:

* 86% of homeowners would trust an energy audit performed by someone who was "certified by an independent national organization" over someone who was not
* 80% of those surveyed said that if they were in the market to buy a home, an energy audit conducted by an "unbiased professional" would be important to them

Poll from RISMEDIA

If your on the buying fence now's the time get off...

FHA Gives Home Buyers One-Month Window

September 1, 2010--The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is giving homeowners and buyers until October 4 to lock in a low monthly insurance premium, according to Gibran Nicholas, chairman of the CMPS Institute, an organization that trains and certifies mortgage bankers and brokers. “After October 4, the monthly insurance premiums on FHA loans will increase by over 63%.”

What does this mean for home buyers?
A home buyer purchasing a $200,000 home using a $193,000 FHA mortgage before October 4 would pay an insurance premium of $88.46 per month. If the same home buyer waits until after October 4, the insurance premium would jump to $148.01.

“In this example, the home buyer would lose $59.55 per month, or $7,146 over a 10-year timeframe,” Nicholas said. “Although the upfront mortgage insurance premium is going down after October 4, the real impact to the home buyer is actually a net increase in their out of pocket costs because the monthly premium is going up by 63%. Remember, sellers can pay the upfront premium or it can be financed into the loan amount, so homebuyers rarely pay the upfront premium out of pocket. On the other hand, the increase in the monthly premiums will be paid right out of the home buyer’s pocket with their mortgage payment each month.”

Ironically, home buyers who plan to be in the mortgage for less than three years and decide to pay the upfront fee themselves (instead of having the seller pay it for them), may actually save money by waiting until after October 4 to apply for an FHA loan.

“Home buyers with a short term time horizon may actually benefit from this change because the upfront premium will be reduced to 1% from 2.25%,” Nicholas said. This change will impact over 30% of the home buyers in today’s market who use FHA-insured financing. Home buyers considering an FHA loan should find and contact a CMPS professional in their area to discuss their options and what this means for their situation.

from: RISmedia

Top reasons you still need a real estate agent

You might think buying or selling on your own will save money, but it could be more costly in the long run.

The abundance of services that help home buyers and sellers complete their own real-estate transactions is relatively recent, and may have you wondering whether using a real-estate agent is becoming a relic of a bygone era. While doing the work yourself can save you the significant commissions that many real-estate agents command, for many, flying solo may not be the way to go — and could end up being more costly than a commission in the long run. Buying or selling a home is a major financial and emotional undertaking. Find out why you shouldn't discard the notion of hiring an agent just yet.

1. Better access/more convenience
A real-estate agent's full-time job is to act as a liaison between buyers and sellers. This means that he or she will have easy access to all other properties listed by other agents and will know what needs to be done to get a deal together. For example, if you are looking to buy a home, a real-estate agent will track down homes that meet your criteria, get in touch with sellers' agents and make appointments for you to view the homes. If you are buying on your own, you will have to play this telephone tag yourself. This may be especially difficult if you're shopping for homes that are for sale by owner

Similarly, if you are looking to sell your home yourself, you will have to solicit calls from interested parties, answer questions and make appointments. Keep in mind that potential buyers are likely to move on if you tend to be busy or don't respond quickly enough. Alternatively, you may find yourself making an appointment and rushing home, only to find that no one shows up.

2. Negotiating is tricky business
Many people don't like the idea of doing a real-estate deal through an agent and think that direct negotiation between buyers and sellers is more transparent and allows the parties to look after their own interests better. This is probably true — assuming that both the buyer and seller are reasonable people who are able to get along. Unfortunately, this isn't always an easy relationship.

What if you, as a buyer, like a home but despise its wood-paneled walls, shag carpet and lurid orange kitchen? If you are working with an agent, you can express your contempt for the current owner's decorating skills and rant about how much it'll cost you to upgrade the home without insulting the owner. For all you know, the owner's late mother may have lovingly chosen the décor. Your real-estate agent can convey your concerns to the seller’s agent. Acting as a messenger, the agent may be in a better position to negotiate a discount without ruffling the homeowner's feathers.

A real-estate agent can also play the “bad guy” in a transaction, preventing the bad blood between a buyer and seller that can kill a deal. Keep in mind that sellers can reject a potential buyer's offer for any reason — including just because they hate his or her guts. An agent can help by speaking for you in tough transactions and smoothing things over to keep them from getting too personal. This can put you in a better position to get the house you want. The same is true for the seller, who can benefit from a hard-nosed real-estate agent who will represent his or her interests without turning off potential buyers who want to niggle about the price.

3. Contracts can be hard to handle
If you decide to buy or sell a home, the offer-to-purchase contract is there to protect you and ensure that you are able to back out of the deal if certain conditions aren't met. For example, if you plan to buy a home with a mortgage but you fail to make financing one of the conditions of the sale — and you aren't approved for the mortgage — you can lose your deposit on the home and could even be sued by the seller for failing to fulfill your end of the contract. (Keep in mind that the details of any contract may vary based on state law.)

An experienced real-estate agent deals with the same contracts and conditions on a regular basis and is familiar with which conditions should be used, when they can be removed safely and how to use the contract to protect you, whether you're buying or selling your home.

4. Real-estate agents can't lie
Well, OK, actually they can. But because they are licensed professionals, there are more repercussions if they do than for a private buyer or seller. If you are working with a licensed real-estate agent under an agency agreement, such as a conventional, full-service commission agreement in which the agent agrees to represent you, your agent will be bound by law to a fiduciary relationship. In other words, the agent is bound by law to act in his clients' best interest, not his own.

In addition, most real-estate agents rely on referrals and repeat business to build the kind of client base they'll need to survive in the business. This means that doing what's best for their clients should be as important to them as any individual sale.

Finally, if you do find that your agent has gotten away with lying to you, you will have more avenues for recourse, such as through your agent's broker or professional association or possibly even in court if you can prove that your agent has failed to uphold his fiduciary duties.

When a buyer and seller work together directly, they can — and should — seek legal counsel, but because each is expected to act in his or her best interest, there isn't much you can do if you find out later that you've been duped about multiple offers or the home's condition. And having a lawyer on retainer any time you want to talk about potentially buying or selling a house could cost far more than an agent's commissions by the time the transaction is complete.

5. Not everyone can save money
Many people eschew using a real-estate agent in order to save money, but keep in mind that it is unlikely that both the buyer and seller will reap the benefits of not having to pay commissions. For example, if you are selling your home on your own, you will price it based on the sale prices of other comparable properties in your area. Many of these properties will be sold with the help of an agent. This means that the seller gets to keep the percentage of the home's sale price that might otherwise be paid to the real-estate agent.

However, buyers who are looking to purchase a home sold by owners may also believe they can save some money on the home by not having an agent involved. They might even expect it and make an offer accordingly. However, unless buyer and seller agree to split the savings, they can't both save the commission.

The bottom line
While there are certainly people who are qualified to sell their own homes, taking a quick look at the long list of frequently asked questions on most “for sale by owner” websites suggests the process isn't as simple as many people assume. And when you get into a difficult situation, it can really pay to have a professional on your side.

Improve Your Credit Score

Good credit scores have never been more important. As banks tighten their lending standards, it's important to have your score as high as possible.

A FICO score is a number, in general from 300 to 850, that is formulated from your payment history, including such things as amounts of money owed, length of your credit history, new credit accounts open, and how you have used your credit. Age, salary, race, education, and religion do not affect your score. You can't buy a good score; you can only build one over time by demonstrating that you are a responsible borrower.

To improve your credit score, start with these steps.

1. Pay your bills on time. This seems like a simple enough feat, but in hard economic times, more and more borrowers are finding themselves hard-pressed with the decision of what bill to pay. If you find yourself having a hard time paying bills, be sure to talk with the lender or company you owe. They may have programs or suggestions that will help you avoid having your bill sent to collections.

2. Don't let items go to collections. Once an item is sent to collections, your credit report will suffer. This ding will stay on your report for seven years.

3. Don't open other new credit lines when applying for a home loan. You may want the new car or living room set, but the home buying process is not the time to open multiple new accounts. This is a sure-fire way to temporarily reduce your credit score. If you do this before finalizing your mortgage, you many find yourself stuck with a higher interest rate.

4. Monitor your report on a regular basis for errors and cases of identity theft. Errors do happen. To get them corrected quickly, be sure to contact both the organization that provided the erroneous information, as well as the credit bureau. Identity theft happens. And it is your responsibility to identify it and address it!

5. Pay down credit cards. Carrying high balances on credit cards can severely affect your credit score. Think of it this way. If you have a grand total of $10,000 worth of credit limits available, but you owe $5,000 on all of your cards put together, you are using half of your available credit!

The best loans and mortgages are available to borrowers with FICO scores 700 and above. Experian, one of the major credit reporting agencies, reports that the average credit score is 693.

For a look at your credit report, visit the government sponsored site, annualcreditreport.com. You may access your report three times a year free of charge.