7 Ways to De-Clutter Your Home by Heather Lanoue

Thinking about putting your home on the market this spring?  It’s never too early to start planning the sale of your St. Louis home.  And there is a lot to think about.  Perhaps one of the most crucial pieces to finding that perfect buyer is staging your home properly.  And that means…..de-cluttering.  Having a lot of clutter lying around the house tends to tell prospective buyers that “this house is your place, not theirs”…..never a good message to send.  Removing clutter will not only make your home appear clean, well maintained, and move-in ready, but will also give you the added benefit of helping you relax after a stressful day of work.  Here are seven tips on how to de-clutter your home.

1. Prepare for a de-cluttering marathon.  This is a big, sometimes emotionally draining task and is best tackled in small bites.  You’ll want to gather some de-cluttering tools before you begin.   Garbage bags, boxes, and dusting cloths can be most helpful.  If you find yourself having trouble staying organized throughout the process you may want to start three piles labeled “throw out”, “put away”, and “charity.”  This approach will keep you from throwing out things you want to save, and saving things you want to throw out.
2. Throw out old, unused stuff that tends to find itself on counter tops and shelving such as junk mail, bills, receipts, etc….  Outdated paperwork can also find its way into drawers and closets.  Potential buyers want to see your home, not your mail or last Sunday’s paper.  So don’t let the junk mail keep you from receiving an offer.
3. Sort through closets to find extra storage space.  If your closets are overflowing with “stuff”, it may be time to do some closet purging.  Potential buyers love to see storage space when they open closets.  If the buyer’s eye goes directly to the boxes, cloths and clutter, they won’t notice all the great storage space you have.  Overflowing closets also have the habit of telling buyers that your home doesn’t have enough storage.  But not to worry, there is an easy fix to the full closet…..  If you haven’t used something in a year, throw it out.
4. Clean off book shelves to give your room an open, lighter feeling.  Again, buyers are looking for storage space and if your shelving is packed with stuff, buyers will assume your home doesn’t have enough storage.  Maintaining well organized, half-full book shelves also gives the appearance of space and can make a room feel larger than it actually is.  And don’t forget to pack up the majority of your personal pictures when staging a  home for sale in today’s St. Louis real estate market.  You want potential buyers to see themselves in your home, not see you in your home.
5. Maintaining clear kitchen counter tops has the potential to visually double the size of your kitchen.  Always a good thing.  The golden rule for counter tops is to have no more than two appliances sitting on the counter.  Homes for sale that feature vast expanses of counter top space will have a competitive advantage in today’s St Louis buyer’s market.  And it would be a shame to miss out on an offer because kitchen clutter overshadowed your fabulous counter top space.
6. Clean out bathrooms with the goal of making them appear “hotel clean.”  Nothing turns off potential buyers faster than a dirty or cluttered bathroom.  Make sure counter tops are clear, towels are hung neatly, and the shower and tub are clear of excess bottles and shower supplies.

And last, but not least, celebrate! If you’ve managed to de-clutter your entire home, then you deserve a pat on the back.  You’ve just completed the most inexpensive remodel of your home possible.  Potential buyers will see the value in your work and you will, quite possibly, be rewarded with a higher offer than you would have received otherwise.  And remember, you’re not alone in this task.  If you have any questions about the home staging process, don’t forget to contact Doug Aegerter 314-640-1778 or Art Wagner 314-503-0335 your St. Louis Realtor’s for extra tips and advice.  This is one step in the selling process that you won’t want to leave out.

Occupying your home while it is on the market is sometimes necessary and can be stressful.  Make sure that if you will be living in the house that it is always kept tidy.  You never know when someone will want to take a peek inside.  And remember, first impressions are everything, so you may want to put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher before you leave for work in the morning too.  Another consideration is how flexible you can be with showing times.  Are you willing to accommodate someone else’s schedule?  The perfect buyer may ask for a showing right when you sit down for dinner.  Being flexible with showing appointments will make it much easier for potential buyers to see the home and make an offer.

Now is the time to get ready for the spring market.
Call now, Doug Aegerter 314-640-1778 or Art Wagner 314-503-0335, for an appointment.

part 1
part 2
part 3
part 4
part 5

The St. Louis Home for Sale Team provides a weekly St. Louis County and Monthly  St. Charles County Market and Jefferson County Market Watch Report to review and plug into your home buying or selling scenario.  Your questions and comments are welcome!

 The St. Louis Real Estate Market continues to show good signs of activity, both on the buying side as well as the selling side.  We see increases in active listings, homes accepting contracts and pending ratios in almost all price ranges.  Our average pending ratio has increased by over 1%  from last week.

Tax credits are certainly fueling buyers and sellers in the market right now.  Another reason for this activity should be the pending FHA changes coming as we get closer to spring.  Buyers should definitely try to get in front of those changes, as they will cost you more money, either up-front or monthly, depending on how the changes are structured. 

At this point, we still have no concrete date as to when these changes will take place.   As a refresher, these changes will probably involve Mortgage Insurance Premium increases,  FICO credit score increases for qualifying for an FHA loan, and a decrease in allowable seller concessions to the buyer.  We’ll try to keep you in the loop as to when these will be occurring.

 WHO DO YOU KNOW NOW is facing challenges in our local St. Louis Real Estate Market?? We have unique solutions custom tailored for troubled homeowners, sellers and buyers.  Contact us for more information.

How do you feel about making some minor repairs or cosmetic upgrades to the house?  It could help the house sell faster or for a higher price.  If there is a lot of competition in the neighborhood, having the home professionally staged will help it stand above similar homes for sale in the St. Louis real estate area.

Want help getting your home staged and ready to sell? We work with the areas leading professional home stagers. Now is the time to get ready for the spring market.
Call now, Doug Aegerter 314-640-1778 or Art Wagner 314-503-0335,  for an appointment.

 part 1
 part 2
 part 3
 part 4

The St. Louis Home for Sale Team provides a weekly St. Louis County and Bi-weekly St. Charles County Market and Jefferson County Market Watch Report to review and plug into your home buying or selling scenario.  Your questions and comments are welcome!

The St. Louis Real Estate Market this week continues to show good signs of positive movement.  Active listings are moving upward, along with the number of homes accepting contracts in the last 30 days (pending) .  This activity has helped the pending ratio move up to 11.49% from 11.34% two weeks ago. 

For the month of January 2010 compared to January 2009, we are about even as far as active listings and our pending ratios.  However,  at the end of January, we are showing almost 500 more homes sold from August 1st 2009 through January 30, 2010 opposed to the same six month time frame one year ago. 

Obviously, First Time Home Buyer Tax Credits and Move-Up Buyer Tax Credits have played a part in this activity.    Other contributing factors are also the low interest rates,  affordability of homes in our market and of course, for those willing and able to fix up a house or a complete re-hab, there are awesome deals on distressed properties in our market. 

 Also worth noting  is that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD has recently announced changes to the FHA guidelines which will affect most anyone in the real estate market planning to finance their purchase through FHA.

There are three major changes coming in the near future:

1.  Mortgage Insurance Premium-MIP- will increase, from 1.75% to 2.25%. This is the part of the mortgage insurance premium that an FHA borrower is required to pay up front at the beginning of the loan. Now, this amount can be “rolled ” into the loan amount, but it has been talked about and proposed that this be dis-allowed at some point in the future.   There is also talk about shifting some of the up-front MIP costs over to the monthly MIP premium payments, thus having a bit less of an impact on the borrower at loan inception, but adding more dollars to the monthly payment. 

2.  Changes in minimum FICO credit scores.  Borrowers with less than a 580 credit score would be required to have a 10% down payment.  Most lenders these days are requring a credit score of at least 620 to qualify for an FHA loan at 3.5% down payment.  

3.  Reduction in amount of allowable seller concessions.  This probably affects us in St. Louis the least, but FHA is proposing to lower the maximum seller concessions from 6% to 3%.  In our market, it is very rare that you see a seller giving a buyer 6% of the purchase price of the home as concessions towards their closing cost, prepaid expenses or loan points.  Our usual in this market has been 3% for some time.   I’m sure you can find exceptions to this here in St. Louis, but this should affect more of the higher priced areas of the country, with higher FHA loan limits. 

All of these changes, and possibly more are likely to occur sometime early this spring.   That April 30th deadline for First Time Home Buyers and Move Up Home Buyers may be much more important now than ever.  And…who knows what the government means by “early spring”.

We’ll keep you up to date as we hear more about the FHA changes and when they will go into effect.   

 WHO DO YOU KNOW NOW is facing challenges in our local St. Louis Real Estate Market?? We have unique solutions custom tailored for troubled homeowners, sellers and buyers.  Contact us for more information.

 Let’s face it, not everyone can sell and come out ahead in today’s housing market.  It is important to know your financial boundaries before you dig too deep into the sales process.  Your homework at this stage is to find out what you currently owe on your house, what the closing costs for selling your house would be, and what price you are honestly willing to accept for your house.  Sharing these thoughts with your Realtor will help him understand your goals and how to go about the sale of your house in the St. Louis real estate market

Want help getting your home priced to sell? Now is the time to get ready for the spring market.
Call now, Doug Aegerter 314-640-1778 or Art Wagner 314-503-0335,  for an appointment.

 part 1  
 
 part 2 

 part 3

Timing can be everything with real estate.  You need to know upfront how much time you have to sell your house.  Are you strapped for time and need to sell it fast?  If so, you’ll need to develop a strategy with your Realtor for a quick sale.  If you can leave the house on the market until you receive the perfect offer, then you will need an all-together different strategy for catching that perfect buyer.  Homes for sale in the St. Louis real estate market can sell in a day or a year. 

How much time are you prepared to spend in order to meet your goals and sell your home?

Want help getting your home ready to sell? Now is the time to get ready for the spring market.
Call now, Doug Aegerter 314-640-1778 or Art Wagner 314-503-0335,  for an appointment.

part 1
part 2

Use this report  to compare your homes current value to an annual 4% growth.

Do you want more specific detail about your home, make an appointment right now with Doug Aegerter 314-640-1778 or Art Wagner 314-503-0335.

What is my goal in selling this house? 

Selling your house in the St. Louis real estate market can be a stressful event if you are not fully prepared.  Starting the process with a clear goal in mind will help eliminate a lot of the unnecessary confusion.   You should ask yourself what you want to accomplish with the sale of your home.  Is your goal to have a great selling experience that will allow you to move forward with your life?  Or perhaps you are looking to sell so that you can purchase a larger home.  Writing your primary goal down and sharing it with your Realtor gives you a reminder of why you are going through with the sale in the first place, and will also help your Realtor better understand your needs.    

Part 1

The St. Louis Home for Sale Team provides a weekly St. Louis County and Bi-weekly St. Charles County Market and Jefferson County Market Watch Report to review and plug into your home buying or selling scenario.  Your questions and comments are welcome!

 The St. Louis Real Estate Market this week is showing signs of upward movement as the holidays are past us, the cold weather is gone, for now.  Active listings are up almost 200 from two weeks ago, as sellers are coming back on the market after the holidays.

Homebuyer activity is still strong, as many have their eye on the April 30 deadline to have an accepted contract, as that will allow them to qualify for the First Time Homebuyer tax credit or the move up buyer tax credit.  With an accepted contract by April 30th, they will then have until June 30th to close.

Also, finally, the IRS has just released the new form that first time homebuyers will have to fill out in order to apply for the tax credit.  The one challenge with this form is that when you attach it to your 2009 Federal Tax filing, you must file in paper form, ie…mail it in.  E-filing will not be allowed, as the IRS is not set up as yet to accept attachments to their E-File tax return documents.  Bummer!

Below is more GREAT NEWSbrought to us by one of our compadres, Jason Palliser at Prospect Mortgage.  This article appeared on Jason’s web site and on the real estate investor web site, REI Blackbook.

If you haven’t heard as of yet, HUD has removed the 90 day seasoning rule for FHA purchases of foreclosed homes, investor owned homes, etc…for one year, beginning February 1st, 2010.

 HUD TAKES ACTION TO SPEED RESALE OF FORECLOSED PROPERTIES TO NEW OWNERS
Measure to help bring stability to home values and accelerate sale of vacant properties

   WHO DO YOU KNOW NOW is facing challenges in our local St. Louis Real Estate Market?? We have unique solutions custom tailored for troubled homeowners, sellers and buyers.  Contact us for more information.