Attract Buyers With A Master Bedroom Suite.

Attract Buyers With A Master Bedroom Suite

Kitchens and bedrooms are both very important rooms in a home. It’s in these two rooms where our basic needs are satisfied but they are also areas of a home that attract buyers for more than just what’s done in these rooms: eating and sleeping.

The master bedroom suite and the kitchen can be used for multiple purposes.

If your home has a master bedroom suite, a room large enough to allow space for more than just a bed and a couple of dressers, then it can be decorated to highlight other activities like a reading nook or a meditation setting.

In the kitchen, as I’ve written about in previous columns, it’s not just how functional it is for cooking meals that appeal to buyers. Instead, they also want to see that the kitchen can be a comfy gathering place where the cook can have guests huddle around over a glass of wine while the meal is being fixed.

The common denominator, as you might well be able to see, is that homes must have gathering spaces where family and friends can come together, like in the kitchen-great room extension–a wide open area (formerly a living room but now opening into the kitchen) that unites the rooms and the company in them.

But conversely, homes also need privacy. Spaces that are like sanctuaries and escapes for the people living in them. A place for individuals to take a break, even from the other members living in the home. Thus the master bedroom suite is so much more than just a “bedroom”.

It can be a place of refuge. A place to unwind and re-energize for another busy day. In a master bedroom suite, you have the ideal opportunity to create an atmosphere that allows you to see the bedroom as more than just a sleeping area.

Master bedroom suites can be very appealing to buyers if they’re nicely decorated. However, sometimes sellers will use the extra space in a master bedroom to store things they love but that aren’t appropriate in the minds of most buyers.

What do I mean? I did a walk-thru with a designer who was pointing out the pros and cons of home that the seller was getting ready to put on the market. There was a big beautiful master bedroom suite. Your eye was drawn to the bright (pink, red, white) colors. Architecturally, the master bathroom flowed seamlessly into the master bedroom suite but then your vision stopped abruptly at the large, protruding drum set. Yes, drum set, in the corner of the master bedroom that overlooked a beautiful valley. Unfortunately, you couldn’t really see the valley and its lush trees because of the drum set that blocked the window.

So, you get my point. This was a good example of what not to put in your master bedroom. Yes, the rare drum enthusiast may argue this issue but most would not think that a drum set belongs in the master bedroom suite.

When you’re staging your home for sale, you’re staging it for the masses, not the rare exceptions.

Here are a few quick pointers. Go with colors you like but try to keep it to no more than three or four. Any more than that and the room can look a bit kaleidoscopic. Keep the colors all flowing and harmonizing unless you have a very compartmentalized master bedroom suite. Then you can separate the areas using different colors like entering a different room but if the areas can be seen from any one standing point, make sure they blend.

Use lighting and mirrors to evoke emotion, depth, dispersion of light, and interesting views. This also creates a greater brightness and cheery look. Decorative lighting is also good in large rooms.

Remember the key to good decor that appeals to buyers is to keep the room comfy, simple, and not overly crowded. And, even though you’re selling the home, you might just find that style of decor is also attractive to you. It’s just that the day-to-day living often imposed piles, boxes, and added “stuff” that accumulates and sometimes doesn’t find the appropriate “home” until it’s time to move.

Making your master bedroom suite seductive will surely create a compelling reason for a buyer to consider making an offer.

Source: realtytimes.com

Home Prices to Rise 4% Per Year?

Home Prices to Rise 4% Per Year?

Average U.S. home prices — down by a third since 2006 and still falling — will rise almost 4% a year for the next five years, according to a new forecast.

Market watcher Fiserv sees prices stabilizing by summer’s end and then climbing, quickly in some places until gains taper off. The forecast is based on an analysis of leading home price indexes.

Investors will drive much of the momentum for home prices, as they are now in cities such as Las Vegas and Phoenix.

• STORY: Mortgage delinquencies decline

First-time and trade-up buyers will eventually follow.

By the time home prices stop falling, they’ll be almost 35% below their 2006 peak, Fiserv says.

Separately, market researcher CoreLogic said Tuesday that U.S. home prices rose 0.6% in March from February, the first month-over-month increase since July.

Good affordability and declining inventories are key factors.

Conventional mortgage payments now account for just 12% of median family incomes vs. a historical norm of 20%, says Fiserv economist David Stiff.

The Fiserv forecast, done with Moody’s Analytics, assumes steady economic growth with no major shocks. Markets hardest hit by foreclosures will show the biggest five-year increases in home appreciation, it adds.

Six of the 10 markets where annualized prices are expected to rise most over the next five years had price drops of more than 50% from their peaks.

Las Vegas, for instance, is 61% off its 2006 peak.

Meanwhile, Realtor.com says Florida has more cities than any other state that show the strongest signs of a housing recovery.

Each quarter, the real estate website assesses housing data, including changes in list prices, inventories of homes for sale and local economies.

Phoenix, Miami and Orlando are the top turnaround cities in its study, based on those markets’ improvements in the first quarter compared with a year earlier.

Home prices are up more than 20% in Phoenix and Miami, says Realtor.com. Inventories are down more than 40%.

Naples, Fla., and Boise are also climbing in the rankings.

New to the list of top 25 markets are Oakland and San Jose, which are benefiting from growth in the tech industry.

The continued performance of local markets will depend a lot on the economy as well as on how quickly lenders dispose of distressed homes, says Realtor.com CEO Steve Berkowitz.

The Benefits of Home Ownership!

The Benefits of Home Ownership!

We all know the social benefits of home ownership. Home ownership gives family stability, creates lower high school dropout rates, and of course gives the opportunity to create meaningful and lasting relationships.

In addition to these great pluses, home ownership can be your largest financial asset.

First, you’ll have access to homeowner tax breaks, which include the mortgage interest deduction (MID), property tax deduction, and credits for green-friendly updates to your home.

What all of these deductions mean is you can save money on your taxes each year. That’s money back in your pocket. Additionally, the eco updates you do will save you money in the long run on operating costs of the house. Some of these great updates can include energy efficient windows and doors, and solar panels.

You may have heard that home ownership is a good investment. You may also be wondering if that is still true when home values are declining. The truth is that real estate has always been a good “long-term” investment.

The fact that many people were making bank by buying and selling real estate in the mid-2000’s was more of a fluke than the norm. Twenty to fifty percent appreciation rates are not the norm. In general, during healthy economic times, appreciation averages four to six percent. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports that from 1972 to 2005 appreciation averaged 6.5 percent.

Today’s home prices are still declining, but financial experts predict this will abate in the next year or so and yearly appreciation rates will return.

As you begin to see appreciation, you’ll start to earn equity. This is one of the biggest advantages home ownership has over renting. Renting means paying money to the landlord. Once that rent check is written that money is gone. As you pay your monthly mortgage payment you’re building equity. You will one day soon owe less than the home is worth. The difference in between is equity.

Home ownership also gives you a certain financial freedom and stability. You can take out a home equity loan for improvements or if you need some cash. You can sell your home down the road and use those profits towards retirement, a dream home, or even a dream vacation.

Home ownership is a great way to introduce long term stability to your life, even in uncertain economic times. Today’s historically low interest rates and low prices mean now is a great time to make an investment in your future.

Source: Carla Hill

What Foreclosure Wave? False Alarm?

What Foreclosure Wave? False Alarm?

Many housing experts for months have been warning a foreclosure wave would soon flood several markets throughout the country. But was it all a false alarm?

Recent surveys have shown that foreclosure sales have dropped to their lowest point in more than two years. And while according to March data, 8 percent more homes did enter the foreclosure process from the previous month, that number is down more than 30 percent from a year ago, according to Lender Processing Services.

CNBC real estate reporter Diana Olick notes that it could be another delay in the foreclosure system “as banks try to modify more loans to meet some of the terms of the [$25 billion] servicing settlement. The foreclosure sales decline also appears to be exclusively in private and portfolio loans, which again points to the settlement.”

Meanwhile, banks are increasing their number of short-sale transactions, and some surveys have shown that short sales are actually now outpacing foreclosure sales — the first time that’s ever occurred.

“Lenders are increasingly recognizing that short sales may be a better alternative for them than foreclosure,” RealtyTrac’s Daren Blomquist told CNBC. “This trend began in markets with stronger demand and where the distressed inventory tends to be newer homes (Phoenix, Los Angeles, Las Vegas), but the trend appears to be spreading to other markets like Atlanta and Detroit.”

Source: “Flood of Foreclosures Still Fails to Materialize,” CNBC (May 2, 2012)

30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rate Continues to Slide.

30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rate Continues to Slide

Mortgage rates for 30-year fixed mortgages fell this week, with the current rate borrowers were quoted on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace at 3.69 percent, down from 3.72 percent at this same time last week.

After rising to 3.77 percent on Wednesday, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate hovered between 3.7 and 3.74 percent for the remainder of the week, falling to the current rate early this morning.

“Mortgage rates ended the month near all-time lows which is good news for those looking to refinance or purchase a home,” said Erin Lantz, director of Zillow Mortgage Marketplace.  “This coming week, we expect rates to remain fairly steady unless Friday’s Employment Situation Report falls outside of expectations.”

Additionally, the 15-year fixed mortgage rate this morning was 2.97 percent and for 5/1 ARMs, the rate was 2.62 percent.