Getting Your House Ready For Winter: A Few Fixes You Must Consider If You Want To Sell This Season

The days are getting shorter and colder as fall slowly turns into winter. While the cold season brings with it a certain charm, trying to sell your home may be a bit more complex. If you’re not ready for winter, you might miss out on potential buyers. However, with a little advanced preparation, there are incredible chances that somebody will fall in love with it. Ready to prepare your house before the coldest months kick in? Here are a few suggestions to help!

1. Check Your Heating

HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) should be in working condition. Even if you are not occupying your home while you’re trying to sell it, keeping the home at a consistent temperature will prevent potential damage (such as pipes bursting) and also make buyers coming through your home for showings more comfortable.

Do you have a fireplace? Before the cold hits and you begin using it, make sure it’s cleaned and working properly. Get a chimney inspection if you have a wood-burning fireplace, and have the receipts available to display to potential buyers.

2. Take care of those pesky leaks

If there are any leaks or cracks in your roof, you should fix them as soon as possible. The last thing you need is water damage, ice dams, or a roof full of snow. It’s a sign of neglect and can be heavily detrimental to the price of your home. Plus, roof issues may show up on a home inspection and may cause complications for the new buyers obtaining insurance.

3. Same goes for your windows!

Take a look at your windows, even feeling around the frames to see if you notice any drafts of cooler air. If there are any cracks or broken panes, replace the glass. Potential buyers may see these issues as a sign of neglect and disregard, giving them no incentive to buy your home.

4. The Exterior – Clear the Way

The exterior of your home is just as important as the interior. A few things you should take a look at include:

  • Make sure to shovel your walkways and driveway, including any stairs or porch entrances that may need it. If there’s snow on the ground, this will be an easy fix. It doesn’t take much time and will make a good impression on anyone coming to take a look.
  • Trim any bushes or trees that may block your property from the street, making the house seem smaller than it actually is.
  • Remove any trash cans, buckets, shovels, rakes, deicers (salt/ice melting products)

5. Fix The Little Things

There are a few other things you should keep in mind before the winter hits. They may seem like small fixes, but they can make a big difference:

  • Fix any holes or cracks around lights and electrical outlets, including replacing any wall plates that are chipped, cracked, or missing.
  • Check that all light fixtures work and replace bulbs that are out.
  • Make sure all doors close smoothly and lock easily.
  • Check cabinets – are all knobs and handles in place? Do the doors open easily, close all of the way, and have proper alignment with the cabinet?

Attention to these details shows buyers that your home is cared for and maintained. Make a list after going through your home room-by-room and try looking at the spaces with fresh eyes. What would a potential buyer notice? If you don’t consider yourself a “handy” person, find a local repair person who can easily tackle these tasks.

Bonus tip!

Since a blanket of snow may be covering your yard and home, having a small photo album available for potential buyers is a great idea. They will be able to imagine what your home looks like with snow covering it and the added decoration of Christmas lights, but a photo album of summer, spring, or fall helps them see your property clearly in a different season.

Repairing small problems now before the worst of winter hits will give you more time to get other things done around the house, allowing you to make this season one that you can enjoy with fewer distractions. Good luck on the sale of your home!

If you have any questions for Ryan DeRoode , please get in touch with him at 651-503-4158.

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How to Make Sure Your Attic is Ready for a Home Inspection

A home inspection is a must whether you’re buying or selling a home. But if you’re on the selling end, you have an opportunity to make sure your home is in tip-top shape when the inspection occurs. This can put you in a great position to negotiate for the best price.

Different parts of your house may need different types of preparation before the inspector arrives. Here’s how to check over your attic and make sure that it’s ready for inspection.

1. Check the insulation

The insulation on the attic floor doesn’t just increase your home’s efficiency; it also helps reduce condensation and moisture problems in the attic, as well as helping to prevent roof leaks caused by ice dams. So make sure the attic insulation is up to scratch.

First, check to see if there are any places where the insulation is wet, moldy, compressed, or dimpled (these can be signs of moisture problems). Then check to see if it’s thick enough. If the insulation needs to be replaced, you can relatively easily lay new insulation before the home inspection.

2. Assess the roof deck for damage

If there’s any mold or condensation currently on the roof deck, that’s a sign of problems that may require remediation. Improved ventilation and insulation may help alleviate condensation. You’ll also need to check the roof deck closely for compounded damage (such as rotted wood), especially if condensation is present.

Rust on the roof fasteners where they poke through the roof deck is another sign of excess moisture. You should also inspect for any signs of termites, which tend to be attracted to water-damaged wood. Signs may include visible frass (termite droppings) or discarded termite wings on the attic floor.

3. Uncover any pests

In addition to termites, the presence of pests such as pigeons, squirrels, mice, and rats, or possums can also be a problem. If any pests are present in your attic, you’ll want to call an exterminator before you try to sell the house.

Signs of rodents or other pests can include a musty or mousy smell, droppings, tooth marks on wood or wire insulation, shredded attic floor insulation, or even visible nests.

These three steps will help you assess whether your attic is in great shape and ready to be inspected, or whether you need to call a contractor or two to take care of problems that may have cropped up.

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The Top 3 Mistakes Sellers Make When Setting the List Price for their Home

Selling a home has some business considerations, some emotion involved, and possibly some fear of making a mistake. Home sellers are prone to make three common mistakes when deciding on a price at which to list their homes.

1. Setting the price based on the sellers’ needs.

How much the seller may need in cash to buy their next home or to realize the value appreciation they expected from their home has nothing to do with market value or what buyers are willing to pay for a home.

Sellers should do their best to separate their emotions about the home, as well as their expectations, from the decision on a list price for the home. A home, like any other commodity, is only worth as much as a buyer is willing to pay for it. Sellers should work with a real estate professional to complete a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) to determine the approximate value of the home in the current market and for the neighborhood.

2. Expecting a list price similar to a neighbor’s home list price.

When a homeowner works with a real estate professional, the normal process for determining a list price for the home is to complete a CMA. They use the sold prices for homes that closed on the sale recently.

The list price of those sold homes is rarely the price at which they sold. The sold price is the most accurate way to see what a home can sell for in the current market. Because different real estate professionals select different comparable properties, and because they can use different adjustments to account for features that are different in the homes, list prices are not as useful as sold prices in the CMA process.

3. Using average prices per square foot to set list prices.

Though a part of the CMA process does involve the size of the home, it is used only after comparable sold prices are adjusted for feature differences.

Just comparing two homes based primarily or only on square footage implies that they are identical in other features. Though there are some areas where this could be true, in most areas there are several adjustments to comparable home sold prices to account for feature differences.

A carefully crafted CMA is the best way to determine the approximate market value of the home.

The main steps in the process are:

•   Recently sold comparable homes in the same neighborhood or nearby are selected for the calculation. This is arguably the most important step, as using old comps or those out of the area can cause a less accurate valuation of the home.

•   Though homes selected as comps should be as similar in features to the home to be valued, there will be differences in the number of bedrooms, baths, garage spaces, and more. The real estate professional must use a value for each of these features to adjust the actual sold price to be what it would have been if the homes were identical.

•   Once the adjustments are completed, then the sold prices per square foot for the comps are averaged and that number is applied to the subject home to get the approximate suggested list price.

For the homeowner considering selling, knowing the basics of the CMA process can help in asking the right questions to determine how the real estate professional selected comps and handled the sold price adjustments. The goal is to arrive at a realistic list price to sell the home in the current market. 

Questions on setting your selling price? Give me a call. I have extensive experience in helping sellers across the Minneapolis/Twin Cities area, and also including Lakeville, Apple Valley, Eagan, and Burnsville.

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Top 5 Ways to Influence Buyers When You Want to Sell Your Home

3 Myths of Buying a Home

You most likely fell in love with your home the second you saw it. Now it’s time to sell and move on to new adventures, and you want new buyers to experience the full force of the impact you felt when you laid eyes on it. These tips will help you achieve your aim.

Capture attention with curb appeal

Potential buyers form an idea about how much they like your house when they pull up in front of it. Before they step out of their car, they view the outside of the property and get a “hunch” about whether it could be right for them.

First impressions are important, so make sure the yard and front porch or steps aren’t full of clutter, and the area is inviting.

Before a showing: Trim hedges and potted plants, put gardening tools out of sight, and turn on lighting (depending on the time of day). Buyers might not always view the property in daylight, and you want it to look welcoming rather than dark and dismal.

Brighten up and clean the interior

Take a look around each level of your home to ensure it is fresh and gleaming. Buyers like spotless properties reflecting that it has been impeccably maintained, even if they wouldn’t keep it as flawless themselves. No doubt, your home is clean, but it’s best to convey pristine organization and cleanliness to make a good impression.

The best way to highlight freshness is by polishing, clearing clutter, and dispersing a pleasant crisp scent. Don’t go overboard, as potential buyers will be suspicious that the scent is an attempt to cover up bad odors. Vanilla, bergamot, cinnamon, or lavender essential oils are good choices, when used sparingly since many people enjoy them.

Before a showing: Do a quick polish to shine up surfaces, including sinks, the kitchen drainer, and the stovetop. If you have stainless steel appliances, be sure to remove streaks and fingerprints. And don’t forget to “sniff test” the air in the house.

Update fixtures and essential goods

As you’re preparing to list, you may wish to consider staging your home, and you will want to change old fixtures and essential elements that need upgrading. Items such as new doorknobs and handles, light switches, and lighting will make a fresh, yet subtle impression. This will make it much easier to swiftly prepare your home when you get “the call” or “the text” for a showing.

Before a showing: Look around your home with fresh eyes. Imagine you’re a potential buyer. Do you notice worn, tarnished accessories that spoil the ambiance? Put them out of sight, or, if they are inexpensive to replace, do so (maybe even while your potential buyers are touring your home!).

Create a sense of space

If you’ve cleared the clutter from rooms and cleaned the windows, your job is almost done. You can add the illusion of extra space, however, with long-legged furniture to accentuate height. Colorful prints and paintings on walls will draw the buyer’s gaze upward. You can also use mirrors to reflect large spaces and brighten dim hallways.

Before a showing: Make sure spaces are clear and views are unobstructed. Open blinds or draperies to bring in light and showcase the room’s full space.

Be organized

Consider how impressed you’d be if you test drove a car you considered purchasing, and the current owner was super-organized – items were neatly stored in the glove compartment, manuals in their proper place, receipts for additional repairs or new tires are neatly filed – you get the idea! You would consider this a sign they cared for the vehicle and properly maintained it.

The same is true when people come to see your home. If you’re able to provide receipts for routine maintenance or major new purchases (i.e. a new well or septic system), you’re providing evidence to show the property’s well-maintained, and everything is in working order.

Since showings can happen on short notice (especially in today’s market!) having an organized checklist or plan for what you need to do before a showing, will help you maximize your preparation time, and ultimately the impact your home leaves on potential buyers. Don’t forget to have a plan in place about how to manage children and pets when a showing occurs, so you know what to do.

Before a showing: Have a folder available to showcase any major purchases, for example, new windows or roof repairs that were completed on the home.

I wish you the best of luck as you’re in the home selling process, and hope you find the just-right buyer to see all of the potential in your home that you did initially!

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These 5 Things Can Kill Your Home Sale

5 Things Kill Sale of Home

You’ve read all the articles about getting your home ready to sell, and you have followed the advice and suggestions they offer. Your yard and entryway are attractive, the house has great curb appeal, you have painted where needed, and removed clutter and excess from every room. Your home looks great, and you have found a top-notch real estate broker. But is something lurking that can prevent your home from selling?

Mandatory Disclosure Laws

Although each state has disclosure laws that mandate homeowners to disclose any problems that exist with the property being sold, many sellers are not aware of some defects that exist in their homes. The issues could have existed long before the current owners purchased the property, or they may be the inadvertent result of home alterations. When problems are eventually recognized by the new buyers, lawsuits are the usual result. Regulations affecting disclosure can differ in each state. Did you know that, in spite of all your hard work, one or more of the following conditions can kill a home sale?

Sale Killers

Paying a few hundred dollars for a home inspection can catch some problems and save money down the road, but even the best inspectors are restricted in what they can see. Quite often a home inspector is not able to check under the home. If you suspect your home has one or more of the following problems, it would be worth it to pay for a thorough and more expensive inspection.

•   Lead Paint – 1978 was the year that lead paint became banned for residential use. If your home was built prior to that year, it is very likely some older layers of paint contain lead. As the lead paint deteriorates it creates lead-contaminated dust in the home. Federal law requires the seller of any home built before 1978 to comply with notifications and disclosure obligations regarding lead paint. 

•   Asbestos – For many years asbestos was a major component in a variety of home construction products. Asbestos was used in siding, insulation in ducts and attics, vinyl floors, and a variety of glues. Asbestos is a scary substance and very costly to have removed. If the item that contains the asbestos is in excellent condition and will remain undisturbed, the seller is not obligated to remove it. If buyers suspect asbestos is present, they may walk away from the sale. 

•   Mold – One of the scariest environmental problems a home can have is black mold. Homebuyers are repulsed by any signs of mold. Dampness in walls, ceilings, and floors indicates mold of some kind is present and growing. Some mold causes allergic reactions, and some types are very toxic. You can have a mold inspection performed and receive a documented form showing the home is free of the toxin. This is a big plus if you live in an area where mold is prevalent. 

•   Radon Gas – Minnesota State Law requires sellers disclose radon information to buyers. Simply put, it makes financial sense for a seller to have radon testing performed before listing the home for sale, or at least prepare for the buyer to perform a test at the time of inspection.

•   Cracks In Foundation – When a house settles, it can cause cracks in the foundation. Signs of settling include doors that won’t close properly, visible small cracks in walls or floor tiles, and windows that stick. You will need to consult with a structural engineer to determine if a foundation crack is responsible. The repair may be expensive if the problem has been neglected for a long time, and the home may be difficult to sell, until the repair is made.

When you get your home ready to put on the market, remember these five problems that could kill a sale in minutes. Have your home checked, and take care of any issues before you list your home. It’s better to invest some money on repairs than to lose a sale. 

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Summer Home Maintenance Tasks: Jobs to Do If Your House Is For Sale

Summer Home MaintenanceSummer is the perfect time of year to get a head start on home maintenance tasks you always put off, such as painting trim and doing yard work. If your house is for sale this summer, there are some additional things that should be done in order to make it attractive and appealing to potential buyers. Add these 5 tasks to your summer checklist to help buyers see your home as the beautiful home they picture themselves living in.

1. Washing windows

Nothing can ruin a potential buyer’s impression of your home more than when they look out to see your lovely yard, pond, or lake view, than windows which are dirty or water spattered. Clean windows are an immediate way to show your potential buyers that your home is well cared for, and that the views outside are to be enjoyed. If your time has already filled up with summer activities and you have no time to do it yourself, consider hiring this job out. The average cost of window cleaning for a 1500 square foot house is approximately $150-300 (Home Advisor)

2. Clean Window Screens

As long as you’re paying special attention to your windows, don’t forget about your screens. Screens can be easily cleaned with a gentle spray of water and then left to dry in sunlight. If you have any holes or tears in the screen, replace the screen. This repair usually costs $50 or less, and you’ll be glad you did when you don’t have mosquitoes buzzing you at 2am!

3. Cleaning gutters

If your home is for sale this summer, it’s a perfect time to make sure the rain gutter and downspout are clear of leaves or other debris. Cleaning out gutters will not only prevent unnecessary water damage to exterior wood siding when heavy rains come- it also shows that you care about how the house looks from outside, before a potential buyer comes to visit. Left cluttered, clogged gutters can contribute to leaky roofs, or damage that can be very expensive to fix. Even more unsettling is that outside critters looking for warm bedding may make a home in these areas, and eventually may make their way into your home.

Considering doing it yourself? Check out this video from Lowes: https://www.homeadvisor.com/cost/cleaning-services/clean-windows/

Want to hire it out? Prices do vary, depending on square footage of your home, but is up to approximately $1.50 per linear foot (Home Advisor: https://homeguide.com/costs/gutter-cleaning-cost)

4. Power washing exterior walkways and driveway

Power washing walkways is a quick and economical way to give a fresh, clean look to your sidewalks and driveway. Your house will look fresh and inviting, ready for that first open house of the summer. Even if you don’t have a pressure washer, it’s quick and easy to rent one.

Here’s how to do it: https://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/outdoors/hardscape/power-washing-a-walk

5. Ensure flowers look healthy, and greenery looks neat and trimmed

Be sure that the plants are healthy and cared for throughout the hot months by regularly watering them, either through hand watering or use of irrigation systems. Remove any diseased leaves from shrubs, trees, or hedges as they will provide hiding spots for invasive pests, which can spread disease quickly among nearby vegetation. For hedges or shrubs, make sure they are not unruly, as this will give an impression that your home is not cared for.

No flowers? Consider adding a couple of summer-hearty potted or hanging plants to your steps or outdoor entrances. The pop of color will add visual interest and an extra bit of life to your outdoor space. Consider geraniums, fuchsias, impatiens, or begonias.

Enjoy your summer, and your sale!

Summer is a great time to tackle some home maintenance tasks, and even more-so if your home is listed and getting showings or open houses. I hope these tips not only make a powerful impact on your potential buyers, but help you enjoy the time while you’re living in your home!

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