How to Prepare for an Appraisal and Showcase Your Home at Its Best

On September 4, 2017   /   Selling a Home  
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getting ready for appraisal

By: Tara Mastroeni

Determining a price for your home can be stressful, especially if you don’t know how to prepare for an appraisal. If the home’s appraised value is too far from the listing price, it can make or break the deal. Plus, even though appraisers are subject to strict regulations, much of their job is subjective, which means it’s crucial for your home to make a good impression on them.

Luckily, there’s a lot you can do to help present your home at its best.

Develop a critical eye

The first step toward getting ready for an appraisal can be the hardest for sellers. You need to go through the home with a critical eye and make yourself aware of any areas in need of maintenance. Doing so allows you to think like an appraiser and identify any factors that might negatively affect your home’s value.

“Go through the house very carefully to make sure everything works correctly,” says Daniel Gyomory of Century 21 Town & Country in Northville, MI. “Make sure all lights are working and all doors open and close properly, and make sure there are no leaks anywhere. You need to show that the property has been well-maintained.”

While you’re at it, you should check for things like leaky sinks, running toilets, and nail pops. As you go around the home, put everything down on one list so that you can easily refer to it later.

Catch up on your home maintenance

You guessed it: One of the most critical to-do’s is to complete any outstanding home maintenance tasks.

Go ahead and do small projects like fixing squeaky doors and cleaning out the gutters on your own. However, for bigger jobs like plumbing and electrical work, your best bet is to hire a certified professional. While it might cost a bit more upfront, hiring a professional to do the work frees you of any liability and allows you to show an invoice as proof, if need be.

And remember, these should be smaller home maintenance tasks, not big renovations. While giving a room a fresh coat of paint or adding some curb appeal is probably fine, it’s not the best idea to finish your basement right before an appraisal. Unfortunately, there aren’t any guarantees on how much value projects like these will add to your home, so sometimes they aren’t worth the money you’d put in.

Put together a list of upgrades

“I work with the seller to prepare a highlight sheet, just a simple one-page document outlining all the upgrades that have been done to the home,” says Ryan Hardy, a real estate agent with Gold Coast Realty Chicago.

Highlight sheets end up being very valuable tools, because they allow the appraiser to see all the added value in your home with just one glance. Your best bet is to sit down—either with your agent or independently—and draw up a list of all the improvements that have been made to your home within the past decade. Be sure to include approximate dates, permits, and warranties for these projects, as well.

The highlight sheet shouldn’t just include aesthetic improvements like upgraded kitchens and bathrooms. Functional and structural improvements like a new roof or HVAC system should also make the list.

Note: It’s in your best interest to overlook any improvements done without proper permitting. Since appraisers often work closely with municipal officials to verify recorded information, mentioning these upgrades might bring them to light and could cause more trouble than they’re worth.

Clean like there’s no tomorrow

“Have the house clean and clutter-free,” says Kevin Lawnton, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Schiavone & Associates in Bordentown, NJ.

It might sound like a no-brainer, but cleaning for an appraisal is so important that it bears repeating. This is the one and only chance the appraiser will get to view your home. Since his opinion of the home can actually make or break the sale, it’s crucial to ensure it’s a good one.

Your best bet is to tackle the task in two parts: a deep clean of the home a few days before the appraisal and then a final sprucing up on the big day. When it arrives, you’ll want to make sure that everything is in its place. Make the bed, pick up any errant toys from kids and pets, and do the dishes. While these factors technically aren’t included in the appraisal, they might subconsciously influence the appraiser’s opinion of your home, which can affect its determined value.

Ask your agent to get involved

The appraised value of your home is largely determined by how it compares with similar properties that have sold in your area within the past six months. Most agents will try to assist appraisers with that research by providing them with comparables that justify the sale price.

“Usually it’s up to the seller’s agent to pull together a comp report showcasing how great the property in question is compared to the current market,” says Gina Ko of Triplemint Real Estate in New York City.

Unfortunately, just like everything else in the appraisal process, comps are subject to guidelines, as well as your appraiser’s individual opinion. Some are able to factor in transactions in progress, while others need to stick with settled properties. Each will need to search for comps with a specific radius.

That said, your real estate agent will likely be familiar with how the appraisal process is regulated in your area. Ask your agent to put a list of comps together to give to your appraiser. Whether or not the appraiser chooses to take them into account, they will come in handy if you need to ask for an appeal after the appraisal.

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Labor Day Weekend Concert – The AMP

On August 28, 2017   /   Lake Martin Things To Do  
Tags: , , , , ,
labor day weekend the amp

LABOR DAY WEEKEND CONCERT

Sunday, September 3
6PM – 11PM

The AMP on Lake Martin – See Details Here

The grassy lawn at The AMP on Lake Martin is a great place to wind down summer! This year we are bringing several hit making artists and bands down from Nashville to end it in style! James Otto  – with hits, Just Started Lovin You, Somewhere Tonight, In Color and tons more – is headlining this end of summer concert, plus you’ll hear great music from Ashton Shepherd, Rexton Lee and The Bank Walkers! Don’t miss this great event, one night only, at The AMP on Lake Martin! Tickets are on line at The AMP or at Nails Convenience Store, The Company Store at Russell Crossroads, and the Russell Lands Corporate office. For more info call 256-397-1019.

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Closing On a House: What Sellers Should Expect

On August 21, 2017   /   Closing  
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closing

By: Angela Colley

The good news: You’re almost home free (or free of your home in this case). You’ve accepted the buyer’s offer, the negotiations are finally winding down, and there is only one more little box to check: closing.

OK, so maybe it isn’t a little thing. And maybe you’re a little worried something is still going to go wrong. That’s why we’re here to help get you through closing without a hitch—or barely a hitch (hey, stuff happens).

Get the repairs done

First things first: You’ve got to get those repairs done. We get it—the last thing you want to do now is work on a house you are about to sell. But if you agreed to make repairs or improvements, don’t put them off until the last minute.

“Some sellers do try to get cute and wait until the day of closing, but they really should do all the repairs at least a week before closing,” says Joshua Jarvis, founder of Jarvis Team Realty in Duluth, GA. Getting things done ahead of time will give you plenty of wiggle room if something should still go wrong, or if the buyer finds a problem during the final walkthrough (more on that to come).

So check the approved offer, make a note of any repairs you and the buyer agreed on, and get to it—and don’t forget to cover yourself. Save receipts from items purchased and invoices from contractors, and take before and after photos of any work completed. You will have proof that repairs were completed on the off chance that the buyers contest them during the walkthrough or at closing.

The final walkthrough

Before your closing date—often 24 hours before—the buyers and the buyers’ agent will do one more walkthrough of the house (for which you should not be present). They will go through every room of the house, inside and outside—a process that typically takes about a half hour. Some buyers will go into detail, testing every light switch. But in most cases, the buyer is just looking to make sure agreed-upon repairs were made and no new issues have crept up before closing.

“Buyers are basically looking for anything unexpected in the home,” Jarvis says. “Say, for example, there was a rug covering a problem area.” (Not that you would do that, you awesome seller, you.) If the buyers do find an issue, you may have a chance to fix the problem ahead of time.

“In most cases, the seller would be notified immediately after the walkthrough,” Jarvis says.

If the problem is big enough, you may have to delay your closing date to give time for the repair. But that only happens occasionally. Often, the buyers will take a trade.

“Many times, the buyers ask for money instead,” Jarvis says. But once the documents are ready to go, the terms usually can’t be altered to include the new amount, and that is where the trade comes in. “You typically see gift cards or appliance trades [added to the deal],” Jarvis says.

The closing

Many closings go smoothly. By this point, the buyers are excited to get into their new house, agreed-on repairs have been made, and the sellers are ready to get out. If things are going smoothly, the closing for you might boil down to a blur of paperwork. “The sellers sign eight documents and will have to sit through an hour and a half of watching the buyer sign,” Jarvis says.

Unless problems creep up—or the buyer wants to negotiate further—you only have two jobs: waiting and reading documents. Some are worth perusing more than others. For example, make sure you pay close attention to the settlement statement. “There are other documents you’ll need to sign like a warranty deed or ‘Don’t sue the attorney’ documents, but the settlement is the most important,” Jarvis says. It includes the money you’re making on the sale, plus tax implications. Make sure to check that these numbers jibe with what you’ve been told and were expecting—and if not, pull your real estate agent or attorney aside and point them out.

Last-minute drama

So what if things aren’t going smoothly? What if the buyers want to negotiate again? The buyer has the right to hash out concerns up until the time they sign the final document and take possession of your house. It makes sense to at least hear them out. After all, you’ve come this far.

If the buyer is negotiating for something you can solve without amending the terms (say, for example, you can offer up the washer and dryer in the house), you’ll probably be able to hammer those details out at closing.

But if you and the buyer have negotiated a lower price at the last minute, you may have to delay closing.

“Big changes just mess the whole thing up,” Jarvis says. “For example, a seller could say, ‘I’ll drop the price by $2,000.’  There’s an amendment that needs to be done and the loan would have to be rerun,” Jarvis says. That could take anywhere from one day to a week, depending on the bank’s turnaround times.

Once the negotiations are handled and the papers are signed, the buyers’ funds are transferred to your attorney, who will handle the payments to cover your loan and pay your real estate team. Thankfully, this part is handled by someone else.

And then comes the best part: You’ll get a check for the remainder, usually the same day in most states.

Now, all that’s left is the fun part: Officially moving out and moving on!

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Custom Built Home Lots of Upgrades and Updates

On August 14, 2017   /   Lake Martin Real Estate  
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46 forrest way lake martin al

46 Forrest Way Lake Martin AL
4 Bedroom 2.5 Bath

CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS

Custom built home with heart pine flooring, Wood in ceiling of kitchen and in vaulted ceiling in great room, Lots of French doors lakeside leading to huge screened porch. Large fireplace to enjoy winters at the lake. Flat yard lakeside with mature landscaping leading to large dock with boat lift. Lots of upgrades and updates.

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450 Dead Timbers Road Lake Martin AL

On August 7, 2017   /   Lake Martin Real Estate  
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450 dead timbers lake martin al

450 DEAD TIMBERS ROAD LAKE MARTIN AL
3 BEDROOM 2 BATH

VIEW DETAILS HERE

Three bedroom lake house with two dens. Open floor plan makes it seem much bigger than 1800+/- sq ft. Large covered porch lakeside. Covered dock with boat lift and storage room. Adjacent Alabama Power Company Property replanted with long leaf pines so probably never built on. Flat yard with plenty of room to park boat trailers etc.

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