Sunrise Homes & Renovations, Inc.

Home Values Are Impacted By School Zones: Is The Move Worth It?

by

Home Values Are Impacted By School Zones: Is The Move Worth It?If you are looking for a home, then you probably have a budget in mind. You also need to know about the most common factors that influence the price of a home. One factor that always seems to play a role in the price of a home is the quality of the school system. This makes sense. After all, a lot of people who are looking for a home have children (or are planning on having children) and want to make sure they have access to a quality education. At the same time, is it truly worth the price increase to have access to a better school district?

The Quality Of The School District And The Price Of The Home

Numerous surveys have consistently shown that the majority of homeowners are willing to go over their budget price for the perfect and home and the location certainly plays a role. In this manner, the quality of the school system absolutely factors into the right location.

When people think about going over budget, they often think about a higher monthly mortgage payment; however, other costs are going to increase as well. For example, you might need to pay a higher down payment, pay more in home insurance to protect the home, and pay more in property taxes. Therefore, is this truly worth it?

This Is A Subjective Decision

In the end, the answer to this question is always going to be subjective. Therefore, you need to decide what matters most to you and your family and compare this to the premium that is put on the home. For example, the school rankings and test scores are certainly important factors. At the same time, they only tell one small part of the story.

For example, you also want to see how much money the school district spends on each of its students. The more money they spend, the more they care about their students. You also want to think about the diversity of the school district as well, as this is closely correlated to the overall quality of the education each student receives. Compare these factors to your budget to see if it is worth the price of living in that school district.

What’s Your Home’s Real Value?

by

What's Your Home's Real Value?As a society, it seems like we’ve gotten away from appreciating our homes for their emotional and sentimental worth. Instead, we focus solely on their monetary value. 

An Appraiser Can Estimate A Home’s Monetary Value, But To Gain A True Concept Of Your Home’s Worth, You Must Also Take Into Consideration:

  1. Pride Of Ownership. You don’t buy a pair of Prada shoes because you’re going to be able to resell them and make a profit. You buy them because they make you look good and feel good.
  2. Security And Stability.Your home provides a roof over your head that’s in your control. You can decorate it how you want. You don’t have to worry about a landlord selling the property or asking you to move out. In the “olden days” (or should I say “golden days”), we called our homes our castles because, as owners, we felt like the kings and queens of our homes. You can still feel that way! Claim your castle and crown yourself king or queen today.
  3. A Safe Haven.After a tough day at work or a day of disappointments, where’s the first place you think of going?  Home! As Dorothy says, “There’s no place like home.”
  4. A Place To Make Memories.  Your son’s tree house and daughter’s playhouse. The markings on the wall that tracked your children’s growth. The porch swing where you start and end every anniversary celebration.    
  5. A Neighborhood Full Of Friends. In the event of an emergency, your neighbors are your first line of defense. They’re also the simplest, best and least expensive form of security. Additionally, they may have the exact tool you need for a project; the extra pair of hands you need to complete a project or children to become playmates with yours. Neighbors also give you that much needed in-person, up-close social network.

Even if your home’s economic value has dropped, you continue to benefit from its emotional values of community, stability, security and success.

Thinking of buying a home? I can help you evaluate the emotional and monetary worth of homes and find a home that fits your values and lifestyle. Give your trusted real estate professional a call today.

Tips For Deciding The Value Of A Home

by

Tips For Deciding The Value Of A HomeHomes are more than just a building. They are filled with memories of children taking their first steps, holidays that were celebrated with family members and friends, and Super Bowl parties filled with smiles and cheers.

These memories are priceless; however, people cannot let emotions cloud their judgment when they are trying to sell a house. Instead, it is important to focus on the building. There are a few tips that everyone should follow as they try to figure out how much their home is worth.

Be Reasonable

The first tip is not to price a home too high out of the gate. While it is tempting to start high and reduce when necessary, the reality is that a price that is too high is going to scare off potential offers. It is better to start with a reasonable price that will get people interested. Then, if the offers start to pour in, there is a bidding war. The price will naturally take care of itself.

Upgrades Don’t Always Lead To A Higher Price

It is tempting to follow in the footsteps of TV shows and pour money into renovations that might lead to a large return on investment. The sad fact is that this is not always the case. Even though the homeowners might love the renovation, this doesn’t mean that a potential buyer will. Do not renovate purely to raise the value of a home. Upgrades can go out of style just as quickly as they came in.

Don’t Price Out Of Necessity

Never price a home based on a dollar amount that has to be reached. It is always better to price a home relative to what the market indicates. Nobody is going to make an offer on an overpriced home purely because that is how much money the seller needs to make.

Leave Emotions At The Door

Finally, do not price a home based on emotions. Yes, a home is a special place; however, remember that the home is on the market, not the memories. Instead, always price a home based on what the comparables are showing. This will lead to a smoother selling process, a higher price, and a bigger return on the initial investment.

The Importance of Pricing Right when Selling a Home

by

The Importance of Pricing Right when Selling a Home

One of the first decisions you will need to make when selling your home is what price you want to sell it for. This is also one of the most important decisions you will make. Here are some reasons why the first listing price affects the entire outcome of their home sale.

A Too-High Price Can Exclude Your House

Some home sellers mistakenly think they should grossly overprice their home in order to leave plenty of room for bargaining during the negotiation stage. While a certain amount of bargaining does often occur, falsely inflating the value of your home inadvertently excludes your property from online search results.

It is estimated that 80% of homebuyers search online for houses to buy. Those buyers enter price search parameters that they feel they can comfortably afford. If you overprice your house, your listing won’t even show up in the search results of people who likely would be able and willing to pay you the actual value for your home.

Essentially, you are removing your house from their radar screen, making it invisible to an entire group of qualified buyers.

Properties With Price Reductions Appear Distressed

Another reason it is important to price your home correctly is because if you overprice your home and then have to drop the price due to a lack of interest, your house now appears to be a distressed property.  When you see items heaped together in a bin with “price reduced” on the side, don’t you assume they are damaged goods.

It is the same with a house listing that’s labeled “price reduced.” It does not matter if your house is a mansion. With a price drop, buyers will automatically assume something is wrong with it.

The Appraisal May Ruin Your Deal

Even if you succeed in luring someone who’s willing to overpay for your house, you still need to go through the appraisal process so your buyers can secure financing. When the appraisal comes back with a much lower figure, the buyers will have difficulty obtaining a loan because lenders won’t pay over-market prices. Your whole deal could fall apart at the last minute due to a failure to price right when selling your home.

Real estate agents make pricing suggestions based on hard data, like recent comps in the neighborhood. Your best bet is to rely on your real estate agent for advice about pricing your home right to sell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Advantages Of Using REALTORS Vs. For Sale By Owner

by

The Advantages Of Using REALTORS Vs. For Sale By OwnerFor Sale By Owner (FSBO) at first glance seems like it might be a good idea. After all, in an FSBO transaction, there is the saving of the commission that a real estate agent earns. Does that mean there is more for the homeowner from the FSBO sale? Not always.

One explanation for this is that FSBO homes may get less attention in the marketplace and therefore may receive fewer purchase offers.

Consider The Value Of Time

A professional worker who earns $150 per hour does not save money by doing the janitorial work accomplished by paying someone else $15 per hour. In the same way, there is a cost of trying to sell your home on your own that isn’t necessarily money out of your pocket.  Selling a home in every case takes a significant amount of time and attention to manage the process efficiently.

A REALTOR® spends time, energy, and money promoting the properties listed for sale. The real estate agent may help stage the home to get a better sales price and conducts the open house events. They also coordinate showings with other agents and prospective buyers to facilitate the sale of the home. This coordination can sometimes take months of time investment.

Consider The Value Of Professional Representation

It is easy for an amateur to make costly mistakes in a real estate transaction. A real estate agent working in a professional manner may lower the risk of these mistakes. Using a handmade FSBO sign in the front yard does not have the same impact as a professional one.

A REALTOR® pays a significant annual membership fee to belong to the multi-listing service (MLS). A property put up for sale on the MLS system, immediately notifies all the other members in the system that the property is available. A listing agent splits the commission with the agent that brings the buyer. Being on the MLS system means reaching all the agents that may represent thousands of potential buyers. A sign in the front yard has very little impact compared to this.

A real estate agent also markets properties on the Internet through a professional website, presence on social media, and various other paid advertising methods. They take attractive photos and videos of the property to use for marketing purposes. Putting these online attracts attention.

Without the help of a real estate agent, the homeowner needs to make all these marketing efforts and pay for them.

Closing The Sale

A real estate agent does all the grunt work that is necessary to work with the buyer, the escrow company, and the title company in order to have a smooth closing of the transaction.  A good agent helps to eliminate potential problems before they arise. This only comes through the experience gained in selling many homes over time.

Conclusion

For the vast majority of homeowners, with little or no experience marketing home for sale and closing a real estate transaction, working with a real estate agent is usually a better idea than trying to go at this alone. A REALTOR® does not get paid unless the home sells, so they are highly motivated to sell the home and close the transaction as efficiently as possible.

The Healthy Home? Selling The Wellness Value Of A Home

by

The Healthy Home? Selling The Wellness Value Of A HomeA study by the World Health Organization says that 90% of our health comes from where and how people live. Homeowners are paying more attention to wellness. These considerations extend to the home that they want to buy. Do you want to get a great price when you sell your home?

Go green and go healthy.

Going Green

Homebuyers are looking for more than just a quality home in a safe neighborhood. They also appreciate energy efficiency.

Energy efficiency includes new appliances that use less electricity, smart-home technology that manages usage and climate zones, and better insulation as well as new windows and doors. It also includes having a solar energy system to reduce monthly electricity costs.

Wellness Living

Wellness amenities include special lighting, sound systems, interior climate monitoring, plus air and water filtration systems. Newly-constructed homes are being advertised as being more healthy and perhaps extending the occupants’ lives. Older homes can be retrofitted with wellness systems to increase habitability and make them attractive to buyers.

Here are some wellness systems to consider:

  • Water Purification — Pure water for drinking and ice cubes with soft water for other uses is high on the list of priorities. The best water purification systems have micro-filtration combined with activated carbon filters. They are able to remove up to 99.999% of any contaminants.
  • Air Filtration — Hospital-quality air-filtration systems with HEPA filters remove dust, allergens, pet dander, bacteria, mold, and contagious airborne viruses.
  • Climate Monitoring — These advanced smart home systems constantly test the interior air for contaminants. The system will inform homeowners if any toxic chemicals are detected.
  • Circadian Lighting — Advanced lighting systems provide full-spectrum lighting that comes on automatically to mimic the natural light cycles of sunrise and sunset. These systems are especially helpful to improve the moods of occupants in areas that have dreary outside weather
  • Soothing Sound Systems — Sound systems can be fine-tuned to emit white noise and noise-cancellation frequencies to provide soothing sonics for interior spaces.
  • Home Gym — Having an exercise room with large windows and a nice view of the garden is a real plus. This room can also serve as a space for meditation.
  • Sunroom — A sunroom is an excellent choice for a home addition. It can be used to relax and get some vitamin D from the sunshine as well as be filled with living aromatic flowers for quality aromatherapy.

Summary

Having a home that is designed to both be energy-efficient and improve wellness is a trend that helps sell them as a wonderful living space that promotes holistic living.