By Jamie Birdwell-Branson on 11 Jul 2016 Originally posted on http://www.zillow.com/blog/prepare-home-for-appraisal-200936/ What you need to know about the process, from a veteran certified appraiser. Getting your home appraised can often be a nerve-wracking experience. Your home and your handy work will be on display to be judged and valued so that you can move forward with selling your home. But it doesn’t have to be a stressful experience. With the right tools, tricks and savvy, the appraisal process can not only go smoothly, it can also help you make a giant financial leap toward a future in a new home. Do your homework “Just like anything else — for example, if you’re going to select a doctor, dentist, or lawyer — you do your homework to find out the appraiser’s market knowledge of the area,” says Rick Singh, a property appraiser in Orange County, FL. Ideally, your appraiser will be a local who knows the area well and who has been around long enough to see changes in the market. It’s also crucial to hire an appraiser who is state certified. Check your maintenance Whether it’s a loose shingle, chipped paint or dirty carpet, be sure to take care of it before the appraiser comes. Anything obvious that needs work could potentially eat away at your home’s value. Also, keep a list of maintenance work that has been done on the home. Have a running list of what you have fixed and upgraded in your home as well as the amount of money you have spent. Courtesy of Zillow Digs. Maximize curb appeal When you’re getting your home appraised, remember that your house should look like the nicest one on the block. “Landscaping plays so much into making a good first impression,” Singh says. “And remember that a first impression is a lasting impression. Make sure [your yard] is tidy and up-to-date. Trim or replace dead plants, and make sure it’s nice and green.” Ensure appliances work Do you have a dishwasher that only works when you give it a little kick, or a refrigerator that doesn’t keep your food as cool as it used to? These malfunctioning big-ticket items in a home could be a huge disadvantage to your home’s appraisal value. Show pride in ownership Although your home isn’t necessarily valued on the interior decor, it doesn’t hurt to show that it’s well cared for. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to trade in your T.J.Maxx finds for a pricey interior makeover, but make sure your home is neat, tidy, and exhibits that you generally have an interest in keeping your home looking its best. Courtesy of Zillow Digs. Know your neighborhood Before you get your home appraised, be sure you know what comparable nearby homes are going...

By Natalie Wise on 7/5/2016   Originally posted on http://www.zillow.com/digs/guides/living-rooms/splurge-save-furnish-space-budget/ Furnishing a new house or apartment can be a challenge, especially if you’re working with a small budget. Sometimes it’s hard to know where to spend your hard-earned money. We put together this guide so you know what to splurge on, and what you can get at a lower price — without sacrificing quality. Here are eight pieces of furniture to get you started. Splurge: Couch It’s time to get rid of that couch you “inherited” from your mom’s basement. A good quality couch is the first investment you should make as you collect furniture for your new space; a sturdy, comfortable couch is worth the money. You can Scotch Guard upholstery to give it extra life and protect the fabric from stains and spills. If it’s in your budget. real leather is preferable to faux leather, as faux leather will split and crack. A sectional couch is a great option for entertaining, if you have the space. Save: Coffee Table Coffee tables run the gamut from sleek and slim to heavy double-duty storage pieces. Regardless of the style you choose, look for one that is made of real wood or thick glass, stable and able to withstand some wear and tear. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box: instead of a traditional coffee table you can use an old trunk or crate, or a large tufted ottoman that can also serve as seating. Thrift and vintage stores are great places to find unique and durable coffee tables at low price points. Splurge: Loveseat A loveseat is a small, two-person couch. The loveseat is traditional in a living room to create the classic “L” shaped furniture arrangement. This shape allows for easy conversation and lets everyone see the focal point of the room, be it a television or fireplace. Loveseats generally match the couch, but could also be a surprise decorative element in more contemporary or eclectic spaces. If loveseats are out of your price range, or simply don’t fit in your space, consider purchasing an armchair or two to create a similar living room feel. Save: Dining Table and Chairs A dining table and chairs may not be a top priority investment for you right away. Still, it’s nice to have a place to eat, so a small table (square or round) and at least two chairs will be a good place to start, even if they’re inexpensive. A table that folds down on both sides is a smart space-saving option if you don’t have a lot of room. As you accumulate more furniture over the years you can prioritize saving up to get a nice dining set...

Posted in Commercial Real Estate, Consumers, Economics, Mortgage Financing, Technology, by Robert Freedman on February 29, 2016 36 One of the side effects of digital communication is it can make people slow to get out from behind their screens to talk to someone face-to-face. Maybe you’ve noticed it with people you know, particularly young people who’ve grown up with technology. Research conducted for NAR last year found that young people experience a high level of anxiety when it comes time to move from online home shopping to talking to a real estate professional. As long as they’re gathering information on their phone, tablet, or laptop, they’re fine. But as soon as they want to talk to someone in the business, they find themselves outside of their comfort zone. That’s an interesting finding from a sociological standpoint, but from a business standout, it’s a problem. That’s why NAR did something different this year with its national ad campaign. Instead of focusing on the benefits of home ownership or why now is a good time to buy, it focused on this tension-point for young people. It did this in two ways: First, it designed content that speaks directly to people who are comfortable gathering information online but less so picking up the phone. Second, it designed a digital-first strategy for placing ads. That means focusing on what people see on their phones, tablets, and laptop and putting less emphasis on what they see on their TVs. Traditional media like TV, radio, and print remain important, but because young people live their lives online, the campaign places a new emphasis on the digital side. NAR’s ideas behind the ad campaign are explored in The Voice for Real Estate, NAR’s news video. The video also looks at an effort that is gaining ground to let veterans using federally backed, zero-down financing buy their house without having to worry about loan caps. Right now, VA loans are capped based on market area. That makes it hard for veterans to buy a house that costs more than $417,000. That amount goes far in many markets but there are also markets where that doesn’t even reach the median home price. In good news, the House passed a bill that would eliminate loan caps for VA loans. That’s a move NAR supports, and now the Senate needs to act on it. NAR played a role in getting the House to pass the bill. A REALTOR® from the Orlando area in Florida recommended changes to the loan caps in testimony before a VA subcommittee, and lawmakers heard the recommendations loud and clear. The video also looks at an interesting development in commercial real estate finance. Real estate professionals say...

Daily Real Estate News | Tuesday, March 29, 2016 For the majority of home buyers, they want a home with about 9 percent more space than they currently have. A new study translates that to a median of 2,020 square feet. Read more: New Homes Are Getting Bigger and Pricier But the amount of desired square footage can vary quite a bit among the different age groups, according to findings from the National Association of Home Builders’ “Housing Preferences of the Boomer Generation: How They Compare to Other Home Buyers.” For example, millennial and Gen X buyers desire the most space, at more than 2,300 square feet. Baby boomers and seniors, on the other hand, mostly would be happy with homes that are under 1,900 square feet. Take a look at this chart below from NAHB that shows the gap between current and desired home sizes among the various age segments:   NAHB’s study also found that more than half of all home buyers across all age groups would like to have a home with three bedrooms. Thirty percent of respondents say they’d prefer four bedrooms or more. Millennials and Gen X’ers are most likely to want a home with at least four bedrooms. Source: “Housing Preferences Across Generations (Part II),” National Association of Home Builders’ Eye on Housing (March 17,...

If the piles of paperwork and jampacked closets have you feeling like a deer in the headlights, take a deep breath and a baby step…   It’s a common problem. You know you have way too much stuff for your available space, but you become paralyzed at the thought of decluttering. One solution is to start with something that takes minimal effort but makes a big impact in your home right away. From carving out a bit of breathing room in your closet to making a dent in the junk drawer, these five ways to begin the decluttering process are relatively painless. You can do this! Priestley + Associates Architecture Where Not to Begin Don’t plan to start with a major weekend-long purge. Plan to start being the key phrase. A big decluttering weekend can be a great way to make progress, but carving out such a large chunk of time may not be easy to arrange — and if you keep putting off getting started because you’re waiting for a big space to open up on your calendar, you could be waiting a very long time. A Darling Felicity Photography Don’t start with other people’s stuff. Oh, it is so tempting, I know! But although you may be dying to bag up your least favorite items from your spouse/significant other/kid/housemate’s space, resist the urge — it’s not likely to go over well. Even if you have way less clutter than the other members of your household, it’s important to take responsibility for your own part. If you’re lucky, the clutter-clearing bug will be catching! California Closets Don’t start at the front door. In theory, the entryway is a wonderful place to begin decluttering. But guess what tends to accumulate around the front door? Stuff you actually use a lot. That means that while there could be a few things to get rid of in this area, it’s more likely that the stuff just needs to be put away. But if everywhere else in the house is packed, there’s nowhere for the entryway clutter to go. Le Michelle Nguyen Where to Begin 1. Discard a few clothes. Removing some of the clothes and shoes you don’t wear from your closet and drawers is a good first step. By clearing out a bit of space in your bedroom closet, you can then tuck away some of the extra items (jackets, scarves, shoes) cluttering up your entryway, in effect clearing two areas of your home at once. If you’re following the Marie Kondo method of tidying, this is also where she recommends beginning. How to: Try not to get hung up on winnowing down your entire closet right now; just grab...

Quicken Loans, Freddie Team for 3% Loans DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2015 Quicken Loans has partnered with Freddie Mac to help expand a program that would allow qualified borrowers to finance homes with down payments of as little as 3 percent, the companies announced this week. The partnership comes at a time when Quicken Loans is battling allegations from the Justice Department over its past underwriting practicing on Federal Housing Administration-backed loans. Quicken Loans has sued the federal government, alleging the Departments of Justice and Housing and Urban Development “cherry-picked” from its FHA-backed loans in trying to show poor underwriting. In turn, the government sued Quicken Loans, accusing the firm of submitting insurance claims for hundreds of poorly underwritten FHA-insured loans over four years. Both lawsuits are still the pending. The lawsuit has prompted Quicken Loans, like other large lenders, to reduce its involvement in the FHA single-family program, which offers mortgage insurance for first-time and lower-income borrowers. Lenders such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. also have been reportedly hesitant to underwrite FHA loans. “Mid-size and small community-based lenders, both banks and nonbanks, have stepped up to fill the gap,” says Glen Corso, executive director of Consumer Mortgage Lenders of America. Quicken Loans, under its new agreement with Freddie Mac, will offer financing for loans with down payments as small as 3 percent – which is lower than the 3.5 percent for FHA loans. “Home buyer demographics will continue to significantly shift in upcoming years, and mortgage programs must evolve to serve the needs of groups like first-time buyers and minority groups,” Quicken Loans Chief Executive Officer Bill Emerson says. Source: “Quicken Joins Freddie Mac to Offer Loans While Battling U.S.,” Bloomberg (Oct. 19, 2015)  ...