When it comes to putting a home on the market, are you ready to put your best foot forward? Many homeowners think they have to spend a fortune to make their properties more inviting to home buyers. Not true! In fact, two of the most important things you can do before you list your home don’t cost much at all.

The No. 1 pre-selling task? De-cluttering. Getting rid of the clutter is so important because home buyers are turned off by it. Broken toys, piles of magazines, books and mail, lots of knick-knacks and crowded countertops — they all detract from the ability of a buyer to envision themselves in your home. And don’t neglect the areas behind closed doors! Go through your closets and shelves. Home buyers look in there. This is a great time to haul out the dumpster and get a load ready to donate to a worthy cause. But if you can’t bear to part with all your stuff, renting a storage unit can be a great way to go.

After you’ve de-cluttered, it’s time for a big cleaning. That means baseboards, walls, the inside of your refrigerator and especially your bathrooms. Steam clean the carpets. Clean and polish wood furniture. Make sure to have your windows cleaned. Home buyers form opinions about dirty homes, windows included, and it isn’t a good one.

Don’t forget to clean the outside of your home. When was the last time you cleaned your front door? If you aren’t raking up leaves and keeping your yard clean and tidy, prospective home buyers may wonder whether you are keeping up with routine maintenance and repair of your property. You’ll want to make sure your entryway is clear and creates a warm, inviting feel for prospective buyers.

Buying a fixer-upper? Whether you have a small remodeling job ahead of you or a big one, you’re always much better off with a plan. Here are some tips for coming up with a plan designed to help you succeed:

Decide how much you’re going to spend. Make a plan for exactly what needs to be done on your property and set a budget. Don’t forget that home renovation projects are notorious for going over budget. You’ll want to allow for a cost overrun of 10 to 12 percent, or more if you are purchasing a distressed property on an as-is basis that could have some defects you don’t know about.

Go neutral. If you’re fixing up a home you plan to live in over the long term, by all means select the colors, textures, window coverings and appliances that you like. But if you are going to be selling your property in the near future, you may want to select neutral accents with the most widespread appeal. A Realtor can be a great help with this.

Find good help. Do your homework when hiring contractors. Many people fail to check out a contractor’s licenses and references. Don’t skip this important step.

Negotiate a detailed contract. A contract can make it clear for all parties involved. Include a start-date as well as an estimated completion date, and details about all the services being rendered. Spelling this out at the beginning can keep you and your contractor on the same page and prevent miscommunication.

Think ahead. You could be living with a construction zone for weeks. Try to schedule major work at a time when it will have the least impact on your daily routine.

Speak up. Contractors can produce some amazing work, but they won’t know exactly how you feel about it unless you tell them. If you find something along the way that surprises you, or something that you don’t like, mention it as soon as possible. You don’t want to get to the end of a remodel and have something become permanent that could have easily been fixed before the project was finished. Good luck!

Whether it’s your first, second or third home, you can’t always afford all the space you want. Here’s how to make any home feel more spacious:

Choose colors wisely. Darker paint colors and tones can bring warmth to a room and make it feel cozy, but when a space is small to begin with, they can make it feel like the walls are closing in on you. Choose light and airy colors to create an open feeling and make a space seem larger. But that doesn’t mean everything needs to be white and sterile. Accessorizing with pops of color or accent pieces will keep things interesting.

Go easy on the furniture. Using too much furniture, or the wrong scale of furniture, can induce a feeling of claustrophobia. For example, if you have a small living room, a giant sectional sofa may not be the best furniture choice. Too much furniture can have the same effect. A room should be open enough that you have space to move around in it. If furniture is blocking walkways or restricting access, it’s probably the wrong scale for the room.

Use multi-purpose pieces. Multi-functional pieces, such as a bed with storage drawers underneath or an end table that’s also a bookshelf, can help make your room feel bigger.

Keep clutter under control. Trinkets, knick-knacks, or too much stuff everywhere can be overwhelming. Keep rooms free of clutter to make them feel more open and spacious.

Think you need a huge down payment in order to buy a home? Then you’re in for some good news.

The “need” for big down payments is a myth in today’s lending environment. Truth is, programs offered by three federal agencies are helping borrowers buy a home with little or no down payment.

Wondering where to look for a program like that? Maybe this will help:

Federal Housing Administration: With a minimum down payment of 3.5%, FHA-insured loans are the low-down option that’s available to the most borrowers.

Department of Agriculture. The biggest myth about the department’s Rural Development mortgage guarantee program is that it’s designed only for people who are buying farm land. But it’s simply not true. To qualify for a low-downpayment home loan backed by the Agriculture Department, you must purchase a home in a “rural” area, but you may be surprised at the number of areas that fit the definition. (Many do.)

Veterans Affairs. Formerly the Veterans Administration, this agency guarantees no-down payment mortgages for qualified veterans, active duty personnel, reservists/National Guard members and some surviving spouses.

For more details about these programs, give us a call.

Ready to buy your first home? Your first step is to visit a mortgage lender to see how much house you can afford. But be prepared for the paperwork that comes with it. Here are the documents you’ll be asked to provide as part of the loan application process:

Rental payment history. If you’re a first-time home buyer, you’ll need to provide proof that you paid your rent on time. Your lender can tell you how to document this payment history.

Tax returns. You will likely be asked for two or three years of tax returns with all the attached schedules and documents.

Paychecks, W-2s and other income documentation. Start with at least a month’s worth of paychecks, plus W-2 forms for you and your spouse. Do you have income from other sources? Include documentation for any freelance work, self-employment income and child support payments as well.

Account information. Your lender will want to see checking and savings account statements for at least one month. You may be asked for any other account statements as well to document your down payment funds and money you have set aside in savings.

Remember, the more quickly you respond to requests for documentation, the more quickly your loan application can be processed!

Ever wonder which things can affect your credit score the most when you’re applying for a mortgage loan? Here are some of the top factors that can dramatically lower anyone’s score:

• You’re 30 days late (or more) paying a bill. You could see a 60- to 110-point drop in your score by being a month late on a financial obligation. Expect more of a drop if you’re 60, 90 or 120 days late.
• You have gone through foreclosure, a short sale or bankruptcy. A typical drop after a foreclosure is 85 to 160 points. A short sale will result in a substantial drop in credit score, too. A bankruptcy could push down your score by 130 to 240 points.
• You’re maxed out. Being close to (or over) the credit limit on all your credit cards can definitely hurt your score.

Everyone’s situation is different, and how long these credit-score drops remain in effect vary. The key to rebuilding your credit is to pay your bills on time and avoid using all of the credit that’s available to you.

Although a “perfect” credit score can be over 800, remember that to get the best deal on your next mortgage, you’ll need a score of around 720 to 780. Want to learn more about your credit score? Read this article.

Eight seconds.

Not much time, right? But that’s how long you have to catch a buyer’s attention when selling a home. So, you’ve got to make those seconds count from the moment a prospective buyer arrives on your property.

It’s not just about selling your home quickly. It’s also about fetching the highest price possible.

Properties that look nice and smell nice inevitably sell for more money than comparable homes with cluttered closets, dishes in the sink and dandelions speckling the front lawn. So, how do you get your home ready for a potential buyer? Here are some tips that will help you make a good first impression.

Let’s start with the outside:

• Curbside appeal: Believe it or not, the cleanliness of your street and sidewalk matter when it comes to selling a house. Keep the pavement in front of your house free of litter – even if it takes a sweep – and remove any weeds that may be growing up through the cracks of your sidewalk.
• Fresh paint: Even if you don’t want to spend the money to paint the entire house, there are a couple places that will pay off in dividends if you can afford a few gallons of paint. When it comes to making a good first impression, there’s no better place to start than with the fence. Give it a fresh coat. You should also think about the front door, shutters and even lamp posts to send a message that you care about details.
• Landscaping: No buyer will be impressed by an overgrown, or weed-infested, lawn. Keep the yard looking nice in the spring and summer by mowing the grass, weeding flower beds and clipping any hedges. Take time to prepare your yard in the fall. And in the winter be sure to keep your driveway and sidewalks clear.

Now for the inside:

• Lighten up: Make sure your house looks as bright as possible. Light is a proven seller. So keep the windows clean, replace any burned-out light bulbs and even use mirrors to help magnify the feeling of light and space.
• Color scheme: Although you may enjoy decorating in orange or lime green, avoid those colors when selling. Look for neutral colors that allow buyers to better picture themselves in the home.
• Clean, clean and de-clutter: Make sure your potential buyer isn’t distracted by a gallon of milk on the counter, dust bunnies beneath the couch or knickknacks piled high on your shelves. Focus on making your home look big, clean and desirable.

Does that help? If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call.

Ever hear the terms REO, bank-owned, short sale or HUD home? And have you even wondered what the heck all those terms mean? Here are some definitions used to describe common types of distressed properties:

Foreclosure: This refers to the process of a lender taking possession of a property from an owner who isn’t paying their mortgage as promised. After the process of foreclosure is completed and the homeowner has left, the property is offered for sale at auction.

REO or bank owned: The terms REO – short for the term “real-estate owned” – and “bank-owned” both refer to properties that are owned by banks. Properties gain that distinction after they go through foreclosure and fail to sell at auction. Adding to the confusion is that REOs and bank-owned properties are often called foreclosures. REOs, or bank-owned properties typically are offered for sale by real-estate agents and sold in “as-is” condition, meaning any repairs will be up to the buyer.

Short sale: This term refers to a property being offered for sale by a homeowner who owes more on their mortgage than their home is worth. Because the seller is asking a bank to accept less than they are owed, the bank is involved in the sale process and ultimately must give final approval to the selling price. That makes short sales some of the most complex and time-consuming real estate transactions.

HUD home: Still with me? This term refers to a home that was originally purchased with a loan insured by the Federal Housing Administration, which is part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD. The FHA guarantees loans made by private lenders, so if a borrower defaults on an FHA loan, the agency will pay off the lender and take responsibility for the property. At that point, the property becomes a “HUD” home and is offered for sale in much the same way as a bank sells an REO.

Have an appointment with a title company to close on the purchase of your home? Here’s what you’ll need to bring with you on that big day:

Money: At closing, you’ll be paying for your share of the closing costs and any down payment. Since cash and a personal check won’t do, you’ll need to bring a certified check or cashier’s check. You’ll get the amount you need to bring with you a few days before closing.

A pen: You’ll be doing a lot of signing and initialing. None of the numbers you should see at closing should be a surprise. Shortly before closing, your loan officer should provide you with documentation of what your final numbers should be. These documents spell out all the financial details of your home purchase, including your closing costs and who – the buyer, seller and lender – pays what.

Your ID: You will be required to show proof of identification, such as your driver license or passport.

Proof of insurance: You’ll need documentation proving you have obtained homeowner’s insurance, and perhaps flood insurance, if it’s required as a condition of your loan.

Once you’ve completed the process of closing, your home purchase will be recorded with the county or other government entity. Then, you get the keys and you’re officially ready to move in!

The appraisal is an important part of the home buying process. But what happens if the appraisal comes up short of the agreed-upon selling price?

Here’s an example: A home is listed for sale for $350,000. It’s a multiple bidding situation, so you offer a higher price of $370,000 to gain an edge over other buyers. Your offer is accepted by the seller. However, your lender’s appraisal comes back and it shows the value of the home is only $350,000. That means the lender is only going to provide you with a loan based on that amount.

When an appraisal comes in lower than expected, home buyers have a few choices. If you really want the home and have the cash on hand, you could make up the difference with a larger downpayment. You also could try to negotiate a lower selling price. The seller doesn’t have to lower the selling price, of course, and will understandably be reluctant to do so. In some cases, the buyer and seller each give a little, with the seller lowering the price and the buyer making a larger downpayment.

Another option is to see if it’s possible to order a second independent appraisal or to appeal the existing appraisal. Your lender can let you know if there’s any type of appraisal review process. You and your real estate agent will have to analyze the appraisal to make sure the appraiser included all relevant comparable sales on the report

Lastly, if you have an appraisal contingency in your offer, you have the option of walking away. It’s a last-ditch option if all other efforts fail.