Home Staging

http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20110630_staging.htm

Dry Ridge Ky Housing Market

Please check out the link below to discover the latest market conditons for Dry Ridge Ky..

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It's begining to look alot like Fall!

Check out these fall fix ups for your home!

http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20110907_fixes.htm

5 don'ts when selling your home

Home sellers are like all others in this busy world we live in....but if your motivated and serious about selling your home....You have to set yourself apart.  I have listed 5 of the top mistakes or "don'ts" you shouldn't do when you have your home on the market.

1.  You have to make changes in the way you live in your home....You can still live comfortably but not too relaxed.  It is very important to put away things that you don't use on a daily basis...declutter your home and don't clutter it back up.

2.  Don't ignore maintenance!  Just because your planning on moving, doesn't mean you should neglect the leaves in the gutter or the missing shingles on the roof or even the overgrown shrubs...This is the time your home should look the best....

3.  Old wallpaper....if you've been thinking about taking it down....now's the time....

4.  Now is not the time to paint your family room your favorite color of red... I often have sellers say to me, " I loved that color and if the house doesn't sell, I have to live here and I want to enjoy it"   Wrong!  this is no longer about you...it's about selling the home...Keep it neutral .

5.  Don't throw everything in the garage to declutter the home...  Organizing your garage and hanging shelves is a very important.  Keeping everything up off the floor and on the shelves will give the appearance of a large area for cars.  I recommend removing all cars from the garage before showings.  The garage is a very important part of your home. 

How to get ready to buy a home

I am asked very often, What should I do toget ready to buy a home? 

When you are ready to buy a home, I think you will know...If you are in doubt, I recommend talking to a professional such as myself or a loan officer.  We have many qualified loan officers and professionals in the Northern Ky. area. 

I would recommend that you have a down payment.  Yikes, that's the ugly word no one wants to speak about.  I'm not talking about 20 or 30 percent.  Some loans only require 3.5 percent down.  Keep in mind that you will have a few other expenses involved.  Such as Home Owners Insurance, (one year) Inspection fees, and Appraisal fees. 

There's many programs out in the finance world that don't require down payment.  However you will have to qualify for these loans.  One is FHA Kentucky Housing.  With this loan, you borrow your down payment from Ky. Housing and it will need to be paid back, so you may have a 2nd mortgage on the home.  Rural Housing is another one that is an option, if you don't have a down payment.  Again, you will need to qualify and the home must qualify for a Rural Housing loan.  This is not the only programs out there.  Please call a mortgage professional

So in saying all this, you need to get a pre-approval from a lender before you ever begin your search. 
You should know your financial situation, and don't look at homes that are out of your price in hopes they will come down to meet your needs.  A new buyer should make a budget for their new home purchase and stick with it.  

If you still are not sure what you need to do or even if you're ready to buy please give me a call.  I can help you determine if you are ready.  859-468-4227.

Getting your home ready for a challenging market...

Getting your home ready for a challenging market...especially here in the Northern Ky. area is crutial to the sale of your home.  Not only does your home need to be clean and clutter free..you need to make sure any mainentance repairs are finished and possibly consider having your own home inspection.  I know, I know, you have the home inspection....Yes..if the seller can identify what may cause a problem later into the sale and resolve the issue in advance, it's makes the process so much easier.  Here's a few things you may want to do before listing your home...

1.  Have a home inspection.
2.  De-clutter the garage (rent a storage space if needed)
3.  De-clutter the home....use the 3-3-3 method (a Stephanie Original) 
     3 items in a room
     3 items on a wall per room
     3 items on tables...

For example   Bedroom (  Bed, Dresser, Nightstand)  That's all that 's needed...
                       Lamp on Nightstand,  Vase with fresh flowers on dresser, Alarm clock on Nightstand)
                       3 pieces of art-work and no family photos.

                       Dining Room   Table, chairs and Sideboard or Hutch
                                                 Plant on Table, 2 Tall Buffet lamps on Hutch or Sideboard
                                                 Mirror over sideboard or on opposite wall,  2 other pieces of artwork.

You get the idea...

4.. Clean all Light fixtures ( replace if not replaced in past 10 years, or doesn't match the current style of your room).

5.  Have carpets professionally cleaned.

6.  Curtains should be changed to all neutral or something matching the style of the room... Please nolarge floral or Mauve curtains...lol

7.  Paint your front door and clean up any landscaping.   A dark color such as Black or Navy or even a Chocolate on the front door is very inviting. 

8.  Clean all windows to a super bright clean... and replace or remove old blinds

9.  Paint the house (neutral)  doesn't have to be white or tan...  Something not too bright

10. Last but not least give the bathroom a once-over....new caulk around tubs, clean grout on the tile...and replace old vanities and mirrors to fresh modern ones... this is one place that can make or break the sale....

Good Luck and call me soon to get your home sold!!!!

                                               

Feast or Famine.....

Feast or Famine...this is something us Realtors use to describe our business...

It really describes the past few years in Real Estate....I always have alot of people ask me, "hows the market", or "I can't believe you're still selling"...  Well I'm hear to tell you ...It's great at my office and in Northern Ky... In the past week 2 weeks I have shown property in about 4 different counties Grant, Boone, Kenton and Shelby and have been out showing real estate most nights till well past 7 pm....  It's definitely paying off..  I have a first time home buyer who just found a home perfect for their family in Demossville Ky. ....I am waiting on a clear to close on another couple so they can move on to their dream home in Shelby County and I got an offer on a friends property in Corinth that was only on the market about 3 months ( which is really good for the market).  I think staying in the Real Estate business even though it sometimes felt more like famine than feast has helped me maintain a great Repeat and Referral business. 

Rainy Days

TWENTY THINGS TO DO ON A RAINY DAY:

1. Make paper airplanes and fly them across the room.
2. Have your own film festival. Pick a theme and rent several action movies, or sci fi movies, or movies with the same actor in them.
3. Go to a museum or an aquarium
4. Do crossword puzzles - even make your own puzzles!
5. Try sudoku puzzles, fun for the whole family.
6. Play Scrabble, Monopoly or Candyland or another board game.
7. Bake cookies and give some to your family or friends.
8. Tell family stories and take the time to learn about family history.
9. Call someone you care about for a talk.
10. Make tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.
11. Make shadow puppets with your hands and a flashlight on the wall.
12. Make mandalas. Learn more about them here:
13. Make paper bag puppets with lunch bags.
14. Teach the children how to say hello and goodbye in a foreign language.
15. Teach mom how to play the video game all the kids are playing.
16. Get pizza delivered for lunch and eat it picnic style on the floor.
17. Draw pictures to send to the grandparents and other relatives. Sit down and write actual letters to everyone.
18. Go to the library and have everyone get a book they like. Take turns reading out loud from your books reading to each other.
19. Watch the Discovery channel and learn about animals and nature.
20. Write a funny story together, everyone writing one sentence until you get to "The End".

Published by Abigail Beal  of the Associated Content from Yahoo....

PMS Chocolate Cake

So I had to post this on my blog... I had luch at one of my friends cafe's today and she was serving PMS chocolate cake... not only did it look amazing it was delicious...Her daughter gave me a sample...I didn't dare think about eating a piece...but seriously I could have jumped in head first and ate my way out the other side....but I didn't...Since I left, I haven't been able to get that cake out of my head...so I found a recipe online for PMS cake and so here it is....I'm about to make it...I will let you know how it goes...

 

 

Ingredients:

2 cups of sugar

3/4 cup of Hershey's Cocoa Powder

1 1/2 teaspons of baking soda

2 eggs

1/2 cup of veggie oil

1 cup of boiling water

1 3/4 cups of all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

1 teaspoon of salt

1 cup of milk

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Great and flour 2 9 inch round baking pans.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30-35 minutes or until wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

Ingredients for frosting:

1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter

2/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa

3 cups of powdered sugar

1/3 cup of milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount of additional milk if needed. Stir in vanilla.

foreclosure buying....

Admit it...you all want to know about it and how to get in on it....This thing we call foreclosures...."diamonds in the rough, equity gold mines"  you heard them called alot of things....and want to know how to make a sweet profit...  Unfortunately even though foreclosures are a great way to buy property especially if you are planning on occupying the property, they are not a gold mines or a easy way to make a profit.  They are alot of hard work and in the current market trend, the profit on these units have shrunk dramatically from what they use to be, before the boom....
I get this question on a daily basis..."how can I buy a foreclosure"?  There's many ways to buy foreclosures. 
One way you may have heard abou,t is buying on the court house steps.  When you purchase a home at the courthouse steps,  a few things you need to keep in mind:  1.  You usually have no access to the house, it is bought sight unseen.  You can usually walk around the house and get the public information on the house, but you can not enter the house.  It is usually required that you put down at least 10% of the purchase price of the home on the day of the auction.  This is a great way to obtain a propery as long as you are comfortable with the information and have the means for the down payment. 
Another way to purchase foreclosures is thru HUD (housing and urban development)  This is usually done thru a real estate professional.  HUD is a great way to purchase a home, however it is usually open to a owner occupant (someone who plans on living in the property for at least 2 years) for the first 15 days.  After that period, if it doesn't sell to a owner occupant it is open to everyone on a daily bid.  Sometimes HUD will even pay for closing cost and if you use their closing co.  you usually can get free Title Insurance ( Owners Policy)  Last but no least...you can use a Real Estate professional to buy a foreclosure directly from a bank.  This means the home has gone thru the complete foreclosure process and is owned by the bank and is deeded to the bank.  This process is very easy...but keep in mind that if they are priced well and in a good location you may be bidding against many other buyers...This can happen in all 3 of these scenarios so be prepared to pay the price the bank wants and sometimes over the asking price.   I hope this information has helped...please contact me if you have any other questions.  This is just a small amount of information about buying foreclosures. 

Poems of fall

Our business meeting today was like usual talking about new ways to market our homes, ourselves and the business....but one thing we talked about was what happens in the fall of the year...things dry up leaves start to fall and the plants start to expand their roots...I think we all need to do this.  If we start spreading our roots or start storing our "nuts" as my grandpa use to say...then I think we will be ready for the cold hard winter and maybe, just maybe it won't be so cold after all...
trail leading into mammoth cave
Autumn Leaves
One of the nicest beds I know
Isn't a bed of soft white snow.
Isn't a bed of cool green grass
After the noisy mowers pass.
Isn't a bed of yellow hay
Making me itch for half a day
But autumn leaves in a pile that high,
Deep and smelling like fall and dry.
That's the bed where I like to lie
And watch the flutters of Fall go by.

~by Aileen Fisher~

Understanding your Credit....

I get alot of questions about credit and what it takes to get a loan in todays real estate market...I Usually send those questions to a qualified mortgage lender.  I thought I would take this opportunity to to try and find something online for my readers to help them with these questions..I found this article on Realtor.com written by John Adams.. Hope you enjoy!

                                                                    http://www.realtor.com/home-finance/credit-reports/understanding-your-credit-history.aspx

 Thinking about buying a house? Then think about your credit history...the folks who lend money do!

How well you have handled your credit obligations in the past is of utmost importance to lenders today. The good news is that this information, for the most part, is available to you.

Your credit history is maintained by three different private companies called credit reporting agencies: Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. You can order your report by phone and charge it to your major credit card if you like. It usually takes about a week to arrive. Or you can order your report online and view it within seconds.

It's a good idea to get a copy of all three reports, because if an error exists on even one of the reports, it may negatively affect your chances of getting the loan you want. Your credit report lists all the consumer credit that has been extended to you over the past seven years. It will show what your highest balance has been and what your current balance was on the date last reported by the creditor. It will also show how many payments you made on time and how many late payments were late. Late payments are grouped into categories showing how late you were. For example, if your credit card payment was over 30 days late one time, it might not be considered too serious. But if payments were over 60 days late four times, over 120 days late two times and over 180 days late one time, you have had a serious problem. That problem is going to impact your ability to borrow money.

It just makes sense to find out about your credit and correct any errors now. Regardless of how many credit problems you have had in the past, there are two good points to remember.

First, negative credit information can be reported in your credit file for only seven years. After that, it drops out and cannot even be considered. The one exception is bankruptcy, which can be reported for 10 years. But after that you start with essentially a clean slate.

Second, lenders are much more concerned about how you have handled your credit recently than with what happened several years ago. Even if you have had a bankruptcy, if you have kept your nose clean and paid your bills on time since then, it is possible you could qualify for a loan after as little as two or three years.

One of the best developments in the world of lending has been risk-based pricing. That's a five dollar term for the ability of lenders to offer higher priced loans to borrowers based on their demonstrated ability to repay. In other words, even if you have slightly fractured credit, you can still likely get a loan. It just may cost you a little more.

 

*REFERENCE  Realtor.com  written by John Adams Copyright © by Move, Inc.

6 Worth the Price fix ups for your home.....

1.  Cleaning and Decluttering...Remove any personal items, unclutter countertops, organize closes and shelves and make the home sparkling clean..
2.  Brightening.. Clean all windows inside and out, replace old curtains, update lighting fixtures, and remove anything that blocks light from the windows.
3.  Smart staging...Rearrange furniture, bring in new accessories and furnishings to enhance rooms incorporate artwork, and play soft music in the background.
4.  Landscaping enhancements.  Punch up the home's curb appeal in the front and backyards by adding bark mulch, bushes, and flowers and ensuring current plants and grass are well-cared for and manicured. 
5.  Repairing electrical or plumbing.  Fix leaks under the sinks, remove any mildew stains, and ensure all plumbing is in good working condition.  Update the home's electrical with new wiring for modern appliances, fix any lights or outlets that don't work, and replace old plug points with new safety.
6.  Replacing or shampooing dirty carpets...Steam clean carpets, replace any worn carpets, and repair any floor creaks. 

*excerpted from Home Gain 2011 Home Sale Maximizer Survey, www.homesalemaximizer.com

Theme Song....

Pic of the day....Yes I believe this is how I feel today....this doesn't happen every day..but today I'm excited about my career, the real estate business and a young couple today closing on their first home.  I think that's the best part of my job....being a part of the next journey in someones life.  Sometimes it's the first home, sometimes its a retirement home, it doesn't matter the feeling is still great.  I strive in my business to have happy clients at the end of a transaction.  This can only happen when both sides of the transaction go smooth.  It can take alot of time and what I like to call "hurry up and wait" for the buyer and the seller.  If both sides are reasonable and cooperative this tends to happen with ease.

Ok, so getting back to what I was originally going to talk about today "theme song" .  I think everyone has a theme song.  This may seem a bit strange but if you think about it long enough, I think you will come up with yours...So that's my challenge today to anyone reading this blog, "is anyone reading this blog"?  Try to come up with your theme song....maybe it's something jazzy you hum in your kitchen while doing dishes, or maybe it's a hard rock song from your  youth...no matter what it is, I bet it describes the real you.."the one you sometimes hide from the world"...

Ok, got to go now....Jim (my broker) is waiting on my for our weekly meeting...

Short Sales

Short Sales...I get more questions on a weekly basis about short sales than probably anything else right now.  A Short Sale is not a  'bank owned" foreclosure..it's actually not a foreclosure at all.  A Short Sale is when a home owner usually has gotten in some sort of financial trouble is unable to make all of their payment or is not making the payment at all.  Most sellers don't qualify for a short sale unless they are behind on their payment ( please don't get any ideas to just stop making your payment to do a short sale...they will take your house at some point).  Short Sale term basically just means that the bank is agreeing to take a less amount of payoff on the home than what is owed.. No specific amount either.   In order to qualify for a short sale, the seller will need to usually provide proof that he or she can no longer make the payment such as a loss of job or a decrease in their pay.  Once the appropriate documents have been sent in to the mortgage holder and they agree to this,  the seller will be assigned a representative from the bank to handle the possible short sale.  They will require that the home is listed with a real estate co in the area and may require an appraisal and a market comparison from other sales in the area.  Once a seller gets an offer on their home the seller still makes the decision if they want to take the offer subject to the banks approval of that amount.  If they accept the offer, it is then submitted to the bank and the bank will go thru the appropriate channels to determine if they can take this amount.  This can be a very lengthy process I have seen it take up to 6 months to decide and as little as 2 days... So buyers be aware of this situation and please discuss this with your agent to decide how long you want to wait the purchase your possible "dream home"  Short Sales can be a plus for buyers but Sellers need to discuss all aspects of this decision with their attorney, real estate agent and accountant.  This still reflects poorly on a credit report and should be taken very seriously. 

A little about me

So this is my first day of blogging....I already feel like Carrie Bradshaw, for those of you who know who I'm talking about we will get along very well. I would like to start my blog by giving "my readers" whoever they may be a little background about me...I grew up in Owen County ( the real OC) and I will always feel like that's my home. I have been married for 21 years and have 3 fabulous Children..well they're not children now, Jackie is 20 and Vanessa is 18 and Michael is 11. I just dropped my middle daughter off at Georgetown College last week and my oldest is Junior at Thomas More.. I currently live in Dry Ridge and work at Jim Simpson Realtors. We are a very close family style Real Estate Co., we sell a large portion of the residential homes, land and commercial real estate in Grant Co. and Northern Ky. Well This is about enought about me...I will be back later with what I hope will be some useful information.