Tips for Sellers: A House Is Not A Home
Your home is not for sale, but your house is! You've made the decision to sell your house and now your home has become a product. It can be difficult to think of a home as a mere product, but it is necessary in order to get top dollar and sell in a reasonable amount of time. To gain an edge in the marketplace, you must package and present your product. Your product must be priced right and look better than the competition!
Maybe overused, but the saying "you never get a second chance to make a first good impression" is so true when selling. Buyers typically make the decision to buy within the first 8 seconds of entering a listing. They need to feel that your product/house could be their next home and visually have space to "move their things in".
This process is called Staging. You may pick up a few suggestions on programs like HGTVs "Designed to Sell" or others, but it is hard to objectively package your own house. This is where your listing agent comes in.
Hire an agent who has specific additional training such as an ASP Realtor (Accredited Staging Professional) or other professional that offers this type of service. Staging at its best should not be costly and is not decorating. It is de-cluttering, cleaning, and showing your house at its best. You are moving, so pack a little early. Most of us need to put away some of your most personal photos and "de personalize" a bit. Your agent can help you with an action plan to use your time and money the wisest. "Remember the way you live in your house, and the way you sell your house are two different things." Barb Schwarz
Please contact me if you are in need of Staging help, I have tons of ideas!
Laura T. Woodbury,
703-967-8181
www.facebook.com/lauratwoodbury
www.cbmove.com/laurawoodbury.com
While it has always been good practice for loan offers to tell buyers not to make any large purchases unitl after settlement, this new Fannie Mae initiative should make this topic more of a priority.
The Loan Quality Initiative from Fannie Mae is its response to the foreclosure problem. "This program shifts the onus of mortgage guideline compliance away from the government backed group and to the individual banks responsible for making the loans" says Dan Green, mortgage broker in his blog.
I think the bottom line is that lenders and Realtors need to remind our clients unitl they have actually settled, they should not to open credit, buy a car, etc. They should continue to make at least the minimum payments (even more if possible). Basically do anything to keep the credit scores up.
Bottom line, this initiative will be having the banks pull at the very last minute for the latest credit profile of the borrower and may recalculate debt to income ratios and could bump the client out of loan approval.
Dan Green's blog is easy to understand and complete, click on the above link if you are concerned about this issue. (graphic from Dan Green. themortgagereports.com)
Laura T. Woodbury 703-967-8181
Loan Originator Licensing: The Right Direction
Most of the loan originators (or loan officers) that I know are positive about their new licensing as required by the SAFE Act (a component of the HERA-The Housing and Economic Recovery Act). Most are in the process of getting all their requirements done. It is long overdue.
It is my extreme hope that these licensing requirements will help the lending and real estate industries, their professionalism, and service to our buyer clients. I'm not under any illusion that it will fix all of our problems, but it is the right direction to go.
In Virginia, by July1, 2010, a mortgage loan originator will need to take a 20 hour pre-licensing course (3 hours of federal law and regs, 2 hours of ethics and 2 hours of training related to lending standards for the nontraditional mortgage products), pass a test, pass a financial background check, pass a criminal background check including fingerprinting. They also will have to have a surety bond. Still, fairly low entry, for someone holding all of your financial records, and helping you with maybe the largest purchase of your life.
The right direction, BUT there are holes in the Federal Law: It will be up to individual states to come up with other aspects of their licensing laws, such as continuing education and some sort of remedy or arbitration for clients. The biggest flaw is that some that are exemptions to the law, such as bank employees and credit unions.
Hold everyone to the same standard. Our clients deserve it.
Just some thoughts, I deleted some ranting for your benefit.
Laura
Awesome Arlington
I know, I know I’m a bit prejudice. I have lived in Arlington, Virginia most of my life. When my son Travis was born, I knew that Arlington was the place to raise him and his sister to follow. Travis (now IRT pro ranked 10th) will tell you that it was the best preparation for life in general, mostly because we have such a diverse population, great schools, and most of all opportunities here that other locations don’t have. I just saw this you tube video done by stayarlington. Take the time to see it if you are new to the area or want to see a nice piece on Arlington in general.
Arlington Fun Facts part 1
in no particular order, just for fun
Arlington County was originally part of the ten-mile square parcel of land surveyed in 1791 to be part of Washington, DC. The U.S. Congress returned that portion of the land to the "Commonwealth of Virginia."
Arlington is the smallest self-governing county in the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 26 square miles, of which about 4.6 miles are federal property. Two counties are smaller (but don't govern themselves): Kalawao, Hawaii (13.2 square miles) and Bristol, Rhode Island (24.7 square miles).
The NHL’s Washington Capital’s practice at Arlington’s own Ballston Common Mall at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex. Drive up to the top level of the public parking garage to enter. The facility is open for community use year-round. It is the first indoor ice rink inside the Capitol Beltway in Virginia.
The Wright Brothers were here. In 1908 they circled the parade ground of Fort Myer 57 times.
Arlington is the birthplace of the internet (no coincidence that Al Gore’s family once owned a home in Arlington) Defense Department Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) built the Interface Message Processor (IMP) to carry data to and from different specialized computers mostly in the U.S. university community. DARPA created ARPANET, which was the fore runner to the internet as we know it today.
A person standing on Memorial Bridge in Arlington is exactly as far from the Cumberland Gap, Virginia's western extreme point, as they are from downtown Boston, Massachusetts 394 miles (636 km).
The Pentagon building in Arlington, Virginia is the largest office building in the world. The Pentagon has 6 zip codes. To walk around the outside takes an average 15-20 minutes. It is designed to get from any one office to another in 7 minutes.
National Cemetery, which was built on land seized by the Union during the Civil War. The land was originally owned by the family of the famous Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
Arlington has 11 metro stations! The systems has a very helpful website.
This is the Clarendon Metro station, bordering on Lyon Village.
lwoodbury@cbmove.com. Look for part 2 in the near future.
www.LauraWoodbury.com
www.cbmove.com/laura.woodbury
Maximum loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to remain unchanged for 2010
The Federal Finance Agency (FHFA) just announced that the maximum conforming loan limits for
mortgages originated in 2010 will remain unchanged from the maximums of 2009 originations.
Mission Statement of FHFA:
Provide effective supervision, regulation and housing mission oversight of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks to promote their safety and soundness, support housing finance and affordable housing, and support a stable and liquid mortgage market.
Most mortgages use the Fannie or Freddie guidelines. A large number are sold in the secondary market so the guide lines help the mortgage holders to package and sell large numbers of them.
Link to the press release directly from FHFA
Here in Arlington, we are thankful that the limits are unchanged and not lowered.
Contact me for more information or your favorite lender.
Providing awesome real estate services to Buyers & Sellers in Northern Virginia | Specializing in Arlington County | Lyon Village, Clarendon, Courthouse and Ballston areas | I love Arlington!
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
Powered by the ActiveRain Real Estate Network
© 2012 ActiveRain Corp. All Rights Reserved
