Mary Ann Daniell, Realtor Fort Hood Texas Real Estate Services

If you are thinking of selling your Fort Hood area home soon, I bet you've been surfing and reading suggestions on staging, decluttering, pricing, and landscaping, right?

Sounds like WORK!

Welll.. here's a true story that show just how necessary and effective all your work will be if you take it to heart and properly prepare your Fort Hood real estate to sell.

One of my dearest real estate clients called me around the middle of March to let me know they were getting orders to Fort Bragg and needed to sell their home in House Creek North Subdivision. They also have a two year old and are expecting a baby! They wanted to visit with me to find out what they needed to do to prepare their home for sale, to talk about pricing the home, and what they could expect to net from the sale.

We met to go over all their concerns regarding pricing the home and arrived at a solid price. (Mrs. Seller is an accountant.) We also talked about the fact that there was a large number of comparable homes for sale in their neighborhood, and that they would need to be ready to make their home the best it could be.

We walked all through their home, along with Carol Easters, my professional home stager (a complimentary service when you list with me). I was very impressed, as these sellers took careful notes of all the suggestions:

1. Remove the curtains in the living and dining area (tooo dark)

2. Install mini blinds in the living room and dining area

3. Remove all personal photos from the walls

4. Remove all exercise equipment from the house

5. Purchase storage tubs to organize the toddler toys in the living room

6. Remove the dead aquarium in the living room

7. Remove all items on top of the kitchen cabinets

8. Remove inexpensive storage cabinet from the master bath (they used for towels)

9. Remove the sports awards, photos, and games in their "sports room" (4^th bedroom)

10. Remove the baby gate from the fireplace

11. Remove general clutter from both bathrooms and master bedroom

12. Fertilize and water the yard well to help it green up faster

13. Keep yard mowed and trimmed.

14. Plant a few flowers in beds for color.

15. Have carpets cleaned immediately

16. Keep the garbage dumpster somewhere besides the front porch

17. Put away all blankets and throws on the living room furniture for showings

18. Keep all shoes in the closets - not in the entry

19. Be sure kitchen and bathrooms are always sparkling clean

20. Leave all the blinds open in the living and dining area for showings, since the kitchen was a bit dark (dark green counters and black appliances).

Now this is quite a list for two people who work full time and manage to chase after a two year old, too. But these owners were committed to SELLING their home quickly, not just listing it for sale.

Within a week, they had accomplished everything on the list. It was amazing! The house went from feeling dark and a bit cluttered to feeling light, bright, airy and wide open, which is exactly what relocating Fort Hood home buyers are looking for!

We listed the house on March 29^th and ended up with TWO competing offers! We worked hard and finally negotiated their best offer and were under contract on April 8^th for excellent terms and $600 above the asking price! Closing is scheduled for April 29^th, and everything is already in place to close.

Talk about WINNERS! These sellers did everything they needed to do to be the BEST home in their neighborhood (there are approximately 50 homes for sale in that area).

When you are ready to sell your Killeen Fort Hood real estate, make a commitment to SELL your home, not just list it.

Then you will be a WINNER, too!

Mary Ann Daniell is a licensed Texas Realtor and a
Military Relocation Specialist who can help you relocate to anywhere in the world with Coldwell Banker's vast network of relocation experts.

Credit Crisis! Falling Prices!! Foreclosures!! Why in the world are you even thinking about buying a house right now when you relocate to Fort Hood?

Maybe because you are sly like a fox?

Credit Crisis? This is a GOOD thing for you if you are buying right now. It means that you can be confident that your lender is going to be CONSERVATIVE and won't shoehorn you into some kind of weird subprime loan to get you into a home. If you get turned down for a loan, that is GOOD. It means you are NOT ready to buy and should encourage you to work on your credit and prepare yourself to be a home owner.

Falling Prices? First quarter Killeen Fort Hood home sales showed an average price increase of $3000 over the same period as last year. Appreciation is happening in our market, not in all price ranges, but it is evident that prices have been increasing.

Foreclosures? Yes, there are more foreclosures in the Fort Hood real estate market right now, but reference back to the Credit Crisis above. This is fallout from the wild lending that went on two to three years ago. Risky buyers got risky loans. These buyers should have NEVER bought a home. They were not ready for home ownership. And they didn't understand the loan documents they were signing. The documents that clearly explained to them that their low interest rate was only good for a couple of years, and then would explode into a much higher (and unaffordable) interest rate and payment after that. Once the payments went up (per their loan) these risky home buyers were unable to make the larger payment and had to let the house go. Since their credit still wasn't good, no lender would approve them for a new loan to refinance the house at a lower fixed rate. They were risky buyers to begin with and still didn't work on their credit after they bought the house in order to be prepared to refinance when their adjustable rate mortgage reached the date the interest rate was scheduled to go up.

So what does all this mean for you?

It means you might find that you have an opportunity to buy a home at Fort Hood, so don't fear the credit crisis, or falling prices or foreclosures. If you have good credit, good employment history, and you make sure to get a fixed rate loan, you are in great shape to buy when you get to Central Texas.

There has probably never been a better choice of real estate to choose from in Killeen, Harker Heights and Copperas Cove than there is right now, also. Beautiful resale homes are on the market this spring, as is a large inventory of brand new homes. So whichever type of home appeals to you, go out there and buy your new home at Fort Hood feeling confident that the time is right!

Part of my job as a realtor at Fort Hood is to help buyers find financing for their new homes. And since we are in a military market, we often discuss financing that Fort Hood real estate purhase with a VA Loan.

One of the best benefits of the VA Guaranteed Home Loan is that you can purchase your home with no money down. Most buyers know this about the loan program, but there's also plenty of mis- information floating around out there, too.

Sometimes it feels like its harder to get the facts about VA loans than it is to get a security clearance!

Some common misconceptions buyers often bring up during our search for financing:

VA Loan Myths

• I have to apply to VA for my VA loan
• I am already APPROVED for a VA loan since I am active duty military
• VA Loans can take 90 days to close
• I must have my Certificate of Eligibility in hand
• VA Inspects the home for defects before I buy the house

Here's a quick clarification of these points about VA loans:

I have to apply to VA for a VA Loan - Not True!

You apply for a VA loan through a lender who is approved by VA to originate and underwrite VA loans. You are free to pick your own lender. VA does NOT make loans. They only guarantee the loan in case you default on your payments. They will repay 25% of your loan to your lender if you go into foreclosure.

I am already APPROVED for a VA Loan - Not True!

Just because you are eligible for a VA loan does not, unfortunately, mean you will be APPROVED for a VA loan. You must meet the lender's credit requirements and the debt to income ratios as determined by VA. Keep your credit as clean as possible if you are thinking of buying a home in the future! Also, if one lender turns you down, talk to another one. Some are more conservative than others. The term VA Guaranteed Loan means that VA guarantees that the lender will be reimbursed part of your loan funds if you default on your loan.

VA Loans can take 90 Days to Close - Not True!

In the local Fort Hood market, we are blessed with highly experienced lenders who can close your VA guaranteed home loan in two - three weeks. Lenders with less experience with VA loans will often take 45-60 days to close a VA loan. You are always free to use any lender you desire, but sellers will often not accept offers from buyers using lenders outside the area because of the possibility of delays in closing.

I have to have my Certificate of Eligibility in hand before I can look for a house or apply for a loan - Not True!

Lenders can request your certificate through an automated system if you do not have your certificate yet. Don't let the lack of your certificate stand in the way of applying for a home loan or looking for a new home. The certificate is the document that shows you are entitled to the VA loan benefit. It can be ordered any time after you find your new home here in Killeen, Copperas Cove or Harker Heights.

VA Inspects the Home I Buy to be Sure it is Free of Defects - Not True

VA does not inspect your Fort Hood home in detail. Your lender contracts with a VA approved appraiser who will look over the property to determine a value for the home. This is not a home inspection. If you would like an inspection of the systems of the home, contact a licensed home inspector! (Always a good idea!)

So there you go! If you have any other questions about VA loans, let me know and I'll add them to this list! Now, go and inform your friends about VA loans. I think they have a need to know!

For more authoritative information about VA loans, take a look at the VA Website.

email anytime if you need help buying a home or selling Fort Hood Real Estate in the Killeen Fort Hood area!

And just what ARE points?

Sounds mysterious, doesn't it?

Boiling this down to the simplest explanation, paying points (also called discount points) means you are paying a lump sum of interest up front at the beginning of your loan to get a lower interest rate for the full term of your loan. That's all it is. Money out of your pocket into your lender's pocket,

Should you pay points when buying a home at Fort Hood?

It depends on how long you are keeping the home. Here's an example:

If you pay $1,000 to get a lower interest rate, and the lower rate saves you $20 a month:

$1,000 divided by $20 equals 50 months

You must own the home for 50 months to recoup what you paid in points. After the 50^th month, you will finally be saving $20 a month through the term of your loan.

Since most homebuyers at Fort Hood are active duty military, paying points is usually not the best course of action. There's no guarantee that you'll be here long enough to reap any benefit from buying down your interest rate.

So keep your money in the bank and feel confident you made the right decision regarding paying points when you buy your home at Fort Hood. You can use that money to make updates and improvements to your new home that will pay off well when it's time to sell.

If you do want to consider paying points, ask your lender to compute the savings and how long it will take for you to recover the cost of the lower interest rate.

To see more about how points affect mortgage payments, check out this Points Calculator.

Mary Ann Daniell is a Licensed Texas Realtor serving the Killeen Fort Hood real estate market. Call or email anytime if you need help buying or selling a home, or if you just have questions about what to expect for housing when you arrive at Fort Hood.