May 2023: As we enter the final month of Spring and gear up for the hot Summer real estate season, we want to address some common questions from those who are planning to buy or sell a home soon.
Q: How should I prepare as a seller?
A: It is crucial to act quickly in this hot Spring market and prepare your home for sale. We will guide you through the steps of home preparation, which includes both cosmetic and technical aspects.
The cosmetic preparation involves enhancing your home’s curb appeal and emotional impact to attract buyers. We will go through your home with you to make suggestions based on your time, budget, and ability to work on this.
The technical preparation involves planning ahead to ensure a smooth transaction. Some condition and repair issues will delay a closing. Other conditions might make a home unsellable in the current challenging insurance market. For instance, for a buyer to find insurance coverage to buy your home, the insurance company will require a 4-point inspection report. These 4 points include roofing, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC (A/C) systems, which have different impacts on the insurability of a home. The most important one right now is the age and condition of the roof. If your roof is older than 15 years, it will be difficult to find insurance. If other than the age, the roof is in flawless condition and the inspector notates the roof has at least 3 more years left, the buyer may be able to get insurance through Citizens (nicknamed “insurance of last resort”). If the roof has problems such as missing or damaged shingles or general granular loss, even Citizens will decline. Without insurance, there is no sale. We will help you identify potential deal-breakers and brainstorm solutions.
In summary, we will help you understand what will make your home as attractive as it can be in the current market, where buyers are very picky. We will help you achieve the best outcome and maximum return on your investment.
Q: How should I prepare as a buyer?
A: If you are planning on getting a loan to buy a home, the most important thing is to work closely with a reputable loan officer to prepare for your loan application. Get all your financial records (such as tax returns) ready. Clean up your credit report, and correct any weaknesses or mistakes discovered. Do not make large purchases that would increase your debt. This way, you can be in the best position when you are ready to buy a house. Prepared buyers who already submitted financial documents to the loan officers can be conditionally approved before even finding the right home! This makes their offers very attractive to sellers.
We will help you define what you are looking for. We will work together to establish the location, type of property, features, and amenities within your price range. It’s always fun to look at many listings online, but you should work towards narrowing down your search to become more and more focused. If you have a few months before you will buy, we can set up a type of MLS search where you can see the status changes of listings, the price changes, when they go pending, or back on the market. You will see when they close, and at what final sale price relative to the asking price. After watching this for a while. You will develop a sense of the market temperature of your target area. This will help you make the right decision when it’s time to buy.
Finally, plan ahead regarding your current housing situation. If you are renting, find out if there is flexibility between the end of your lease and the closing of your new home. You may want to buy before your lease ends. You can try to secure a month-to-month arrangement after your lease ends. Or you can secure temporary housing arrangements during any gap.
Let us know your plans. We will walk you through what you need to do.
I’ll stop here. Enjoy your month of May, and take care!
~Yien and Alysa Yao
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