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4 Ways to Improve Your Curb Appeal

January 11, 2019 by George Duarte

4 Ways to Improve Your Curb Appeal You have about five minutes to impress (or not) prospective buyers at a showing. For curb appeal, you get about five seconds for buyers to decide whether they want to go inside.

Here are four tips to help you get the wow factor from your home’s street-facing views.

Update Entryway Hardware

A wall-mounted mailbox, chic house numbers and a pretty porch light add interest to your entryway. However, dated and dinged hardware impress no one. In a perfect world, all your hardware matches in style, color and finish. Of course, it should also tie-in to the style of your house. Brushed nickel house numbers look fabulous on a modern home but might clash with your Victorian-style house.

Splash On The Color

A gallon of high-quality paint costs about $25 and should cover the front door, trim and shutters. This simple upgrade gives the whole property a fresh look. Of course, if the street-facing side of your home has peeling or faded paint, you’ll have to paint that too. If you end up painting the facade, it’s best to do the entire house at the same time to maintain color conformity.

Plant Power

A walkway trimmed in plants and flowers creates an inviting look. You can buy pre-planted greenery at your local home and garden center for an easy makeover of your walkway. For a less labor-intensive effect, install window boxes to add color and perk up your home’s exterior. Be careful to maintain them, since dying plants don’t increase curb appeal.

Create An Outdoor Living Space

If you have plenty of space on your patio or porch, use it to create a comfortable seating area. An outdoor rug, loveseat, chair and small table give buyers the idea that they could relax and entertain in this space. Colorful cushions in outdoor fabrics provide durable color and long-lasting wear the new owners can also enjoy. Make sure existing furniture is clean and maintained since moldy cushions and broken lawn chairs are not the upscale look you’re going for.

The main point of curb appeal is to attract prospective buyers who can’t resist the charm of your home. This makes it far more likely they’ll like what the see on the inside.

Whether you are interested in buying a new home or refinancing your current property, your trusted home mortgage professional is available to help.

What Happens After Your Offer Is Accepted?

January 9, 2019 by George Duarte

What Happens After Your Offer Is Accepted When you make an offer on a home, you wait anxiously to see if it will be accepted. Sometimes you’re lucky enough to hear back within hours. Other times you could wait days or even weeks.

But once you get that good news that your offer has been accepted, what happens next? It’s a common question, and one that your real estate agent can help you with. In general though, here’s what you can expect.

There’s A Home Inspection

A home inspection needs to be conducted in order to assess the condition of the home for financing needs. This is a stage where some issues might come up that require negotiation. If serious problems are reported on the home inspection report, you could try to negotiate a lower price with the seller, but they don’t have to agree to that.

There’s A Lender Home Appraisal

A lender appraisal will also have to be done. This is when the lender asks a third party to come out and assess the financial value of the home. If the appraisal comes out well, you could get approved for the selling price. But if the appraisal comes out lower than the selling price, you could have a hard time getting a mortgage unless the seller is willing to come down in price.

You’ll Go To The Closing

Now’s the time to get your financing finished up. If you’ve been pre-approved, that’s great. But your pre-approval may only be conditional. That is, it may be contingent on your financial situation to be completely in order. The full approval process may unveil something that needs to be corrected before you actually get final documents for the home purchase.

Once the documents are issued, you will go to the loan closing to sign the documents. This usually happens with a third party closing agent or escrow company that ensure everything is in order.

The final word is that a lot can happen between having your offer accepted and actually getting the keys to your new home. That’s why it’s absolutely essential to work with a trusted home mortgage professional and a licensed real estate agent when buying a new home. They’ll be able to navigate you through any of the rough spots that happen along the way. And while there are things that can go wrong, chances are great that eventually you’ll be able to happily call yourself a homeowner!

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