* Making the home smells fresh and airy. Some will even go as far as baking cookies before a showing to give the house a pleasant aroma.
* Making sure the temperature is right. You want the potential buyer to feel comfortable.
* Making sure rooms are properly lit by adjusting the window treatments and turning on/off lights.
* Arranging pieces of furniture in an appealing manner.
* Putting vases of fresh flowers on tables, or a small fruit basket on the dinning table.
* Showcasing various fabrics, decors, and knickknacks.
* Arranging items on shelves, bookcases and fireplace mantels to draw attention to predetermined areas.

In general, it’s better to work with an agent than trying to sell the house on your own. It’s their full time job to find buyers and show your home. This is harder than it looks and it’s generally better to leave this to the pro. However, you have to remember you’re the boss and that we are dealing with a lot of money here. So don’t just pick any agent that comes along. Call several real estate offices and ask to talk to their top sales agents. Make sure you are comfortable working with the person and ask questions.

All the Best.

http://www.moolanomy.com

The National Association of Realtors said its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in June, rose 3.6 percent to 94.6. May’s index was revised upwards to 91.3 from 90.7, while the percentage increase was bumped up to 0.8 percent from 0.1 percent.Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast pending home sales to rise 0.6 percent in June. Pending sales were up 6.7 percent in June compared to the same period last year.

This is good news because we’re starting to get to a level that is well above the year-ago pace. The recovery from the intervening crash is now more than complete and the chances of moving into new higher territory are greater.

In some parts of California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida, 40 to 50 percent of home owners are now stuck with negative equities, according to industry estimates. In Las Vegas, 67 percent of owners are underwater.

Zillow.com estimates that nationwide, 22 percent of all owners have negative equity in their properties - many of them by more than five percent.

The newly-expanded “home affordable” program opens the door not only to lower monthly payments for seriously underwater borrowers, but also to the possibility of shorter loan pay-off terms to reduce mortgage principal debts much faster.

Here’s an example of how the expanded program could work:

Say your house is currently valued at $240,000, but your mortgage balance is $300,000.

You are underwater by 25 percent.

If your loan is owned or guaranteed by Fannie or Freddie, and you’re not behind on your payments, you should be eligible for a “home affordable” refi.

To take advantage, contact your loan servicer to see if your mortgage is owned by Freddie or Fannie. Or you can check online at either http://loanlookup.fanniemae.com/loanlookup/, or http://www.freddiemac.com/mymortgage.

Less expensive rent

Flexible lease terms

Mostly maintenance free

Much lower move in and good incentives (specials)

Often newer, nicer

Many more amenities pools, Jacuzzis, resident parties, etc

Lower utility bills

Pet friendly

Have 1 bedrooms

Apartment Negatives:

No yard

No garage

Neighbors on top of you, crezy/good

Harder to qualify

Not exactly a home

Duplex Positives:

Privacy

Yard

Garage

Storage

Duplex Negatives:

Expensive to move in…high deposits, usually no specials

Higher and usually more utility bills

Higher pet deposits

If not professionally managed there could be problems!

12 month leases usually required

0 amenities

“The outlook for home sales has improved somewhat in recent months, due largely to implementation of the first-time home buyer tax credit and gains in housing affordability,” said NAHB Chairman Joe Robson, a home builder from Tulsa, Okla. “However, looking forward, home builders are facing a few headwinds, including expiration of the tax credit at the end of November; a recent upturn in interest rates; and especially the continuing lack of credit for housing production loans.”

“As expected, the housing market continues to bump along trying to find a bottom,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “Meanwhile, builders are taking their cue from consumers, who remain uncertain about the economy and their own situation. Builders are also finding it difficult to complete a sale because customers cannot sell their existing homes.”

Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has been conducting for more than 20 years, the NAHB/Wells Fargo HMI gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as “good,” “fair” or “poor.” The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as “high to very high,” “average” or “low to very low.” Scores for each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.

Two out of three of the HMI’s component indexes were unchanged in June, including the index gauging current home sales, which held at 14, and the index gauging traffic of prospective buyers, which held at 13. Meanwhile, the index gauging expectations for the next six months declined a single point, to 26.

Regionally, the decline was entirely focused in the South, which is the nation’s largest housing market. There, the HMI declined 3 points to 15, while the rest of the regions posted gains. The Northeast had a one-point gain to 20, the Midwest, a one-point gain to 15, and the West, a two-point gain to 14.

article source: www.nahb.org

I just read an article forecasting more trouble for real estate in 2009. For many people, the question is whether 2009 will be any better for the real estate market? some markets were even approaching Pre-Bubble price levels as though that was an organic impossibility.

If you check you will see that the last two real estate booms in the 70’s and 80’s resulted in prices dropping back to pre-boom levels before they took off again. Unfortunately these big troubles will continue to drive prices down even further. Although some markets are in fact approaching pre-boom prices, the pendulum may not stop at mid point and may actually swing all the way past pre-boom prices. Have you ever known a pendulum to stop mid way through its swing?

I do believe certain parts of the country will see their markets stabilize a bit. Then again, my prediction is hardly any more accurate at this moment than any other REAL ESTATE GURUS! Check back in a year to see who was right! God better know what gonna happens in Real Estate market.

Get rid of clutter, pack it away and put it in storage not in the garage. You want your home to look as spacious as possible. . Give your home a clean clutter free look. Hide or get rid of torn/broken furniture and try to get everything cleaned. Add color to your home with freshly cut flowers. This steps looks so simple but taking these easy steps can go along way in getting sell your home for most money. few little changes can make a huge difference when it comes to selling your home.

You have to set the right price for your home by studying the local housing market. Easy step is to compare similar homes that are for sale and that have sold. Each home has something special to offer so take into account what yours are. Buyers these days are well informed and if your home is priced too high then you may not get the traffic you expected and your home will sit on the market for months. Use your time wisely.

Home staging is another critical step for selling your home. It doesn’t do you a lot of good to stage your home if you are going to take lousy photos of it. You need to get people to drive out and look at your house. The other homes that you are competing with might not be as nice, but if they look great on the Internet people are going to tour them before they tour yours. Home buyers shop for homes on the Internet. Many real estate listings on the Internet have poor quality photos and poor descriptions.When people are buying a new home it becomes an obsession to them. They spend most of their free time in front of their computer looking for the perfect home. You need to have good Internet exposure and include your professional photos and information about your home. The more information on your listing, the better.

Sellers want to get the most money out of the sale of their home as possible. Don’t miss out on thousands of dollars simply because your home was not prepared in advance. Either have your home staged by a professional or take the time to learn how to do it yourself.

ii. Can you afford it?
This is the first question you should ask yourself “can I afford a house or not”?. How secure is your income? If you lost job, could you make the house payments for 6 months while you looked for another?How much do you have to put as a down payment. With that amount how much will your loan payment be. Dont forget to add in the taxes and insurance and other fees like upkeep and if you are in for some new expenses.There are the more difficult questions to answer, but perhaps the most
important thing is to determine if it is a good time for you to buy a house. keep in mind that you need to have emergency funds for unexpected repair.

Make a list of these new expenses..

iii. Get approved for a loan
Get ready and ask local mortgage banker to approve your loan. If you qualify you can often get approval subject to certain conditions. This can be a strong statement when you are bidding against other would be buyers that want the same house as you.

iv. Use the Free listing website 101nicehouses.com to find out what prices that suits your criteria. Narrow in on a couple areas of interest. Once targeted, use your local Realtor if you want..or you can do it by yourself if you find a good real-estate tips online like (kellyshousingtips.com) Check how close is the house from bus stops, Restaurants,Malls, grocery shops, vegetable and fruit markets, air-ports,etc. as you never know when you require public means of transportation even if you do have a car and check out for the school nearby even if you are single may be after 5 more years you going to have a big family then might you need it.

v. Negotiation
Sometimes Home-Sellers(HSBO) want to get rid of their home faster and put their house on the market to see what their home value is ! In either case your offer strategy would be different so you have to learn what exectly is going on ! Use your agent to evaluate and help you in making an offer. Be cautious of your offer because if you offer low they may get offended and not accept counter offer.

Sometimes your monthly payment fo house is less than your rent. if you offer high you may not get a good bargain. Your agent should know the market conditions and can coach you in areas of offering price in relation to your affordability and market conditions.

Generally speaking, It isn’t quite that simple. For instance it takes a ton of savvy to massage a deal together and to keep it together. If you don’t have a MILLION then what else can you do? Well get ready for some hard work, searching for the right deal and the nice home. Get ready to have a whole slew of offers rejected, and maybe even laughed at..