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Increase the Odds Of
Selling Your Home
Clean Out The Clutter
W hether you're getting ready to put your home on the market or you simply want to get a fresh start in 2007 -- clearing clutter is the answer.
Your REALTOR® will tell you when they show buyers a cluttered home, no matter how lovely it could be, prospective buyers just can't picture it and will usually pass or make an offer for much less than the seller thinks the home is worth. Yes, packaging matters. It matters when you're buying a product in a store and it matters when you're selling your home.
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Think about the way model homes are packaged for display. There's so little in them; yet they look just perfectly appealing. Of course, that's not how any of us really live. But it's how consumers
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Resolve To Protect Your Household's Bottom Line
You procrastinated again.
More than a week into the New Year and you still haven't made up your mind what you'll resolve to improve, change, accomplish or take a stab at.
A home owner advocacy group is here to help.
The American Homeowners Foundation (AHF), a consumer research and education group and it's lobbying arm, the American Homeowners Grassroots Alliance, have some pretty good ideas.
They think you should get your financial house in order.
Considering the housing boom has taken a turn and the economy isn't certain which way is up, making sure your home economy isn't headed for a recession is a good idea.
"We think you should look at things from the point of your economic best interests," said Bruce Hahn, president of the dual efforts. Here's how.
Resolve to:
Get your home finances in order.
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For Some, It's Time To
Appeal Property Tax Bills
Pay close attention to your next property tax bill.
Your home may be worth less than the local tax assessor or taxing agency believes and that could mean a smaller property tax bill.
However, unless the assessor takes it upon himself or herself to perform a wholesale property tax reduction for all properties -- rare, but possible -- it's up to you to appeal your tax bill.
"An overvalued, over assessed property is one of the most common and successful grounds for challenging your tax bill," says Eric Cunliffe, a senior vice president with RealEstate.com.
Generally, when home prices rise, so do property taxes which are tied to a home's value. Conversely, when home values fall, so do those same property taxes.
The problem is, many taxing agencies simply wait until the property is sold or the home owner performs a major value enhancing alteration before reassessing the property.
In the current market, however, the increased incidence of foreclosures would indicate, in some cases, there's not enough value in some properties to cover the mortgage. Some owners, wisely or not, are allowing their homes to go back to the bank.
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Color 2007 Red, Blue,
But Not White
The red and blue hues in this year's color forecasts have nothing to do with the color of ink on a growing number of residential real estate investments or the feeling caused by a bleeding bottom line.
They also have nothing to do with the attention to political colors assigned to states depending upon voters' left or right leaning.
Derived from thinking outside the Crayola box, the colors forecast as hot for 2007 are based, not on realty gloom or political partisanship, but on an eclectic blend of environmental reflection and global awareness.
Of course when they are slathered on your walls, dyed into the fabrics of your furnishings and used to accessorize your decor, colors can mean whatever you want them to.
Daily News and Advice
Read about the events shaping the Real Estate market today, find current interest rates, or browse the extensive library of advice and how-to articles written by some of the top experts in Real Estate. Updated each weekday.
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