Quick tips to prepare your home ready for Trick-or-Treaterlo

It won’t be long before witches and devils are ringing your doorbell. No, your in-laws aren’t coming to visit…it’s trick-or-treating season! Halloween is one of the most fun times to be a homeowner. It’s a time to put up fun, spooky decor and treat your youngest neighbors with, well…. treats!

Follow these steps to prepare your home for trick-or-treaters:

1.  LIGHT UP PATHWAYS

Even if trick-or-treating starts early in your neighborhood, it’ll be dark by the time it ends. Make sure your pathways are well lit so you don’t have any little ghouls or goblins tripping and falling.

2.  MAKE SURE DECORATIONS ARE SAFE

If you have decorations that plug in, make sure electrical cords aren’t crossing any pathways. Replace candles that you might have in jack-o’-lanterns or paper luminaries with LED tea lights. This way, if a little ghost or the howling October wind knocks one over, you need not worry about a fire.

3.  PICK UP THE YARD

Even with well-lit pathways leading trick-or-treaters to your door, there are sure to be a few little devils that are so excited for treats that they run right through the yard. So make sure you pick up any fallen limbs or sticks that could be a tripping hazard. And if you have a dog that may have dropped a few treats of his own in the yard, pick those up too.

4.  PUT THE DOG IN A SAFE PLACE

Speaking of the family dog, it’s best to put him inside the house and away from the front door during trick-or-treating hours. We know you want to show off that adorable bumblebee costume he’s wearing, but some trick-or-treaters may find Fido just a little too scary. And while we’re sure your dog is no scaredy cat, he may prefer to stay inside and away from all the excitement and scary costumes.

5.  CHOOSE YOUR TREATS WISELY

Even if you and the neighbors know each other well, store bought treats are still the way to go. It just makes everyone feel safer. With the prevalence of food allergies these days, it would be extra neighborly of you to have a few non-food treats on hand. Things like pencils, spider rings, bubbles, or stickers are fun non-food treats.

THE Faithfindshomes WOULD LIKE TO WISH EVERYONE A VERY HAPPY AND VERY SAFE HALLOWEEN!

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Don’t Spook Buyers with a House That Looks Haunted

www.Faithfindshomes.com

In the fall market, home selling is right up there with pumpkin carving, hay rides and trick-or-treating. The change of season ushers in a number of well-intentioned buyers (and fewer Looky-Lous) seeking the services of a real estate professional. Sellers, Halloween is your holiday!

With the most terrifying time of year fast approaching, the last thing you want to do is spook buyers with a home that looks like the House on Haunted Hill or something out of a ghost town. Before putting your home on the market, rid your digs of these horrifying features.

Neglected yard. Ever see someone mowing the lawn of a haunted house? Didn’t think so. Overgrown greenery (or brown-ery) is a sure sign of an abandoned abode. Maintain your landscaping and clear your yard of leaves before a showing.

Smashed windows. Unlike haunted houses, you probably don’t have razor-like shards of glass protruding from the windows of your home. But are they drafty? Use weatherstripping or caulk to seal cracks, or consider replacing them altogether.

Foul odors. Your house (hopefully!) isn’t home to anything decomposing, but you may be unaware of the distinct smells emanating from your garbage can. Remove trash and eliminate musty, stale air by opening the windows.

Peeling paint. Dated wallpaper and worn-out paint are staples in haunted houses. If your wall treatment is chipped, cracked or peeling, it’s time for an update. Scrub your walls, patch any holes and roll on a fresh coat of paint in a ghostly neutral shade.

Creaky floors. Ghouls creep through haunted homes, making the floors creak and sending panicked visitors running out the door. Ensure the walkthrough is painless by repairing unwelcome sounds with the help of a licensed handyman.

Cobwebs. Nothing screams haunted more than dust, grime and filth. Creepy-crawlers seem to love dirt, too, and pests are a serious turn-off for anyone, buyer or not. If you suspect a problem, call up the Orkin man to have it rectified immediately.

Junk piles. Is it just me, or are the spirits possessing haunted homes hoarders, too? Add a sense of spaciousness to your home by de-cluttering every nook and cranny, minimizing collections on shelves, and keeping counter and tabletops clear.

Gloomy rooms. Haunted houses are cloaked in darkness because, well, no one paid the electric bill. Avoid triggering childhood fears of the Boogeyman by lighting up dark walkways, dim rooms and shadowy corners.

If your thinking about selling your home this Fall call Faith today, for your free house evaluation . http://homeexpertfaith.realtor/ 

5 Thing to Prepare Your Open House

When it’s time for an open house of course you need to clean your house, but there’s a few not so obvious things you need to take care of before the crowds come. Hiding these few things from view will make your home more inviting and desirable to potential buyers so someone fall in love with the property when they come to visit.

Even if you don’t stage your home, be sure to hide these 5 things before potential buyers start showing up.

1. Your Pet

Dogs and other pets can be rowdy, messy distracting at an open house. Even if you have a friendly family pet, take them to a friend’s house or out with you during the open house. Some buyers might be allergic to pet hair or even scared of animals.

And most importantly hide their SMELL from your home. When you clean, don’t forget to deodorize. The best way to ensure there are no unpleasant lingering smells is with scented candles or plugins. Don’t choose something too overpowering, just something light and pleasant.

2. Family photos

Buyers want to see their family living in the house, not yours. Taking down family photos depersonalizes the home, creating a neutral space. Don’t worry, this is just temporary. You can bring out the full timeline of school photos later.

Some people suggest leaving just one or two family photos up as a way of staging your home. This is like the stock photos of families in new picture frames – just a touch of personality but not too intrusive.

3. Clutter

It’s important to not only clean your home but de-clutter it. Get rid of clunky design pieces, papers and magnets on your refrigerator, kids toys, and even unnecessary furniture. Keeping furniture and décor to a minimum will make your home look bigger which prospective buyers will love. Putting away area rugs as well, buyers want to see your floors and rugs break up the flow of your space making it look smaller.

The emptier you make your house, the more buyers will be able to imagine themselves filling the space.

4. Religious or political paraphernalia

–It’s not uncommon to have religious statues, wall hangings or pictures in the home and most sellers won’t think twice about leaving them up once it’s time to sell. However you could be unintentionally driving away potential buyers if they don’t share the same religious beliefs. Same goes for political posters or campaign pieces.

Sounds silly right? It is, yet we all know these are controversial topics of converstaion. The key is to neutralize your home, creating a canvas for the potential buyer to imagine themselves making their own.

5. Yourself!

Don’t hover, just put your real estate agent in charge and let them run the show. Although you want stay involved in your home sale, it’s important not to get too involved. Your presence can make potential buyers uncomfortable, making them feel like you’re looking over their shoulder. Buyers want to explore your home on your own, no pressure. When it comes time to for your open house, take the afternoon to run some errands or visit friends.

There’s plenty of tricks of the trade when it comes to selling a house, work with a real estate so you can learn them all.

If your thinking about selling your home Contact Faith today!

Things to Do Before Buying a House

Most articles focus on the financial nuts and bolts of the things you should have in order before you consider buying a home. You’ve got to have good credit. You’ve got to have a down payment. You’ve got to know the housing market. And so on.

Those aren’t the only important things to be thinking about:

1. Save a significant amount each month for at least two years

A mortgage payment requires financial discipline as well as enough money, period. Can you cover the mortgage? The insurance? The taxes? The constant expenses that go with homeownership?

Use a mortgage calculator to figure up what your monthly mortgage payment will be. Tack 50% on top of that for insurance, taxes, and other expenses. Subtract your current monthly rent payment from that.

If you can’t save that amount each month, then you’re not ready to buy a house of that size.

Take responsiblity now. See whether or not you actually can make it work in terms of your month-over-month finances. If you can’t do it now, then you won’t be able to do it then.

2. Sell off all of your stuff that you don’t use

The less stuff you have, the less space you need. The less space you need, the smaller house you need. The smaller house you need, the more likely it is that you’ll be able to afford that house.

Go through your closest. Pare down. Get rid of stuff that you don’t use.

If you sell off a lot of your stuff that you don’t use, you’ll not only realize you don’t need as much space as you thought you did, but you’ll also find that you suddenly have some cash in hand that can help you move towards actually owning a house.

Even better: the less stuff you have, the easier (and less costly) it is to move.

I’m not arguing on behalf of selling off stuff that has value to you. I only suggest that you go through your closets and cupboards and get rid of the stuff that you don’t use. It’s just sitting there taking up space, convincing you that you need more living space, when in fact it could be money in your pocket and freedom in your life.

3. Fix some stuff

If you’re a renter or you live at home, it’s easy enough to call a landlord or a parent when there’s a problem. “The toilet seems to be broken.” “There’s no hot water.” “Why won’t the dryer dry my clothes?” “There’s water flooding the basement.”

Here’s the catch: when those things happen in a house of your own, it’s up to you to fix it. If you can’t, you’re going to be shelling out fistfuls of cash to pay someone to do it.

When you’re living in such an environment, you’ve got a perfect opportunity to learn how to do such things with something of a safety net. When the toilet breaks, try to fix it yourself. Watch some YouTube videos on toilet repair. Identify what parts you need, find a good hardware store, and pick them up. Give the repair a serious attempt all by yourself.

If you can’t do it, then report the problem. Don’t just walk away, though – watch and learn from someone who can do it. Watch your landlord or the repairman. Try to figure out where you went wrong and how you can avoid it next time.

Even if you fail, you’ve learned some things. You’ve learned how to use tools. You’ve learned how to identify problems. You’ve learned what the equipment looks like. This will make solving future problems much simpler and much more cost-effective, especially when you’re living in your home and something goes wrong for the first time.

4. Figure out why you’re buying a home

There are lots of bad reasons and non-reasons to buy:
Don’t buy a home because that’s what you’ve been told you’re “supposed” to do.
Don’t buy a home because that’s what you think you’re “supposed” to do.
Don’t buy a home because you might get married and have kids someday and you need the space for this hypothetical future.
Don’t buy a home because you think it will lead you to some sort of idealized suburban life. A home won’t change who you are.
Don’t buy a home because you’re trying to “keep up” with someone in your life. It’ll make you fall further behind in the long run.

Buy a home because you it truly makes sense financially and you’re ready (and excited) to deal with the challenges of homeownership. Buy a home because it’s better for your housing dollar than the other options available to you.

Buy a home because it’s what you want and it’s what you can handle, not because it’s what others want.