Appealing to Autumn Home Buyers

For years, seasons and school calendars have dictated real estate markets. Many buyers search hard in the spring and early summer so they can find a house and close before the school year starts in September.

As a result, many sellers have held off listing their homes near the holidays and in the winter, favoring the warm spring months to showcase their landscaping and outdoor spaces.

These cycles worked well for decades because families were the most common buyers. But many of today’s buyers are young millennials or empty nesters. School schedules and seasons don’t typically dictate their home purchase time frame. These buyers are active in the fall and even into the winter months, including the holidays.

If you have a home to sell, fall is a great time to list it, despite conventional wisdom. With less competition than in the spring, it may even turn out to be better financially. Here’s how to appeal to the two types of home shoppers that are particularly active in the fall.

Marketing to millennials

For millennials, the market is always on. As long as their smartphone or tablet is within reach, they are active buyers.

Fully connected and attached, millennials will look at listings and analyze data 24/7. Sellers must keep their home in tip-top shape and showing-ready at all times.

Don’t expect millennial buyers to wait around for an open house. Many prefer to see homes they like on their timeframe. Be ready to accommodate them.

Have great listing photos online the minute the home hits the market. Nothing is more frustrating to young buyers than to be notified via text or email about a property in an awesome location, only to find that the listing doesn’t include any photos.

Millennials are visual. Spend extra time on the photo shoot, and make sure your agent hires a professional photographer. Good photos get your buyers in the door. Give them what they want.

Attracting empty nesters

Empty nesters tend to be more old school than millennials. They can be slower and more methodical about a purchase. Don’t rush them.

Many older buyers are looking to downsize, which means they either need to sell their existing home before they buy, or they will need to take a loan against their current home to purchase. Juggling finances means they come to the table with an incredible amount of stress. Give them time to process decisions.

Empty nesters may not be as responsive as other buyers, and may not communicate quickly via text, or even check email during off hours. If possible, accommodate their response times. If they feel rushed or under the gun, no matter how hot your home or how competitive the market, they will walk away.

Don’t forget, someone with five or six decades of life experience comes to the table more informed. Having been through a couple of financial and housing crises, they may be more cautious as they approach retirement and life on a fixed income.

The best salesperson knows and understands his or her buyers. The same holds true for real estate sales. As a seller, prepare to meet a buyer that may be very different from you. Plan in advance to give them what they want. Once you have a buyer on board, learn as much as you can about who they are, and work with them. What works for some buyers may not work for others.

STORY / BY BRENDON DESIMONE

Millennials: 5 Reasons to Make a Condo Your First Home

Many American millennials choose renting over buying, but with rental costs high, it may be time to reassess if it’s really worth delaying homeownership much longer.

“Rents have grown at roughly twice the pace of wages” since 2000, according to Zillow research. The same report notes home buyer benefits such as “mortgage interest rates near historic lows and home values that remain below their pre-recession peaks in most areas.”

And while you may doubt your ability to afford a house of your own, chances are if you’re making at least an entry-level salary and have decent credit, a condo isn’t outside your grasp. An affordability calculator can help you determine the condo price you can afford.

Committing to a place can be nerve-racking, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are five reasons why you may want to invest in a condo sooner rather than later.

You can probably still live in your favorite neighborhood

It tends to be more manageable to afford living in your city’s most popular neighborhoods if you buy a condo instead of a single-family home. In downtown areas or college neighborhoods, condos can be a nice alternative to high-priced single-family homes.

You’ll save money

Chances are you’re actually paying more in rent right now than you would pay for a mortgage and homeowners association (HOA) fees combined. Sure, your future condo will likely be a bit smaller than a single-family home, but your monthly payments will be smaller, too. (Less space to heat and cool means lower utility bills.)

And generally, you’ll pay less on maintenance and upkeep with owning a condo than if you purchased a house. Of course, you’ll want to factor HOA fees into your mortgage payments, but HOAs usually cover external repairs, some recreational amenities, and sometimes even water.

You’ll save time

With condo living, you’ll probably have access to grassy areas on the property to host a cookout and walk Fido — without having to spend your weekends mowing grass and trimming hedges.

And living on a community property means you won’t have to deal with shoveling snow, either. Another perk? Any external issues should be covered by your HOA, so you probably won’t have many weekend maintenance projects.

You’ll make new friends

While owning a house has its appeal, chances are the most affordable options are single-family homes in the suburbs — likely a bit of a drive from your favorite urban hangouts. But if you live near a university or in an urban area, your condo neighbors will likely include many young professionals, grad students, and young families.

The condo complex’s management team will probably throw community events periodically as well, so meeting new friends is almost a given.

You’ll have a solid future investment

If you intend to live in your condo for just a few years, check with the HOA to see if you’re allowed to rent out your place. Some HOAs don’t allow this, so you’ll want to get all the details before ever putting down an offer. If the HOA allows you to rent out your future condo, then once you grow out of your sweet little home you can rent it out and save that extra cash.

If you’re curious about your possible condo options, start browsing and check out a few this weekend. Renting may be convenient, but the advantages of having a condo of your own likely outweigh any benefits you gain as a renter.

STORY / BY SARAH PIKE

5 Biggest Home-Buying Fears (and How to Face Them)

Buyers’ biggest real estate fears sometimes hold them back from buying — not just around Halloween, but throughout the year. The scary thing is, these fears are sometimes well-founded.

Here are some of the issues that commonly keep home buyers awake at night, and what you can do about them.

“The house has a cracked foundation, dry rot, or a leaky roof”

Renovating, fixing and repairing are on few buyers’ wish lists. When faced with the home of their dreams, they fear the inspection. What if there is dry rot, or a roof or foundation issue?

Most homes will need routine maintenance, and a good inspector will point this out. But it’s important not to let your fears get the best of you. Much of what the inspector comes up with during the inspection is for informational purposes only. Every problem does not need to be repaired right away.

The inspector’s job is to point out every issue he sees in the house. Ask him to explain how bad the issue is, and how long it can go before needing replacement or repair.

If an issue arises that needs immediate attention, go back to the seller and see if they will repair or credit you back to repair after you close.

“I’ll lose my deposit”

Buyers typically put in an earnest money deposit with a signed contract. Typically, this is 3 percent of the purchase price. The seller does not cash the check. Instead, the money sits in an escrow account and can’t be released without both parties’ signatures.

It’s nearly impossible for a buyer to lose their deposit. If you have an inspection, disclosure review or loan contingencies, work closely with your real estate agent to mark those timeframes.

If you need to remove these contingencies in writing, plan to firm things up a day in advance. If you are in negotiations around a contingency date, be sure to extend the contingency date to keep yourself under contract.

“I’ll lose the house”

If you find the home of your dreams, you may have to move fast. Particularly in competitive markets, many homes sell before the first open house to quick acting and super-motivated buyers.

If you see a new listing hit the market, be sure to let your agent know right away. Try to make an appointment to see the home as soon as possible.

Also, find out immediately how the seller’s agent plans to handle any offers received. Sometimes they will take the first offer, especially if it’s a good one. More often than not, the seller and the agent will have an offer date to review offers or ask for best and final offers by a certain day.

If you are travelling or busy with work, be sure not to miss out on your dream home. Be in constant contact with your agent, and flag potential homes that look like a great fit.

“My agent doesn’t have my best interest in mind”

Great agents are always on the prowl for new properties, checking out the market and protecting your best interest at all times.

Some buyers fear that their agent might have different motivations, or that they aren’t on the same page. If you have doubts, change agents. Never settle or take any random agent that comes along as your buyer’s agent.

You and your agent should be committed to each other. Sit down before you begin the process and speak to your agent, much like a job interview. And if you have any doubts about your agent’s abilities or motivations, find another agent.

“We’ll never find a house in time for…”

A real estate purchase should never be rushed. If you have a firm deadline creeping up, make a plan B.

For example, many buyers face an expiring lease or a school application deadline. If you are three months out from a deadline and you haven’t found a house, take the pressure off by putting an alternate plan in place.

Home buying is an expensive and complicated transaction. You don’t want to rush into a purchase and make a mistake. It’s much easier and safer to get another rental or find a temporary address or try some out-of-the-box idea. It may be a little inconvenient, but you can handle it.

If something scares you about a home, the buying process, or a third-party involved in the sale, voice your concerns. Listen to your voice of reason, and stick with your gut.

Many home buyers’ initial fears will fall by the wayside as the buyer gets into the market. Take it slow, and don’t be afraid to take a step back to allow time and space to think things through. It’s better to take your time than to let buying your dream home become a nightmare.

STORY / BY BRENDON DESIMONE

Fall Decorating Ideas for an Outdoor Dinner Party

We just love designer Erin Souder’s fall decorating ideas– they’re beautiful and sophisticated, yet are so practical and easy to pull off. She’s the creative mind behind House of Earnest, and this lovely outdoor dinner party setting is her contribution to our Halloween and Harvest Style Challenge.

We sent mystery boxes of Home Depot fall decor items to some of our favorite DIY and design bloggers to see what amazing decorating ideas they’d come up with.

Erin not only styled the dining table beautifully, she actually made the table for this outdoor setting. Add a fun party photo booth, and hang some outdoor lamps, and you’re ready to celebrate fall in style.

Although most of our yard is flat open field, we have the most perfect grove of just a few trees with a shaded clearing in the center. Throughout the years, I’ve always thought that would be an amazing spot for an outdoor dinner party. When it came to the challenge of styling a harvest dining room, I couldn’t for the life of me image doing it indoors, and it looked like the perfect time to take advantage of that little grove.

I was sent boxes of décor from glittery wreaths to gourds to faux pumpkins and scarecrows, but I needed a foundation for all of the décor items. Since I wanted the party to feel rustic and harvest driven, but still a bit formal, I wanted to use a long, wooden table. Long harvest tables that you’d buy usually aren’t suited for outdoor use (unless they come with a crazy high pricetag), so I decided that it would be a fabulous opportunity to make a table out of common materials from The Home Depot.

I used cedar fence boards which are just under $3 each and pre-turned table legs to make a quick and easy table. The cedar was great for outdoor use and allowed the table to be light! Pre-drilled legs screw on and off for easy table storage as well. Take a look at the DIY harvest table tutorial on my blog.

After I got the table built, the dinner decorating was in full swing! For the table décor, a runner made of scrap fabric worked as a wonderful base while piles of pumpkins made for am impactful centerpiece.

Since I wanted the beauty of the trees to take center stage, the bright-colored pumpkins and gourds were painted asubtle green and pure white with a quick coat of spray paint.

I laid out the plates first to get a good idea of how much space I had to work with for the centerpiece. Small wooden crates placed on a diagonal made room for plates and also gave the pumpkin centerpiece some varying height.

More scrap plaid fabric was used as napkins with a single white painted gourd placed on each plate as a harvest-themed place card holder. When doing a dinner party, I always love to assign seats so that the flow is easy when people go to take their seats.

To illuminate the dinner, I hung a set of six solar lanterns from the trees above with jute twine. Since the whole set of lanterns is just under $50, this offers a fabulously inexpensive and electricity free way to light up your party.

While the final touches are being put on the food prep, guests can help themselves to drinks and a trip to the photobooth!

The photo booth creation is super quick and just involves a canvas dropcloth stapled to two trees as the backdrop. Fall flowers, scarecrows, and more pumpkins are perfect accessories for the photos!

With all of the beauty of the set up, we shouldn’t forget about the food! A small table set to the side of the main table offers a spot to settle the menu items so that they’re out of the way, but still within reach.

With an easy outdoor table and customized décor, an outdoor dining party is as chic as any held indoors and the added ambiance from the surrounding fall foliage is priceless!

Article Posted By: Erin Souder

Why You Shouldn't Hate Your Homeowners Association Dues

By Shannon Ireland

If you buy a house in a planned development, a subdivision or a gated community, you’ll likely have to join a homeowners association (HOA). Which means you’ll be faced with the prospect of paying annual dues, whether you like it or not. Condo owners often face these fees, too.

No one expects you to be happy about these payments, especially when they often come due right after the holidays. And it’s true that the dues can be spent for seemingly trivial events such as neighborhood parties, and that management fees for the associations can be steep.

The HOA can make and enforce rules such as what colors houses can be painted, what types and sizes of pets are approved, whether holiday decorations are allowed on properties — even what types of mailboxes are allowed. And it can enforce these rules with fines and threats of foreclosures.

These associations say their rules and methods are necessary to keep property values up and maintain or increase resale values of the homes in the community. You might question that. But the fact of the matter is that HOA dues also can benefit you greatly, in ways that you can see and in ways that you might never think about.

Visible benefits from your dues

In addition to enforcing some degree of uniformity in your housing or condo development, the best-known function of homeowners associations is taking care of the community’s common areas. That includes landscaping — mowing the grass, planting and pruning trees, and taking care of flowers, lakes and clubhouses.

HOAs also operate swimming pools, gyms, and other amenities open to residents. Most also schedule regular pest control in common areas, and some set up garbage and other services.

Seems like these are pretty useful benefits, right? And there’s more to come.

Not-so-visible benefits

You can understand easily how you benefit from landscaping and swimming pools and gyms and the rest. But one of the real advantages of paying HOA dues comes when the association uses them for insurance for the condo or housing development. Why does a housing or condo development need insurance? We’re glad you asked.

Property insurance

This protection covers residents for any physical damage that happens to the common areas — particularly those clubhouses and other amenities mentioned earlier. Much like standard homeowners insurance, this coverage will help when there is damage from fire, wind, hail, and other covered perils.

This is particularly important in condo developments, because it also protects the buildings that house the units from the perils mentioned above. It’s up to the condo owner, however, to protect the contents of the condo.

What if the housing or condo development didn’t have any or adequate property insurance? Then the HOA would level special assessments against all the home or condo owners. Depending on the nature of the damage, that could result in you paying far more than your dues to make the development whole again.

Liability insurance

This is one of the most important parts of an HOA insurance policy, because it protects residents of a development if someone gets injured on common property. An injury could result in HOA members being sued, and legal costs and any award in the case could run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, possibly more.

Why is this your concern? Because, again, the HOA could levy special assessments to raise the money to pay for the case. And remember, you’d have no alternative but to pay the assessment — otherwise, your home could be in danger.

Directors and officers insurance

Again, if someone — say, another resident — sues the leaders of the HOA, you would face the wrath of the courts just as much as the directors and officers. And again, you could be subject to a special assessment.

Employee dishonesty insurance

This would replace your — and other residents’ — HOA dues in case an employee steals money from the association.

Give your dues their due, but …

The almost-bottom line: Your dues, especially the part of them that goes toward HOA insurance, protect you from the prospect of paying larger amounts. So the dues do perform a useful function.

But here’s the real bottom line: You shouldn’t have to pay any more than is necessary. That means you should take the initiative. Make sure the HOA is spending your money wisely. Is it soliciting bids for the landscaping business? Does it seek several quotes for the insurance coverage before committing to a provider?

In other words, don’t hate the fact that you have to pay HOA dues. But don’t let your association get away with wasting that money, either. Your dues perform an important function that could save you money in the long run.

STORY / BY HOMEINSURANCE.COM

Is It Time to Check Your Credit Report?

Chances are, you know how important your credit score is to your financial life. The higher your score, the lower your interest rates on loans, credit cards, and mortgages. Many landlords, and even a growing number of employers, are using credit information to screen applicants.

So, how’s your credit?

Despite the importance of credit, many people don’t know where they stand. Annually, only one in five consumers checks their credit report, which is a history of your track record of borrowing and repaying banks, credit card companies, and any other lenders.

Of those who do check their reports, many are often surprised by what they see. You may spot an old bill that you forgot to pay that has since gone into collection and is now showing up on your report.

These old bills — even smaller, so-called “nuisance” items such as overdue library fines, unpaid traffic violations, utility bills from past residences, or overlooked medical fees — can quickly become a big problem, lowering an otherwise clean credit score by as much as 100 points. Over the life of an average 30-year mortgage, this one “slip up” could cost you almost $9,000.

Keep it in check

Given that it takes so long to build good credit, it’s important that you be vigilant, and maintain that good credit.

It starts with checking your credit reports regularly. Go to AnnualCreditReport.com, where you can get one free credit report per year, with no strings attached.

Look over this report carefully as mistakes can — and do — occur. Be sure to look for credit card accounts that aren’t yours, and payments mistakenly recorded as late.

A big mistake could be costly, dragging down your score — which is a numerical value that measures your credit risk based on the information in your credit report — by 100 points or more.

Worse, an error could result in you being denied credit altogether. So if your find errors, notify your creditors or financial institutions and report them to the credit bureaus right away.

Get paid up

Delinquencies have the biggest negative impact on your score, because your payment history accounts for a whopping 35 percent of your credit score. Make sure you pay those off in full.

If you can’t, try negotiating a payment plan with your creditor or collections agency. Then, write to your credit agencies to make sure the settled account is reflected in your report. Old delinquencies, by law, will fall off your credit report after seven years.

STORY / BY VERA GIBBONS

Home Improvement Lesson of the Week

Fall is almost here — time to dive into a new school year. It’s also a great time to tackle that home improvement project you’ve been putting off all summer.

To help you do your homework, we’re sharing remodeling lessons from “Zillow Talk: The New Rules of Real Estate.” Here’s the latest tip:

It pays to get A’s, but C’s get degrees. The same can be said about renovations: A no-expense-spared remodel is nice while you get to enjoy it, but once you sell your home, you may be wishing you’d aimed a bit lower.

Data shows spending a ton on a renovation doesn’t necessarily increase your home’s resale value more than spending a lot less money.

Take mid-range windows, for example. A homeowner will recover, on average, $1.15 for every $1 spent. But for beautiful, double-glazed panes with stained hardwood interior trim, you’ll most likely break even at $1.01 for every $1 paid out of pocket.

No, that’s not a typo. Data shows bathrooms are where you’ll get the biggest bang for your buck if you’re trying to up your home’s resale value. But the key is function, not fashion. Here’s why:

The median cost for an upscale bathroom remodel is $12,000, with only $.87 recovered for every dollar spent. Meanwhile, a $3,000 mid-range bathroom typically returns about $1.71 per dollar invested.

In other words, turning a non-working or low-end bathroom into a functional space is a lot more valuable to prospective buyers than upgrading a room that’s already in good shape. Plus, a lot of home shoppers filter their search by a certain number of bathrooms. If you add another one, you may  increase your odds of getting on their radar.

Before you splurge on new countertops, ask yourself why you’re renovating your kitchen in the first place. If you’re fixing up your home to put it on the market, you’d be better off updating another room.

Kitchen renovations offer among the lowest return on investment of the home improvements studied in “Zillow Talk.”

In fact, both upscale and mid-range kitchen renovations recover about half the cost invested. In other words, whether you spend $5,000 or $20,000, you likely won’t recoup the the full cost.

There’s no shame in getting that man cave you’ve always wanted. Plus, basement remodels are cheaper upfront: They tend to cost around $10,000 while adding a second or third story can reach five times that amount.

But if you’re looking to increase your home’s resale value, adding another floor is where it’s at. Data shows a basement renovation typically returns $0.48 for every dollar spent, while a story addition gives you $1.02 per $1.00.

Moral of the story? Aim high on your next home addition if you want to come out ahead.

STORY / BY CATHERINE SHERMAN

3 Must-Have Organization Trends for Fall

Courtesy of Zillow Digs.

Just in time for back-to-school, Zillow Digs announced the top three closet organization trends for fall 2015 — and the three biggest fads to ditch. The results were published today in the Zillow Digs Home Trend Forecast, a one-of-a-kind report based on a survey of leading interior designers and an analysis of the most popular photos on Zillow Digs.

Looking to get organized this fall? Check out the season’s biggest closet trends below.

Top closet trends for 2015

1. Transparent storage materials. Transparent storage materials such as frosted doors and see-through drawers will gain popularity among homeowners and in big-box stores this year. “Closets, especially bedroom closets, are becoming more like clothing exhibitions to display purchases more as collections, making transparent materials key,” says Nina Magon, Zillow Digs designer and principal of Contour Interior Design.
   
   

   Courtesy of The Container Store

2. Split or his-and-hers finishes. Split closets with contrasting finishes and color palates will become all the rage, especially in bedrooms. Expect to see a rise in warm white paint tones and metallic accents contrasted with dark wood or leather finishes for a clean, but personalized, look.
   
   

   Courtesy of Marc-Michaels Interior Design
   
   

   Courtesy of Marc-Michael Interior Design.

3. Spotlight lighting. Predicted to become the go-to closet lighting solution this year, directed lighting or spotlights are both functional and stylish. Spotlights also help create the boutique-like ambiance that so many homeowners are gravitating to in their closet spaces.
   
   

   Courtesy of Zillow Digs.

Three fads to replace

1. Behind-door storage. Hiding everything behind a small closed door is a thing of the past. Expect to see homeowners experimenting with large sliding doors and curtains, or even expanding closets into a larger space to better showcase and find their favorite items.

2. Basic setups. Homeowners will want to go beyond the “closet in a box” arrangement and add their own custom touches or creative flair to organization spaces. Designers anticipate wire racking mixed with woven baskets or custom wood finishes to grow in popularity this year.

3. Dark closets. Closets with minimal lighting or heavy doors that keep natural light out are quickly headed out of style. With the rise of transparent materials, homeowners will want an accessible closet where they can easily find belongings and enjoy how they’re displayed.

STORY / BY ZILLOW TEAM