Selling During An Emotional Time

While selling a home can come with its own set of sentimental feelings and mixed emotions, it is particularly challenging for most people when they must sell a home due to unfortunate circumstances beyond their control. Whether it be a divorce, death of a loved one, or any other emotionally difficult situation, there are a few key factors to keep in mind.

1. Give yourself grace. This is a challenging time and it’s okay to spend time gathering your thoughts and putting together the necessary paperwork you may need.

2. Do your research first. It’s important that those who have any interest/ownership (including any known  lienholders) in the home be identified. If there is an estate involved, we advise you to contact an attorney specializing in this area.

3. Please be aware that your real estate professional will need to visit the home in order to ascertain its current condition, any potential maintenance and/or repair issues that need to be addressed prior to selling, and the key features and amenities of the home. Our goal is to provide you with a realistic snapshot of the potential value of the home on the current market and changes that may increase that value.

4. Keep us in the loop. There may be a lot of moving pieces as you are selling your home and dealing with an emotional situation. Remember that we are here to help thus, if there is a change in circumstances or you have a new development, please keep all parties informed.

Although this may be an emotional and challenging time, surrounding yourself with experienced professionals who can take some of the burden and offer empathetic and insightful input can make all the difference.

3 Things They Never Told You About Owning A Home But Should Have

While TV shows and magazine articles spotlight the glamorous side of homeownership, some first time homebuyers may not realize that there are a few critical aspects of homeownership that people usually don’t discuss. We’ve listed some of the most frequent homeownership aspects that may surprise you.

1. Owning a home is not renting a home. While we know this is an obvious statement, it may feel strange the first time something comes up and you realize YOU are the management/property manager. Once you get the keys to your house and you own it, you cannot simply go back to the seller if something does not meet your expectations (barring an extremely narrow and rare set of issues). A home warranty and homeowner’s insurance are great tools however, it is essential that you understand that the unexpected can and does happen.

2. Every home requires maintenance, even new homes. While every homeowner would love to live in their home and never have to repair, maintain, or take care of household issues, that is not possible. The purpose of maintenance is to prevent larger and more expensive issues from surprising you and to help preserve the equity and physical condition of your home. While cleaning air ducts, servicing an HVAC, switching out smoke alarms, and the myriad of other potential home maintenance tasks may seem unnecessary, they are the key to taking care of one of the largest assets you may own. If you regularly wash your car and get oil changes to keep your car running, what are you doing to keep your property running smoothly?

3. Don’t forget that the mortgage may be monthly however, other home related costs are not. Once you close on your home and get the keys, it is natural that some bills that occur rather infrequently may slip your mind. There may be quarterly or yearly bills that you need to account for in your budget. Homeowners insurance, home warranties, and property taxes are a few of the bills that may not occur monthly. It’s critical that you understand if any of these bills are covered in your monthly mortgage payment through an escrow account or if you are responsible for paying them directly.

When you walk into homeownership armed with all the knowledge of what to expect, it makes homeownership that much more exciting.