The Haunted House

With Halloween fast approaching, most neighborhoods are a buzz of zombies, witches, superheros, and foxes?! As my husband and I took a short getaway in Kennebunkport, Maine I admired the homes that were decorated for the holiday and wondered with such old homes, if any were haunted?

The popular TV show American Horror Story's first season titled "Murder House" featured a Realtor attempting to sell a home that was overly haunted. And a recent episode of Long Island Medium featured a family worried about a ghost of a young child who died in the home. Buyers have a right to be concerned about all potential problems with a property, ghosts and murder history included! However, in the State of Maine, a seller is only obligated to disclose "material facts". This means things pertaining to the property's structure and land that is a known fact affecting the property, i.e. cracked foundation, leak in the roof, buried storage tank, etc. However, if a buyer is represented by a Realtor, and the Realtor is made aware of a murder or haunting, the buyer's agent should inform him of the additional knowledge regarding the property.

So, is it possible you could buy a home and not know whether the property is haunted? Yes. Could the seller know of the loss of life in a property and not disclose? Yes. If this concerns you, do your research, ask neighbors, google the address, and maybe hire a paranormal investigator. And if you are the seller worried about being "haunted" by not disclosing information you have on the property, disclose, disclose, disclose!

Safe trick or treating to all and enjoy the holiday!

Taking the Keys!

So you've finally made it through the contract process and you're about to sign over your first born (kidding!)
What are your final steps?

Start calling!  You'll need to get ahold of your power company to give them your contact information and to start your account for the day after closing. Public utilities? You'll need to call them as well to get your account set-up - otherwise you could be without water in your new home! Planning to have cable? You should call them as soon as possible to get installation scheduled.

If you've arranged for fuel to be pro-rated, you'll need to figure out how much you need to pay the former homeowner for the remaining fuel in the tank. Your agent should be able to help you determine this amount, but you can always call the company that last serviced it to get an estimate.

After you've done all that, just stretch out those fingers and sign away - you'll be unpacking and settling in to your home in no time!

Final Walk-Through

One of the last steps before closing is the final walk-through. Sellers need to make sure all personal items are no longer at the property and everything is generally in the same condition it was in when the buyers made their offer. The contract states:

"Said premises shall then be broom clean, free of all possessions and debris, and in substantially the same condition as at present, expecting reasonable use and wear."

While it is always a bonus for a buyer to find a house more than broom swept and free or previous home owner dirt, it is not explicitly agreed upon in the contract. If you're a buyer with a fear of germs, consider hiring a cleaner for the day after closing! However, all items (unless agreed upon in the contract or throughout the transaction) must be removed so at the closing table keys can be transferred and the new homeowners can begin the moving process right away.

Megan has completed many many walk-throughs in her career and she's seen it all from immaculate homes to ones with lots of "treasures" still remaining. As a buyer, never skip the walk-through, even if the home was already vacant - faucets could have begun leaking, vandalism could have occurred, or perhaps the roof fell in! All extreme scenarios aside, as a seller and as a buyer, this last step should be a pleasant one that leads to a smooth closing!

Appraisals

The next (and close to final) step in the process for a seller is the appraisal. In the State of Maine the appraisal process is quite regulated and consequently pretty standard across the board. A buyer's lender will hire an appraiser to visit the property to make sure the amount being mortgaged is equivalent or below the current value of the home. If the loan amount for the buyer is $250,000, the house must be worth at least $250,000. As a seller, you should already have a pretty good idea of your home's worth from your initial meeting with your agent.  The agent would have given you his/her opinion of the home's value based upon other similar homes that have sold in the past 6 months - the comps. Essentially, an appraiser will do the same, so it is merely your job to make sure the home shows well for the appraisers viewing.

It can take some time for an appraiser to get the appraisal back to the buyers, so patience is a virtue for this step! Once the appraisal is in, most sellers can be confident the transaction will close. So... start packing!

At our house the appraisal came in within just a few days, so the wait was not as torturous. The value was adequate, and so the packing began! Fortunately, the buyers had given us quite a bit of time, so room by room we go!

Home Inspections from the Selling Side

During your negotiation stage, buyers will inform sellers of the inspections they would like to conduct and how long they'd like to have to do so. This period of time is essentially a buyer beware option - buyers can hire professionals to take a closer look at the property and if there is anything they find unsatisfactory, they are free to end the contract. Consequently, the fewer inspections a buyer plans to conduct (and in the shortest amount of time), the better. In the sale of our home, the buyers took the right to do a general building, septic, and water inspection.

After the inspections are conducted, the buyers can decide to continue with the purchase, renegotiate and ask for some items to be fixed, or to terminate the agreement. In our instance, the buyers asked for a few things and we agreed to the items we felt necessary (mainly with the water system).

From a seller's prospective, preparing for inspections is very important. This is most likely only the second time a buyer has been back to your property. You want the house to be in the same condition as the first time they fell in love. It's also important to take a look at your property from an inspector's view. Is anything leaking? Are there missing or broken screens? Are there opportunities for quick repair to the roof, siding or outbuildings? Chipped paint? Taking care of these minor things prior to an inspection can alleviate buyers' perception of whether their inspection went poorly or not. And remember, it's not part of the contract that you must fix any items that come up during inspections. It is merely a time for a buyer to learn as much as possible about the property - if their requests are too much, you too can refuse and allow the buyer to not continue with the purchase.

After inspections, congratulations are in order, as you can now sit back and relax until the appraisal - this time period is work time for the buyers and buyers lender to start processing any loan applications.

Check back soon for the appraisal process! 

And it's gone!

Well, as promised, the house went on the market Wednesday - and with one showing scheduled for Thursday, we were under contract Friday! Q-U-I-C-K! Showings scheduled for the weekend were quickly cancelled, and Corey and Megan went about their weekend plans without having to worry about the house being "showing ready". It really pays to prep your home for a sale as mentioned in the previous post, but taking it a step further, it's also about the first impression. You can never have a second first impression!

So here are some do's (and a few don'ts) for any future showings on your home:

1. Make the house sparkle! Clean as much as you can - windows, countertops, floors, furniture, showers, toilets, etc. Remove cobwebs, put away dirty dishes and laundry, make the beds.... The goal is to not distract buyers - you want them to not get hung up on your dirty dishes, or dog slobbered windows. You want them to not even think about YOU in the home, but instead imagine themselves in the home at it's fullest potential - sparkling clean.

2. Light it up! Leave some lamps on, recessed lights, and all outdoor lights. Open the curtains and if the weather is right, a window or two. Bright and airy feeling houses sell.

3. Remove pets! If you have a dog (or two) definitely take them with you for the showing. If at all possible, cats as well. Some people may be allergic and you don't want them to have to rush out of a showing. Also, Febreeze works wonders on carpets and furniture, but the new wax warmers, like Scentsy, do amazing things for the senses.

4. Lock-up or remove valuables. You're letting strangers into your home, while most professional real estate agents fully vet their clients, there's a possibility they don't know everything about their buyer. If you're worried about something being taken, then lock it up or remove it from the property once it's listed.

5. Remove yourself :)  It's always very uncomfortable for a buyer to walk around someone's house with the homeowner lingering. Buyers have a hard enough time imagining their things in your space, but it's almost impossible to imagine themselves there with you sitting at the table! Take a walk, run an errand, or go out to eat. You should always plan for at least an hour, so you are gone before they arrive and don't bump back into them if they've decided to take some extra time looking at your home.

Pretty soon you'll have an offer (or 2) and you won't have to worry about all this prep. So like us, give it your best shot, the first time and you may not need a 2nd time!

Selling your home!

It's official, Corey is making Megan move AGAIN! It's a hazard of the business!  So, after just 2 short years in our new home, we are putting it on the market this week. We often work with first time buyers and they will one day become first time sellers, so here is a guide of what to expect. Check back as we'll continue to update the guide as we go through the process... (again) :)

1. Knowing the value! We just refinanced to get rid of PMI and so we had an appraisal done very recently and have a good idea of what our home and the improvements we've made since we purchased really mean for value. However, if we hadn't just received a professional opinion of value, we would be comparing the "comps" - houses that have sold in our area in the last 6 months. 
2. Prepping the home for showings - this is the biggest on the To Do list and actually creates a To Do list of it's own. Ours looked like this: 

• Repair entry walls from dog's visitor excitement, going for a walk excitement and yay you're home excitement! Repaint after scratches have been patched.
• Replace loose faucet in kitchen with nicer more attractive (and non loose) one.
• Carpet stairs going to basement so the space is finally finished
• Take down canvas prints and most family photos 
• De-clutter & organize closets
• Shampoo carpets
• Put railing on back deck steps and stain
• Re-stain front and side porch steps
• Finish staining fence
• Power wash siding
• Mulch flower beds
• Fertilize, overseed, and mow the lawn

    3.  Clean for listing photos! Our photographer does a great job with lighting and
         angles, but she can't edit or make houses look cleaner.

This is where we're at in our process. We'll receive the photos tomorrow or Wednesday and then we'll be on the market, sign will go up and the house will be showing ready - AT ALL TIMES! Check back for our tips for what showing ready means.

Happy house hunting, house selling, and/or house living! 

-Megan