Clean & Updated Homes

Q. Our Home is Clean but not updated. How will this affect the value of my Home?

A. Having a clean home is, of course, very important to prospective buyers. It seems buyer’s these days want a home that is clean AND updated. The average current buyer works 2 jobs and/or has kids with many activities, so they do not have the time to spend updating their next home. So, unless your home is priced much below the updated homes which are your competition, you can probably expect your home to have a longer market time (in this current market). There are many homes for a buyer to choose from. They will pick the home that is the cleanest & the most updated.
How long the current ‘buyer’s market’ will last is anyone’s guess. The best advice we can give a seller in a “buyers” market, is to update your home. You will not only enjoy the great look, but it will pay for itself somewhere down the road.

Where Have all The Buyers Gone?

Where have all the buyers Gone? Many homeowners who are trying to sell their homes have been asking that. The simple answer is that these homeowners need to look in the mirror. That is because every seller is waiting for his or her transformation into a buyer.

The typical scenario is that a seller will put their home on the market and wait for offers to come in. However, in many cases the offers are not coming in due to the current market’s “adjustment”. And this has lead to a surplus of homes for sale and a scarcity of buyers. That is what happens in a slowdown; a logjam of buyers trapped in their current homes as sellers.

As the home seller, if you are going to “wait until the right buyer comes along”, or “wait for the market to catch up to your asking price”, then you could be waiting for a long time.

Unfortunately, many sellers will make the mistake of holding out for an unrealistic price well beyond the point that it makes economic sense to do so. These sellers will be missing the opportunity to get a good deal on their next home. By waiting (and hoping) for the market to change in their favor, these sellers are forgoing the benefits of the current buyers’ market.

You can’t have the best of both worlds. If you are holding out for an unrealistic sales price, then you are predicting that we will find ourselves in a sellers’ market-or at least trending in that direction. And we can’t be in both a buyers’ market & a sellers’ market at the same time.

Featured Home with the Pool Picture is located in Lansing. 2851-193rd St. Very nice Quad level with 4 bedrooms, 2 baths. Family room. Basement. Formal Dining room. Inground pool with slide and all the extras.

Home, Home on the Not So Normal Range

A Real Estate Story. Some Say it is true:

A client bought a new home and the broker wanted to send flowers for the occasion. They arrived at the home and the owner read the card; it said "Rest in Peace."

The owner was angry and called the florist to complain. After he told the florist of the obvious mistake and how angry he was, the florist said. "Sir, I'm really sorry for the mistake, but rather than getting angry you should imagine this: Somewhere there is a funeral taking place today, and they have flowers with a note saying, "Congratulations on your new home!"

Real Estate Facts & Comments

The National Association of Realtors has a very interesting website called Housingmarketfacts.com. Here are a few statistics:

• Over the past 30 years, home values have risen more than 6% annually.


• On average, a home price will double every 10 years.
  


• 60% of an average homeowner’s wealth comes from their home’s equity.


• The average homeowner’s net worth is $171,000. Renter’s have an average net worth of $4800.
  So STOP listening to the bad news. Watch the good news channel for a change. People change jobs & families grow making the buying of homes a necessity. The bottom line is take care of your home, do some updating,
  and your home will sell for a good price.

Featured Home is a Custom Built Brick Ranch with everything on the main level....Spacious (dream) Kitchen. Family room. Laundry room. Attached garage. Large yard. Hardwood floors. So many features. So well cared for. $175,900. Located at 2302 185th St in Lansing. More info & pictures at: www.coldwellbankeronline.com/06777536 or www.Cathyhiggins.com (view my listings)

Timing Your Next Purchase with the Market

Should you try and Time the Market for your Home Purchase?

Assuming you can figure out the ideal time to buy - that is, when prices have not only hit their low, but are on the verge of rebounding - by the time you find the house you want, line up the financing and close the deal, the "best" time may have already passed.
We feel now is an excellent time to buy, and a good time to sell if you are going to ‘move up’ — that is, buy a house more expensive than your current house — because you will probably end up catching a proportionately bigger price break on the new house than you may be giving up on the old house.
If the house of your dreams is available, go for it. After all, it may not be available months from now. Plus, interest rates are still fantastic.
As long as you plan on staying in the home for a while, any further drop in prices will be offset by once again rising prices sometime down the road. In all likelihood, you'll make money in the long run. That’s what history has taught us. The bottom line is: the best deal could be right now.

The Condo in the Picture is at 10340 White Oak Lane in Munster's White Oak Estates.
1625 sq ft with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. 2nd floor with a Private Balcony. Attached garage.
For further information, call us or go to: www.Cathyhiggins.com (view my listings)

Your Home as an ATM Machine?

Multiple factors have contributed to the current slump in the housing market. One of the major causes of the current slump, however, can be attributed to the fact that more and more people have been using their homes as ATM machines. Whenever they want or need something that they cannot afford, instead of saving for it or denying themselves the luxury, they've simply borrowed against the equity in their homes.
Years ago, this problem was not as widespread as it is today for one simple reason: People tended to buy what they could afford; they worked hard to pay down their debts. For many homeowners, their goal was to have their home paid for by the time they retired, so they would not have a house payment in their golden years. In today's buy-now-pay-later society where there is a fine line between need & desire, we have become much more vulnerable to slumps in the housing market. Now, when a slump hits, we cannot even rely on the equity in our homes to pad the fall.
For some, this message probably comes too late, but for other’s it’s not. Work toward building up equity in your home. Work closely with your loan officer to find the lowest-cost loan available, and then pay down the principal on or ahead of schedule. If hard times hit, you then have a cushion to fall back on. Remember, that when we read the gloomy, often-times sensationalistic, real estate news, you need to remember that homes are still selling & real estate is still a great investment.

The Home in the picture is located at 1263 River Dr in Calumet City. The owners have completely updated this home and added so many extras. 4 bedrooms. 2 baths. Full basement. One of the bedrooms has a 3 season sunroom attached to it. Private location. Large lot. Find out more at: www.Cathyhiggins.com (view my listings)

Is there any good news to this Mortgage Calamity?

It’s hard to find good things when this has hurt so many American families. Hopefully, with new governmental programs and sound advice from lenders who truly want to help people, many of these mortgage problems can be resolved. I guess we can now say that people who should not be buying homes will not be buying homes. Although it is now a buyers market, homes are still selling for good prices. Homes that have been updated and well cared for will see little loss in appreciation. Also remember, most sellers are going to be buyers, so they can benefit from the “buyers market.” Interest rates are very low. Closings will be much easier. Less deals will now die right before closing. We read an article from a Chicago magazine from Robert Lattas, a real estate attorney in Chicago. He put it best: “ The real estate market will bounce back. We all need to weather the storm. We are not on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. We are only a few miles from shore with a Ferrari-powered engine…all we need is someone to give us a little fuel.”