I want to buy a new home… Do I need to sell my current home first?

June 15, 2017

This is a very common question in today’s real estate environment!  With low interest rates and low inventory, homeowners know they can sell their home quickly, and at a great price. These conditions make purchasing a new home a very appealing prospect, but how do you do it?

Many experts suggest listing your current home first. Their reasoning is simple – if you already own a home, your offer on a new home may not be accepted unless your current home is listed. While this option is the best scenario for some homeowners, it does come with drawbacks. By listing your house and obtaining a buyer quickly, you can easily get caught up in the frenzy of trying to find a new home FAST, which can leave you vulnerable to overpaying and/or settling for a home that isn’t what you want.

Luckily, there are other options to avoid that situation!

KNOW YOUR REALTOR:

Your first step is to meet with your Realtor. They will provide you with a current and accurate market analysis of your current home, and guide you through any repairs or upgrades that should be made before listing your current home. Your Realtor can even help you create a schedule for them to help keep everything on task.

KNOW YOUR NUMBERS:

Your next step is to meet with your mortgage professional. They will help you determine how much down payment you will have to work with, what the net profit from the sale of your current home will be, and what your interest rate is based on your credit. These are all important numbers to be aware of, and comfortable with when you make the decision to purchase.

KNOW YOUR MARKET and YOUR PARAMETERS:

Do you have a specific area you are looking to move to? What is the average price per square foot of the house? What will the property taxes and town utilities cost yearly? You will also need to discuss what you are looking for in a new home with your Realtor. Do you want a small yard with less maintenance? Are you dreaming of an in ground pool? How about a 2 car attached garage with work space, or an in-law suite? Knowing what you absolutely must have, or can negotiate with is important. Research is key and knowledge is power, and your Realtor can help you find these answers to determine if the area you are looking at is right for you, and your budget.

Finally…

KNOW YOUR OPTIONS:

There are many ways to facilitate a sale and purchase without being caught between a “rock and a hard place”.

Option One:

Buy First:  If you have the ability to either pay cash for new house or carry two mortgages then you might want to consider buying first.  This will give you the luxury of time to search for your new home and make great purchase decisions.  Your mortgage professional can provide the details on this financial situation for you.  This option by far gives you the most flexibility with the timing of your purchase and sale.

Option Two:

List First:  Since not many people have that option to carry multiple mortgages they can list first and offer their buyers a “rent back option” while making a “contingent offer” on their new home.  The “rent back” allows the seller to stay in the current house after closing and “rent” it “back from the buyer.  The offer on the new home is “contingent” upon the current home closing to that buyer.  It is good to have a “backup plan” for alternative living situations (in-laws, relatives, short term rentals) just in case to keep your sanity!

While this can be accomplished easily with sound contract negotiations, it does put the pressure on for you to identify a house quickly and can often make the process feel rushed.  If you find this is the option that best suits your situation, your Realtor can make it much less confusing and stressful.

Option Three:

Identify your purchase and THEN list:  With a sound strategy, advance preparation and solid contract negations, you can find your house FIRST, and then list so that you are still not carrying two mortgages. You will also not be under pressure to quickly identify a house that may not be on the market at the time you accept your buyer’s offer.  It IS possible to have your contingent offer accepted on your purchase without being listed if you can demonstrate that you are ready to list.  This is a great solution to reducing the stress, managing the timing of the closings, and finding the right house to purchase at the right price.

Which option is best?  The simple answer is that it depends on your individual situation and what you want to achieve with your sale and purchase.  Each option presents advantages (and disadvantages) but it really comes down to what makes the most sense for you and your family.  Meet with your Realtor and put together a plan.  Selling and buying a home is a complicated process that can be very stressful but it doesn’t have to be!  Strategy, preparation, forethought, market knowledge, experience and sound contract negotiations can make this one of the best moves of your life!

Super Simple Ideas for People Who Hate Yard Work!

June 15, 2017

By: Scott Sowers

Yards are meant for fun times — not chores.

Look at those smug neighbors, lounging around on their stylish teak patio furniture, sipping cocktails, and loving life. Meanwhile, you’re behind on mowing the lawn and trimming the hedges. Who has time to prep for a patio party when you can’t even keep up with the regular stuff? Shouldn’t you get to kick back on your lawn, too?

Yes, you should. It’s just a matter of designing your landscape so it requires less attention from you. Here are a few strategies to help:

Use Rocks for Interesting Landscape Features:

Grass doesn’t grow on rocks. Besides stating the obvious, what that really means is that they’re the perfect, versatile tool for creating a low-maintenance outdoor space. Use them to create walkways, or group them together to form decorative outcroppings.

You can even lay out stones to be ornamental dry creek beds.

Small yards, especially in desert climates, can be completely rocked over, or you can use them as strategically placed accents.

And if you’ve got spots that are constantly wet, they’re great for keeping mud (and mosquitoes!) under control because they’ll help the water run off instead of collecting.

Add a Rain Garden if You’ve Got a Soggy Spot:

Speaking of wet areas, do you have a depressed corner of the yard where puddles rule?

Try a rain garden, which is kind of a mini-wetland that reduces storm-water runoff. And done right, they’re almost maintenance free because they require no mowing, no watering, and little weeding.

They make much prettier focal points than soggy grass, too.

Rain gardens are fairly easy to create, using gravel, sand, and native plants. The idea is to slow down rainwater so less of it goes into the sewer system, and more is used to nourish plant life.

DIY the Easiest Deck Ever:

Decks do require some maintenance, but you don’t have to mow ‘em every weekend, that’s for sure. And a platform deck — no steps, no railings — is the easiest of all.

“There are lots of dense hardwoods like ipe and cedar, redwood and composites that last a long time and are very low-maintenance,” says Tomi Landis, president of Landis Garden Design in Washington, D.C.

While you’re dreaming of your new deck, think about this: How you will use it?

“Will you be using it in the morning while having coffee?” Landis asks. “If so, it should be oriented to the east. If it’s mainly for dining out in the evening and having cocktails, it should be facing west.” But be sure shade is available in the hotter months.

Switch to Tall Grass That Never Needs Mowing:

Not all grass is created equal. Tall grasses, like switchgrass, bluestem, muhly, and fountaingrass, all grow fast and require very little TLC. Nor do they ever get mowed.

“Native grasses are a great solution to a lot of landscaping problems,” Landis says. They soak up lots of water and provide an organic privacy screen while trimming your mowing time.

How to use tall grasses:

• Group along a fence line.
• Group into geometric patterns in your yard for a clean look.
• Go more random for a more natural look.

The most maintenance you’ll do with these is cut them back in late fall. They dry up in the fall, which sends some of those glorious long leaves flying across your yard. But they can be used as (free!) mulch or ignored. They’ll do no harm.

Create Pathways to Reduce High-Maintenance Grass:

Like the rocks above, pavers (sometimes called “steppers”) are decorative stones used to create pathways that need little or no care.

“A stepper in a natural shape looks really great in a lot of contexts,” Landis says. Traditional house styles like bungalows, colonials, and Victorians tend to go well with more natural pavers, like flagstone.

If your house is more on the modern side, opt for some rectangular or square pavers.

Go For Fake Grass — No One Will Know (Seriously):

Some purists might consider fake grass to be over the line, but the newer faux turf doesn’t make your yard look like a putt-putt course, nor does it get so hot it burns your feet like the fake turf in your parents’ day.

“It’s great for somebody with no time on their hands,” says Doug DeLuca, founder of Federal Stone and Brick in Sterling, Virginia. “It comes like a roll of carpet, you set a bed for it with gravel, then use sod staples to hold it down.”

It doesn’t need to be cut, watered or fertilized, and pets can’t kill it.

Plant Your Own Mini Forest if You Get Lots of Rain:

Where there are trees there shall be no grass. But there will be shade, and that’s a plus for picnicking and lawn-chair lounging.

“Trees can soak up a lot of rainwater,” Landis says, and therefore, need a lot of water. Consider your local climate, as soaking up water can be good or bad. Do you need to sop up excess water? Is the yard already too dry?

Keep in mind that native trees are less maintenance because they’re adapted to your area.

Use Objects to Add Color — Instead of Flowers:

Color is the secret to a stunning yard, but that doesn’t mean you need to plant a garden full of labor-intensive dahlias.

It means choosing bright pots, benches, bird baths, Adirondack chairs — anything that just sits there and looks lovely while you pour the cocktails.

The options are as numerous as the Pinterest search results for “yard art” (which is somewhere between 5,000 and infinity).

And if you decide to pop some colorful flowers into your colorful pots, what could be better a better backdrop to your finally-realized cocktail party?