Jenny Browne, US Preferred Realtor

No Cost or Low cost changes will help you sell.

I just received my monthly Realtor magazine and found a helpful article too share with those of you selling your home.  The article gives us 8 major things you can do to your home that will help sell your home, but with little to no money!  Move it - add or remove furniture and accessories to different rooms within your home to make a totally new look.  Plant it - real plants will add color where needed and a nice homey feel.  Paint it - paint is cheap and can completely freshen up any room.  Organize it - yes, this means you need to throw some stuff away, but spending a few dollars on neat containers can really make a difference in the look and feel of a room or closet.  Hide it - chips in your wall?  Think about some wall paper or wood trim.  Replace it - this idea goes a long way when you are thinking about housing hardware.  Even new towels in the bathroom will make your home appear more up-to-date.   Light it- dimmers, additional lighting in hallways, chandelier replacement all go a long way when setting the "mood" of your home.  And finally... Clean it!  That's right, clean every corner of your home.  You haven't cleaned the top or your ceiling fans or cupboards or grout in a year - do it now!  Be super critical of your home and you will "catch" everything that a potential buyer would see. 

It's tough out there, but if you want/need to sell your home in this type of market - make it the best it can be!  If you look the best - then you give yourself the best chance to sell!  Have a good one.  -Jenny

Good news for new home buyers!

The following comes directly from the HUD offices.  As you will see, buyers of new homes will no longer be "bullied" into using the builder's lender...

 Effective with contracts written 16th January and after; builders can no longer tie in incentives and seller help with the use of an affiliated lender and title company.

Barton Shapiro, deputy director for HUD’s office of RESPA and interstate land sales, says that HUD “does not interpret RESPA from prohibiting anyone from offering incentives. It limits tying an incentive to using an affiliated lender. HUD believes customers will use (affiliated lenders) if there’s real value.”

In its broadest sense, the statute is designed for consumer protection and to encourage shopping at the earliest stage of the transaction, Shapiro says. Among the comments that HUD received when it was reviewing the law was that the discounts offered to borrowers using affiliated lenders were made up in higher costs elsewhere in the process, and that borrowers were put into more expensive or riskier loans.