Spring Spruce Up for your Home!

by Dan Jensen
Relocation Services Director - Equity Northwest Properties Group

There's just enough warm in the air, just a bit more sunshine, buds and blooms showing their smiling faces, and sure enough... Spring is springing!

Just for fun, we thought we'd pass on a couple of Spring Spruce Up tips to get the season started well. The first is a short how-to from the DIY Network on pressure washing tips as you're refreshing and taking great care of your decks.

DIY Network Tips on Pressure Washing & Deck Care

The second is more intended to be tips and relief from the "snowed in" cabin fever from too much cold, too much snow and rain and sleet for WAY TOO LONG and darn it all...I want some BBQ!!! Check out the link below for a short article from Dad Camp on the basic clean up and safety checks to get that BBQ in top form for the warm, sunny days ahead.

Dad Camp How-To - Spring Cleaning Your BBQ Grill

A house is a "house", of course, but a Home... is a HOME!

One of the greatest pleasures we enjoy as we serve each one of our real estate Clients is that extraordinary feeling in helping them find THEIR HOME!



Happy Spring 2014 from your Equity NW Properties Team!

Tips for Home Selling in the Fall

by Rod Sager

This late autumn listing in 2012, sold in 6 days.

Up here in the Pacific Northwest we have an abrupt transition from warm summer to chilly autumn. The rain starts falling and the leaves turn bright colors. It is a sight to behold. It also creates some problems for real estate. We get really dark as the fall marches on towards the holidays. Statistics show Autumn is the second busiest season for real estate. This is still a great time to sell and making a home warm and inviting will set it apart from the rest.  

It is important to keep a listed home bright and cheery as the days grow darker. Keeping the leaves raked and clear of the walkway adds positive curb appeal and also keeps safety in the forefront as wet leaves are quite slippery. Be sure to mow the lawn every week until the end of October at least. As the daily temps plunge the need to mow will go away. The leaves however will linger on through thanksgiving so keep on top of that. Light and bright sells in the Northwest.  

I typically offer up tips on prepping a listing for Autumn but I came across a well done article on the Internet with ten tips for selling in the fall and thought I would share them with all of you. Some may not fit our Northwest situation 100% as the author is based in California, but these are still pretty good.

Ten tips from Elizabeth Weintraub 

Clean Up the Yard

Rake dead leaves and debris in your lawn. Don't let overgrown vegetation block the windows or path to the entrance. Cutting bushes and tree limbs will let the sun inside and showcase the exterior of your home. Cut away summer vines and cut down dead flowers.

Create Autumn Curb Appeal

The most popular autumn flowers are chrysanthemums (or mums) and they bloom for a long time. I am also partial to marigolds for fall. Both mums and marigolds are available in yellow, which is a home selling color. Plant them in pots. Place pots on the steps and along the sidewalk. Accent with pumpkins.

Dress the Windows

Rain and wind from over the summer months can make your windows dusty and streaked by autumn. You might not notice smudges, but buyers will, if only on a subconscious level. To sell a home, your windows need to sparkle. Even though I am not selling my home, my cats routinely rub their little noses on the inside glass while walking along window ledges, so I need to wash my windows inside and out every autumn. Remove screens and spray them down.

Check the HVAC

You want the air inside your home to smell fresh. When was the last time you changed your furnace filter? You can buy 90-day furnace filters. Have the HVAC system checked before you need to turn on the heat. Besides, the buyer will ask a home inspector to look at your HVAC. If you discover problems with your furnace, it's better to fix them before your home goes on the market.

Clean Out the Fireplace

Ah, nothing smells like autumn than smoke from a wood-burning fireplace. However, in some parts of the country, burning wood indoors or outdoors is outlawed. In Sacramento, we have certain days when we are not allowed to burn wood in the fireplace. If you have a gas fireplace, light it when buyers come through. If the fireplace is filled with cobwebs because it hasn't been used for months, vacuum it out and wash it down. Some home stagers arrange knickknacks in the fireplace in place of wood logs.

Prepare Autumn Dishes

Speaking of autumn scents, you might set out freshly baked pumpkin cupcakes or simmer hot apple cider on the stove. Put a tray of cinnamon sticks on the counter, dotted with whole cloves. One of my favorite autumn treats as a kid was snickerdoodle cookies. Prop open a cookbook to an autumn stew. Fill a bowl with crisp red apples.

Set the Autumn Mood Musically
When I think of autumn music, beyond "See You in September" and "California Dreamin'," polka music and accordions come to mind. German beer fests are always held in October. But that doesn't seem appropriate for autumn home selling unless you're entertaining a frat house. I suspect a home seller is better off with Enya's "The First of Autumn" or George Winston's new age piano album "Autumn."

Utilize Autumn Accent Colors

You don't need to dump a lifeless sofa when you can accessorize its dullness with bright red, orange and / or golden yellow pillows. Toss a quilt or autumn-colored throw over a chair. After you've cleared away the clutter and depersonalized each room, bring a little bit of autumn hues to each room by placing bold-colored accent pieces in odd groupings such as 3's and 5's. Create an autumn centerpiece for the dining room table by arranging pine cones and nuts around orange candles, stick in a few leaves from the yard.Turn on the Lights

Above all, bring in the light. When days get shorter, the sun sets lower in the horizon and casts wider shadows. Pull up the blinds, open the shutters, push back the drapes on every window. Turn on every light in the house, including appliance lights and closet lights. Brighten darker rooms with few windows by placing spotlights on the floor behind furniture, and for goodness sakes, turn off the TV.

Offer Parting Treats

I like to leave a guest book by the door for people to leave comments about the home. Gathering buyer feedback can be crucial. And buyers will feel more compelled to leave you a note if you give them something in return. Like tiny packets of candy corn or those snack-sized candy bars -- oh, I love Snickers bars like no tomorrow. Or you can go all-out and leave a tray of individually wrapped caramelized apples, tied with a curling ribbon.

At the time of writing, Elizabeth Weintraub, DRE # 00697006, is a Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate in Sacramento, California.

Tips for Buyers when evaluating an Inspection

Rod Sager

It is highly recommended that a buyer have an inspection completed by a licensed inspector before committing to a purchase. Here in Washington state we have a special form that typically accompanies an offer allowing the buyer to conduct and evaluate an inspection to determine that the house is suitable, safe and in good repair.

The primary purpose of the inspection is to have the house thoroughly reviewed by a professional that uses a standardized method of inspection. The inspector follows a procedure that is designed to make certain "no stone is left unturned". The buyer should use the information obtained in the report to determine several things. First, are there any genuine safety issues or serious defects that must be addressed prior to close? Second, are there issues that may affect the ability to finance the property? These two issues should be the buyer's primary concern. These are the items to ask the seller to remedy. Third, are the items that may be marginal or even defective but do not warrant the risk of launching a torpedo into the deal. It is a seller's market here in Southwest Washington as it is an many markets and seller's control the tempo of deal at the moment.

Buyers that ask for every little detail on the inspection report will likely find themselves looking for a new house over and over again. Inspections are designed to protect the buyer from serious hazards and excessive expenses, not to beat up the seller with the classic nickel and dime items. A notable exception might be a new construction home where the builder is on site and often willing attend to minor details since the expectation on a new home is rightfully higher.

Items that are generally of serious concern are things like, the roof, furnace, serious dry rot, wood destroying pests, etc. Financing a home using a government backed loan such as USDA, FHA or VA can also require some effort by the seller to comply. These loans require that no earth make contact with wood, crawl space vents are clear and secure, roof is in good shape with a 3-5 year life expectancy, no vegetation in contact with the siding, etc.

The remaining items of minor nature on the inspection report can be used as a "honey-do" list of things to tidy up after the buyer moves in. In our market we are seeing rising prices and interest rates. If a buyer crashes his deal on minor items that cost a few hundred dollars or even a thousand, they may very well pay more than that in higher home prices and monthly payments due to those increasing. A price increase of just one half of one percent on a $200,000 home is $1000 and we have seen prices rising at a rate closer to one percent per month over the last twelve months. It can be counter-productive for a buyer to kill a deal over the little stuff.

When evaluating your inspection try to keep everything in perspective. Keep in mind the idea of protecting yourself from exposure to serious expense or danger rather than nit-picking the seller. Look at the big picture before pounding the seller over that loose light switch cover the inspector found. This will help to ensure a smooth transaction and a more pleasant experience for all parties.