Selling Your Myrtle Beach Real Estate

Staging Your Home to Sell

In Myrtle Beach condos or homes may be sold furnished. If you plan to sell your real estate furnished use the furniture that will convey for staging.

If you are planning to sell your house you must look at your property as if you had never seen it before. If you can't do that, your home will probably remain your home because you will limit the number of buyers who may be able to visualize the home as their own. If you have access to cable TV and do not have any idea how to stage try watching HGTV the Home and Garden channel.

Curb Appeal

Look at other properties for sale in your area then look at yours as you remember to think like a Buyer. Is there anything you could do to make your property stand out? A few dollars spent in landscaping or simply taking the time to manicure and add some color with flowers may be all that is needed.

Home Staging

Remove personal items, family pictures, nick-nacks, and clutter. Take everything stuck on or sitting on the refrigerator off. Clear off the counters, especially in the kitchen, but do not forget the bathroom counters.

If you have a microwave sitting on the kitchen counter or taking up space somewhere else and you have a vent hood over your stove now is the time to spend a few hundred dollars by installing a vent type microwave over the stove. Several square feet of useable space could get you much more then you have spent.

Pack up those toys and just leave a few favorites that can be stored neatly when your house is being shown. The same is true for any pet toys, plus do not forget to put their food dishes out-of-sight during showings. If you have pets and you think there may be times that you will not be available when your house is shown, you really need to consider a cage just for those scheduled showings. (Remember some people are afraid of dogs; allergic to cats or dogs; and you do not want to limit potential buyers).

Go through every room, closet, cabinet, and the garage and pack up every item you do not absolutely need. After packing all the items mentioned, find somewhere away from your home to store them. If that is not possible put them where they are completely out of the way and hopefully out of sight.

Now start cleaning or hire a cleaning service.

Make Minor Repairs

Walk through the inside of your house slowly opening doors and drawers as you go. With paper and pencil in hand make a list of anything that needs repair.

Repair those holes, even tiny, and dings on walls. Check under sinks and around all water sources for leaks. Repair, replace and/or clean flooring. If you have wallpaper check seams (there are products to reglue them). It is always a good idea to repaint as many rooms as possible but if you are unable to repaint just make sure all rooms are a nuteral color. You may love those dark colors but again you are limiting potential buyers. Even people who know it's only paint, know to change it they have to paint.

Lighting

Open drapes, curtains and blinds. The more natural light the better. Replace any burned out light bulbs and in rooms without tons of natural light, leave on the light fixtures if possible.

Smells

We become used to smells in our home. Ask someone who will be honest with you to come take a sniff of your house. Sounds silly but it could make your house win over another.

Don't Over Stage

There are ways to make a home look lived-in without making mistakes as mentioned above. If you need help there are people that specialize in Staging. Also many Realtors are great Stagers and they know what people are look for when they view a home.

Helpful Tips

To remove stains in the carpet try white vinegar. Spray it on stain wait a few minutes and blot with dry cloth or sponge. For those tough stains mix baking soda and borax into a paste with a few drops of water or white vinegar. Put paste on stain and leave overnight and vacuum.

Easy fix for dirty white grout in tile floors - Delute some Kilz semi-gloss white paint with water and brush into grout lines. Other brands of paint may work. After it soaks into grout you can wipe or mop excess off of the tiles. Now you may want to spray the grout with some of that spray on grout sealer that is available at most home improvement stores.

You can use Olive Oil to clean those stainless steel appliances.

If you run out of spackle while filling those nail holes you can use white tooth paste.

Short Sale HAFA Program

New HAFA Guidelines for Short Sales Should Help Sellers Took Effect February 1, 2011

April, 2010 the federal government's Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative Program (HAFA) went into effect. The program provides short sale guidelines for loans, not owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, that were the "risky" loans issued during the housing boom such as 0-down loans, option ARMs, and Alt-A mortgages.

Changes which took effect February 1, 2011 in the HAFA program:

The Treasury Department has revamped its Short Sale program by easing income restrictions and documentation requirements for homeowners facing foreclosure to help streamline the HAFA process and make the program more accessible to homeowners.

Elimination of the requirement that the borrower's total monthly mortgage payment exceeds a 31% debt-to-income ratio. More people will now qualify for HAFA.

The property may now have been vacant for up to 12 months prior to signing a short sale agreement but it still must have been the sellers' principal residence prior to relocation.

In regard to second mortgage lenders, they are no longer required to accept 6% of the unpaid balance owed to them but there is still a $6,000 cap on the amount they receive.

The HAFA process is also streamlined by requiring mortgage lenders to provide borrowers with a short sale agreement within 30 days of being requested to do so. (If borrower has met the eligibility requirements).

The changes which took effect on February 1, 2011 are not retroactive to those already in the process of a HAFA Short Sale.

For the Sellers loan to be eligible for HAFA:

The property is the borrower's principal residence.

The mortgage loan is the first lien mortgage obtained on or before January 1, 2009.

The mortgage is delinquent or default is reasonably foreseeable.

The current unpaid principal balance is no more than $729,750.

~~The borrower's total monthly mortgage payment exceeds 31 percent of the borrower's gross income.~~ Removed as of February 1, 2011.

HAFA guidelines are voluntary but major banks and dozens of smaller lenders are expected to participate.

Benefits of HAFA for Sellers:

Financial incentive for lenders to get things moving. Servicers get $1,000 to cover their costs, and subordinate (2nd mortgage, home equity) get up to $3,000 through a matching arrangement in exchange for relinquishing their lien on the home.

Borrowers will receive $1,500 to help with moving costs but the major benefit to borrowers is that they are fully released from future liability for the debt. That will be the rule even in the states that are recourse states.

Before Trying To Sell Your Real Estate

7 Things To Do Before You List Your Home For Sale:

Plan to underprice your property 10% below the competition.
Fix all the things that need to be repaired and have a home inspection to find things you may not see.
Remove all clutter, personal photos, collections and all the magnets you have stuck on the refrigerator.
Lighten-up by washing windows and replacing light bulbs.
Make sure your home smells clean.
Work on curb appeal keeping in mind that is the first impression of your home.
After your Realtor takes the photos of the inside and outside of your property, review them before they are published.

Selling your real estate in the Myrtle Beach area or anywhere in the USA with my help and the worldwide promotion by SC Beach Real Estate will give you the advantage you need to get it sold.

SC Beach Real Estate logo

It does not matter where the real estate you want to sell is located because if it is not located in the areas of North or South Carolina that I service I can help you find a Realtor.

If the real estate you want to sell is located in Horry County, South Carolina or Brunswick County, North Carolina your search for a Realtor and a company with name recognition is over. In addition to the massive advertising of your real estate by SC Beach Real Estate, my websites and real estate networks provide additional exposure.

I do not just stick a sign in your yard and disappear. I will give you suggestions for staging your home, condo or townhouse and hold numerous open-house events. I will provide you with the information you need to price your real estate to sell.

Home Sellers Guide

A Home Sellers Guide provided by Realtor.com® available from me, Sandy Keller, in PDF format which I will attach to an email. Simply use the Contact page on this site to request your copy. The 35 page document includes the Introduction; Expect great service from your REALTOR®; Preparing your home so it's more attractive to buyers; Strategically pricing your home for all it's worth - what you need to know; Setting the stage to sell - aim for perfect open houses and showings; Successfully negotiating the deal; Signed, sealed and delivered: closing the deal; A home seller's glossary.