Make Sure Your Property Isn’t Getting Eaten Up

A termite infestation can be costly, and sadly, many homeowners don’t discover there’s a problem until these wood-eating pests have already caused a great deal of damage to a home or an inspection uncovers it during a home sale.

“Termites are referred to as the hidden enemy,” says Mike Duncan, an associate certified entomologist and eastern region trainer for Truly Nolen, a pest control company. The damage can reach $7,900 or more before they’re found, Duncan told realtor.com®.

Some homeowners may be unknowingly attracting termites to their homes. An article at realtor.com® recently flagged some ways owners may be creating a termite spot, beyond just rotting wood.

For example, even the tiniest bit of moisture, such as from poor drainage, leaks, or poor ventilation, along with wood can be a big draw for termites. “Because they consume the cellulose in wood for nutrition, they require high moisture so that they don’t dry out,” Natasha Wright, a board-certified entomologist and technical director for Braman Termite & Pest Elimination in southern New England, told realtor.com®. Soggy soil near your foundation can also be a big draw to termites.

Don’t assume stucco houses are safe either. Termites are drawn to the protection from foam board insulation and exterior wall solutions, like Dryvit, a synthetic version of cement siding, Wright says. “They will chew through and travel in these sheltered areas until they stumble upon wood,” Wright says.

Cracks in a foundation can be another way termites can enter. “Should they find cracks or gaps, termites may investigate and enter,” says Mike Deutsch, an urban entomologist for Arrow Exterminating Co. in New York. “They may eventually intercept wooden members of the structure and begin to feed, causing damage.”

Be on the lookout for mud tubes, soft or hollow-sounding wood, and visible piles of wings, experts say. “These are signs that you have a termite problem,” says Erin Richardson, president of All-American Pest Control in Nashville, Tenn.

Call in a professional to investigate further and to remedy the situation if you suspect termite problems.

Source: 

“Knock on Wood: 8 Surprising Things Attracting Termites to Your Home,” realtor.com® (June 11, 2019)

Buy Before You Sell

In today’s competitive real estate market, you may be worried about listing your home. You may be thinking; if it sells quickly, you won’t have enough time to find and buy the next home that’s right for you.
At Howard Hanna, we strive to make the home buying and selling process simple for you. Our one-stop shopping is convenient for everyone, including sellers who are also looking to buy.

Buy Before You Sell

When you list a home with Howard Hanna, one of our exclusive one-stop shopping programs available is “Buy Before You Sell,” which lets you take the equity in your current home and apply it towards the down payment of a new home. It’s among our most popular programs because enrollment can be renewed if needed and initially includes deferred interest payments. By using the “Buy Before You Sell” program, you can use the value of your current home to invest in your preferred home!

Advantages of our Buy Before You Sell program:

1. You can purchase a home without having to wait until your present property is sold.
2. You can take advantage of today’s low mortgage interest rates and potentially get better terms for the home you are buying.
3. You can move without worrying about the logistical issues of moving out of one property and into the new one on the same day.
4. Once you’ve found your new home, the home you are selling can be staged without having to overly disrupt your life.
5. We can also more easily show potential buyers your home, allowing more buyers to see your home than if you were still living in it.
6. Our program produces more buyers who can buy your home by removing the sales contingency.

Buy with confidence.

It’s important to be able to buy with confidence, even before a current home is sold. It doesn’t matter if you’re looking to upgrade, right-size, switch school districts, or just enjoy a change of scenery, our “Buy Before You Sell” program covers it all!

• Our program provides down payment funds for your next home purchase
• Our program eliminates home sale contingency
• Payments can be deferred for qualified buyers

We’ve been taking the hassle out of the home buying and selling process for decades, and our mortgage professionals are here to help explain our loan programs. We make home ownership accessible and affordable, allowing you to take advantage of today’s low interest rates.
Don’t wait to act on the home you want, buy before you sell!

***Contact me in order to speak to a Howard Hanna Mortgage loan officer!

Source: Howard Hanna Blog

Don’t Count on a Price Drop to Reignite a Listing

Home buyers who want to test the market by listing their home for a higher price may want to rethink that strategy. Homes get 3.4 times more online views the day they are listed than they do the day the seller drops the price, a new analysis from the real estate brokerage Redfin finds.

“It’s critical to price your home to sell from the start,” says Daryl Fairweather, Redfin’s chief economist. “Fair or not, buyers judge a home by how many days it has been on the market. A home that has been on the market for more than a few weeks has a scarlet letter on it, and buyers will wonder why no one else wanted to buy it. Dropping the price can help get your home onto the radar of some buyers who are searching for homes priced just below the original price, but you likely won’t be able to regain the appeal of a newly listed home.”

Researchers found that a typical home for sale that is viewed by 100 buyers online on its first day receives a fraction of that after 30 days on the market, averaging only 17 views per day at that point. When the seller drops the price, that will lift the views only slightly to 29—and that increase will last only for a single day, researchers find. Then the home’s views fall back to an average of 18 per day.

Online views of homes for sale drop off significantly after the first day. Home sellers receive half as many visits on day two and then just a quarter as many after a week listed on the market, the analysis found.

Source: Redfin (May 24, 2019)

Water Back Up

Recent high amounts of rain fall – What is Water Back Up Coverage - Water back up and sump pump failure coverage is an endorsement to the homeowner insurance policy that provides coverage to property damaged by water that backs up into the home through pipes, drains, sewer, water-service, sump pump and any other type of fluid transfer system from the house. Find out why you need water back up coverage!

https://www.grangeinsurance.com/tips/4-reasons-to-add-water-backup-coverage

Source: Martin Lark Insurance Newsletter 5/22/2019

How to Make Low Ceilings Appear to be Higher

It can be difficult to lend the illusion of more space to a home with low ceilings. A recent article at Houzz from columnist Becky Harris explains how you can make low ceilings appear higher.

© Lourdes Gabriela Interiors 

Use High-Gloss Paint to Your Advantage

Painting the ceiling a glossy white will allow the room to reflect more light, making it appear more spacious that it really is. Interior designer Lourdes Gabriela used glossy white ceilings in a Florida condo that, she said, was suffering from “oppressively low” ceilings. The short height of the ceilings was exacerbated by low-hanging track lights and short louvered doors. After giving the ceiling a glossy paint finish, Gabriela also used a flush-mount chandelier over the dining table to help lift the perception of the ceiling.

© MainStreet Design Build 

Emphasize Long Horizontal Planes

Using horizontal design elements can actually lift the vertical parts of a room. It also distracts the eye from looking up. Designers with MainStreet Design Build used long horizontal display shelves on the walls in the kitchen to “draw the eye to the long horizontal planes and the objects on them,” Harris notes. The shelves command attention and lead people to notice the expanse of the wall instead of the challenges of a short ceiling. “The generous amount of white space between the top shelf and the ceiling makes the ceiling seem higher,” Harris writes.

© Carl Mattison 

Add Some Millwork

Floor-to-ceiling millwork not only gives a space an eye-catching design element but also can be used to lift the ceiling, too. Designer Carl Mattison added wall paneling to the open-concept dining space in an Atlanta cottage. “Seeing so many stacked squares lends the illusion of height,” Harris writes. “Painting the millwork and adjacent kitchen cabinets the same color keeps the room from feeling chopped up.”

Height isn’t the only reason to consider design elements that can showcase the ceiling in a different light. There are plenty of stylish ways to showcase the ceiling as a means of adding more depth to a room or more pizzazz to a home that may be lacking eye-catching qualities.

Source: Realtor®Magazine: 

“7 Ways to Make Low Ceilings Seem Higher,” Houzz (May 2, 2019)

Lucas County Officials Brace for Complaints on Property Values

Lucas County officials are bracing for a busy year of residents challenging their new property values, in part because Auditor Anita Lopez is advocating for taxpayers to do so.
The county’s Board of Revision — comprised of Treasurer Lindsay Webb, Commissioner Pete Gerken, and the auditor — annually review property value complaints and determine whether they warrant a change.

The board has heard between 1,473 and 3,463 cases each year over the past nine, with an annual average of about 2,100.

But the auditor said during a Jan. 14 meeting she believes this year will be different and anticipates the board could see five times as many complaints — or roughly 10,000 — largely stemming from a dispute between her office and the Ohio Department of Taxation.

Unhappy with a resolution between her office and the state over property value increases, Ms. Lopez took out a full-page advertisement in The Blade to let property owners know they can file a complaint. She is also speaking on the topic at business organizations and community meetings throughout the month.

“We want people to have fair and equitable values,” she said.
Mr. Gerken said the auditor is actively advocating that people contest their new values.
“Where every other website in the state says ‘board of revision’ our website says ‘challenge your property values,’” he said. “You are actually recruiting challenges.”

The auditor’s office has already recorded 540 complaints, 490 of which were concerning residential properties. Ms. Lopez said she believes the trend will continue until the April 1 deadline to file.
“If there is some indication that there are now 10,000 cases rather than 2,000 cases, we need to plan for that and be consistent,” Mr. Gerken said.

The 2018 revaluation process fell on a sexennial reappraisal year, which means the auditor’s office had to reappraise all property in the county and have the new aggregate values signed off on by the state’s tax commissioner.

Ms. Lopez and the tax commissioner agreed the housing market had improved, but they disagreed on how much the aggregate values should rise.

For example, state officials wanted to see Sylvania’s values grow by 14.3 percent, but Ms. Lopez believed they should only rise by 9.76 percent. The discrepancies continued for each of the county’s 22 municipalities, with the gap between the auditor’s value increases and the state’s ranging from less than 1 percent to 6.6 percent.

The back and forth between Lucas County and the state culminated in an official order from the tax commissioner telling Ms. Lopez to raise property values or risk losing state funding, something Department of Taxation officials said they haven’t done in 25 years.

The auditor pushed back, and the two parties eventually reached a compromise that collectively increased values 9 percent countywide, though some municipalities’ values went up by 12 percent while others only grew by 2 or 3 percent.

Ms. Lopez said she wasn’t happy with the resolution, but she reluctantly accepted because she knew that she could encourage residents to challenge their new values come January.
The first-half tax bill is what typically motivates homeowners to contest their new values, Ms. Lopez said.

Although aggregate values may have increased countywide, some property owners will see a decrease in their tax bill if their home’s valuation goes up by an amount less than the aggregate. This is because of a state property tax law in place to protect homeowners from inflation and likely would deter people from filing a complaint.

Mr. Gerken said he’d like to see all board of revision complaints heard and decided by June 1, ahead of the second-half tax bill. Ms. Lopez said she can try, adding cases typically take until October or November to clear.

The board decided to schedule hearings from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays for now and add hearing days if the caseload doesn’t let up.
The board of revision is set to meet again Jan. 28.

Source:  By Sarah Elms / The Blade

No Cost Staging Tips

You may not have the extra funds to stage a property, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways you can still spruce it up. Some of the biggest staging moves can be free. Beyond decluttering and depersonalizing the property, realtor.com® recently highlighted several ideas, including:

1. Remove any extra storage.
“Eliminate any plastic storage bins, over-the-door storage, above-cabinet storage, and extra racks in rooms,” Julie Chrissis with Chrissis & Company Interiors told realtor.com®. “This is important because buyers never want to think they will outgrow a home. A seller’s job is to show them there is plenty of storage space for them to grow into.”

2. Tweak the furniture layout.
Pay attention to how the furniture is placed in the room and its flow. Remove furniture that makes the space look too cluttered. “Room layouts should be set up for photos first,” Chrissis says. “It’s important that the photo not be of the back of a sofa, large chair, or other pieces of furniture, as this makes the room look smaller because it blocks the view of part of the room. The same goes for open houses and showings. If buyers see a room with furniture barriers, it makes the room seem smaller.”

3. Lighten up the mood.
“You want natural light and lamps with warm light—no swirly bulbs that look like office light,” says Chrissis. “We tell most of our clients to remove valances as they typically make a room darker and, in most markets, are a little out of fashion. Lamps are important, especially in winter months when there is less sun and sunset is earlier.”

Read the full list of “free” staging tips at realtor.com®.