Articles and thoughts that center around getting your home ready to list, and things to consider when selling your home.

Recently, we sat down with Jen Dollar, owner & broker of Realty Executives Florida. We asked her a handful of FAQs that we receive almost on a daily basis from people looking to buy homes in the Orlando area. 

What are some of the BEST neighborhoods to live in in the Orlando area?

This is a tough one. For me, in the downtown area would be College Park and Delaney Park. Then, if you go north of Orlando into Seminole County, Heathrow, Steeple Chase, Lake Markham Preserve or the gated neighborhoods down Markham Woods Road. Then in the southwest part of town, Dr. Phillips is a popular area and also, Windermere, and now Winter Garden is becoming very popular with the new home developments.

If I was a younger family moving to Orlando area for the…

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As you get ready to close on your home purchase, one of the steps you'll take is a long walk with your home inspector. The home inspection is an important step because it allows you to learn all that you can about the property you plan to purchase. If you find a problem at this point, you can decide to back out of the contract to buy your home or you can work with the seller to get the problem fixed. The most important part of this process is knowing as much as you can about the property. Here are a few tips for the process.

#1: You Need to Go Up There

Whether it is the attic or the roof, climb up with the home inspector. You'll learn about key problems with your home's systems and, even more importantly, you'll likely learn how to make repairs on any…

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When it comes to putting your home on the market or bidding on one that's already there, many factors play a role in the decision of value. In short, the value of any home is what the buyer is willing to pay for it. Yet, figuring out what that number is can be difficult. That is why you will likely have an agent run a competitive analysis on the home, especially if you are listing your home or buying in a competitive market place. In short, it provides you with a better understanding of the home's value.

How Is It Calculated?

The value of a home is ultimately decided by an appraiser. An appraisal is different from a competitive analysis, but the process is partly the same. In short, this process takes a close look at the value of homes that have…

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curb-appeal_350You want to make the best first impression possible when selling a home, because that impression could make or break the entire deal.  The first impression is made when the potential buyer first sees the house, thus the outside of the house must be dressed to impress.  Here's how you can do that and why it is so important.

It's All About The Outside

It really is all about the outside.  Every potential buyer will decide what tone the viewing of the home for sale will take when they first lay eyes on the exterior of the home.  People know that if you don't take good care of the outside of the house, then you probably don't take good care of the inside of the house either.   

Make It Look New

Do whatever it takes to make your home look like new.  A…

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images_239_01The best strategy for selling a house is to focus on the important details and let the minor ones fall into place on their own.  You do need to have a strategy because without it you are flying blind and leaving the progress of your home selling efforts to chance.  Take this strategy and follow it to the letter.  You will see why it is the best.

Pick A Deadline

Pick a deadline for when you want to have your home sold.  This will force you to decide if you are in a rush or if you can afford to have the home sitting on the market month after month.  How quickly you want to sell your home will affect how you sell it, so get clear on when you want your deadline to be.

Decide On Your Acceptable Price Range

Your acceptable price range will be…

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check_out_prices_400It's true that selling a home is possible in any housing market.  Don't believe the naysayers who claim that it isn't possible because they are often the ones who either don't know what to do to sell a home, or who aren't willing to do it.  Let them tell you that you can't sell your home in this market right up until the day that you do.

Price It To Sell

Pricing your home to sell in the current housing market is imperative.  To do this, you need to know what the current real estate market is doing in your area, but you don't want to ask your friends, watch the news, or read a few isolated articles to figure out what it is doing.  Instead, you will want to locate those homes in your area that are comparable to yours and find out what their stories…

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You are ready to move and have listed your current home for sale. You may have started looking or even found a home to purchase. But, you feel stuck. What can you do? You may not be able to qualify to have two mortgage loans at one time. Most people are not able to do that. So, how can you get into your new property while you handle your current mortgage? Depending on the situation, there are a few key things you can do.


Should You Get a Second Mortgage?

Many people assume they need to get a second mortgage in order to make this process happen. The problem is, most people do not qualify to hold two mortgages at one time; and that means lenders simply will not go for it. You also have to consider that it may take six months or longer to sell your…

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clean_home_400When you are ready to get serious about home staging, you need advanced home staging tips.  There are many out there who talk about home staging and make a few minor tweaks, and then there are those who go all out in recreating their home to get it to sell.  If you want to go all out with home staging, then this is what you will have to do.

Clean Absolutely Everything

Cleaning absolutely everything means cleaning absolutely everything.  From one end of the house to the other and from top to bottom, the house needs to be so clean it sparkles.  Clean around, behind, and under every piece of furniture and knickknack that you have, and you will be off to a good start.

Banish Clutter From The Premises

All clutter must be gone.  You want your home so…

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lifestyle_cost_400There are so many things to think about when you are buying a house that you probably feel like you don't need any more, but it is better to be overwhelmed now than to feel regret later.  Cover all your bases while you have the chance, and you will be completely sure that you bought the right home.  This is what you need to think about when buying a home.

Your Lifestyle

Think about your lifestyle.  This will include all the big parts of your life to all those little ones that you take for granted.  Your choice of home could influence where you go when you go out, how often you go out, how relaxing it is to stay at home, if you like your neighbors, and a million other little things. 

It will decide how long it takes to get to work, to school, and to…

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kitchen_interior_400Home staging has become a commonly used phrase when it comes to selling homes.  It sounds like a simple matter of making a home attractive to buyers but it has much greater repercussions than just making your home visually appealing enough to buy.  The reasons why home staging is so important are things everyone working on selling a home should know.

Looks Matter

How your home looks to potential buyers matters.  While it would be nice if they only saw the home and not everything that you have piled up in it, people looking to buy a home see both and are influenced by both.  You could try to sell the exact same home to the exact same person twice and depending on how the inside looks the situation could have two very different outcomes.  When you are…

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