Month: March 2018

Are We Headed For Another Housing Bubble?

Douglasville / By

Everyone over the age of 30 remembers the housing bubble of ’07. If you had a home for sale during ’07 to ’09 there was a good chance that you were having to sell your house way below what you paid for it. This caused a lot of stress on homeowners that had to move because of job relocations or for whatever reason they had to move. Some homeowners were forced into being what is known as “accidental landlords” to either keep from losing so much money, or just not being able to find a buyer. Now there are a lot of reports that indicate that we may be headed for another bubble 🙁

Is The Housing Market Going To Crash Again?

There were a few factors that caused the housing crash of ’07 – ’09. One of the major factors that caused the problem was subprime mortgages. In short that is a mortgage given to someone that really can’t afford the note. Many of these loans were interest only, meaning they only made the interest payments and paid nothing towards the principal. You would think that most people in their right mind would know that this is a bad idea!

Here is a great explanation of what happened:

The financial crisis was primarily caused by deregulation in the financial industry. That permitted banks to engage in hedge fund trading with derivatives. Banks then demanded more mortgages to support the profitable sale of these derivatives. They created interest-only loans that became affordable to subprime borrowers.

In 2004, the Federal Reserve raised the fed funds rate just as the interest rates on these new mortgages reset.

Housing prices started falling as supply outpaced demand. That trapped homeowners who couldn’t afford the payments, but couldn’t sell their house. When the values of the derivatives crumbled, banks stopped lending to each other. That created the financial crisis that led to the Great Recession.

Read The Full Article “What Caused the 2008 Global Financial Crisis?” Here

That’s a great explanation from the Balance, far better than we could explain 🙂 . One thing to note that we aren’t really seeing now is that supply isn’t out pacing demand, so that is a little of good news.

So the subprime mortgage industry really kicked things off. Too many people had properties that they couldn’t afford and couldn’t sell their house.  Now here is some disturbing news from Curbed:

Financial Times reports that subprime mortgage bond issuance doubled in the first quarter of 2018 compared to a year ago, going from $666 million to $1.3 billion. Furthermore, it quotes a financial analyst predicting that issuance for the year will hit $10 billion, which is more than double the $4.1 billion issued last year. For context, the value of American subprime mortgages was estimated at $1.3 trillion in March 2007.

Read The Full Article “Subprime mortgage bonds are making a comeback” Here

That even makes us sweat a little. Further into that article they state that there are some new companies that have jumped into the market and have rebranded theses subprime mortgages as “noprime”.

Now on to current property values. This plays a big part of the equation. Prices have been steadily rising for at least 6 years now in most markets, to the point where a lot of properties are over valued. Check out these comparisons from American Banker:

CoreLogic found in comparing 380 metro areas that in January 2000, 6% were overvalued while 87% were at value. But by November 2006, 67% were overvalued and 32% were at value.

At the bottom of the market in March 2011, 7% were overvalued, 42% were at value and 52% were undervalued.

As of December 2017, there was a more even distribution among the three groups: 33% overvalued, 35% at value and 32% undervalued.

Read The Full Article “Housing bubble or not, the real estate market is in trouble” Here

Another disturbing trend. Notice that 33% of properties are overvalued as of last December compared to 67% in November of ’06 at the start of the crash.

Lastly, check out this video from Faye Bishop:

Summing It Up

So when will we have another crash? No one really knows. It does look like if things continue on the current track that one could definitely be in the cards. The only thing that is a saving grace right now we think is that builders have not started building houses like they were 12 – 15 years ago, keeping the supply in check.

So the point of all of this is that if you need to sell your house that is in need of major repairs or updates and you know that putting your property on the market will take some time to get a buyer, you should consider selling now. If you are wondering how to sell a property like that, check out this article “Where Can You Sell Your House Fast“, or you can visit our website for a free, no obligation offer on your property – or call us at 770 756-8680.

How To Sell Your House Fast Without A Realtor

Canton / By

If you are wondering how and if you can sell your house yourself without a realtor, the short answer is yes, you can. There is a little to it though. You can’t just plop a for sale sign in the front yard and hope that a buyer will magically appear to buy your house. If you want some quick tips on how to sell your house fast without a realtor, keep reading.

How You Can Sell Your House Fast Without A Realtor

There is actually quite a bit that an agent does for you to sell your house. Thankfully with the invention of the internet, almost anyone can sell their home themselves with a little work and research.

One of the most important things when selling your house yourself is to price it correctly. If you are wondering where to start with that, check out our previous article “How To Price Your House For A Fast Sale” that will give you a lot of help of getting the price right.

The next thing you have to do, which we have said many times before is clean and clean some more. Pack up as many things as you can and rent a storage unit to help declutter your home. Make sure the yard is well manicured and your house is as appealing as it can possibly be for buyers that arrive. There is a reason that open houses are called “showings”, you want your house to shine and be seen in the best light possible. Once you are satisfied that the house is super clean and looks it’s best, it’s time to get to marketing –

List Your House For Sale In As Many Places As Possible

As we mentioned above, thanks to the internet anyone can sell their house themselves without a realtor. You need to list your property on the web as many places as possible – Craigslist, Trulia, Zillow, Redfin and many others. Now it used to be that you couldn’t list on the MLS, but check this out:

2. Get Your Home Listed on the MLS

“It’s tremendously important that you get on a platform that gives you exposure to buyers and agents,” McGillivray said. That platform is the Multiple Listing Service, or MLS, which is the database of homes for sale in a market. Homebuyers can see properties on the MLS through websites such as Realtor.com, Zillow.com and Trulia.com.

In the past, only real estate agents could have homes listed through this service. However, today’s homeowners can list their own properties on the MLS by paying a flat fee to various sites. McGillivray recommends using Owners.com, which places homes on the MLS and gives homeowners access to advisors who can help with the sales process, including the closing. The basic MLS listing package is $395 for six months.

Read The Full Article “13 tips on how to sell your home without a real estate agent” Here

Pretty cool, huh? And it’s nice that if you go through Owners.com that your house will appear in other places as well and cut down on the amount of time that you have to spend listing your property.

Another important thing you want to remember to have is a flyer about your property. It’s a good idea to have a flyer cylinder on your for sale sign that say’s “take one” for people that may drop by unannounced, or when you are not home.

Next, don’t forget about social media:

5. Use social marketing to help sell your house. Inform your friends and family members that you are selling your house via platforms such as Facebook, Linked In or Twitter.

6. Clean your house. Buyers will notice the smallest amounts of debris. Make extra efforts to clean your windows, carpets, floors, bathrooms and kitchen. Remove excess clutter from your house.

7. Improve the curb appeal of your house. Ensure that your lawn and hedges are well manicured. Clean your driveway, porch and all areas of your yard.

Read The Full Article “How Do I Sell My House for Sale by Owner?” Here

Social Media is a great place to market your property. By getting the word out there your friends may have a friend that is looking for a property in your area. You can also make a video highlighting the best things about your house and post it to YouTube and Vimeo and put links in your listings and social media posts to the video. We also added in the part of their article about cleaning and improving curb appeal to reinforce that point.

Lastly we wanted to give you this video that explains why you might want to sell without a realtor and ways to do it:

Conclusion

You can sell your house without a realtor if you follow the above tips. Make sure you  price the house correctly, clean up and market the property as many ways as you can find.

Lastly, don’t forget that our company, Mandich Property Group, buys houses everyday of the week, and for cash. By paying with cash we can close whenever you want, (Learn more about the advantages of selling to a cash buyer in this article “How Do I Sell My House For Cash“). You won’t have to do any of the things mentioned above, no cleaning, no yard work – we don’t care how messy the house is, we would like the opportunity to make you an offer on your property. You can learn more by visiting our site at www.MandichPropertyGroup.com, or call us at 770 756-8680.

Can You Sell Your House While It Is Rented?

Marietta / By

Do you have a property that is rented and want to sell it? Are you wondering if you can legally sell the property with a tenant and what are the implications? If you find yourself in this conundrum, keep reading to learn the answers.

Selling A House That Is Rented

Back during the housing crisis a lot of homeowners became landlords that didn’t want to be. They had a property that they couldn’t sell and in order to help cover costs they just put a tenant in the property. Now that the market has recovered, many of these homeowners want to sell their property. The question is can you legally sell the property with tenants in it? The short answer is Yes. However there are some things that you need to be aware of before putting the house on the market.

Tenants have rights, and sometimes it almost seems like they have more rights than the property owners. If you decide to sell the property you can’t just give them notice that they have to move within a few weeks. It really depends on the type of lease they have and if they are in any violation of that lease as well as the state laws that the property is located. Another thing that you are going to have to take into consideration is how well you and your tenant get along.

Your tenant relationship is really going to come into play when it comes time to show the house. In a previous article “Tips When Trying To Sell Your House Fast” we went indepth about how to get potential buyers to check out the house. With tenants this can be a little more difficult due to the fact that you can’t just walk in at anytime to show the property. Viewings will have to be properly scheduled with the tenant as not to break the law, or worse aggravate them to where they can make it more difficult to sell your property.

If you are lucky enough to have your tenant on a month to month, then things will be much easier. You can simply give notice that you will not be renewing their lease next month. However, if they have a yearly lease, things may be a little more difficult and hopefully you are on good terms with your tenant to make the process easier.

Selling Your Property With A Tenant That Has A Long Lease

There are a few things that you can do when selling your property that has a tenant with a long lease that is still in force. The first thing you can do is the obvious, wait for the lease to expire:

Wait for the lease to expire

Most real estate agents would argue that a seller should wait for the rental agreement to expire. Tenants can sometimes be a bit of a wild card in the high-stakes real estate game, so some agents feel it’s best to proceed after the tenant leaves. After that, make some cosmetic fixes to clean up the home, and sell it vacant.

Waiting may be especially important if you have a difficult tenant or one who is unhappy that their home is “being sold out from under them.” The last thing you want is to make showing the home more difficult — and a disgruntled tenant could easily do that by mucking up paint or leaving his place a mess. The result is that your property looks less appealing to potential buyers, which can have a dramatic effect on your bottom line.

On the other hand, selling a vacant rental unit isn’t always ideal for the seller’s finances. It can take months from the time the home goes on the market until it’s sold — months during which the landlord receives no rent. This can be especially trying for sellers whose homes have been a long-term financial burden.

Read The Full Article “How to Sell a House With Tenants” Here

There are a lot of good points to be argued in that previous article. The last one is something that a lot of homeowners will have to think about if they have another property and may end up paying the mortgage on TWO properties for a few months prior to selling the rental.

If you want to sell your house quickly without a tenant, which is what most realtors recommend, you can always consider paying your tenant to leave:

Pay your tenant to vacate

Yes, you read that right.

Paying someone to leave your house might be your best option if you need to sell immediately.

But how much do you offer?

Do a quick Trulia search to find the average rent in your area. If typical rents are more than you’ve been charging, offer the difference multiplied by the number of months left on your tenant’s lease. You could also offer to pay any moving costs. If your tenant won’t budge, throw in some extra cash to pay the security deposit for the new place.

In the end, your tenant doesn’t have to accept any cash you offer. You might just have to wait.

Read The Full Article “How To Sell A Tenant-Occupied Property” Here

If you are on good terms with your tenant and they are flexible, this may be a good option for you, provided they don’t want to much cash.

There is still another option that may work well for some, and that is selling your property to an investor, or an investor that already has rental properties and is looking to acquire more:

Sell your property to another landlord

It’s not what it sounds like, but you can sell your property together with tenants. It’s not against the law to sell the occupied property and let tenants stay until the lease is up if the new owner is ready to adopt a role of a landlord. However, this approach is associated with a number of issues. First, it means that your list of potential buyers will be narrowed down to those who are looking for a buy-to-let. Second, you’ll have to settle the issue with your tenants. After all, they’ll have to live in a property for sale, which means open houses and property inspections. And, as you remember, you can’t just let potential buyers without giving a prior notice to your tenants because it would be a violation of tenants’ rights.

Read The Full Article “How to Sell an Occupied Rental House” Here

This could really be a great option for a lot of homeowners. You could start your search online for companies that buy houses and contact them to find one that does by rentals. If your property is in the Metro Atlanta area, we are one of those companies and you can learn more on our site at www.MandichPropertyGroup.com.

Lastly we wanted to share this great Youtube video that shares a lot about selling your rented property:

Summing It Up

Yes you can sell a property that is rented. However you need to remember that your tenant has rights. If you aren’t selling your property to another investor we highly suggest that you consult with an attorney before putting your property on the market to make sure you don’t break any tenant laws and help protect yourself.

Exterior Painting Will Help Curb Appeal And Sell Your House

Hiram / By

Curb appeal is arguably the most important thing when getting ready to sell your house. In a previous article “How To Sell Your House Yourself Fast” we talked about things to do to help sell your house fast. But, if your house is ugly, has overgrown shrubs, trees and bushes, the paint is peeling and the windows are dirty will most definitely give a bad first impression to potential buyers. They will get the impression that the inside of the property is just as bad. One of the best things you can do to help increase your properties curb appeal is a fresh coat of paint on the exterior. In this write up we will cover a few things to help you in choosing colors as well as getting the job done yourself.

How Important Is Paint When Selling Your Home?

Paint and the color of your paint are extremely important when it comes to selling your property. The last thing you want to do is personalize the color to much. You need to stick with more common colors to make sure your property is appealing to the largest amount of buyers as possible. Local Agent Finder has this to say about your properties exterior:

Painting the Property’s Exterior

The importance of a good first impression on buyers cannot be emphasized enough. And the first impression that potential buyers have of your home is its exterior. It’s vital to make sure that the front of your home is as well-presented as possible. Badly maintained homes or those with a distasteful paint colours will be off-putting to buyers and may well cause them to offer a lower bid or simply look elsewhere. By painting the outer walls of your property, you can increase ‘curb appeal’ and make your home stand out from the neighbours’ houses. Neutral colours are generally recommended because they will appeal to a wider range of potential buyers. Although bold colours can be exciting, they may fall out of fashion or make your home stand out for all the wrong reasons. You can play around with colour by painting the trim a bolder shade, to make your property really pop.

Read The Full Article “Should I Paint Before Selling My House?” Here

Really good advice, especially when it comes to choosing the right colors. And, as we mentioned before, if the paint is peeling anywhere on the exterior, it will make buyers think there is even more wrong with the property on the inside.

So how do you go about choosing the best colors for your property? Check this out from How Stuff Works:

In picking a color, keep in mind the character of a neighborhood. If all the houses on the street are beige and tan, don’t paint your house pink. Common sense, right? Not for many people. The color should also reflect the landscape. Consider the shrubs and trees when shopping for a color.

You can’t go wrong with white. White is one of the safest, and most popular colors, to paint the exterior. According to one survey, nearly 40 percent of those questioned liked white. For one thing, white can make your house look larger. White also soaks up the light in a shady yard, and is also clean-looking. One of the nice things about white is that you can paint the trim with a color that makes the entire house pop [source: Burns]. Remember too, white isn’t just white; it comes in many hues.

Read The Full Article “10 Paint Colors to Help Sell Your Home” Here

We can’t tell you how many times we have gone into a neighborhood and seen a house that stands out from the crowd, and not in a good way either. It almost always seems that there is one neighbor that thinks pink is okay, or some other god awful pastel color. We agree with the above article that white is a safe color, but we always choose more earth tones for the properties that we renovate.

Here is more on choosing colors from a great YouTube video:

Now you have a good idea about choosing colors. The next question is are you going to paint the house yourself, or higher someone to do it for you?

Painting Your House Yourself

If you choose to paint your house yourself be prepared to spend some time doing it. To properly paint your house you won’t be able to do it in a weekend! One of the most important things to do when painting your house is prep work, which is often overlooked by the average do it yourselfer. Have you never painted a house before? Then check this out on paint prep:

1-day project: Wash your house

If you aren’t already washing your siding once a year, now is the time to start. This will remove any mold and mildew, expose any potential problems and get the surface ready for prep work and painting.

  • A pressure washer is the most popular cleaning tool, thanks to its powerful spray — but it’s not a magic wand. In addition to patience, you’ll also need protective eyewear, a couple of five-gallon buckets, a pressure-washing cleaning solution and a stiff brush.
  • Soak the surface first to loosen up debris, and then start cleaning with a wide, sweeping motion, from the bottom to the top of each wall.
  • To prevent damage, start spraying at a distance of 10 feet and work your way in. Wash windows, garage doors and cracked seals at the lowest setting or by hand.
  • If that big, loud pressure washer leaves you feeling a little gun-shy, you can get the same results with a scrub brush, bleach solution and garden hose.

Read The Full Article “How to Paint the Exterior of Your Home (the Easy Way!)” Here

If you have, or have not painted a house before we recommend that you read that entire article to learn some valuable tips. It’s important to note that they take a full month to paint a property, that’s if you have a full time job that won’t let you take off some time to spend a couple of weeks painting you house on your own.

Summing It Up

Painting the exterior of your home will greatly improve your properties curb appeal. If you do it yourself it’s going to take you some time, but you will have a great sense of satisfaction once it’s done. Just make sure you spend some time in picking the right colors to appeal to the widest range of buyers as possible.

The draw back with painting the exterior is that it’s going to take some time, whether you do it yourself or higher a contractor. As a quick reminder, if you need to sell your house fast and are in the Metro Atlanta area, here at Mandich Property Group we buy houses in any condition. We don’t care about peeling paint or anything else. To get a free no obligation offer you can visit our website or call us at (770) 756-8680.

How To Sell Your House As Is Fast

Cumming / By

Selling a house is never fun, for most people. If you need to sell quickly it can add a lot more stress to the situation. Add in having to sell your house quickly “as is” and you add in another dynamic. If you find yourself in this situation, then keep reading to learn some quick and easy tips on how to sell your home quickly as is.

Tips To Sell Your House As Is Fast

There’s a lot that needs to be done when you are getting ready to sell your property. Besides packing to get ready to move to your new dwelling, which we covered in the article “Packing & Moving Tips When Selling Your House“, there is cleaning, staging, making sure the yard is well kept and a lot more.

The first thing is cleaning and decluttering, which Dave Ramsey’s blog has this great tip:

1. Channel Your Inner Neat Freak

You always knew your tidying tendencies would come in handy one day. Now it’s time to clutter-bust your way to buyers’ hearts!

Dawn admits decluttering isn’t rocket science—but it is the key to creating a pleasing environment. Pay particular attention to common junk magnets like:

  • Kitchen and bathroom counters
  • Fireplace mantels
  • Laundry room shelves
  • Tabletops
  • Magazine racks

No decluttering advice would be complete without a call to streamline your closets. “If your closet is crowded, I’m going to think my stuff won’t fit,” Dawn says. Wow buyers by showing them how much space there is for stuff—not how much stuff there is in the space.

Read The Full Article “5 No-Cost Tricks to Sell Your Home Faster” Here

Great advice, especially about your closets. We highly recommend that if there are things that you can do without until you move, then go ahead and at least get a storage unit and put them away until you are at your new place.

When you are in your kitchen decluttering don’t forget about your junk drawer and underneath the kitchen sink. Buyers will always pull open at least one drawer and look under the sink to check out the plumbing. The last thing you want is either one to be stuffed with junk. For great storage ideas under your sink be sure and check out our article “Tidy Kitchens Help Sell Your House“.

Think Outside The Box

It’s always a good idea to try and think outside the box no matter what you are doing. If you are trying to sell your house fast as is, then this is really necessary. More than likely if you go the traditional route with an agent you aren’t going to be able to sell your house fast enough, especially if it needs repairs. You need as many people to see your house as possible. You need to list your house on as many online sites as possible. A lot are free, some aren’t. Also don’t forget about using social media to get the word out.

Now, when you have someone that is somewhat interested in the house we found this excellent tip about sweetening the deal if someone is on the fence about buying your property:

9: Sweeten the Deal with Incentives

Leaving a flat screen television behind? Are you willing to pay a portion of the buyer’s closing costs? When you sweeten the deal, you make your home stand out from the crowd. Figure how the items that you own that carry little extrinsic value on the open market, but may have significant intrinsic value for a potential buyer. Talk to your real estate agent about what’s legally allowed in your market. This is a tried and true quick-sale tactic, as 37% of all home sellers offer incentives to attract buyers. That black leather couch may not fetch much on Craigslist, but may mean the world to a harried buyer.

Read The Full Article “10 Surefire Ways to Sell Your Home as Fast as Possible” Here

We have seen this work very well when we sell our renovated properties. We always stage them and sometimes people may like the dining room table or some other piece of furniture. We are always quick to point out that we can add that in the deal if they want to. For some of you, leaving behind a flat screen TV could be rather difficult 🙂

Summing It Up

Having to sell your house fast as is can drive you nuts. However if you follow our above tips, you can get it done a lot easier. Clean everything from top to bottom and declutter as much as possible. If you have items that will not go with the decor of your new place, then offer to give them to the new buyers to help get the deal done.

If you live in the Metro Atlanta area and need to sell your house as is fast, contact us. We buy houses fast and in any condition. Learn more at www.MandichPropertyGroup.com

Companies Who Buy Houses

Stone Mountain / By

You’ve probably seen the signs on  the side of the road that read “we buy houses for cash” or “we buy houses” that are on street corners on signs stuck in the ground or nailed to telephone poles. You may have gotten something in the mail that states that an investor will buy your house, in any state and for all cash. Often these pieces of marketing are in bright colors with very bold print encouraging you to hurry and call to get an offer. Now you may be asking yourself “Is this for real? Will they really buy my houses fast and pay all cash? There must be a catch!”. If you are among the people wondering about this, keep reading 🙂

Companies That Buy Houses For Cash

First, Yes, most of these companies are for real. Notice that we said “most“. There are a lot of legitimate real estate investors out there who will buy your home quickly, and for all cash. These companies can really be a “God send” for a lot of homeowners who are in a bind. However, it’s not for everybody. If you are not in a hurry to sell your house, if your house is only a few years old and you can wait for months to find a buyer, then listing your property the regular way with an agent is probably your best option.

In a previous article “Should I Sell My House As Is“, we talked about whether or not homebuyers want to purchase a house that needs small repairs vs. major repairs. For people whose house needs a new roof, or new HVAC or even a house that needs to have all of the plumbing replaced because it has Polybutylene in it (a grey pipe that was installed in the South East in the late 70’s that is notorious for breaking), investors are a great option.

There are also a few other reasons why someone may choose to sell their house fast to an investor, which one of our favorite blogs covered:

“We Buy Houses for Cash” Ads Target Certain Types of Home Sellers

Companies that pay cash for homes prey on home sellers who are in distress or need to quickly sell. The cash-paying buyers often advertise the types of situations they are searching for in hopes that you will recognize your predicament and call them. They look for:

  • Sellers who can’t sell or whose listings expire
  • Sellers who are divorcing
  • Bankruptcies
  • Homes in probate
  • Homes in foreclosure
  • Sellers whose employers transfer them
  • Owners who are evicting tenants
  • Vacant homes
  • Trashed or damaged homes

Read The Full Article “We Buy Houses for Cash — Is It For Real?” Here

Okay, we are going to “vent” for a second here. Notice in the above article that they use the word “prey”, which we kind of take offense to. Now yes, we stated above that “most” investors were legitimate. Unfortunately there are some out there that will try and scam you, which we will cover in a little bit. But to lump all investors as bad – no. We can tell you that we have helped hundreds of sellers that were in a bad situation, and an investor was the only, or best way out. One in particular was a family that inherited a property. There was still a mortgage on the property and the heirs didn’t have the money to continue making payments on the property that was in need of serious repairs. They had the property listed, but nobody wanted to buy it. Instead of letting the bank foreclose on the property and let the bank get all of the money, we were able to purchase the property so that the heirs could split the equity that was in the house. So tell me, is that all that bad?

There is another way that you need to look at this. The investor is also taking a lot of risk. If you sell them your property that is in need of major repairs, or whatever the reason, the investor has to get the property ready for resale, which takes time. Does anybody remember the crash back in ’08? If the market were to dive again while an investor is holding onto a house, then they are going to lose a lot of money. Plus there may be things that were not discovered that need to be repaired before reselling the property.

Okay, we are done venting 🙂 . Now we will move on –

What To Look For When Selling To A Company That Buys Houses

Again, not every real estate investor is credible. There are some out there that will try and take advantage of you. Some may say they are going to buy your house for one price, only to try and lower the price at the last minute. Others will give extremely low ball offers.

To protect yourself and make sure you are dealing with a legitimate company that buys houses, check the following:

1. The company name is on their website

One thing that you’d know if the home-for-cash buying company is legitimate is if their company name and logo are displayed on their website. Beware of those that don’t have their company names on it, as they might be hiding their identity so they can be difficult to trace when conflicts and issues arise.

2. The contact information is displayed

Their contact information must, too, be displayed on their website, and their address. That is for easier navigation and inquiry. Businesses usually post their business address for their clients, and if you see that they don’t display their contact information and address, there must be something not right about that company that offers cash for a house.

Read The Full Article “Companies That Buy Houses Reviews” Here

That’s good info, especially about their address. Some investors, like us, run their companies from their home. If they are running a legit business, even if it is from their home, why won’t they list their address? There are also other things to look for, like who the people are on their site ( we don’t always drink or own cool aid, but in our defense this site is still new and our “About” page is coming!). You should also be able to find multiple company profiles on the web, especially places like Facebook and Twitter.

Summing It Up

Yes, there really are companies out there that will buy your home quickly, and for cash so that they can close quickly. But seller beware, make sure you are dealing with a legit company and won’t try and lower the price at the last minute or something else. Fortunately in the state of Georgia you must close with an attorney, which lowers the risks of getting scammed.

If you are in the Metro Atlanta area and you are looking for a company that buys houses, be sure and visit our website at www.MandichPropertyGroup.com. We would be more than happy to make you an all cash offer on your property. And hey, if you don’t like our offer – you don’t have to accept it, but we think you will 😉

Selling Your Home And Your Pets

Austell / By

Almost everyone loves pets. According to Psychology Today 39% of Americans own a dog and 33% own a cat, so the chances of a potential buyer that visits your home owns a pet are pretty good. However, having a pet in your home that your are trying to sell can adversely affect how fast you are able to sell your property, as well as the price. Keep reading to find out why and what to do with your pets when trying to sell your house.

Pets And Trying To Sell Your House

In a previous article ” Tips On How To Sell Your House Fast” we covered improving your curb appeal to help welcome and be more inviting to potential buyers. However, if you have the outside pristine only to have them walk inside to smell a dirty litter box, you have a problem.

First, not all people are comfortable with pets. Ya, it’s hard to believe, but true. I mean what’s not to love? Most pets are very lovable and only require some food and water and are willing to give you all kinds of love in return. But some people are scared of dogs and cats, while others maybe allergic to them. The Balance has this to say about why some people don’t like pets:

Why Don’t Home Buyers Like Your Pet?

  • Nervousness. Pets make some people very uncomfortable. Not everybody grew up with a family pet or enjoys outings at the zoo. Fur and four legs does not a human make.
  • Fear. Real and irrational. It’s not only dogs that instill fear in people. All kinds of silly wives’ tales and superstitions involve cats.
  • Inexperience. Pets are not always predictable.
  • Your pets aren’t their pets. They imagine yours bite, jump, vomit, claw, spit-up hairballs or are just plain hyper and bad — which is not all like their pets. Their pets are perfect.

Read The Full Article “Selling a House with Pets at Home” Here

The last point is pretty good, your pets aren’t their pets and everyone thinks their pets are perfect, kind of like children 🙂

Pets Can Adversely Affect Your Selling Price

If a buyer walks in and notices a dog or cat, more than likely they are going to start looking for pet damage. This can really affect how much you are able to sell the house for. How Stuff Works has this to say about how pets can adversely affect your sale:

If you want to ensure you get the highest final sale price, you’ll have to properly stage your home to create the illusion you are not a pet owner — or at least eliminate any signs that your animals were destructive. How? By fixing any major damage your pets caused that will catch the eyes (and noses) of potential buyers. In some cases, a quick fix will do. But larger problems may require more significant repairs — or may need to be replaced altogether.

Even if your house is in excellent condition, and you’ve done your best to keep it clean, owning pets could take up to $30,000 off of its value if potential buyers notice odors or other pet issues [source: Tuttle].

Read The Full Article “5 Pet Problems to Fix Before You Sell Your House” Here

30k is a lot of money to lose just because a potential buyer notices a smell of pets or urine in your house! So get rid of all of those odors and pet stains before even thinking about trying to sell your house. Now on to the last thing, which can be hard to do for a lot of pet owners –

Remove Your Pets When Trying To Sell Your House

Yes, removing your pets is the best thing you can do. This way you can clean the house and not have them make a mess right behind you. There are also legal reasons why you may want to relocate your pets when selling:

When selling a home with pets, at the very least, you should remove your them from your home when you are showing the property for sale. All the cute things your dog does will not help you sell your home, and will only remind the potential buyer that the house has contained pets previously.

Ideally you should have your real estate agent showing the home, preferably while you are away. Having a pet in the house or yard can create complications for your agent while trying to show the house, and puts your pet at risk of accidentally getting out during the process. There are also liability issues to deal with as well. While your dog or cat may be ultra friendly, it is certainly possible they can have a bad day just like you and I.

When you leave your pet home during showings you are asking for trouble especially if a buyer brings a young child and they are curious. The last thing you want is Fido taking a chunk out of a buyers child’s arm. Remember we live is a lawsuit happy society! You are taking a big risk when your pet is allowed to roam freely during showings.

Read The Full Article “7 Tips to Sell a Home with Pets” Here

Your dog may have never bitten anyone before, but if you bring in a stranger your dog is probably going to be a little on edge. Add in a small child that may be a little to rough with the dog and before you know it you have a problem. Something else to mention that if you are not at home when your house is being shown and your pet is and it gets out – it can be hard for an agent to wrangle your pet, your pet may get lost or worse – injured.

Summing It Up

We all love our pets, but they can make it difficult when trying to sell your home. It is best that if it is possible for you to relocate them while the house is on the market, it will be best for your wallet as well as your pet. If you aren’t able to relocate them be sure and crate them or possibly put them in a doggy daycare on days when you are showing the property.

If you are in the Metro Atlanta area and are trying to sell your house fast and have pets – we love animals! We would love the opportunity to make you a fair, all cash offer for your property and we don’t mind if your pets are at home when we visit. In fact, we would like to meet them! You can learn more on our site at www.MandichPropertyGroup.com

Where Can You Sell Your House Fast

Lithia Springs / By

Need to sell your house fast and don’t know where to start? Is it worth the time and effort to list your house in the local newspaper? Probably not. So where is the best place to list your property for sale to have the best chance of being seen by as many buyers as possible? The answer is really pretty easy – the internet. Keep reading to learn more about advertising your house on the internet to sell it fast.

Using The Internet To Sell Your House Fast

In a previous article “Improving Curb Appeal To Help Sell Your House Fast” we covered making your house look as nice as possible for when buyers arrive at your property. But how do you get those people to your house? With the invention of the internet now people from all of the county, or the world for that matter,  can have a peak at your house without even leaving theirs.

Just putting a sign in the front yard and hoping that a buyer will come by just isn’t going to happen. In today’s fast paced digital world with tons of social media sites and online listing sites, your property has to be on as many of them as possible. This is where most people start the home buying process these days, and some suggest over 90% of would be buyers start their search there. Just think about it, where would you start your search, probably on your laptop, tablet or right on your phone. The internet just makes it easier for people to look at a lot of houses until their hearts content and find a few that they like and want to visit.

Even WikiHow makes this statement about making use of the internet:

Use the power of the internet. The internet changed the way that houses were bought and sold. No longer did prospective home buyers need to physically visit the house to find out what it was like. Today, many potential home buyers weed out listings they don’t want to invest time in online, and then visit the ones in person that look intriguing. Promoting your home’s unique qualities online is a great way to generate more leads.

Read The Full Article “How to Sell Your House Fast” Here

If you have the time you should read that entire article as it  gives great tips on how to sell your house fast from start to finish.

Use As Many Channels As Possible

You should know that there are sites out there like Trulia, Zillow and Redfin that you can list your house for sale and many more. But where else can you list your house for sale?  Check this out:

Craigslist is one of the best websites for marketing property. You must therefore make a point of listing your home for sale on craigslist.org. When doing this, you have to specify you are the owner and the location of your home to increase your chances of attracting buyers. It is also important to renew your ad daily to ensure your listing is visible. Make sure your add stands out above the rest of the listings by adding plenty of high quality pictures and ideally a YouTube video tour in HD.

Facebook is another great resource you can use to sell your house fast. Look for active facebook groups in your area and write a post with pictures and videos of your house. It is important to note that real estate investors are more resourceful than real estate agents because they usually have cash on hand. Use Facebook’s graph search to find individual real estate investors in your area.

Read The Full Article “How to Sell Your House Fast in 2018” Here

Craiglist is often overlooked by a lot of sellers and so is Facebook. Go ahead and make a post on Facebook that your house is for sale with some good pictures in it, you never know who is in your circle of friends that may be looking for a house in your area. In the above article they also mention real estate investors which brings us to our last part of this article –

Perform A Web Buy Houses Search

If you really need to sell your home quickly, one of the easiest things to do is to perform a search on your favorite browser with something like “sell my house fast” or “we buy houses” with your city at the end and you will have a lot of results returned that are real estate investors that are looking to buy houses. For some people this is the best route because their property needs repairs or really do need to sell quickly because of a new job in another city.

Summing It Up

If you need to sell your house fast you absolutely have to make use of the internet. Just putting a sign in the front yard or at the front of the subdivision isn’t going to bring in that many potential buyers. Get lots of good pictures of your property and post them on as many sites as you can that your house if for sale. Don’t forget, if you need to sell your house fast be sure and contact us at MandichPropertyGroup.com for a free, no obligation offer on your property today.

How To Price Your House For A Fast Sale

Holly Springs / By

There are a lot of things that come into play and have to be done when selling a house. If you need to sell a house fast then there can be even more to do in a shorter amount of time. One of the biggest things in getting your house to sell quickly is to price it correctly. Price it to high and you won’t have any interest in the property and may end up holding on to it longer than you want to. This short article will give you some good tips on properly pricing your house for a fast sale.

In a previous article “Tips And Tricks To Sell Your House Fast ” we covered a lot of the “physical” things that have to be done to sell your house fast like cleaning and properly staging the house.  Here is the thing, no matter how nice you make your house, if it’s not priced properly, it’s not going to sell. Think about it, why would a buyer pay 5, 10, 15 thousand or more for a house when they can get one that is comparable or maybe even nicer for less? Would you?

It’s Important To Set The Price Right From The Start

Many homeowners may think that if they set the price high from the start that they can always lower it if they don’t get any interest. This may well be a very bad strategy, which was covered in this article:

Be reasonable

Hensal said it is important to price a home properly from the beginning. If a seller is forced to drop the price, “it’s only human nature to wonder what’s wrong,” Hensal of the potential buyer’s perspective.

“You’re just selling your competition if it’s priced too high,” she said. “You’re better off pricing it properly right out of the gate.”

Cummings-Waldorf added: “It’s like anything. I may want to sell my car for $30,000, but if it’s not worth $30,000, I’m not going to get $30,000.”

Pricing a home too high is the “kiss of death” in real estate, said Greenwich Realtor Jane Brash of Coldwell Banker.

“You want the momentum from the very get-go,” she said.

Otherwise, Brash said, it’s a downward spiral where buyers are turned off by the price while the home languishes on the market and, eventually, buyers start assuming something’s wrong with the property, causing it to linger even longer.

Read The Full Article “Property Rounds: Pricing a home properly key to quick sale” Here

It’s a good point that you are actually helping to sell other people’s houses by pricing yours to high from the start, as well as the fact that buyers will wonder what is wrong with your house if you drop the price. Another problem could be that buyers may wonder what is wrong with the property if it has been on the market for some time and hasn’t sold – all due to it being over priced.

Pricing Your House To Sell Fast

There is a lot to consider when setting the price of your property. This is one reason why realtors get paid what they do. If you are using a realtor then you are putting your trust in them. We would suggest that you do some investigating on your own and don’t just take their word for it. If you are selling your property on your own or “FSBO” (for sale by owner), then you are going to have to do some extensive research. Thankfully the internet is here now and you can do most of your research from there.

So where do you start finding the right price for your house? Check this out from The Balance which has some great info on how to get started:

Pull Comparable Listings and Sales

  • Look at every similar home that was or is listed in the same neighborhood over the past three months. Appraisers do not use comps older than 3 months.
  • The list should contain homes within a 1/4 mile to a 1/2 mile and no further, unless there are only a handful of comps in the general vicinity or the property is rural.
  • Pay attention to neighborhood dividing lines and physical barriers such as major streets, freeways or railroads, and do not compare inventory from the “other side of the tracks.” Where I live in the Land Park neighborhood of Sacramento, for example, identical homes across the street from each other can vary by $100,000. Perceptions and desirability have value.
  • Compare similar square footage, within a 10% variance of up or down from the subject property, if possible.
  • Similar ages. One neighborhood might consist of homes built in the 1950s next door to another ring of construction from the 1980s. Values between the two will differ. Compare apples to apples.

Read The Full Article “How to Price Your Home for Sale” Here

Superb advice on setting the price of your property. This is how we always start at determining the value of a property. If you deviate to much from those rules above you will get the pricing of your property wrong. Sometimes it will be necessary to deviate from those rules a little because you may not find a property like yours within a half mile of your residence. It’s important to remember that if you have to deviate from any of the above rules, then the others become that much more important. It’s also important to note that when comparing apples to apples that you also take into consideration whether or not a property has updated kitchens, bathrooms or any other part of the house.

Summing It Up

Don’t make the mistake thinking that you can over price the property, only to lower it later down the road when it doesn’t sell. Over priced properties that sit on the market only make buyers wonder what’s wrong with the property. Next, take your time and do your homework, make sure you use accurate comparables, properties very similar to your house for setting the price.

Don’t forget, if you are in need of selling your house fast, we buy houses fast in any condition throughout the Metro Atlanta area. Learn more by visiting our site at MandichPropertyGroup.com.

What You Should Do To Sell Your House Fast

Decatur / By

Selling a house fast can be challenging, and nerve racking. If you have a larger home with children knowing where to start can make you want to pull your hair out. Do you start cleaning, contact an agent or start marketing if selling FSBO or maybe even packing? It’s best to step back and take a deep breath, then start making a list of things that need to be done. In this article we will give you some good tips on getting your property sold as quickly as possible.

What You Need To Do To Sell Your Home Quickly

In our previous post “Should I Sell My House As Is” we talked about selling your house “as is” without making repairs or even cleaning up the property. This will most certainly affect how much you are able to get for the property if you don’t make repairs. However in this article we are going to assume that you have money to make repairs and get your property in tip top shape to get it sold.

Time is of the essence here, so the first thing you need to do is start cleaning. Get your house as clean or cleaner than the day you moved in. Next you need to be concerned about staging, which this article from Cameron Huddelston has some good thing to say:

Stage the house. Staging involves deeply cleaning, decluttering, depersonalizing and arranging furnishings to make your house as appealing as possible. According to a survey by the International Association of Home Staging Professionals and StagedHomes.com, 95% of staged homes sell in 23 days or less, on average. So we painted the walls in a stairway that were scuffed and the ceiling of our kitchen and sunroom because they had some stains. I packed up most of my family photos that were on shelves, tables and walls. We already had a storage unit, so we were able to clean out closets and put items we weren’t regularly using into it. And we turned a kid’s craft room (which was cluttered with art supplies, toys and a homemade craft table covered in paint and glitter glue) into a sitting room. My goal was to make my home look like it was ready for a photo shoot for a magazine or catalog.

Read The Full Article “5 Tips to Sell a House Fast” Here

The first 3 things they touch on, deep cleaning, decluttering and depersonalizing are a must. All of this will help when you show your property and as well help the potential buyer to see the property as their own. We are also believe that packing a lot of items and moving them to storage is a good idea.

Painting & More

Painting can take some time to do correctly and a poor job will stand out to buyers. Make sure to set aside enough time to properly do the job.

What colors should you use? Fox News has this to say about colors and more:

9. Choose sophisticated neutral colors. Now is not the time to experiment with that “fun”-looking lime green. But that doesn’t mean you need to go all white, either. Rich midtone neutrals like mocha and “greige” create a sophisticated backdrop that makes everything look more pulled together.

10. Create a gender-neutral master bedroom. Appeal to everyone with a clean, tailored master bedroom, free of personal items and clutter. You can’t go wrong with clean, crisp linens, tasteful artwork and a blanket folded at the foot of the bed.

11. Open those closets! Open-house visitors will peek inside your closets. Closet space can be a make-it-or-break-it selling point for buyers, so show yours off to their full advantage by giving excess stuff the heave-ho. Again, this is really important, so even if you need to store a few boxes elsewhere, it’s worth it. Aim to have 20 to 30 percent open space in each closet to give the impression of spaciousness.

Read The Full Article “21 Staging tips for selling your home fast” Here

Not quite sure about “greige” as if it’s suppose to be a mix between gray and beige. However those are both colors that we use in our properties with gray used more in new homes as of late.

It’s also good advice to clean your closets. Buyers will look in your closets to see how much room there is. Besure to pack up as much as you can to give your closet a more spacious feel.

Detach Yourself From The Property

This can be hard to do. A lot of people have a problem with this, after all, you may have raised a family in this property and have a lot of memories there. However you need to sell the house, so you need to think of it as someone else’s and a more neutral color pallet and furniture for staging. Forbes has this to say about this important step:

5. Don’t … get emotionally involved.

Yes, it’s your house. Yes, you sweated blood and tears to get it just the way you wanted it. But, no, that does not make it someone else’s “perfect,” particularly when you’ve made some unique decorating decisions. You want the space to look as neutral as possible, so buyers can envision themselves in the space. So even if those teal walls in the bedroom look knock-out great with your duvet, they probably won’t match anyone else’s things. Let go of the features you love, and make it a house most people could love—and that might mean painting all of the walls a soft, neutral color. “My office at home is a robin’s egg blue,” Derrick says. “But if we get ready to sell that house, you can bet I’m repainting it.”

Read The Full Article “The 8 Top Home-Selling Mistakes You Should Avoid” Here

It’s just like what Fox News had to say – neutral colors are what you need to aim for, both in the color of your walls as well as the furniture that you stage the house with.

Conclusion

Having to sell your house fast can be a real hassle. However, if you choose the right colors and properly paint the interior of your house and use neutral colors for staging furniture the property will be more inviting for a larger base of potential buyers. It may take you longer if you have painted every room in the house a different color, like pink for your daughters room. The pink may look nice, but what if the perfect family for the house has all boys? Just stick to the advice above and you should have a buyer for your property faster, all though it may take you some time to get all the work done.

If you really need to sell your house fast and don’t have time for everything mentioned above, don’t forget, here at Mandich Property Group we buy houses as is and in any condition. We don’t care what the colors are of any of the rooms or if the house is staged or even clean. You can learn more at MandichPropertyGroup.com

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