Febuary 17, 2008
Enhancing Your Home For Sale
February 17, 2008
Dear Dave: We have just listed our home for sale. What can we do to enhance the property to make it attractive to buyers?
Answer: If you were selling your car what would you do? Clean it, polish it, make minor repairs and show it in the best light.
Think of your home in the same way. First, clean out junk and all excess trivia. Most homes have just too much “stuff” in them for selling purposes. All those things that made the house “your home” will now distract a buyer. Try to detach yourself emotionally from the property – you’re moving anyway, so pack up most of your things.
Your home is now “on display”. It should have enough furnishings to suggest to buyers that it is spacious and pleasant. However, there should be lots of room for the imagination to redecorate the home in the buyer’s mind, and to place their own furniture, not yours.
Secondly, paint and carpet (if necessary) are the two best investments you can make when selling your home. The increase in price you can obtain is always greater than the cost of these two basic interior items. If the carpet is worn, replace it. If the interior paint is showing wear and tear, repaint it.
The exterior of the home should be addressed in the same manner – “tidy” sells, “untidy” repels. Buyers’ first impressions are gained when they approach the property from the street. If buyers don’t like the feelings they experience driving up to your home, it is unlikely that they will purchase your property.
Finally, in Alaska - light sells! Light is a scarce and cherished commodity in this State. Maximize the impression of light inside your home by opening the drapes and blinds. Also, use as many interior lights and lamps as are necessary to brighten the experience for a potential buyer.
For further assistance, ask your Realtor for one of the videotapes or publications available at almost any Real Estate office.
Dear Dave: Do you have any advice for folks, like us, in the process of acquiring some vacant land outside of city services?
Answer: Before agreeing to any contract, thoroughly investigate the location of the nearest electricity and gas, and the cost of connecting to it.
Also be sure to have the seller clearly identify the boundaries and corners of the property through a licensed surveyor. Depending on how remote and large the parcel, check for any history of trails and vehicular traffic across the property. It is often difficult to legally stop people using an established traffic pattern on vacant property. You may need legal advice on such uses.
Finally, make your offer to purchase subject to soil tests. Whilst the history of wells in the area is available from your Borough or Municipality (as well as from local residents), you must have the soils professionally examined for construction and septic purposes. Often, the seller will split the cost of these tests.
Dear Dave: We recently moved from a semi-urban location to a rural setting and were staggered at the whopping increase in our fire insurance premium. We thought the best way to warn our friends was by writing to you at the Anchorage Daily News.
Answer: Your problem is simple – you moved away from the fire hydrant and the fire service area! The best zone rating for fire insurance is achieved when your home is less than 1,000 feet from a fire hydrant and less than 5 miles from an approved fire station. If you don’t meet these criteria your premium will increase as much as 150 percent.
Be sure to check out fire services when you move. Many rural fire stations, often run by volunteers or on a part-time basis, are not approved - and you will search in vain for a hydrant.
Dear Dave: We live in South Anchorage and have, like many, been having a horrible time with icy roads. The city sometimes sands but other times it is left really bad. Can you help?
Answer: Actually the Municipality tries hard to cover dangerous areas like intersections, hills and schools zones with sand during those hazardous meltdown periods.
Streets left un-sanded are probably areas unknown to the maintenance division. Any time you have a concern you will find the Municipal Street Maintenance crew, at 343-8277, highly responsive when you telephone.
Dear Dave: We closed on our new home last week and already had to call a plumber to unblock a drain. The house was built in the 1980’s, and we had a home inspection, so we were irritated about this. Who can we sue?
Answer: With respect, may I change your perspective a little? I own a 1970’s house, which I bought 12 years ago, and I had to call the plumber twice in the first month.
You need to understand that used property is not new, and there is always a period of fine-tuning a house when you move into it. The previous owners may have lived there for years without the drain necessarily blocking up. Who knows if one of your kids didn’t flush a teddy bear down the toilet? You would be amazed at some of the stories I can’t print here.
Sure, the seller might have lied in the property disclosure, the home inspector might have missed the problem, but all homebuyers should be prepared to expect maintenance expense to be a responsibility that co-exists with the privilege of ownership.
