The first question many home sellers ask themselves when they begin to market their home is “How much do I need to make from this sale to buy the home I want to live in next?”  This is an unfortunate thought process that has lead to many heartbreaking price reductions and budget busting weeks of additional mortgage payments.  Though this is not one of them, there are a few questions you should ask yourself before you sell your home.

What is my current home worth?

This topic can be quite stressful for a Summit NJ real estate agent to broach.  Many sellers approach pricing with their hearts, not their heads.  This house was once their dream home.  They truly believe their home is far superior to the comparable properties or far more valuable the current market conditions will allow.  If you want to sell, you should be ready to accept an unemotional assessment of your home’s location and features in relation to recent sales.

Is my home ready to show?

Once again, this calls for an objective look at your home.  Do you need to invest in upgrades to the property to make it marketable?  Do you have enough funds available for improvements like paint or new flooring?  Are there any major repairs you have been delaying like a new roof or replacing appliances?  A home inspection can point out problem areas or code violations.  If necessary repairs prove too costly, you may need to stay in the home to make it worth your money.

Is this a good time for me to sell?

Market conditions are certainly a factor in any home sale or purchase.  Your Summit NJ real estate agent can be a very valuable source of information and advice regarding the current market climate your particular home.  But this question is much more personal than that.  Do you have an aging parent living far away?  Has your youngest child just moved into his own place?  Is this a good time for you, personally, to make a change in your living situation?  Your own answers might surprise you.

Can I afford to buy a new home?

Find out if you can get preapproved for a loan before you start shopping for your next home.  Your budget for a new home should be determined by what you can comfortably afford to pay.  You should enter into the selling process with reasonable and accurate expectations and you should have a good grip on how much you should expect to make after all your costs are subtracted.  Don’t let unrealistic dreams of a huge potential profit cloud your vision.

Once you’ve asked yourself these questions, discuss your conclusions with your Summit NJ real estate agent to see if you are ready to sell your house and find your next dream home.

Any Summit NJ real estate agent will tell you that there are few things that can turn a buyer away from a home faster than gaudy, dated, dirty or chipped paint.  It sounds like a small thing to consider but it is truly vital to a fast sale.  When the paint is loud or in poor condition, all potential buyers can see are time-consuming, messy projects in their future instead of a new life in a wonderful home.

Usually, a bad paint job is a sign of worse things.  Lumpy paint may get the buyer thinking that there could be mold underneath.  Crumbling or flaking paint practically yells out “moisture problem.”  Out of date paint choices just make a home seem old and worn. 

Even if none of this is true, bad paint still creates a bad impression.  The usual thinking says that if the owner hasn’t kept up with small tasks like paint, he hasn’t likely maintained the home well at all.  Just like you’d never wear a dirty or threadbare suit to a job interview, you shouldn’t let your home be “interviewed” by prospective buyers wearing anything less than a fresh, new coat of paint both inside and out. 

Like any job, preparation is key to a good paint application.  You may have to do some scraping and sanding to achieve a smooth surface, but the end result will be well worth the effort.  Priming is not a step to be skipped when you are preparing to sell your home.  A tinted, stain-blocking primer might seem like an added step but it will actually save you time.  You won’t need as many coats of the new paint to cover the old color and you won’t have to keep painting over problem spots like crayon marks or water stains.  Your local paint store or home improvement center can help you choose the right one for your home.

Talk to your Summit NJ real estate agent about color choices for the interior and exterior of your home.  He or she can tell you what shows and sells best in your neighborhood and price range.  Neutral colors are almost always the answer.  Take some cues from the flooring.  For example, if you have golden honey-toned hardwood floors, stick with warm colors.  If your carpet is charcoal, you should pick cooler colors to complement it. 

You’ll be surprised at the difference a little paint can make.  When you’ve finished painting, be sure to ask your Summit NJ real estate agent to add the words “freshly painted” to your listing.  Your buyers will love those two little words.

You’ve been following the advice of your Summit NJ real estate agent: ruthlessly decluttering every room, painting every wall and scrubbing every corner in preparation to sell your home.  Suddenly you realize that the holidays are right around the corner.  You’re faced with a dilemma:  forgo your usual holiday decorating spree in order to maintain an uncluttered, neutral home or pull out all the lights and garland in spite of the impending open house? 

There is a comfortable middle ground between the Spartan décor of a perfectly staged home and a holiday gingerbread house.  While you want to avoid clutter, there’s no need to deny your family a beautiful holiday season just because you’re trying to sell.  Just apply the same staging principles you would use during any other time of year to your holiday decorating.

Less is More

Holiday decorations can make a house look its most welcoming and friendly, if they are thoughtful and well placed.  Pick one color that harmonizes with your year-round décor instead of a cacophony of holiday hues.  For instance if you have light, cool colors in your rooms like blues and grays you might want to use pine green with white.  You may need to scale back this year’s tree to prevent crowding a room.  A simple wreath on the door or a few strands of white lights on the shrubbery is enough to charm a potential buyer.  Don’t do anything to compromise your home’s architecture or restrict its space.

It’s Nothing Personal

The holidays are usually when the cherished personal items come out of storage and are displayed in a place of honor.  However, you might not want your great grandmother’s priceless porcelain Santa on a wobbly table in a room full of strangers during an open house.  Your valuable and sentimental items should probably stay in storage, just for this year.  The same applies to your gifts.  It’s just not wise to leave such tempting packages in plain view when your home will be on display to the public.

Holiday Treats

The tastes and smells of the holiday are just as important as the sights.  Leave your potential buyers with a warm, comforting impression of your home with subtle scents like evergreen.  Use a scent diffuser, especially if you have an artificial tree, to infuse your home with a holiday aroma.  Avoid harsh sprays or heavy perfumes as some buyers could be allergic.  You might consider having your Summit NJ real estate agent offer a tray of holiday cookies or a pot of simmering cider for your buyers.  The cider will double as air freshener if you drop in a cinnamon stick or two.

There is no need to give up your holiday in order to keep your home ready to show.  Just make a few calculated refinements to your décor and you’ll soon be celebrating in your new home.

Have you been putting off buying your first home?  If you think you have plenty of time to cash in on federal tax incentives for first-time buyers, think again.  You may have less time to make your qualifying purchase than you think.  You may want to contact a Summit NJ real estate agent sooner, rather than later, to avoid missing out on this valuable program.

The federal tax credit of up to $8000 for eligible first-time home buyers is only applicable to purchases made between January 1 and December 1 of 2009.  (It also applies to newly constructed homes where the date of first occupancy occurs between the same dates.)  For this credit, the “purchase date” is the day of your closing when the title is transferred over to you.  This date must be no later than December 1, 2009 with very few exceptions for contract for deed and installment sale purchases.  That means if you close on a home even a day late, you will not qualify for the credit.  You can bet that many of your local real estate agents and attorneys will be booked on December first!  Although your Summit NJ real estate agent will certainly try to make sure you close in time, you should not count on it being an easy task with so many others rushing towards the same deadline.

Buying a house takes longer than most first-time buyers realize.  Just shopping for a home takes time.  Finding just the right home in the right neighborhood might be a quick and easy decision, but it could also take a while.  Even if you find your dream home right away, there are a number of things that could delay your closing date.  You must consider time-consuming factors like escrow, seller’s contingencies, title searches, inspections and repairs and loan approvals.  These factors can eat away days or even weeks of precious time between now and December 1.  Check with your Summit NJ real estate agent to see how long these processes usually take.

So how can you avoid being a day late and thousands of dollars short?  There are two things you can do today to make your home buying process faster. Get preapproved for your financing and get serious about your home search.  Having your financing already in the bag will tell you exactly how much home you can afford and it gives you a stronger position in price negotiations.  Being a serious buyer means knowing what you want and what compromises you are willing to make.  Get on-line and research your area; know what neighborhoods interest you.  Get a feel for what features are “must-haves” and what you can live without.  Don’t make your agent do all your homework for you.  This is no time to be wasting time.