April Newsletter
Now that spring has arrived, We wanted to share some tips for freshening up your home's curb appeal (it's amazing the difference a few spring flowers can make!). In this month's newsletter you'll also find 8 tips for buying a home in today's extreme seller's market, plus the secret ingredient for a non-toxic, eco-friendly spring cleaning.
Thanks for reading!
- Katie, Kaley, Olga and Teresa
8 Tips For Buying A Home In A Seller’s Market
In today’s hot market—where the demand for homes exceeds the number of properties for sale—buyers need some extra strategies for finding homes, making competitive offers, and navigating bidding wars. When you first sit down with us, these are some of the things we will discuss with you:
Make an offer above asking price. Consider looking at homes priced low enough under your budget that you could make an offer above their listing price. In many scenarios, the highest bid will win.
Write a personal letter to appeal to the seller on an emotional level. It’s not always about more money. Maybe this was the seller’s starter home, and they’d rather sell to a young couple than see an investor turn it into a rental. In your letter, explain what you love about the house and why it’s the perfect home for you.
Consider waiving contingencies. When your agent writes up your offer, they’ll typically include contingencies—language that allows you to get out of the contract if you discover a huge problem during the home inspection, for instance, or if you haven’t yet found a buyer for your current home. From a seller’s perspective, these contingencies weaken your offer, so you might consider waiving them. Talk with your real estate agent, because this can sometimes be a risky move.
Make a larger earnest money deposit. This is the money you submit with your offer, and a larger sum upfront can make your offer stand out to the seller.
Don’t ask for extras. If the seller plans to take their washer and dryer with them, just let it be.
Delay buyer possession. When you make your bid, you can offer to give the seller a few extra days—or even a few weeks, if they need it—after closing to move.
Include a preapproval letter with your offer. To make it most effective, be sure it is written by a local, in-state lender; have them match it to your offer price; and have it dated the same day as your offer.
Be ready to act quickly. The second that “Coming Soon” listing goes live, you should be jumping online for the virtual tour before meeting up with your agent for your scheduled walk-through. In the current seller’s market, it’s common for homes to receive multiple offers the same day they hit the market.
This is a good starting point for preparing yourself for shopping in today’s competitive, fast-paced real estate market. Now you just need to find the right real estate agent to guide you through this challenging—but so very exciting—home buying journey.
The Incredible Cleaning Power of Distilled White Vinegar
The magical properties of distilled white vinegar make it a powerful cleaner against dirt, grime, grease, and even some bacteria. Who knew a non-toxic, eco-friendly, multi-purpose cleaning product could be purchased in bulk at the grocery store for $2.50?
Here’s your guide to using distilled white vinegar to clean 11 things in your home!
Fill a spray bottle with 50% distilled white vinegar and 50% water (and a few drops of your favorite essential oil, if you want a nice fragrance) and use this solution to clean:
Tabletops
Windows
Inside the refrigerator
Stovetops (spray, let sit for a few minutes so vinegar can break down grease buildup, then wipe clean)
Cutting boards
Bathroom surfaces
Trash can lid
Use undiluted distilled white vinegar to clean:
Dishwasher - Add 1 cup of vinegar and run your dishwasher on the highest heat setting.
Kitchen sink and drain - Plug the sink, add vinegar, use a cloth to wipe the sink surface, pull the plug to let the vinegar go down the drain, then rinse everything with water.
Coffee machine - (Check your instruction manual first to make sure your coffee machine can be cleaned with vinegar.) Run vinegar through your machine in place of water. Afterwards, run a few cycles with water to clear the vinegar smell.
Towels - Run your towels through your washing machine with a half cup of vinegar (no detergent) on the hottest setting. The vinegar will pull out detergent residue, restore the color, remove stains and odors, and make your towels softer.
And finally, DON'T use vinegar to clean these things:
Knives
Granite
Marble
Stone tiles
Digital devices
Certain appliances (always check the manual before cleaning)
Hardwood floors
Discover more ways to clean with vinegar on the Oh So Spotless blog!
8 Easy Ways To Boost Your Home's Curb Appeal
Spring is finally here, and it’s the perfect time to refresh your home’s curb appeal. Whether you’re prepping to sell or just want to give your home a facelift, these budget-friendly ideas from HGTV are beautiful and easy to do.
Paint your front door. You can go classic with black, white, or grey, or opt for a statement color like cobalt blue or a peachy coral. Just make sure the color coordinates with the rest of your home’s exterior colors.
Add window boxes. Nothing brightens up a drab-looking home exterior like flowers! You can find window boxes at most garden stores, and they can be installed below windows or even on porch railings. As spring moves into summer and then fall, switch out your plants to maintain seasonal blooms all year.
Pressure wash. Is there anything in life more satisfying than pressure washing? Rent a pressure washer and use it to clean the entire exterior of your home—driveway, walkways, fences, gutters, siding, and even your patio furniture.
Replace your mailbox. Something so small can make a big impact on the overall curb appeal of your home. Replace your old weather-worn mailbox for a shiny new one, repaint or replace the post, and maybe even plant a tiny flower garden around it.
Update your house numbers. You can purchase new numbers to replace the old ones, or try out one of these cool DIYs.
Add decorative shutters. This is an easy way to elevate the look of your home and add character. You can score vinyl shutters for about $40 a pair. Choose a color that complements your home’s exterior color, and install them using French cleats so they’re easy to remove for cleaning.
Upgrade your exterior lighting. Take note of your current lights’ mounting systems, then head to your nearest home improvement store to pick out some sophisticated new lights that mount the same way. Exterior light fixtures typically start at around $25.
Flank your front door with planters. To keep things super simple, choose an evergreen (like boxwood or rosemary) so you’ll have low-maintenance greenery year-round.
For more ideas, check out HGTV’s 14 ways to get instant curb appeal for less than $100.
National Housing Market Update
Spring Comes Early
At a national level, the spring real estate season got an early start: “Real estate markets are unseasonably active in early March,” reports Realtor.com’s George Ratiu, “with buyers and sellers trying to get ahead of rising rates.”
Mortgage Rates Trending Upward
The historically low mortgage rates we’ve been experiencing during the last two years are beginning to trend upward. The average rate for a 30-year fixed in early March was 3.85%, an increase from 3.76% in February and 3.45% in January.
To give you a broader view, here are the annual averages for a 30-year fixed over the last five years:
2.96% in 2021
3.11% in 2020
3.94% in 2019
4.54% in 2018
3.99% in 2017
The Best Time To Sell
Experts are predicting the week of April 10-16 to be a prime time to list a home for sale. According to Realtor.com, we can expect to see 29% more online views per listing during this week; prices that are 1.4% higher than average; and a fast-paced market, with homes selling 13.2% more quickly than the average week.
Keep in mind that these are the national averages. To learn more about our local housing market, reach out to us!