What's missing from your current home? Storage space? Decent parking? Privacy? There's no such thing as too much storage No one ever walked out of an open house thinking, "Nice place, but too many closets."  Visually strip away the furniture in a for-sale home and place your furniture and belongings. Or simply measure -- both the rooms and the closets -- and compare it to what you have now.  Ditto for kitchen cupboards, pantries and counter space. Those counter tops may look spacious until you get out all of your kitchen toys and discover there's not enough room, he says. Really look at a kitchen in terms of what you need when you cook to make sure the home offers the counter space you need. Test the commute BEFORE you commit You're only 15 miles from work. How long is that in traffic time?  Try the commute a few times, driving both ways, before you buy, at the times you would be normally commuting.  How well will you "fit in" with the ne...

Winning clients is about establishing yourself as an expert by playing part business manager and part counselor. No matter what role you’re in, you need to offer the real estate information that matters most.  That means understanding their worries and woes and being ready to give the answers that motivate them to purchase a home and use you as their expert guide for the process. Here are the 5 top questions that plague buyers today and ways you can answer them to win more transaction-ready clients: 1.  How do I boost my credit rating? 2. How much home can I afford? 3. What neighborhoods are best for me? 4.  Is now really the best time to buy? 5.  Which agent should I use? To read the answers to these question, CLICK HERE !  What worries would you add to the list? What’s the biggest worry of buyers and buyer prospects in your area?

Since the September 2008 conservatorship, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have completed nearly 1.1 million loan modifications, according to the FHFA’s fourth quarter 2011 Foreclosure Prevention and Refinance report. Overall, the GSEs have completed more than 2.1 million foreclosure prevention actions since the same time period. “Data from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency show that in the two years ending in the third quarter of 2011, modifications on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans accounted for 40 percent of all loan modifications,” said General Counsel for the FHFA Alfred M. Pollard in a written testimony before congressmen Monday. For just the 2011 fourth quarter, about 71,100 loan modifications were completed, compared to about 83,500 in the third quarter. Pollard said a contributing factor to the decline in modifications seen may be that the initial backlog of eligible borrowers in 2009 has been addressed to some extent, and added the GSEs offer substantial incentive pay...

Here are a few great tips to for your exterior of your home. Look at your property from the buyers’ vantage point as they approach in their vehicle. If the mailbox is the first thing they see, it should be free of dents, clean, and fresh in appearance. Are trees or shrubs along the drive properly trimmed back? Is the lawn mowed, hedge trimmed, garden pruned? If you are selling your home in the fall, try to keep the leaves raked and the lawn cleared of other debris. Next, that all-important first critical look at the house itself. Put yourself in the buyers’ shoes. Stand in the driveway and imagine you are seeing your home for the first time. Make certain the walkway to the front door is swept, that there are no children’s toys scattered about. See that the roof and gutters are clean, windows washed, doorknobs gleaming and welcome mat in place. If you discover any obvious signs of disrepair — blistered or peeling paint, rusted drain spouts, or missing shingles — ask your Realtor whether...