By Jeanette Joy Fisher

New concepts in Interior Design Psychology are helping home sellers net more money in today’s competitive real estate market. Therefore, it’s worthwhile to spend time planning the changes that will help your home sell for the highest price.

Develop a general design plan, keeping your target market and budget in mind. Your overall design plan really depends on supply and demand. How many houses are for sale in your area? How many houses sell each week? Is the selling season cold, warm, or hot? Is it a seller’s or buyer’s market?

If the market is moving fast and buyers are lining up to make offers for homes in your neighborhood, you can do less. But whatever your answers to the above questions, you’ll still need to do a few things to make your home stand out from the competition.

Know Your Target Buyers

Think about your neighborhood and the buyers purchasing homes near yours. Are they purchasing their first home or moving up? This will be important to your marketing and design plan, since the psychological needs of the two types of buyers differ considerably.

First-time homebuyers seek to control their own environment by owning, rather than renting. Their psychological needs include:

Safety and security
Sense of place or connection
Comfort
Self-control

Move-up buyers often enjoy those benefits, too, but they’re generally more interested in finding a larger home with more amenities for their comfort, self-esteem, and feelings of prestige.

Once you’ve determine your potential buyers, you can begin making improvements to your home that will attract them.

Budget Concerns

Spend money only on items that will make a difference in your sales price. Of all repairs, fresh paint is the best investment you can make. New kitchen appliances, upgraded bathroom features, and updated lighting fixtures will usually give a good return for your money, as well.

Sometimes, hiring professional help is worth the extra expense. Professional painters work faster and will often cost less than day laborers. Tile installers, carpet layers, and electricians also know their trades and will do a better job than most day laborers.

Contractors should have their own disability and liability insurance — ask for a copy with your contract. Get everything in writing — including work to be completed, costs, lists of specific materials to be used, time for completion, and payment schedule.

Exterior Design Psychology

Choosing the right colors to paint your home will make a huge difference in your paycheck at closing. Look at the other homes near yours and choose complementary colors.

Did you know that the exterior color of houses selling the most quickly is yellow, but the wrong tone or shade of yellow can kill a potential home sale? Avoid yellows with green undertones and bright yellows, and choose pale yellows with creamy or beige shades instead. Warning: colors look darker on huge exterior expanses than they do on the little
paint chips you see in the store.

Color Combinations

Paint stores offer many brochures, showing various combinations of exterior paint colors, but most of them also feature combinations include three colors. Limiting your paint selection to only two colors will limit your income potential.

Think fun colors for a fast sale. Think “Disneyland Main Street,” where every shop is painted in glorious multi-color. Using a third or fourth color on the exterior can add definition to your home’s details. Use gloss or semi-gloss paint on wood trim.

Psychology of Exterior Paint Colors

Take the ultimate sales price of your remodeled home into account. Certain colors, especially muted, complex shades, will attract wealthy or highly-educated buyers, whereas buyers with less income or less education will generally prefer simple colors.

A complex color contains tints of gray or brown, and usually requires more than one word to describe, such as sage green or forest brown, while simple colors are straightforward and pure. Generally, houses in the lower price range will sell faster and for more money when painted in simple tones like yellow and tan with white, blue, or green trim.

Interior Design Plans and Secrets

Create a list of work and materials you’ll need for each room and then estimate the time you think it will take for each task. The more planning you do before you begin, the more time and money you’ll save.

Psychology of Interior Paint Colors

Daring to use color instead of bland white walls will increase your profit potential. Did you know that Lynette Jennings tested people’s perception of room size and color? A room that was painted white appeared larger to only a few people in the survey, compared to an identical room painted with a color, and the perceived difference was only about six inches! Because most people look better surrounded by color, a colored wall also makes them feel happier, and buyers will choose to buy the house that makes them feel happiest.

Entryways should bring the exterior colors of the home inside. Repeat variations of the exterior shades all the way through your home, which will make the entire home seem to be in harmony. As an added bonus, if buyers love the exterior colors, they’re going to like the interior colors, as well.

Spending time planning your home’s sale, rather than just listing it and then taking your chances, will net you more money, and faster!

Best wishes for a profitable, quick sale.

About the Author:
Professor Jeanette Fisher, author of Doghouse to Dollhouse for Dollars, Joy to the Home, and other books teaches Real Estate Investing and Design Psychology. For more articles, tips, reports, newsletters, and sales flyer template, see http://www.doghousetodollhousefordollars.com/pages/5/index.htm

By Jeanette Joy Fisher

Do you need to sell your home quickly? If so, don’t be tempted by the ads you see that say “We Buy Houses” or “Sell Your Ugly House in 9 days for Cash.” Those types of ads are placed by real estate investors who are looking for sellers under duress, and they’ll only pay up to 70% of the low end market value for your home.

But you don’t have to be at the mercy of those scavengers. Selling your home is stressful enough without worrying about getting a fair price, so even if you have no money for repairs, here are a few tips for getting fair market value for your home in the shortest period of time:

Outside:

- Clean up all the weeds on your property

- Remove dead plants and trim overgrown limbs

- Plant brown spots with cuttings of ground cover from friends

- Either remove empty pots and containers or fill them with cuttings

- Wash all the windows

Inside:

- Take town any tattered window coverings

- Open all curtains and let the sunshine in

- Air our your home

- Pack up your personal effects, such as family photos, memorabilia, piles of magazines, and other clutter

- Get rid of excess furniture, especially pieces that are tired and worn

You don’t have to give your home away to real estate vultures. A little elbow grease, sweat, soap, and water can help your home put on its best face for potential buyers, even if you have no money for repairs.

About the Author:
Professor Jeanette Fisher, author of Doghouse to Dollhouse for Dollars, Joy to the Home, and other books teaches Real Estate Investing and Design Psychology. For more articles, tips, reports, newsletters, and sales flyer template, see http://www.doghousetodollhousefordollars.com/pages/5/index.htm

By: Jeanette Joy Fisher

If you’re home shopping or in the process of buying property, you want to make sure you have all your costs covered.

Home buyer’s who purchase a home without a real estate agent (or sometimes purchase through an inexperienced agent) can find out too late they don’t have enough money to close and move.

10 most overlooked costs home buyers miss:

1.) Property Taxes and Assessments

Home buyers often need to set up an escrow account with the new mortgage lender. This means that they must pay a portion of taxes upfront. In some states, the seller has already paid the local taxes and this amount must be paid back to the seller at closing. Also, some counties have transfer taxes whenever a property changes hands.

2.) Insurance

Fire insurance or a homeowner’s insurance policy usually needs to be paid for up front. Although you may be able to get an insurance binder from your company on a payment plan, most mortgage companies require the first year paid during escrow or closing.

3.) Appraisal Fees

Mortgage lenders require appraisals to make sure your property covers your loan amount plus their investment risk. The buyer normally pays between $150-$450 to the appraiser.

4.) Survey Fees

Some lenders require a property survey. You may also want a survey if the property lines are in question. Survey fees vary from $600-$2,500, or more for large parcels.

5.) Septic System Certification

If your new property does not connect to public sewers, you may need a septic clearance for your lender. Often the home seller pays this cost, but you want to make sure you get no hidden charges or surprises.

6.) Water Quality Certification

The same holds true for properties with a well and not public water service. For your own piece of mind, you will want to check the water quality and have this clause as a condition in your purchase contract. Not only do you want to make sure the water quality passes, you want to make sure the well has plenty of flow so you don’t run out of water.

7.) Miscellaneous Origination and Loan Fees

Your mortgage lender adds fees for processing your loan, document preparation, underwriting, closing, funding, and sometimes “garbage fees.” Check your estimated costs statements and look for hidden fees. Before committing to a lender, shop for your best loan and compare lender’s costs.

8.) Association and Maintenance Fees

Most buyers understand that a condo comes with association fees. However, some housing developments also charge maintenance fees. Don’t assume that the fees will be nominal. Many condos in California have association fees over $400 per month. Some of these fees need to be paid annually, which means a home buyer needs to pay upfront.

9.) Utility Service Fees

Check your hook up and installation fees for water, gas, electricity, cable or satellite TV, phone, trash, sewer and other services. Sometimes the water department covers the sewer and trash service. These fees quickly add up and you don’t want any surprises like a $340 water deposit required by some companies.

10.) Moving Costs

Plan your move before committing to a purchase. Know whether you can move yourself or need to hire professional movers. You may be shocked to find out the costs involved. Ask for referrals of clients and check out moving companies. Prices for truck rental and moving companies vary.

Make sure you have all your purchase and moving costs covered before you make an offer to purchase a home. You don’t want to find out when it’s too late that you need more money.

About the Author:
Jeanette Fisher teaches first-time home buyers and beginning real estate investors the six steps to home financing. FRE.E Ebook, “Credit Tips for Mortgage Financing.” http://www.recredithelp.com

By: Jeanette Joy Fisher

Many home sellers sign a listing agreement with an agent who makes big promises and then their home languishes on the market.

Do you know if your agent may be causing your home to go unsold? Some reasons why listing agents hold up home sales:

1. Lack of cooperation from other sales agents who dislike your listing agent. Some agents get a reputation of being difficult to work with. Ask another agent about the popularity of your listing agent.

2. Lopsided commission split. Check to see if other agents get their fair share of the sales commission. Some agents only offer discounted commissions to the selling agent who won’t show the home if they make more selling another house.

3. Busy agents neglect to hold open houses for other real estate offices. Have you had other agents preview your home? If not, ask your agent why he or she hasn’t held an open house for brokers.

4. Lack of exposure. Is your home listed correctly on the Internet? Check to see if you can find it online. Do a search for your city and home for sale to see if your listing or agent’s website pops up. Most of today’s home buyers begin their property search on the Internet. You should be able to find local multiple listings.

5. Poor advertising methods. Did your agent create a sales flyer that showcases your property or a sales flyer that showcases your agent? Does your agent advertise your particular property every week or just rely on generic office ads? Did your property get a photo ad in the local home buyer magazine? Another great sales tool used by aggressive listing agents, mailings to your neighborhood homeowners, generates interest from neighbors’ friends and family.

If you feel that you’re wasting your valuable time with an agent who doesn’t perform, ask for a cancellation. If your agent won’t allow a cancellation without receiving compensation for a job not done, insist daily that he or she start performing. If you become the disliked, difficult home seller, your agent will cancel you.

About the Author:
Jeanette Fisher teaches home sellers five ways to sell their homes for top dollar - fast. For free home selling Teleseminar, ebook, and information on home staging with Design Psychology visit http://sellfast.info

By: Jeanette Joy Fisher

Before you list you home for sale, determine what you don’t want to leave behind.

Our friends sold their home for full price and moved out a few days before closing.

The next day they received an angry call from the selling agent telling them that they had to bring a mirror back before the sale would close. When the home buyers did their final walk through, they refused to make their down payment because a large mirror had been taken down.

This mirror, an antique family heirloom, was never considered by the sellers as part of the sale. The seller refused to give her grandmother’s mirror back.

However, their sales contract, a standard Home Purchase Contract with Terms and Conditions, included all attachments. The mirror was considered by the buyers and their agent as part of the sale. The mirror did not hang like a painting on a nail. The heavy mirror had been screwed into the wall with the screw heads covered with fancy wooden circles cut to match the wood frame.

The buyers refused to budge. Our friends refused to budge protesting that their listing agent knew the mirror had belonged to the seller’s grandmother. (Their agent was a family member.) The sellers pointed out that their agent should have told them that the mirror was considered “attached.” After three days of quibbling and negotiations, the listing agent agreed to forfeit $3,000 of her commission and the sellers dropped the price by $2,000.

Decide what goes to your next home and what you agree to leave behind, before you offer your home for sale. Take down any attachments that you don’t want to part with, such as any item screwed into a wall or a light fixture permanently wired. What a home buyer doesn’t see, they won’t expect to buy with your home.

About the Author:
Jeanette Fisher teaches real estate investing and interior design college courses. She is the author of Sell Your Home for Top Dollar–FAST! and other books. For a free report, “Design Psychology for Selling Houses,” visit http://sellfast.info

By: Jeanette Joy Fisher

If you’re thinking about selling your home and moving up to a larger home, do your math homework before offering your home for sale. Read the following story to see what can happen to home sellers who don’t do their math.

A young family sold their home in California, before they determined how to buy their next house. All they thought about was moving into a larger home for their growing family.

Two years before, after this young couple purchased their first home, they bought a minivan with payments. They increased their credit card debt with home furnishings purchases. Then, the wife quit working to stay home with their new baby. The family still had sufficient money to make all payments on time.

They fell in love with a larger new model home in a nearby tract home development. The sales agent convinced them the new home would only cost them another $200 per month.

The family had no trouble selling their home. To qualify for the new home mortgage payment, they had to pay off the minivan, student loans, and the credit card debt. Out of their home sale proceeds, these payoffs left less than a 10% down payment for their new home.

Because of their changed income and low down payment, they didn’t qualify for the new home of their choice. With only 5% down, the couple had to pay higher interest rates on a second to avoid mortgage insurance. Without the wife’s second income, the total payment meant that they only qualified for a new mortgage for a home which cost less than the one they sold!

Before you put your home on the market, make sure you can buy the home you want.

Consider the following financial concerns:

Talk to a loan officer and check your credit. Don’t get caught after selling your home, when it’s too late, to repair any credit issues. Of course, you may have a great down payment from the sale of your home, but other bills like credit card debt, auto loans, and student loans may need to be paid off so you qualify for the new mortgage payments.

Ask your loan officer how much of a monthly payment and the down payment amount you’ll need to buy the home of your choice.

Do your math. How much can you expect to net from selling your home?

1. Do you have a mortgage pre-payment penalty that could eat up a significant amount of your equity?

2. Determine selling commission expenses. Can you sell your home effectively on your own or do you need to pay 4-6% of your selling price for a real estate agent’s expertise?

3. Estimate your closing costs. Ask a local closing or escrow company for an estimated closing cost amount for a home in your price range.

4. How much work does your home need to ready the property for a top-dollar sale? Which upgrades or redecorating expenses make sense financially?

Consider all the expenses of selling, determine your actual profit, and compare that amount to your required down payment. How much of a home you can buy with your qualified monthly payment amount?

After you do your math homework, you’ll be ready to think about selling your home. Don’t get caught like this young family and be forced into a smaller home.

About the Author:
Jeanette Fisher helps stage homes for top-dollar sales. She teaches Design Psychology and real estate investing. Jeanette is the author of many books including “Sell Your Home for Top Dollar–FAST! and Credit Help! Get the Credit You Need to Buy Real Estate http://recredithelp.com Free “Credit Tips for Mortgage Financing” http://sellfast.info

By: Jeanette Joy Fisher

Home sellers who wish to market their property in development neighborhoods face tough challenges. All the houses look similar. All the houses sell for amounts in the same price range. The market — whether it’s a hot sellers’ market or a cool buyers’ market — largely determines the price, purchase terms, and length of time to sell.

How do you make your home stand out from the crowd? How can you turn your property into a “hot” sale, even if the market’s lukewarm? Remember the “Three M’s” and apply these Design Psychology strategies as you stage your home for sale:

1. Magnetism. Because most buyers won’t even get out of their car unless a home shows promise, create an exciting exterior that draws prospective buyers to your home. Place an interesting focal point in your front yard, such as a water fountain, a large urn, or a beautiful tree. Enhance your walkway with enticing plants or light fixtures that clearly mark the path to the front door. Use color psychology to either paint your front door or its framework a happy, inviting color, such as Sherwin William’s Torchlight (golden wheat) or Rose Tan.

2. Mystery. Most home searchers only spend three to four minutes looking at the average home. Enchant with mystery as soon as the prospects enter your home. Make the buyer take a second look by using Design Psychology lighting tricks. Place a palm tree so that it partially blocks the view of the hallway. Uplight the palm tree with a canister light that casts captivating shadows on the walls and ceiling.

3. Memory. Home shoppers look at many houses in a row. Your goal is to get the buyers to remember your home above all others. Design psychology can help you do this. Think about your buyers’ dream: they want a lifestyle –not just a house. Make your buyers believe that if they choose your home, they will have the privilege and right to take a nap in that “fantastic garden hammock,” read a great book in your private reading nook, or cook a delicious meal in your gourmet kitchen.

Turn heads with your enticing home. Turn viewers into buyers. Turn your typical tract house into a buyers’ dream home using home staging methods that create a lifestyle delight.

About the Author:
Jeanette Fisher, author of Joy to the Home Journal, Sell Your Home for Top Dollar–FAST! , and Home Staging for Top-Dollar Sales teaches design psychology college courses and professional real estate investing seminars. For home selling tips see http://www.sellfast.info For home staging strategies see http://www.homestaging.us

By: Jeanette Joy Fisher

Money spent updating your kitchen rewards you better than money spent on any other upgrades to your home. When it comes to kitchens, buyers continue to demand improvement in efficiency and style, and they love remodeled kitchens and new appliances.

Even if you home costs less than the newer homes in your area, buyers view the model homes and hold the ideal in mind while home shopping.

Newer homes place kitchens open to the family room and often have wide views of the outside. Newer homes also boast larger kitchens with more than one preparation area because cooking has become a social activity, and new homes often include a bar or buffet for entertaining. Cooks want to be in the middle of family activities so they can enjoy companionship.

Buyers look for a kitchen with large open areas that allow guests enough room to mingle, along with workspace for kids doing homework or even a small kitchen workspace for paying bills or making phone calls.

Present your kitchen as an organized, clutter-free, versatile space that will help your buyers feel they could be productive and happy working and interacting in the heart of their new home.

You don’t need to completely makeover your kitchen to sell your home. Packing and storing extra kitchen pots, pans, and utensils generates a more spacious presentation. You may also wish to invest in an attractive portable kitchen island to use as a prop for a kitchen with an open center and insufficient counter space.

Consider easy, low-cost changes that instantly upgrade a kitchen without major remodeling. These include the following ideas:

1.) Replace your faucet with a fancier model.
2.) Change your cabinet hardware.
3.) Paint cabinet faces.
4.) Replace or paint ugly laminate countertops. (Use Marine-grade paint.)
5.) Add warmth during cold seasons with a gorgeous rug next to the sink counter.

No matter your makeover budget, prepare your home for sale with little changes like clearing the countertops and adding new dish towels and a bowl of fruit can make your kitchen entice a buyer to say, “This is my new home.”

About the Author:
Jeanette Fisher teaches home sellers five ways to sell their homes for top dollar - fast. For free home selling Teleseminar, ebook, and information on home staging with Design Psychology visit http://sellfast.info

By: Jeanette Joy Fisher

If you’re selling your home in a cooling real estate market, here are some steps that you can take to prepare your home for a quick sale without lowering your price.

1. Profile your perfect home buyer or “Target Market.” Don’t market your home to an investor if you want to get top dollar! Think about the people who own homes and live in your neighborhood. Are they ordinary folks or doctors and lawyers? Are the new home owners, first-time home buyers or move-up buyers?

2. Get to know your competition. Go look at other homes nearby to see what the competition offers. Make yourself a spreadsheet to list features and comparables to your home.

3. Make a plan of action to sell your home. List changes that need to be made to compete with the other homes and then add changes that will make your home stand out. You need to learn how to use colors and building material that will attract your target buyer. For instance, if you’re selling to first-time home buyers, they’re not as picky and generally prefer primary colors. More sophisticated buyers expect perfection and prefer complex colors.

4. Use Design Psychology strategies to sell. Learn how to get the designer look on a dime. Don’t spend money on improvements that won’t pay you back. For instance, you don’t have to completely remodel your kitchen but a fresh coat of paint, which costs about $20, and a new faucet for under $100 can add thousands to your sale.

5. Set your price to compete with the other homes your buyers will choose from. Don’t let real estate agents pressure you to lower your sales price. It only takes one buyer to fall in love with your home.

6. Make a sales flyer that really works. (Click Here to see article about how to do this.) Don’t be generic with the number one sales tool. Marketing Psychology helps you copy Internet marketers proven strategies. List the benefits to the home buyer, not your home’s features.

7. Use home staging methods to show your home. Go beyond the typical home staging and create a buyer’s fantasy. Stage you home with activities that connect to your target buyers.

No matter what the real estate market does this year, you must protect your equity. Don’t just put up the “for sale” sign and hope for the best. Prepare your home for a top-dollar sale.

About the Author:
Read about “Target Market” and FREE ebook “Design Psychology for Selling Houses” Redesign your home with Design Psychology so buyers compete with each other for your home! Free Home Sellers Teleseminar http://sellfast.info

By: Jeanette Joy Fisher

Appraisal vs. Market Value

When you sell your home, appraisers use comps (comparable market sales) of local properties sold within the last six months to value your home. With today’s rapidly rising seller’s market, six-month-old information is ancient history. Appraised value does not always equal the true market value, or what the home will sell for on the open market.

Realtors will give you a comparative market analysis, an informal estimate of market value based on comparable sales. Lenders, on the other hand, will use the appraised value to determine a new mortgage amount. Some lenders require that the stated property value covers the mortgage amount plus their selling costs in case of foreclosure. For this reason, a sale may fall through if a home sells on the open market for more than the appraised value, which often happens in bidding wars over hot property.

We learned the importance of securing a sufficiently high appraisal when we sold a rental property in Lake Elsinore, California. We listed the house for $234,700 on Friday. By Monday morning, we had three offers: $245,000, $255,000, and $260,000. We accepted the one for $255,000 because the buyers had $80,000 down, reassuring us that they had sufficient funds.

As usual, the lender sent an appraiser to review the property. This busy appraiser didn’t take the time to view all the upgrades we put into the custom-built home. Even worse, he used only comps from the local one-mile radius. Because this home is close to a shopping district, there were not many homes sold in this limited area during the six-month period.

The appraiser used comps six months old; during this time housing costs in Southern California appreciated around thirty percent. Sales from six months previous should have gone up in value by $30,000 on a $200,000 home. This means that our home should have been worth $250,000 to $260,000, especially since buyers are willing to pay this price on the open market. To increase the value of this home, at the time there was not another three bedroom home listed in the area for under $250,000 (excluding manufactured homes). However, the appraiser valued our home for only $230,000 — and we would have lost the sale if the offer did not include a sufficient down payment.

Because a low appraisal can kill your sale, finding a buyer with a large down payment provides you with a safety net. You may also choose a buyer with strong credit who doesn’t have to put a large percentage down. If you think that your home’s appraisal could become a problem, make sure you don’t include a clause in your sale’s contract which states “subject to appraisal.”

How to Avoid Low Appraisals

Hire your own appraiser before the sale. Then ask your buyer’s or lender’s appraiser to review your appraisal.

Retain the option to approve your buyer’s mortgage lender. Make sure that the buyer doesn’t use a lender with a history of deliberately underestimating property values. A good real estate agent should know which lenders routinely under value homes.

Keep records of repairs and upgrades, including costs. Take “before” and “after” photographs. Create an organized journal with a listing of expenses and include pictures to show to the appraiser during the appraisal appointment. Stage your home for the appraiser like you do for buyers.

Secure your own property comparables to make sure the appraiser uses complete information. Call real estate agents with homes in escrow and get the sales prices. Make a list of these properties with the agent’s phone numbers and give it to the appraiser.

What to Do When Your Selling Appraisal Comes in Too Low:

Ask for another appraisal.

Protest the appraisal with documentation of your upgraded expenses.

Have the buyers make a larger down payment.

When you sell or buy real estate, remember that the certified appraisal is just one person’s opinion of the value of your home. The opinion that counts for you is the buyer’s: you want to be sure the buyer values your home above all others.

About the Author:
Jeanette Fisher, author of Sell Your Home for Top Dollar–FAST! , and other real estate and interior design books, teaches Design Psychology and real estate investing. Free “Design Psychology for Selling Houses” Report http://www.sellfast.info/.

Today I’m going to start a series of articles by Jeanette Joy Fisher about Selling Your Home. Professor Fisher is the author of several real estate and interior design books. She also teaches design psychology college courses and professional real estate investing seminars. She has appeared on national television and radio shows as an historic house and downtown redevelopment expert.

Jeanette has a relaxed writing style that is easy to read and understand, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this series. Below I’ve made a list of the books she published.