Homefit Issue 1 - Riana Keve

Published by
Tristan Sherrill
(469) 449-9818
NMLS 299820
www.YourLoanPro.net
1

Letter from the Editors
In this issue, we will touch on a lot of consumer-oriented subjects
regarding the sale and purchase of real estate.
As the housing market continues to rebound, real estate agents and
their clients still face issues of financing, pricing and strategies for
showing their homes.
Riana Keve
Ph: (214) 641-9687
RianaKeve@gmail.com
www.CastleandCottageDFW.com
In this issue, we will cover details about how a buyer or seller should
choose a real estate agent to represent them and what questions
should they ask their potential agent to ensure they are both on the
same page.
We will touch on how a first-time homebuyer can proactively prepare
for acquiring a mortgage to finance their starter home, the type of
credit reports needed, what factors affect their credit scores, what
steps can they take to repair their credit and if it needs to be repaired.
Also, the documents expected to gathered and presented to a loan
officer.
For sellers, we’ll examine home improvements and decide which
come closest to paying for themselves, or if any of them do. We’ll also
offer sellers a list of repairs they should make before even considering
putting their house up for sale.
Tristan Sherrill
Ph: (469) 449-9818
Tristan@YourLoanPro.net
NMLS 299820
Finally, we’ll share some professional staging secrets with sellers that
will ensure that they’ll be able to show their properties in the best
possible light.
We hope you find this issue as informative and fun to read as we did
writing it.
Feel free to contact us if you have questions or would like your friends and
family added to our distribution list.
2

CONTENTS
4. What to Fix In and Outside
Your House before Selling
6. How to Choose the Perfect
Neighborhood
8. 3 Proactive Steps First-Time
Homebuyers Should Consider
10. First Time Home Buyers
Fulfill Dreams with the Right
Mortgage
12. 6 Powerful Home-Staging
Secrets the Pros Use
14 Found the Perfect Home –
But Furniture Won’t Fit!
15. A Bit About Mold
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3

What to Fix In and Outside Your
House before Selling
If you’ve decided to sell your house
then the next step you take is to
make some improvements to its
exterior and interior.
Professional home stagers say this
is the only way to ensure that your
real estate agent will be able to
sell your property in a reasonable
amount of time for the price that
it’s worth.
You’ll want to plan and complete
these improvements before your
home is listed and you’ll want to
do it without spending overboard.
First Things First
If your house doesn’t have siding
and it hasn’t been painted in a few
years, consider putting on a new
coat or two. This should include
painting your front and garage
doors.
Inside Improvements Will
Boost Its Value
Again, inside cosmetic
improvements can help you get
top dollar for your home. You
should focus on improving the
first impression a potential buyer
gets when they enter it. If the tile
in your foyer is dated or cracked,
replace it. However, don’t improve
something that is in fair shape but
just needs to be scrubbed.
For example, sometimes bathtub
faucets can be spotted, dull and
grimy. That’s the time to clean and
polish them, resurrecting their
original shine and beauty.
As with the exterior of your home,
a coat or two of paint can cover
up blemishes and accentuate the
architectural lines of your dwelling.
It’s not unusual for those putting
their homes up for sale to have
second thoughts after sprucing the
old place up!
In real estate, as with so many
things in life, first impressions
are everything. That’s why the
first thing you should focus on
improving is how the outside of
your house looks, commonly
known as curb appeal. That’s
because the exterior of your
property is the first thing a
potential buyer sees.
Cosmetic touches such as making
sure your lawn is mowed and your
shrubbery is trimmed are a must.
If your house has siding that is
weathered you should invest in
getting it pressured washed. Some
companies advertise that they will
pressure wash any house for just
$199. Or if you want to save some
money and you have the time, you
could rent a pressure washer. It
goes without saying that if there is
any siding missing, it should also
be replaced.
4

Super Clean Bathrooms and
Kitchens
Cleanliness is something a
potential buyer will see, smell and
notice throughout your home, but
especially in the bathrooms and
kitchen. As a result, home staging
experts recommend thoroughly
cleaning your entire house,
but cleaning the kitchen and
bathrooms with bleach. They also
suggest fixing any dripping faucets
because they are a major turn off
to potential buyers. So do repair
them if you have this problem.
Sadly, it’s often such little things
that can kill a sale.
Say Goodbye to Clutter
Finally, improving the appearance
of your home so it will show at
its best can sometimes be an
exercise in subtraction rather than
addition. Staging professionals say
clutter is the No. 1 reason potential
homebuyers reject some of the
most pristine properties they’re
shown. Clutter is insidious because
it happens slowly over the years
and finally forces home sellers
to remove or pare down some of
their favorite pieces of furniture
and decorations. It also forces
them to get rid of the junk that’s
been accumulating over the years
in their garages, basements and
especially their closets. But get
rid of it you must, if you hope to
sell your house for a high-market
price.
3 Tips to Get You
Started with the Outside
of Your Home
1. Go stand on the street to see
what clients see when driving up
to the house. Be aware that any
negative impressions they get
outside the house (landscaping
not maintained or non-existent,
peeling paint, etc.) is just going
to make them think that the
house itself has not been well
taken care of. So even if you have
spent the time and money to fix
up the interior, it would all be
wasted if the clients get a bad first
impression as they drive up to the
house.
2. Next, step outside your front
door and close the door; then
stand on the stoop and look
around for 5 minutes. While the
real estate agent is searching for
keys and trying to open the door,
the clients are standing behind
and looking around. So what are
they seeing? Dead plants, old
Halloween decorations in the
middle of January, cobwebs?
It’s definitely worth it to take some
time and clean it up. Want to go
a step further? Try a new coat of
paint or some new furniture or
accessories.
3. Don’t forget the backyard.
While that might not be part of the
potential buyers’ first impression,
you still should make sure it’s in
the best condition possible. Pull
up weeds, water plants, do some
sweeping (if that’s applicable) and
maybe purchase new furniture
or accessories (plant pots, bird
houses, etc.).
And the biggest tip of all? Imagine
yourself as a potential buyer
looking at your property for the
first time. What impressions are
you getting? Would YOU buy your
house? What would you like to see
changed before you put an offer
on your house?
Proper staging helps you sell
your house in a shorter time and
potentially at the price you want.
If you follow these suggestions,
experts say you can expect your
property to stand out from the
rest, sell at a good price -- and do
so in a reasonable period of time!
5

How to Choose the Perfect
Neighborhood
Whether you’re a first-time
homebuyer or getting ready to
sell your house and upgrade to a
larger property, choosing the right
neighborhood to move into should
be your first consideration.
While different people may seek
various amenities and aesthetics as
part of their neighborhood search,
there are certain factors everyone
should consider before making a
final decision on where to move.
Important Factors
Before you move into a particular
locale, you should check the
crime stats of the neighborhood.
This can be done online using
various websites that breakdown
this critical information by zip
code. In some jurisdictions, local
police stations can give you this
data. Suffice it to say, even if a
neighborhood looks beautiful on
the outside and there are plenty
of houses to choose from, if you
find that burglaries and car theft
is skyrocketing there, it’s time to
move on.
If you have children, or are
planning to, the quality of a
prospective neighborhood’s
schools should be a major factor
in making your choice. You
can contact the local school
board in the neighborhood’s
jurisdiction and obtain the latest
stats on how the average student
in the neighborhood scores
on national proficiency tests.
You can then compare them
to scores of students in other
areas. This stat often mirrors
the quality and effectiveness of
education available in a particular
neighborhood.
Education Budget
You can also get an idea of
the quality of education in a
neighborhood by comparing the
budget allotted by local officials to
the area compared to other areas.
Another source of information
is the education section of
community newspapers covering
the neighborhood. It wouldn’t
hurt to look them up online and
even give the education reporter
a call. You’d be surprised how
many of them will be glad to give
you their opinions of the state of
education in the area they cover.
Finally, you can contact the local
Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
and get both the pros and cons of
the education system in the area.
Members of this organization also
can tell you if the schools have
sufficient room, or if they are
overcrowded.
Traffic and Future
Development
When choosing a new
neighborhood, quality-of-life
issues such as traffic and potential
crowding have become important
factors in making a decision. Let’s
face it, no matter how pristine a
neighborhood is, if you have to sit
in gridlock for a significant amount
of time before you can reach
your front door, it might not be
the area for you. The easiest way
to discover the traffic volume in
a neighborhood is to get in your
6

car and drive around it at peak
morning and evening rush hours.
If it’s easy to drive from place to
place, then you have a winner.
If not, then you might decide to
cross the neighborhood off your
list.
If a neighborhood you’re interested
in is already fairly built out, it
makes sense to research whether
there are any major development
projects in the wings. This can be
done by visiting the local planning
board’s website, or visit in person.
Although it’s not a given that all
proposed developments will be
approved, a majority of them do
make it from the drawing board
to completion. So, if you are
considering a neighborhood that is
in store for major development in
the next couple of years, you really
need to weigh this factor in your
decision.
Proximity to Schools, Stores,
Hospitals and More
Another important consideration
in choosing a neighborhood is the
proximity of your new home to
schools, hospitals, stores, parks
and airports. If you have a family
member who is disabled or sick,
it makes no sense moving into a
neighborhood that is far from the
best medical facilities. If you are
an avid runner you probably want
to choose a neighborhood that
is close to a park with a running
trail. While some neighborhood
associations take pride in the fact
they’ve managed to block zoning
changes that would allow a local
convenience store, if you like to
grab a hot coffee everyday on the
way to work, then you have to
take this into consideration before
buying a home in a neighborhood
that bans stores.
Rising Property Values
Finally, before you choose a
neighborhood to move to, you
should also examine whether the
property values are trending up or
down. You can easily check recent
property sales online to find this
out, or call your real estate agent
and have her run the numbers. This
is an important factor in case you
decide to sell the property in a few
years.
The point is to take your time
and carefully research each
neighborhood on your list of
perfect neighborhoods until you
find the one that most closely fits
your needs.
7

3 Proactive Steps First-Time
Homebuyers Should Consider
There are specific steps a firsttime
homebuyer can take before
entering the real estate market
that will greatly improve his or her
chances of getting financing and
being able to purchase a starter
home.
Here are three proactive steps
you should consider taking before
you contact a real estate agent or
mortgage broker:
1. Check Your Credit Score
If there is a single factor that can
help or hurt your foray into the
world of financing a new home
it is your credit score, according
to mortgage-finance experts. So,
if you want a good idea of what
your chances are of obtaining
such financing, you should first
order a credit report from each of
the three credit bureaus, Equifax,
Experian and Transunion. Just
use one of the many online credit
monitoring companies that provide
the reports, as well as your current
credit score for a small fee.
2. Repair Your Credit
Once you get the reports you
should carefully examine them to
make sure there are no mistakes.
If there are any errors, you should
contact the credit bureaus and
take the necessary steps to have
them corrected. You should also
look for any unpaid or collection
accounts. If there are any unpaid
or collection accounts you should
settle them immediately, or set up
some sort of payment plan. At the
very least, this will show that are
willing to pay your debts.
A copy of your credit report will
also show all of the credit you have
available in relation to your credit
lines. This is something lenders
consider carefully before making
a loan. It’s known as your credit
utilization rate. For example, if
you have total credit availability
on your credit cards of $30,000
8

and you owe $20,000, then your
credit utilization rate is 67 percent.
This rate has a great effect on your
overall credit score. The lower the
percentage, the higher your credit
score will be, vice versa.
According to industry experts, a
good credit utilization rate for a
first-time homebuyer is less than
33 percent. If your rate is higher
than this, you will have to make a
serious effort to pay off as much
debt as possible and satisfy any
unsettled notes. On average, it
takes about six months to improve
your credit score.
3. Get Documentation in
Order
As we mentioned, today more than
ever, mortgage companies by law
are requiring documentation of a
potential borrower’s income and
taxes. The day of the so-called
no-doc loan, where no such
documentation was required,
is gone. In general, a mortgage
lender will ask a first-time
homebuyer to produce two recent
pay stubs and the last two year’s
W2 forms in order to apply for a
loan. In addition, the lender will
require the applicant to provide
two months of bank statements.
The exception to this rule is the
documentation lenders require
of first-time homebuyers who
are self-employed or are in
commission sales. If you fall into
one of these categories, you
should be prepared to produce
up to three to four years of W2s.
Lenders are looking for steady
income and to make sure your last
two years or earnings were not an
anomaly.
While taking these steps may seem
like a lot of work, getting your
credit score, working to improve it
and gathering your documentation
will greatly increase your chances
of acquiring a mortgage for your
first home when you are ready to
buy.
"Get started today, visit
www.YourLoanPro.net
for answers to your
questions or to apply online"
9

First Time Home Buyers Fulfill
Dreams with the Right Mortgage
When it comes to mortgages, it’s
important to find the right loan
officer.
You want to work with someone
who can find the type of mortgage
that is right for you, whether you’re
seeking to buy a new home or
refinance your existing home.
The right loan officer takes pride
regarding his or her customer
service so your experience will be
more personalized.
What if Your Credit is Less
than Ideal?
Before you go to a lender, you
should check your credit rating.
Federal law requires that each of
the three major credit reporting
agencies provide you with a free
annual credit report.
Reviewing these reports will not
only provide you with your credit
rating, but will alert you to any
misinformation or errors contained
in your report.
Bad credit mortgages come with
higher interest rates so it pays to
clean up your credit before buying
a home.
A good loan officer will offer credit
improvement ideas, or refer you
to a service to help you repair your
credit prior to obtaining a loan.
This may involve setting up
payment plans to existing
creditors, challenging bad reports
that are on your record in error, and
so forth.
Having someone help you navigate
through the maze of credit reporting
is extremely useful even if your
credit isn’t pristine so you can still
apply for a mortgage.
Fulfilling Your Dreams
With the right mortgage, first time
home buyers can truly own a piece
of the American dream.
It’s enormously satisfying to pay a
mortgage payment instead of rent
every month, knowing that you’re
building equity. That equity lays a
foundation for your financial future
and that of your children too giving
you peace of mind.
10

10 Tips to Buy Real
Estate without Breaking
Your Budget
1. Get pre-approved for your home loan
@ www.YourLoanPro.net
2. Explore creative financing options
3. Sell your existing home first
4. Look for vacant real estate
5. Consider cosmetic fixers
6. Buy a major remodel project
7. Don’t discount bank foreclosures
8. Buy land with a manufactured home
9. Purchase an older, smaller home
10. Buy the cheapest house in the best neighborhood
11

6 Powerful Home-Staging
Secrets the Pros Use
The art of staging a home so it will
have the most appeal to potential
buyers is something anyone can
do, if they just follow the example
of professional decorators.
Here are six staging secrets
that you can use to make your
house stand out and capture the
attention of potential buyers:
1. Dress Up Your Porch
Whether you have a large porch
or just a few steps in front of your
house, adding a new doormat and
a few exotic flowers or plants can
help make your home stand out.
A nice porch can come alive with
just a couple of pieces of outside
furniture, while a few strategically
placed solar lights on either side
of your walkway will do much
to make your house sparkle as
will porch lights kept on when a
potential buyer drives by at dust or
at dawn.
2. Make Your House Spotless
But Lived-In
While it’s critical to keep your
house super clean and spotless
when it’s being shown, you
don’t want it to appear sterile or
unpopulated. After all, a house
is a place where people live.
Professionals use a few fresh
flowers in vases or a basket of
produce to make a house look
lived in. A few lemons on a cutting
board in the kitchen is also not a
bad idea.
3. Stylize Your Plain Dining
Room Table
A bare dining room table is a little
like a black hole. It is unfriendly
and tends to suck the positive
energy out of anyone who passes
by it. The pros say decorating such
a table with an assortment of small
colorful arrangements will breathe
life into an otherwise dreary dining
chamber.
4. Closets Wide Open
Professionals say you should
open closets wide after you have
thoroughly cleaned and removed
any clutter. By doing so, you create
a feeling of spaciousness and
you’re declaring affirmatively that
there is larger closet space.
12

5. Install a Pedestal Sink to
Create the Illusion of More
Space
If you have a tiny bathroom that’s
cramped and makes you want
to scream, imagine the effect it
might have on a potential buyer.
One possible and inexpensive fix
the pros use is to remove the big,
old sink in your tiny bathroom and
replace it with a small pedestal
sink and decorate it with a few
red roses. The result is the optical
illusion of much space and style,
transforming the bathroom from a
liability to an asset.
6. Use Art to Draw People In
Unfortunately, many prospective
homebuyers tour a house with
blinders on. It’s almost as though
they have tunnel vision. How in the
world can you get them to explore
the entire depth and breadth of
your home? Professional stagers
use a piece of artwork hanging at
the top of the stairs, or a colorful
vase near the back of the house
to catch the eye of prospective
buyers. Such a strategy gets them
to view the house in its blissful
totality, rather than segmenting it
into little chucks.
Busting the Myth That
Home Improvements
Pay For Themselves
For years, homeowners cherished
and embraced the myth that
expensive renovations and
improvements to their homes were
great investments that would more
than pay for themselves in the long
run by adding to the overall value
of their properties when they were
sold some day in the near future.
Many major home improvement
contracts have been signed and
justified by this financial myth.
Remodeling and
Improvements Equals Poor
Return
According to Remodeling
Magazine, over the last decade,
payback on the average
remodeling job has fallen from 82
percent in 2003 to 57 percent in
2013.
Here are the payback percentages
on some popular home
improvements:
• Garage doors only paid back
71.9 percent of their cost when
the house was sold.
• Steel Entry doors only paid
back 73 percent of their initial
cost.
• Built-in, back-up power
generators only returned 47.5
percent of their cost at the sale
of a property.
• Popular additions such as a
sun room only returned 45.9
percent of their original cost.
*Remodeling Magazine
13

Found the Perfect Home –
But Furniture Won’t Fit!
You’ve been looking for a home
and you’ve found one that feels
almost perfect. The location is
convenient and you can picture
your family living here happily.
However, there’s a problem. One
or more pieces of furniture you’ve
had for years just will not fit. Do
you buy the home anyway, or keep
looking?
Move It?
Suppose the piece of furniture
that won’t fit is a tall cheston-chest
that’s always been in
your bedroom. Could you use
it in another room? Might it be
handsome and useful in the living
room or dining room? (Rooms
downstairs often have taller
ceilings than rooms upstairs.)
Could it store games, videos,
tablecloths and place mats, and
silverware in its new location?
Give It Away?
Maybe the problem is that you
have a bed that’s too large for any
of the bedrooms in the “almost
perfect” house. Is it a Sheraton tall
post field bed with canopy or a
massive Victorian piece that’s been
in the family for generations?
Do you love it, or might another
family member with larger rooms
and taller ceilings be very excited
to get it?
Sell It?
Maybe the offending piece of
furniture has monetary value, but
has no sentimental value. Why not
just sell it? There’s no need to buy
a house based on where it’ll fit, is
there?
Evaluate and Decide
Don’t turn down the idea of
purchasing a home you’d really
enjoy simply because some of your
furniture won’t fit.
Ask yourself questions about the
possibilities. When you come up
with answers you like, you’ve made
your decision.
Who knows, another family
member or a stranger shopping for
a special piece of furniture could
be delighted with your decision,
too!
If that thought process takes care
of the chest, but you’re left without
enough storage in the bedroom,
what then? Is there a smaller
chest of drawers that was used in
your old guest room that would
fit in your bedroom? What about
putting an inexpensive chest of
drawers into your walk-in closet?
14

A Bit About
Mold
There are a number of little things
to look for when purchasing a new
home. Normally things to consider
include location, wiring, the
condition of the house, and several
other factors.
One of these factors is mold. There
are different types of mold that can
occur in a home and lead not only
to structural damage, but some
health concerns too. Mold can
be difficult to find in homes as it
grows exclusively in dark and moist
areas that are hidden somewhere
in structural areas, like attics and
basements. By the time mold
shows up in actual living areas,
chances are that it is throughout
the home.
Another concern is if a home has
ever flooded and was not properly
cleaned. Leaky plumbing and
basement crawlspaces are other
likely candidates. Mold can be a
difficult thing to get rid of as the
only thing it needs to continue
growing is organic material such as
wood and moisture. Both of these
items are abundant in most homes.
Usually moisture finds its way into
a home through leaky roofs and
foundations. Both areas should be
checked by an experienced mold
inspector on a regular basis if there
is any worry of mold beginning to
grow, or if there has been mold in
the past.
Mold can be an expensive problem.
Be proactive about searching for it
so you save money in the long run.
Best House Color to Sell
When you go to social events, do
you make an effort to snazzy up?
Of course. Attraction is a key factor
in forming relationships and the
same applies to your house.
When you put the house on the
market, you need to make it look
good for the dates with potential
buyers. The color of your house
can make all the difference.
First, there is no absolutely correct
answer to the best color! Instead,
the decision depends on the
makeup of your home and the
surrounding landscape.
Let’s take a closer look:
1. Whatever color you choose,
make sure it doesn’t clash with the
other homes in the neighborhood.
An otherwise appropriate color
could end up making your house
an eye-sore.
2. The Roof. What color is the roof
on your home? If it is a red tile
roof, off-whites are probably going
to be the better choice than dark
green. Unless you are going to
invest money in a new roof, make
sure the paint color doesn’t clash
with it.
3. Highlights. If there is a particular
part of your house that should be
emphasized, used light colored
paint around it to draw attention.
4. Hide It! Conversely, if there
are parts of the house that are
mundane, use darker colors to
draw attention away from them.
5. On large flat surfaces, such as
the side of a garage, keep in mind
the color you choose will have a
washed out appearance.
Now we get to the fun part. After
considering the above issues, make
a preliminary list of colors and
buy small cans of each color. In
a private area of the house, start
applying samples strokes a couple
feet long and a foot or so wide.
Try to paint examples in shaded
areas and those exposed to the
sun.
Do not immediately judge the
results of your experiments.
Instead, wait a few hours for
the paint to dry and then start
comparing.
Dry paint takes on a very different
appearance than when it is wet.
Once the paint is dry, take a long
look at each sample. You will
typically find the colors look much
different. You may find one color is
perfect or you may find something
a little different would be best.
Either way, you’ll have come up
with the best house color to sell
your home.
15

Opening Doors...
...Making the Dream of Home Ownership a Reality
Call and Let Us Help Make Your Dream Come True!
Riana Keve
(214) 641-9687
RianaKeve@gmail.com
www.CastleandCottageDFW.com
Tristan & Michelle Sherrill
NMLS 299820 NMLS 1096219
www.YourLoanPro.net
Let the best team in Texas help you
with all your home finance needs!