Very often I come across this type of listing and the answers are always the same.  They want to keep most of the possessions, but after they realize they have to depart with it because of the expense the next question is “may I order you a dump container?”  Somewhere in between you can do a garage sale and that will help pay for the dump container.  It is a tremendous job and you are going to earn your commission on this one.  I would wait a few days before you show the property until you have most of the trash cleared out.  The home will need upgrading, which the sellers cannot do, but you are going to price it as a great buy for the handyman.  Most of the homes like this that I list have the garage filled already so you have to empty the garage first and then get everything in the house into the garage.  If it’s been in the garage for 5 years or more they don’t need it.

It has been my experience that trying to paint or carpet this home is beyond the seller’s capabilities and you might as well sell it as it is.  There are plenty of buyers in the market looking for cheap fixers in good neighborhoods.  You job to get this home sold is Taking out the trash.

I remember that it was consumer confidence that was the biggest help in bringing the economy out of the recession in 1995 and 1996. That is what it will take to do it again. But first, we have to go through a period of the negative news media, as I call it.  This is a great time to write negative news because that is what people like to read and it sells newspapers and magazines.  Many of the financial guru’s also like to write their negative news about what they think will happen.  We can do without these people.  The market will recover a lot faster without them.  What we need it a long period of sustained growth and we will be back to where we were.  The last recession started in 1990 and started recovering in 1996.  This recession started in 2007 and we should see it recover in 2013. That means values will be back to the levels of 2005.  In the meantime we should see some good real estate years with values of properties being very stable.  This is the kind of growth that grows consumer confidence.  This is the kind of market a good realtor can earn a good income.

I have always said that new paint and carpet is the best investment that you can make.  Paint and carpet cost around $9000 for a 3000 square foot home and will return four times that amount in the sale of your home.  In today’s real estate market where homes in Villa Park, California are selling are selling in the $800,000 to $1,000,000 area, a 10% greater return because of paint and carpet can bring you a bonus of $80,000.  Where can you make a quick $80,000 in today’s market?

What do we do with the kitchen cabinets?  Paint them too!  If your kitchen has the old dark kitchen cabinets and old hardware, paint them and change the hardware.  There are companies, which specialize in putting textures on the kitchen cabinets, which make them look very nice, and really update them.    A good quality paint job can make your cabinets look like new and make the kitchen look much better and maybe save you from redoing the tile also.  Sometimes the tile is so dated that replacement is a must. There are companies that paint the tile with a lacquer coating that looks very nice. Other things in the kitchen like brown or avocado appliances are a must to replace or repaint.  The doors of these appliances can be taken off and taken to companies that specialize in painting appliances at a reasonable fee.  If you are going to the expense of quality painted cabinets and new or repainted appliances, then make sure your kitchen floor is not dated.  If you need to update your kitchen floor, then look at Pergo or similar material for a quick inexpensive fix.  Lighting in your kitchen is the next item to evaluate.  If you have the old recessed neon lights with the lens covering them, you can upgrade to new canned lighting at approximately $70 per light.  A normal kitchen will require 8 to 10 canned lights.

Even the tile in your bathroom can be painted with a special paint, which looks like new tile. This will last for 5 years and save you thousands in not having to remodel your bathroom or change any of the fixtures.

A full remodel today for a 3000 square foot home will run around $250,000.  What I have suggested will update your home and cost you roughly $20,000. You will sell your home faster and for more money.

There are lots of ways to save money on fixing up your home, which are not mentioned in this article, but I would be happy to assist you with some remodeling ideas as well as refer subcontractors who can provide reliable, cost effective work.  In addition I would be happy to come to your home and recommend things you could do to get more money in selling your home.

If you have been living in your home for 20 years or more you probably have substantial equity built up.  All that equity is just sitting there and is not earning interest and its only function is keeping your mortgage payment low.

When we were young we put a 20% down payment on our home and purchased the home as a place to live and an investment.  The beauty of this was that when our home appreciated 10% we receive the benefit of earning interest on the money we borrowed just like buying stock on margin.  (Do I dare mention margin accounts in times like we recently had?)  The benefit over stock is that if the market goes down, we do not get a margin call.

As we live in the home over 20 years, through appreciation and payoff of the principle the amount we owe becomes very small and the loan is no longer the same great write off that it was when we purchased the home.  There may be two options:  One is to refinance your home to get the equity out and begin making the large payments again and regain the interest rate deduction (Only do this if you have a vehicle to place your money in a secure and profitable investment.) Or the second option is to sell and move down to a smaller home.   The first option gives you the equity but continues with the expense of the large home.  The second option allows you to cut your expenses because of the smaller home and increase your income through investment without working any harder.  This is the time in our lives when we need to take life a little easier without cutting back on our spending habits. When is the perfect time to sell?  It should be to sell when the market is high and buy when the market is low!  Or it may be to sell now and take life a little easier.

We don’t often know when the market is at the peak, but we can estimate when we are close to the peak.  The real estate market has been a 10 year cycle.  1980 was a peak in home prices in the Southland and interest rates were at up as high as 20%.  The market then started a decline until 1985 and started a slow rise and peak in 1990.  Again the real estate market declined until 1995 and started to rise again and we thought it peaked in 2000, but because of the generous lenders who gave out loans with low credit scores, no income verification and no verification of deposits, home prices continued to climb right up to 2006. At the beginning of 2007 we knew that the real estate market was in a tail spin and a new term hit our lips. It was called “SHORT SALES”.  The short sale market drove down the price of homes.  50% of the homes sold in that period were short sales. Here we are in 2010 and home prices have continued to fall because of the many foreclosed and short sale properties on the market.  How much further will the market fall?  We don’t know exactly, but as the inventory remains tight and good homes are hard to find we will start seeing an end to the fall in home prices.  I think we are seeing those signs here in Southern California.  Prices are not falling as much and good properties are hard to find. We are going to see this type of market here in Southern California for the next three years before we see appreciation again.

If you have been in your home for 20 years you still have a lot of equity even with the decline in home prices. If you sell in this market and buy another property you will take advantage of your high equity, and buy a smaller home for a lot less money, so you are not losing that much.  You will enjoy appreciation on your smaller home when that happens and pay less in expenses on the smaller residence.

If you would like to use your equity and buy down, think about selling in this market rather than waiting for next year when prices may be lower. Buy down and pay off your mortgage and do away with the mortgage payments.  Make life easy and relax. Take a trip to Europe now while it is affordable. Now is the time to do it.

Call Ron Accornero to get a competitive market analysis on your home and get some great ideas on what to do to get the maximum dollar amount.

Where else in California can you secure a 3000 square foot home on a half an acre, close to urban life, for $850,000.  That is Villa Park, California.  In 2005 I remember lots selling for $1,300,000 in Villa Park and now with this down market you can buy a house on a ½ acre for $850,000.  The people who live in Villa Park are blessed with beautiful weather, a beautiful community, convenience of shopping, excellent schools, 15 minutes to the ocean and 1 hour to the snow.  Villa Park is one of Orange County’s smallest cities and one of the friendliest cities to live in.  The city is made of a wide diversity of backgrounds, interests, occupations and famous people.  The crime rate in Villa Park is the lowest in the county and is protected by the Sheriff’s department.  The area is 2.1 square miles and has a population of approximately 6900 people, and 2000 homes.  The only commercial area is the Ralph’s shopping area which consists of approximately 25 retail stores, 3 banks, one library, post office, city hall and one gas station.  The city motto is “The Hidden Jewel”.

The city is made up of several organizations which keep the city exciting.  One of the main organizations is the Villa Park Women’s League which was started in 1969 and provides support, friendship, education, beautification and cultural enrichment within the city. It also has a host of social and recreational activities for its members.

Another organization is the Rotary Club of Villa Park which has 45 members and provides fellowship and goodwill to the community.  The annual fund raiser is the Oktoberfest which raises approximately $35,000 which is all given back to the community.  The Rotary sponsors the high school, middle school and the two grammar schools.  In addition the Rotary grows trees to give to community projects.

The Villa Park Foundation was created to raise money for the community to provide a picnic for the citizens once per year, and provide entertainment to the community in the way of a Boat Parade, Halloween celebration, and a celebration after the Boat Parade.  The Villa Park Councilmen and Women dressed up like Santa Claus ride the fire engine through the town the first week of December and distribute candy to our children.

Villa Park was incorporated in 1962, but the history goes way back to the 1800’s when it grew grapes, walnuts, apricots and citrus for its development.  It was the ranchers who developed Villa Park in the vital community it is today and organized it to save it from Orange zoning practices which were moving around the city.  They established the Serrano water district which provides water to the area.  The original ranchers had a legacy of wanting to keep ½ acre parcels in the City of Villa Park. They also wanted to keep the city as it was with no street lights and no sidewalks and this is still the policy in the city.  The builders came to Villa Park around 1962 and started building homes.  The first tract was off of Center Street on James and Charter and these homes sold for $65,000.  Today these homes are worth $1,000,000.  The City today is 95% built out and there are only a few lots left to build.  Most builders are buying older homes and remodeling them to make them into estates.  A recent book, which was written by Jan VanEmon with the help of the community called Villa Park, “The Hidden Jewel”, is for sale at City Hall for $50.00.  This tells a much more thorough story of Villa Park.

To keep a home in good condition it needs regular maintenance and it will prevent the costly repairs down-line.  Below you will find some of the areas you need to pay attention to keep your home in good condition:

Exterior: The main exterior item to check is your roof.  Once a year either you or your roofer should replace any broken shingles or tiles.  Also replace any shingles, which have warped and have exposed tarpaper. When the tarpaper gets a hole the roof will leak. Look at your ridge-cap and nail it back down if needed.  This is the area which usually comes loose first and starts to deteriorate the roof.  As part of a regular maintenance program your roofer may also reseal the vents on the roof and reseal skylights, which often leak.  A minor roof tune-up should run in the neighborhood of $500.00 to $800.00, depending on the work required.  Also check for trees or branches which may be hitting or lying on your roof.  The leaves from these branches fill up your rain gutters and can cause flooding problems.  Branches on your roof can also rot the wood shingles.  They can also be a source for termites to gather on your property. Make sure your rain gutter is cleaned out once a year before the rains come.  Nothing makes a homeowner more comfortable than a solid no-leak roof.

Siding: Check for warping and holes.  Once a year, buy a caulking gun and caulk all the holes around windows and holes in the siding.  Replace any siding that is badly warped.  Check the glazing around the windows of your home. This becomes cracked from the sun and leaks develop. The east and west sides of the home will always be worst.

Sprinklers: Sprinklers can cause more damage than anything else around the home. Check to see if any sprinklers are spraying the house.  A misadjusted sprinkler can cause hundreds of dollars damage to your property and can even cause mold on a wall or dry rot. Never have any sprinkler spray directly on your home, even on stucco.  Brown spots on your lawn may mean that a sprinkler is spraying your home and is not covering the lawn or that the sprinkler head is clogged. Landscaping can be very expensive and attention to how sprinklers are covering the area is well worth the time.

Termites: Termites do a lot of damage in Southern California and are found in 90% of the older homes.  Call a company that specializes in termites to control these pests.  An annual inspection would be money well spent. Termites are attracted by moisture and any wood surface on your home, which is receiving moisture, is a harboring place for termites.  Also branches of trees lying next to or on your home are a breeding place for termites.  Another place to check is your slab foundation to see if the soil is above the foundation so water and termites can enter your home.  Over the years we tend to fill our planters against the home with more soil and they become higher than the cement foundation.  Termite companies usually check this condition on their report.

INTERIOR

Water Heaters: Check for leaks around the base or on top.  Check to see if it has adequate venting and there are no objects piled near the pilot flame. Also, the pipes on top of the water heater should be wrapped with insulation.  Your water heater should have the correct seismic strapping which includes two metal straps anchored to the studs in the wall.

Heating and Air conditioning: This system also needs adequate venting and has a gas pilot light flame on the older models.  A trip to the attic will determine if the venting for the air conditioning is connected and not heating the attic.  We often find on inspections that the heating vents are either disconnected or are smashed so that little if any air is going through.    The filters on air conditioners need to be replaced every 6 months, if not sooner.  I hired a company to clean out my heating vents, which helped  tremendously to reduce dust and particles in the air.  They put a very powerful suction machine on the vents and sucked out most everything in them. I even had an orange in one of the vents that my grandson dropped in and it sucked that out.  They also went into each furnace outlet and thoroughly cleaned it.  I was so impressed that I intend to do this once a year.  The cost was $150.00.

Smoke Detectors: Check batteries to see if the smoke detectors are working.  If your home is hard wired (connected direct to the electricity), just check to see it the detector works.  If your smoke detectors were originally hard wired and connected to your alarm system and your alarm system is disconnected, you may not have smoke detectors working.

Baths: Check for leaks around toilets and sinks.  Check toilets that may be leaking water.  Place a colored food dye in the top tank to see if it leaks into the bowl. Check the water supply line for moisture.  Rock the toilet to see if it moves.  It may need to be tightened.

Grout: Check around tubs and showers.  A tube of grout once a year around the tub and shower will pay off in the long run.  90% of the inspections on homes reveal that the tub and shower need grouting.

Kitchen: Check for leaks under sink from drains or faucets.  Check the waste disposal for operation.  Feel around for moisture.   Check the sink and tile for grout missing. Water seeping from the top of the sink through holes in the tile can be a problem and cause mold. Always be sensitive to a moldy smell in your home.  Early detection on mold is a must before someone in your family could become sick.

Refrigerator: Move the refrigerator out of the area it sits and vacuum the coils on the back and clean it up.  This will help the refrigerator operate more efficiently. Also change the water filters if you have water service in the door.

Attention to the details I have suggested above will keep your home is excellent condition and avoid many of the pests that enter our homes. And probably save you thousands of dollars in the long run.

When you read the news, you see headlines like, “Real Estate sales down 25% from the same time last year or “Real Estate prices now at 2003 levels” These typical headlines really do not tell you much about what is really going on in the Real Estate market. You have to look not only at the number of sales, but the value of the sales as compared to a year ago. For example, there were 39 sales in 2007 and 49 sales in 2008 in Villa Park. This makes you think that the market is improving, but when you look at the value of the homes you see more sales at the $600,000 to $800,000 level than you saw in 2007. In other words prices are falling and because of the REO properties and short sales which are the only properties selling. These sales have created a new comparable which is determining the real value of the market. Many of the homes currently listed in the area will have to drop their prices approximately 15% in order to interest buyers in making an offer on their property. It is real easy to raise prices, but it is very difficult for sellers to lower their prices. Sellers have got to realize the value of the current market if they are serious about selling their homes.

Buyers are getting a message from the media that prices are falling and there are good real estate buys in the market. When they visit homes in the area the buyers are not seeing the falling prices. They are waiting for these homes to be priced competitively. When they visit REO properties and short sale properties they are seeing the reduced pricing. At the current time REO properties represent 85% of the sales in this area. Non REO properties or regular sales represent on 15% of the homes being sold at the present time. Does this tell you something about the market? I offered on a REO property for a client last month and the property sold for $90,000 over the list price and there were 20 offers on this particular home. Would you say that this is a slow market? I am seeing lots of buyers, but they are waiting for an exceptional buy. To sell your home in this market you have to compete with the REO market. As I said earlier, 85% of the homes sold are REO properties. These are the only comparables to work with to establish future prices. This article applies to homes in the one million range and not homes in the $500,000 range which are currently moving.

I think that the time is very near when we will see this 15% drop and the market will start to see sales again. That will be the time when you want to have your cash available and be ready to buy some of these properties. Real Estate is where you want to be putting your money in these times of financial instability.

Painting interior – $3000
Paint kitchen cabinets – $1200
Carpet – $4000-$5000
Fixtures Elec. – $1000
Sink Plumbing Fixtures one Bathroom – $500
New Mirrors in Bathroom – $800
Toilets – $50 to $400
Sinks – $350
New bathroom cabinets – $1000

Figure out what you would like to do by visiting home improvement stores like Home Depot. Watch Home improvement shows on TV or look through magazines which have lots of great ideas. Visit new model homes to see the latest colors and ideas. This will help you decide what you would like to do in your home.

Look at your old furniture and see if it would look better white than stained. Refinishing can breathe new life into an old piece of furniture. At Home Depot you can purchase a stain called REFINISH and it will make older wood furniture look like new. Reupholstering Furniture is another way to create a new look. An average cost of reupholstering an old chair is $150 to $400. Move some of your furniture in the living room into the family room or vice a versa. Visit garage sales to pick up a piece of furniture that can be reupholstered or repainted to spruce up your home. There are a lot of consignment stores that have terrific buys on furniture and sometimes you can pick up a real treasure. If you have a neighbor that is moving, they sometimes sell some of their furniture at much reduced prices.

The rooms which return the most money in a sale are the kitchen and the master bathroom. Putting your money into these rooms would make a good return on investment? An average cost to remodel a kitchen or bath can run in the neighborhood of $30,000 to $50,000. We are talking about something much less in the neighborhood of $2000 to $5000. New bathrooms fixtures usually spruce up a bathroom. If the mirrors are old they should be replaced. If you can add extra mirrors it can make the room seem larger and add a new dimension. Painting the cabinets can add a big lift to the bathroom without incurring a large expense. Adding the new knobs can be the final touch toward making old cabinets new. If the tile in the bathroom has a real outdated color, there are some companies that paint tile and it lasts for around 5 years and looks very good. New shower doors can make a large difference in a bathroom. Consider replacing the shower doors if the expense is not too great. Check out the prices at Home Depot. A custom shower door is four times more expensive than something that is in stock and will fit your shower.

Painting the interior of your home is the best thing you can do to increase the value. A few years ago we were suggesting white walls or the favorite color “coffee” which is off-white. The latest color is a tan which accents the white woodwork and makes a better contrast. If you are previewing the new model homes, take notice of the color on the walls. Most of the walls are tan or a variation thereof. If you are thinking about resale, stay away from the bold colors that some of the magazines and displays are suggesting. Red walls look really rich, but are not for everyone and tend to make the home dark. Neutral is the best way to go for the best return on investment.

Lighting is another way to enhance your home. Using brighter lights, changing some of the lighting, or bringing in more lamps all help to illuminate the room. Most of the old kitchens in the area have a soffit in the kitchen ceiling with the lenses covering neon lights. Removing these and replacing the neon lights with canister lights updates the kitchen and adds depth to the ceiling.

After you have finished with the painting, and updating, it is now time to accessorize. If a lot of the knick-knacks around your home do not have a lot of memories attached to them, box them up and store them away. Take a trip down to TJ MAXX, Tuesday Morning, Ross, or World Markets and buy new accessories for you home. It will change the look and give your home a new updated look. Costco has picture frames at a very reasonable cost which will allow you to reframe all your treasured photos in new frames which match and will make the old family photos look great. If you have some dried flower arrangements which seem a little tired and have been around since Noah, its time to change these also. Make the new arrangements out of the new colors which you introduced into the rooms you decorated.

Making these changes will make you feel great again about your home and make it a fun place to live in again. Since you spend so much time in your home, the money spent will be well worth it.

Pricing your home at the right price is the most difficult thing a seller has to do. I have the same problem as a real estate broker always thinking “My Property” is worth more. The best thing to do is ask a third person who is knowledgeable about price to give you an idea what the value of your home is worth. It will usually surprise you and you will think he is thinking too low. You have to learn to put your home on the market that for a price that reflects the current value. Buyers look at comparables, especially in these times of computer access to all the sales through the internet where buyers can look up properties and know exactly what they will sell for. Most of the buyers I know are more knowledgeable about the prices in a community than some of the realtors I know. What does this mean to you when you are pricing your property for sale? Are you realizing that your buying market is that knowledgeable?

Your home as seen by a buyer

Look at the sales in your community (Closed Sales) in the last three months and see if properties are selling for what you are thinking of listing for. Look at Current Listings and see if your price is competing with what is available for sale. How many homes are near your price and size? You can look at the pictures on the internet and see if the homes close to your price have more or less upgrades than your home. This is what buyers do, shouldn’t you? Be careful of the listing prices on your street syndrome. If your neighbor lists high it doesn’t mean he will sell his home.

We are currently in a market where prices are declining and may do so until next February or March. If you want to get sold then price it right and the buyers will make an offer on your home instead of your neighbor. If you are buying another home, the seller of that home has had to come down to meet this current market price. Remember, ” your home is only worth what a buyer will pay for it.”