Here's the scenario. Your mother inherits some land when your father dies. She then becomes "friendly" with a neighbor who is about 25 years younger. She sells her new friend half the land without telling anybody. Now, years later, you and your mother are looking into selling the property, but the friendly neighbor moved away years ago and nobody knows where he is.
Is your home your palace? Most of us are happy with our modest homes, but the market for high-end luxury homes is booming. Last year more than 35,000 homes costing $1 million or more were sold in the United States.
Selling a vacant home brings different challenges than a lived-in home. They will usually take longer to sell and sell for less. Keep the home in top condition even if you aren't living there, in order to sell faster. Price your vacant home competitively. Walking into a vacant home, a buyer will infer that the seller is motivated and may even be paying two mortgages.
Getting your house ready for sale? Spring comes early when you're a home seller. It's time to spring into action, do some spring cleaning, and maximize the value of your for sale home.
Selling a home is a lot of work, whether you sell by owner or by broker. Ilyce chronicles her own experience selling a home and recommends taking a good look at your home and decide what changes need to be made to make your home appealing to the buyer. Whether you choose use a real estate agent or sell by owner, selling a home is generally a long process, so be prepared!
Selling real estate can be a tricky business when it comes to accepting a buyer's offer. Many sellers are reluctant to take the first offer they get on their real estate, thinking another buyer may come along with a better offer. The best thing for a seller to do is trust his real estate agent and his instincts when selling real estate, and deciding which offer to take.
Most buyers have a difficult time visualizing what a home will look like with their furniture in it. Your furniture, artwork, and knick-knacks, become distractions that many buyers' imaginations will have to work overtime to surmount. Buyers who have to work that hard trying to picture how they'll live in your home won't buy it.
Current IRS tax law states that as long as you have lived in your home for two of the past five years, you can keep up to $250,000 in profits tax free when you sell the house. To take advantage of this and avoid capital gains taxes, you must sell your home and close by that date.
If your home has synthetic stucco as its exterior finish, you may encounter water damage. One solution to water damage related to an incorrect synthetic stucco installation is a new drainage system, but it's not clear how reliable that system will be. Should you repair water damage related to synthetic stucco before selling a home? Ilyce says she wouldn't want a home with water damage related to synthetic stucco but it is up to the home seller to decide whether to repair it prior to selling the home.
A late inspection reveals polybutelyne plumbing in a homebuyer's potential home. The seller claims it's not polybutelyne, but the buyer wants to know if he has any recourse based on the findings.
