The decision to sell a home is not an easy one. There are many emotions tied to a house and unraveling them can feel daunting. one way to remove the stress out of the process is by offering sellers insight into what will be required throughout the transaction. While the home selling checklist below is not all-inclusive, it will better prepare you for a quick sale.

Home Selling Checklist

• Open lines of communication with your real estate professional from the beginning. Discuss a realistic selling price and share how much you need to net from the sale. This will ensure that proper expectations are set and that current market prices support your needs.

• Work with your real estate professional to determine whether you want to pay for a pre-inspection of your home. This is often a wise choice as it gives you a glimpse into any potential repairs that might need to be made.

• Make any necessary repairs to the exterior or interior of your home before your first open house to avoid last-minute stress. This includes safety repairs, minor cosmetic issues, updating interior and exterior paint or fixtures and cleaning up both the front and back yard for added curb appeal.

• Make it easy for potential buyers to envision your home as theirs by making yourself invisible. Remove or box photos and clutter that will not be needed.

• Go through your belongings such as furniture and appliances and determine what will stay and what will move with you. Weeding through unnecessary items will save you money during the move and even allows you to put a few extra pennies in your pocket if you choose to hold a garage sale.

• Get familiar with financing terms, such as mortgage financing (fixed, adjustable, seller financing, assumable loans), pre-qualified, pre-approved, commitment and discuss loan approval with your real estate professional. They will be able to recommend a qualified mortgage professional to work with you through the loan approval process.

• Be prepared for closing:

o Have enough cash for closing costs and other expenses
o Be ready for property assessment and home inspections
o Double check that all documents are ready

The video below also provides some information that may be helpful to you!

source:  http://bhgrealestateblog.com/2013/06/17/home-selling-checklist/

I thought that it was time to move away from all of the industry related posts and write a personal one this time.  People continue to ask me why I teach and not go into Real Estate full time.  Well my response is simply because I like working with the kids too much.  People always say, “How do you put up with those kids?” “ I couldn’t handle the attitudes!” “Kids are lazy now a days” .  They are right yes there are attitudes.  Some are hard to handle and yes there is attitude, but last night illustrated the true reason why I teach.

At Estevan Comprehensive School I teacher in the Business Education Department.  Over the past two years I have taught may technology based classes, accounting and of course the one that I love the most Entrepreneurship.  I partner with a great non-profit organization called Junior Achievement.  The resources and experience they provide is fantastic, it is real life, hands on and a true experiential learning opportunity for the students.  From September – January I had the pleasure of teaching 37 budding entrepreneurs the ins and outs of running a business.  The 37 were split into two classes and created two companies.  Truffle Shuffle was a business that made hand crafted chocolate truffles and First Class Baking was a group that prepared single serve deserts in mason jars.  You can see the videos by clicking on the links at the end of the post.  This semester was one of the most challenging that I was involved in, the businesses were very successful and Truffle Shuffle made upwards of 3400 boxes of truffles and First Class Baking made 3200 deserts.  They had to prepare everything from scratch, package and deliver to each of the buyers.  They also had to secure sales opportunities and did so by negotiating space in the local farmers market, craft fairs and even went as far as door to door selling to different companies around town.  The classes had to prepare business plans, marketing material, shareholders reports, hold company board meetings and present plans in front of different local business owners.  They worked tirelessly on weekends, during class and before and after school putting in close to an additional 100 hours of time to complete the projects (classes are only supposed to be around 100 hours).  These kids worked very hard and to see them go from not knowing anything about business to creating products and handling customers is impressive.  To be able to sit back and see a group of students develop and grow is something that is rewarding as a teacher.

Last night was the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame Awards in Regina at the Ramada Hotel.  Here all companies that participated in the venture program were brought together to celebrate their accomplishments.  Estevan Comprehensive School was successful in securing nominations in each of the award categories and brought home award for:

• Top Salesperson of the Year
• Production Excellence
• Top Shareholders’ Report
• President of the Year and:
• Company of the Year

To see the kids’ faces light up as they won the top award is the most exhilarating, and rewarding moment for a teacher.  It is the moments that we call ah ha moments in education and it is the moments that are more rewarding than any monetary amount could be.  To know that you took a group and taught and mentored them to being the Top Company in the Southern Region of the Province is Huge!  That same feeling happens when I open the door on Possession date to a client getting their new home.  The excitement, the wonder, the true belief that you have done well for someone and created a true, memorable experience is something that makes me want to continue to do both jobs for a long time!

So to answer the question “Why do you still teach” it’s because of the moment I experienced last night.

Buying a home is an important decision in life with everything from location to unique features impacting a buyer’s decision.

A recent survey from the National Association of REALTORS® questioned buyers about what particular features swayed their decision more than others and which features they want most in a home.

The list included household composition, age of the home and even whether or not air conditioning was available. Below are five of the features buyers considered most important in their decision to purchase.

1. Eat-In Kitchen

An updated or modern kitchen is often found at the top of a homebuyers most wanted checklist. However, this survey found that an eat-in kitchen was an item many buyers crave.

69 percent agreed that they would gladly spend more for an eat-in kitchen while 89 percent of buyers who said this feature was critical did indeed purchase a home that included an eat-in kitchen.

2. Sufficient Storage

Homebuyers want a home that offers smart and sufficient storage. Such options include linen closets, built-in storage spaces and a large walk-in closet.

3. Garage

A garage ranked as critical with 78 percent of the homebuyers polled purchasing a home that included at least a one car garage. A garage will add to resale value making this a smart choice in both the short and long term.

Owners said they look to their garage to serve multiple purposes including shelter for their automobile, storage for belongings and an extended work space.

4. Central Air Conditioning

Out of the 33 features within the study, central air conditioning was at the top of the list. 65 percent of all homebuyers considered this vital to their decision to purchase.

In fact, 69 percent of buyers who had purchased a home without central air conditioning stated that they would be willing to spend $2,500 more for a home that included air.

It should be noted that buyers in the Southern part of the United States placed a higher importance on AC than anywhere else in the country. Those hot and humid summers are undoubtedly the driving force behind that.

5. Cable-Satellite TV

Homebuyers who preferred a home with central air conditioning also considered cable or satellite TV as an important feature. Amazing to think that there was a day when homes did not include cable, satellite or internet!

Source: Clean Slate – BHG Real Estate Blog