Upstate SC Real Estate Blog and Other Stuff

I was recently sent a photo from a friend that I thought was really cool.They used a site called Smilebox.. Since then I have downloaded the application and I LOVE IT.. You can do so much more than just greeting cards with your own photos. It is a simple to use aapplication and lets you quickly and easily create slideshows, invitations, greetings, collages, scrapbooks and photo albums right on your computer. It has over 1000 customizable templates to choose from and you can let your imagination run wild!

No matter what you want to do with a photo Smilebox may be your answer.You can drop a photo into an email or put together a slideshow for one of your sellers of their home. You can also create a "photo book" of all the homes you have shown a particular buyer, Making you look even more professional.

Another great thing is that you can share Smilebox on facebook, an email, your blog, or download to a DVD. Smilebox makes sharing photos easy. Here is a link to Smilebox online so you can download it and try it yourself. http://smilebox.com/

By the way, Smilebox is free!!YES FREE!! You can, of course, upgrade to get even more. The upgrade is only $39.99 per year and well worth it. Take a look at the video below to learn more about Smilebox. See what you think.. I have enjoyed using it so I wanted to share it with you all at active rain. Let me know what you think about it!

On the day of your closing, you can expect to sign a lot of documents and walk away with a stack of papers. Some of these are very important and you should file them away in safe place for future reference.

Here is a list of some of those items:

· HUD-1 settlement statement. (also called the closing statement)- This form iitemizes all the costs that are associated with the closing on the seller's and the buyer's side. You'll need this form for income tax purposes.

· Truth in Lending statement. - this form is from your lender and summarizes the terms of your mortgage loan. It should include the annual percentage rate of the loan.

· Mortgage and note. - This is one of the most import of the forms. this one spells out the legal terms of your mortgage obligation and the agreed-upon repayment terms. This is the one that basically says if you pay you stay, if you don't you go!

· Deed. - The deed transfers ownership to you from the seller of the property. The actual deed will be mailed to you by the attorney a few weeks after the closing. It has to be recorded in the courthouse.

· The Sales Contracts along with any Amendments.-Some of the Amendments may not have been satisfied yet. For instance if the seller is occupying the home for a time after the closing. It is important to keep all these documents and make sure all the terms of the contract are satisfied.

Insurance policies - You will need a record and proof of your coverage of insurance at closing and should keep these docs handy in case they are needed later.

Home warranty info - If you got a home warranty, make sure these forms are kept in a safe and handy place. Most home warranties are only good for the first year but are also renewable.

So there you have it.. The items you should keep. You will likely get a lot of other papers that aren't as important and it never hurts to keep them all for a while. If you have a question about a form, make sure to ask your attorney or your REALTOR.. Don't throw away any forms if you don't know for sure they are not important.

1. Stay in your home while it is being shown. This is the very best way to distract buyers from really paying attention to the features and benefits of your home. And as a bonus, it really makes them uncomfortable so they tend to rush through the home without even noticing most things about it, making it the perfect way to get the buyer to focus on another home besides yours.
   
    
2. Close all the curtains or blinds and turn off all the lights. Instead of noticing the home, this way the agent and the buyer can fumble around and look for the light switches. This makes the buyers feel like they are intruding and not really welcome in the house. This is even more true at night or late evening. And by all means, don't leave the porch light on! Make it as hard as you can for the agent to open the lockbox. Also, you may get the bonus of the agent or the buyer falling or tripping over something. The agent will be so busy turning on lights and opening the blinds, that they don't have time to answer many questions the buyer may have.
    
3. Make is as difficult as possible for the agent to show your home. After all, you have a life and the buyer should work around your schedule. Even if they are only in town for the day. They can change their plans! After all, you don't want to come across as too anxious to sell your home.
    
4. Keep photos of your family up throughout the house. This way buyers will pay more attention to the photos than your home. They will look at all the photos and try to figure out who you are and if they know you. When they leave the home, they won't even remember the color of your carpet!
    
5. Keep all your nick knacks out. Instead of looking at your mantle or custom bookcases, the buyers will be distracted by the items on them and wondering why you have that particular item. After all, why would you want to pack them up in boxes? They are precious to you and you should be able to enjoy them to the last minute you live in that home.
    
6. Leave you friendly dog roaming free inside the house. All buyers should love your dog as much as you do. And if not, too bad. Besides, some buyers will refuse to even go in the home with a dog inside. That is a sure fire way to keep the focus off of your home and on another one. And the few who love dogs, they will pay more attention to the dog than the home.
    
7. To continue with the pet theme, leave your cat roaming through the homewith a note at the front door saying "Please do not let the cat out". This will set up a stressful situation for the agent and the buyer. They have to think about the cat rather than the home. And if the cat does manage to get out, the agent will chase it down and the buyers can worry more about your cat and don't have to think about your home.
    
8. Leave something aromatic cooking in the crock pot for dinner. Something with a lot of garlic or a very weird smell works best. The buyers will be concerned the smell may not come out of the carpets and some will leave quickly because they don't like the smell so much.
    
9. Don't replace burned out light bulbs and use the lowest wattage bulbs you can find. besides, the buyer doesn't need to see the spare bedroom or laundry room. Dark spaces don't impress buyers so they won't focus on those rooms. They may also worry that it isn't just a burned out bulb, maybe it is an electrical problem.
    
10. Set the thermostat to 50 or below in the winter and 80 or above in the summer. If you have moved out of the home, you don't want to run up your electric bill. And, if it is colder inside the home that outside, the buyers won't stay long. In the summer, if it is really hot inside, the buyers and agent will hurry to get back to the a/c in the car. As an added bonus in the winter, you can put up a sign saying "please remove your shoes before entering".. then everyone's feet can be so cold that they pay more attention to the frostbite they are getting than the home.

And there you have it.. The 10 best ways I know of to distract buyers from focusing on your home! Hope you find this list very helpful in not selling your home.

(OK, you know this is a joke, right?)