Charleston and Mount Pleasant Real Estate

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Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Tips for a Successful Walk-Through. When Buying Your Charleston or Mount Pleasant Home

Tips for a Successful Walk-Through. When Buying Your Charleston or Mt. Pleasant Home

After the inspections, the appraisal, the negotiations over repairs and other items, it's tempting to coast down the rest of the road to closing on the purchase of your new home. You have one final duty, however, and it's important: the final walk-through.
This walk-through happens shortly before closing – the timing is typically dependent on when the current owners move out – and can occur anytime from a week to a day before closing.
Plan to spend as much time in the home as needed to ensure that nothing has changed since you agreed to purchase it. Once you sign the papers at closing, the house is yours and the current homeowners have little to no liability for problems.
Remember, you are not inspecting the home for anything missed during previous inspections – this inspection is to make sure the home wasn't damaged during the move-out and that all agreed-upon repairs were performed.
Let's take a look at ways to ensure your final walk-through is successful.

Preparation

As you get closer to closing on the home, ask your real estate agent to call the listing agent to find out when the homeowners will be completely moved out of the home. Having a firm date will help you schedule the walk-through when it is convenient for you.
Ask your agent to remind the homeowners to leave all utilities on. If you arrive at the home to do the walk-through and the utilities are off, have them turned on and delay the closing until you can check the house.
Bring a list of repairs that the homeowners agreed to make so that you can check them off as you tour the home, and take a camera along to document anything that doesn't look right.

What to Look For

Approach the walk-through systematically so that you don't miss anything. Many buyers start at the front door and move around the house from right to left, checking everything from top to bottom.
Repairs: As you tour the home, check that all agreed-upon repairs have been made. Ensure that the homeowner left copies of permits, invoices and work orders, complete with the contractor's name and contact information and warranties, if any.
Condition: Is the home in the same condition as it was when you agreed to purchase it? A common problem that pops up during the final walk-through is damage caused when the sellers moved out: scrapes on wood floors, damage to walls and baseboards, and broken fixtures. This is why it is so important to systematically inspect every wall, from top to bottom.
Appliances: Check all appliances that were included in the purchase. First, make sure that these are indeed the appliances you agreed on. While it doesn't happen often, shady sellers have been known to take high-end appliances and leave inexpensive or used replacements in their stead. Then, check that the appliances function properly. Run the dishwasher through a cycle, check that the icemaker and water dispenser in the refrigerator/freezer are functioning and that the stove and garbage disposer works.
Plumbing and HVAC: Turn on all the hot water taps to ensure that the water heater is functioning properly and that hot water is available at the taps. Flush the toilets. Turn on the heater and then the air conditioner.
Exterior: Run the pool and spa and check that the lights, filters and heater work. Check the irrigation system. If there is a timer, you may want to tinker with it to ensure it is functioning. If you don't understand how to use the control panel for these items, ask your agent to request that the sellers supply you with instruction manuals.
Other exterior items to inspect:
Automatic garage door – Have the sellers left the remotes?
Plants – Did the sellers remove landscaping?
Built-in barbecue – Does it function, and do you need instructions to use it?
Cleanliness: Most real estate deals require that the home be at least "broom swept," meaning the home should be clean and free of any of the former occupant's possessions. The home doesn't necessarily need to be cleaned to your exacting standards, but if it will require extensive cleaning to get it into move-in shape, request that the sellers hire someone to clean it before closing.
Check the attic, basement, garage, sheds and the sides of the home to make sure the sellers took all of their belongings with them.
Document anything that is an issue for you, and have your real estate agent go to bat for you to remedy the situation. It's better to hold off the closing for a few days to ensure that you're getting the house you paid for.

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More Home Selling and Buying Tips

Looking for Charleston or Mt Pleasant homes. Free MLS search updated daily!

Thinking about selling your Charleston or Mount Pleasant Home. Maybe just curios how much your home is worth? For a free and no obligation home valuation just fill in some basic information about your home.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

8 Simple Tips to Weatherproof Your Charleston or Mount Pleasant Home

8 Simple Tips to Weatherproof Your Charleston or Mt Pleasant Home

Winter or summer, one thing is almost certain – the temperature outside your home doesn't match the temperature within. But, unless your home is properly sealed and weatherproofed, the conditions outside have a good chance of affecting your comfort inside.
A leaky house also means extra energy consumption for your heating and air system, leading to higher utility bills and environmental stress. The solution is simple: Weatherproof your home with a few quick, easy methods that won't break your wallet.

1. Break Out the Caulk

If you measured every gap, crack, and air leak in your house, you would likely find you have the equivalent of a window open year-round. Perhaps the most important step you can take to combat drafts and keep the heat either inside or out is to load a caulk gun and hunt down the holes. Choose a quality caulk (you generally get what you pay for) and create a homemade draft detector to test for leaks with a hairdryer and a candle or stick of incense.
Where to Use: Start from the bottom of your home and work your way up. Look for holes in the floor where cables or wires enter the house. Run a bead of caulk along the edge of the foundation, where it meets the siding. Caulk along the subflooring, underneath the baseboard trim, whenever you have your finished flooring removed. Test windows and doors; even newer installations, if caulked with an inferior or improper product, may have caulk that's grown brittle, shrunk, or become loose. Check around any other openings in the walls, such as pipe outlets, the clothes dryer vent or incoming wires. Caulk around any protrusions through the ceiling into the attic, as well as in the attic walls or roofing.

2. Fill it With Foam

Expanding foam insulation not only insulates well, it's a natural air barrier, unlike fiberglass insulation. Sold at most department, hardware or home improvement stores, it's fairly inexpensive when used for small areas. (For wall insulation, it's better applied by a professional using industrial machines.) Use low-expansion formulas, sometimes specified as window and door formula, and follow the instructions regarding the application – a little squirt goes a long way. To remove excess, once it has cured as specified, cut it flat with a utility knife. If it gets on fiberglass, on the other hand, wipe it away immediately to prevent an almost impossible removal.
Where to Use: Expanding foam insulation works well for any hole, gap, crack, seam or other opening larger than what is practical to fill with caulk – about 1/4 inch in diameter. Look under the trim surrounding your doors inside; the area between the trim and underneath the doorjambs will often benefit from a foam job. Another practical place to squirt some foam is around your electrical outlets, which are often poorly insulated and prime areas to leak air. Foam may also come in handy underneath crawl spaces and inside basements.

3. Work With Weather Stripping

Regardless of the type of weather stripping you choose, you'll find it simple to install and effective at stopping drafts. From felt and foam to vinyl or metal, you can find weather stripping at most home improvement or hardware stores. For the best results, match the type of weather stripping to the area you are working on.
Where to Use: Doors and windows are prime candidates for weather stripping – just make sure you can close them easily (although snugly) with the weather stripping in place. Don't forget your garage, either. Weather stripping windows, entry doors and garage doors can have a profound affect on your home.

4. Get "Guard" Animals

Whether you're an animal lover or prefer a pet-free home, draft stoppers fashioned into whimsical creatures such as rabbits, snakes and monkeys "guard" doors and even window ledges, blocking the heat or cold from invading your home. Alternatively, purchase and install conventional door sweeps made from rubber or metal.

5. Seal Your Attic

Unless you have a finished attic area with a regular staircase, the only thing sealing your attic entry may be a piece of drywall covering the hole in your ceiling or a bit of plywood with a pull-down staircase attached. Neither is much barrier to heat transfers, which means you're losing a lot of your heat and air through your roof. To fix it, purchase an attic stair cover at a home improvement store or make one yourself. The effect will be worth the money.

6. Treat Your Windows

Even the newest windows transfer more heat and cold than insulated exterior walls. Older windows, often single-paned and possibly glazed in place, are even worse. Of course, a house without windows isn't the solution, and upgrading windows is costly.
The Solution: During the winter, storm windows add an extra barrier between the cold outside and the warm within your home. In the summer, take down your storm windows and replace them with screens. This works well for exterior doors as well. Heavy drapes – especially insulated drapes – also help block both hot and cold weather. In the winter you can actually help warm your home by opening curtains on south-facing windows. Bonus: If you have pets, they will probably love basking in the sun.

7. Deal With Your Ducts

As long as the air flows properly, most people don't spend much time thinking about their ductwork. Leaky or poorly insulated ducts, however, can cost you a lot of money - not to mention the time spent battling to keep your home at the right temperature. The typical American home loses around 20 percent of the air moving through HVAC ducts. To seal ducts, use mastic and butyl, foil, or other heat-approved tape. Wrap ducts with duct insulation, which is readily available at home improvement and hardware stores.

8. Install Insulation

Insulation is the single most important thing standing between your family and the weather outdoors. Insulation isn't just for cold climates, either. Proper insulation levels will help keep your home cooler in the summer. It really does pay for itself.
Where to Install: Everywhere inside your home needs insulation. However, when it comes to upgrading insulation, the attic and roof are prime candidates, as is the floor and crawlspace, if you have one. Compare the insulation levels you currently have (each type has an R-value per inch of thickness) to what you should have, and add more as you can if your levels are low. Select the type of insulation that works best for your budget and installation - fiberglass and foam board are both popular choices.

More Home Selling and Buying Tips

Looking for Charleston or Mt Pleasant homes. Free MLS search updated daily!

Thinking about selling your Charleston or Mount Pleasant Home. Maybe just curios how much your home is worth? For a free and no obligation home valuation just fill in some basic information about your home.

Monday, February 24, 2014

How to Depersonalize Your Home for Sale. Your Charleston and Mount Pleasant Real Estate Resource

How to Depersonalize Your Home for Sale

Making the decision to sell your home begins a journey of a thousand steps. From hiring a real estate agent to getting the home ready for the market, there is a lot to do.
Luckily, homeowners have a tool belt full of items that make the job easier. The most powerful tool of them all is decorating – better known as staging. Done right, staging your home will help it sell faster and for more money.
Before you hire a decorator, or decide to do it yourself, you'll need an appropriate backdrop – a clean, uncluttered space. Otherwise, staging the home is like putting lipstick on a pig.

Why Declutter?

There are several reasons homeowners should clear their homes of the clutter accumulated from daily living. First, clutter makes people anxious.
The results of a nine-year long UCLA study show that there is "real psychological stress associated with clutter."
The last thing you want a potential buyer to feel is stress or anxiety when touring your home.
Since most clutter in a home is a collection of personal items, depersonalizing the home goes hand-in-hand with clearing clutter. Sure, all those personal items are what makes your house a home, but too many of them may hinder its sale.
Buyers need to be able to imagine what it would be like living in your home, surrounded by their belongings. Your stuff detracts from their ability to do that.

Depersonalizing: What's Involved?

Depersonalizing is the act of removing most items of a personal nature. Family photographs, souvenirs, collections, DVD and CD collections and framed diplomas, degrees and awards are a few examples of items to pack up and store.

Getting Started

Since you'll need boxes for the move, buying them now saves work later on. Buy several boxes for each room in the house, and don't forget newspaper or other packing material to protect breakables.
The best way to go about depersonalizing the home is to do it one room at a time.

Living Room and Family Room

Since this is where families spend most of their time, these rooms will most likely take the longest. Items to remove include:
Toy bins or boxes.
Toys (including pet toys).
Family photos.
DVDs, video games and CDs.
Excess magazines and catalogs.
Newspapers.
Craft items.
Clothing.

Kitchen

Now we move from the most challenging room to the easiest room to depersonalize – the kitchen. The biggest clutter catcher in this room is the refrigerator. Remove the magnets, sticky note reminders, kids' artwork and personal photographs. In fact, remove everything from the front, sides and top of the refrigerator. Unless it's decorative, pack it all up.
Many families use the kitchen counter as a mail drop. There's nothing particularly wrong with that, but mail is highly personal and needs to be put away, out of sight.

Bedrooms

Since bedrooms are the most personal of all the spaces in a home, they can be challenging to depersonalize. Remove family photos, of course, but you may need to go beyond that. Imagine a posh hotel room and remove anything from the bedrooms that you wouldn't find in one.

Bathrooms

Bathrooms tend to become cluttered with personal products. While it isn't necessary to pack these items up, it is crucial that they be put out of sight in cupboards and drawers.
Don't forget the shower stall or bathtub. Buyers will pull back the shower curtain. Would you want to be greeted by pumice stones, shampoo bottles or kids' water toys? Again, think of a posh hotel bathroom and try to imitate that look.

Home Office

The home office is typically one of the most cluttered rooms in the home and also a hot selling feature, so it's important to create a vignette that appeals to the target market for the home.
Attack the walls first, taking down awards, diplomas and degrees, and photos.
Clear the desk of mail, work papers and professional journals and magazines.
As you work on depersonalizing each room in the home, don't just throw the items in the boxes. Wrap and pack for the move and then take the boxes to a storage facility.
Don't forget to organize what's left in the room – it puts you one step closer to staging the home.

More Home Selling and Buying Tips

Looking for Charleston or Mt Pleasant homes. Free MLS search updated daily!

Thinking about selling your Charleston or Mount Pleasant Home. Maybe just curios how much your home is worth? For a free and no obligation home valuation just fill in some basic information about your home.