Dean Graziosi | Dean Graziosi Real Estate | Dean Graziosi Investment

A lot of prospective home owners are concerned about listing their home in today’s unstable realty market.  Since the market has gone from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market with more and more homes being listed every day, sellers are worrying that they will not get what they feel their home is really worth.  In past years sellers would have no worries when it came to listing their homes, often times available homes that were in great shape would set off bidding wars once they hit the market.  Unfortunately in the world we live in today, sellers are faced with the decision to list or wait until the market picks up again.  But if you do choose to list your home there are a few ways that you can make sure that it gets all of the attention from agents and buyers that it deserves.

The first thing you will want to do is make the exterior appealing to prospective buyers.  If any of the shrubbery is overgrown now is the time to trim it down and make it look appealing.  If your house paint needs some updating that should also be taken care of before you have it listed.  The first thing that your real estate agent will want to do is take pictures, since we are a visual society many of our first impressions are determined with a quick glance at pictures that your agent has listed online.  When preparing the pictures of your home, it is important that they feature up close shots of the entire exterior of the home including the backyard and garage.  The more pictures that you have available for buyers have to look at the more interested they will be in viewing your home in person.

Along with exterior pictures your agent will also want interior pictures as well.  When preparing your home for these photographs, it is important that you remove any clutter from the rooms that will photographed.  You will also want to open any blinds or drapes to let natural light in.  If you have rooms that are a bit darker you will want to turn on any lights that will make the room look more appealing and less like a dungeon.  It is important to focus your pictures on special details that you may have such as, new cabinets, granite counter tops, wood floors or a fireplace. 

Buyers do most of their research online before actually contacting an agent to schedule a viewing.  Ask your agent to include a virtual tour of your property in your selling arrangement.  A well designed virtual tour will grab the buyer’s interest and make them feel as if they are being led from room to room.  The better your photos and virtual tour are the more interested prospective buyers will be to view your home in person.

In addition to the photos and virtual tour that your agent will make available online, you should also ask your agent to use print advertising along with online advertising.  Many people still read newspapers and your home should be listed in the major newspapers in your area.  There is no such thing as too much advertising when you’re trying to sell your home.  Sellers should utilize all of the resources at their disposal when trying to sell their home, the more people you reach the better your chances of getting what you’re asking for.

What a difference a year can make! Lending service companies have reversed last year’s mortgage modification resistance in a resounding way.  According to a HOPE NOW survey, more than 159,00 mortgage modifications were completed in May 2010.

That brings the number of modifications in the first five months of 2010 to 800,536.  With new government incentives, lenders are finding it less expensive to attempt workout programs and modifications rather than foreclose.  Typically, lenders are not in the real estate ownership business.  The cost of maintenance, real estate management and real estate commissions makes owning and selling real estate an expensive proposition for banks.

HOPE NOW includes counseling organizations approved by the agency and mandated to work with troubled homeowners.  These counselors are equipped to work with homeowners in credit counseling and debt management as well as short sale tutoring and foreclosure instruction.

Faith Schwartz, a senior adviser for HOPE NOW, said, “The latest results continue to support the industry’s unprecedented efforts to assist borrowers across the country using myriad foreclosure prevention programs.  The industry has made great strides and is organized around significant efforts.  It is incumbent that the industry, government and non-profit segments continue to collaborate until the housing market has stabilized.”

The Treasury Department reports that 49 percent of homeowners who do not qualify for permanent Home Affordable Mortgage Programs (HAMP) have been placed in alternative modification plans with comparable payment reduction benefits. In addition to the 159,000 mortgage modifications processed in May, another 213,000 trial alternative workouts such as forbearance and repayment through short sales were initiated.

These figures are definitely encouraging.  However, there remains some pretty discouraging news relating to then success of modification loans.  Almost 206,000 foreclosure actions were commenced in May.  Almost 100,000 foreclosures were finalized during the month.

HOPE NOW reports that 9.50 million mortgage workouts have been offered to distressed homeowners since July of 2007.  Nearly 3.2 million of these workouts are loan modifications.