Valerie Mineiko's Real Estate Blog

  The Starting Point When Making an Offer The first thing to consider before making an offer is to have your  Realtor  prepare a CMA (comparative market analysis). After all, you will be making one of the biggest purchases of your lifetime, so it’s imperative that you know what the correct value is to make the best offer you can. Remember, an offer is just a starting point that will lead to a binding purchase contract. However, until both buyer and seller have agreed to all the terms, including a final price, both parties have an opportunity to abandon of the deal. Besides the  market value , it’s best to learn as much as you can about the property before you submit the written offer. Your Realtor can answer most of your questions, however some concerns you may need to scope out on your own – through your due diligence. Having a home inspection can provide answers about the structure of a home. This may help determine whether you’re ready to make that next step of si...

Before you decide to put your home on the market, ask your  Realtor  (me) for help on improving the presentation of your home. I can tell you what buyers will expect in your market and at your home’s pricing point. Here are 9 steps to get a head start on preparing  your home for sale: 1. Welcome Potential Buyers with Curb Appeal Try to make your front door appealing to buyers.  Paint it , clear all the clutter from the walkway and yard, mow the lawn and clean up your hedges. Plant nice flowers that will attract attention from the street. Repair any broken screens, doorbells, shingles, etc, and purchase a nice new welcome mat. An unattractive exterior makes a bad  first impression  on buyers. 2. Clean Until it Sparkles  Your home’s cleanliness implies that a home has been well taken care of. You want to deep clean wherever you can. Potential buyers will scrutinize homes, especially the kitchens and bathrooms. Repaint and re-caulk where needed ...

For many homeowners, painting the exterior of their house seems too daunting a task, one best left to the professionals. However, with detailed information, the proper materials and plenty of preparation, you can paint your house as well as a pro, saving money in the process.  Before getting started, you will need to estimate how much paint you’ll need for the project. To do so, measure the length of all exterior sides of the house, then multiply the length of all sides by the height of the house, adding two feet to the height for overhang. There’s no need to subtract doors and windows as you’ll probably need the extra for touch-ups. Take this information with you to the paint store. Paint cans display what’s known as “coverage rate,” which basically tells how much surface area the can will cover. Now divide the total square footage of your house by the coverage rate on the paint can you’ve selected. Now for the fun part: Choosing a color. One thing to keep in mind is that many hou...

The thought may have crossed your mind: what if you find the job of a lifetime in another state, or your company transferred you – should you  sell or rent your home?  There are quite a few factors to consider before making such an important decision. Reasons to Keep Your Home Think about some reasons for keeping ownership of your home. Do you like the home enough to hold on to it in case you ever  move back?  Do you want a tax break through property depreciation? Do you want to use the home as a retirement investment? These are all good reasons for retaining your home ownership, but there are other factors to consider that could outweigh the benefits. For instance, are you ready to be a long-distance landlord – hiring someone to maintain and manage the property for you? There are also many other costs involved, such as advertising, turning costs (cleaning and painting between tenants), taxes, insurance, utilities when your property is between tenants, etc. In order ...

Did you know that making your home more energy efficient increases its value? According to one study, making no cost/low cost changes can boost your home’s value by almost $20,000. The following suggestions can help make your home more energy efficient for your family as well as for future home owners. 1. Lower the thermostat on your water heater.  If your tap water at the highest setting is too hot to touch, lower the temperature by a few degrees. You’ll never feel the difference! 2. Check for air leaks around doors.  A lot of the air you pay to heat or cool escapes through unsealed doors. Install or replace worn weather stripping, and replace broken or missing storm doors. 3. Close the air vents in  rooms  not in use.  No reason to heat or cool an unused guest room, so close the vents and shut the door until you need the space once again. 4. Keep heat producers far from your thermostat in summer.  Floor lamps and televisions can significantly raise the te...

Of all the ways to  buy real estate , leasing with an option to buy is one of the most creative alternatives if your credit is not as strong as it could be. Tenants who are interested in buying, but are not currently in a position to buy can use it to lock in a price against future price increases. This is also a tool that can be used by owners and property managers to attract quality tenants. And it is used by owners with property that, for whatever reason, is not renting or selling at the price they want. The Option to Buy Agreement Leasing with an option to buy is exactly what it sounds like – a renting tenant signs the agreement with a landlord stating that the tenant may buy the property at the end of a prearranged time period. The owner is obligated to sell at the option price, however, the tenant is NOT obligated to buy the property. But when a lease-purchase is exercised, the buyer is obligated to purchase at the end of the rental period. A common misconception is that once...

After this cold and rainy 1st half of the year, it feels like sunshine will never come. Don’t fear, it’s on the way! It might be easy for most of us to combat the heat by staying inside, enjoying our air conditioning,  or taking a dip in the backyard pool— but staying cool and healthy for plants is much more difficult. Most people take pride in a manicured lawn & garden, so naturally are brokenhearted to see them wilt, discolor, and even die during the days of summer.  Follow these 3 tips to ensure your plant’s life this spring/summer 1. Choose Your Plants Wisely While they all may all look beautiful, you should be picky when it comes to choosing which plants and flowers to plant. They are not created equal, meaning that not all greenery can survive in all climates. Talk to a to a professional at your local garden center store to decide together which plants will be best for your area. 2. Make a Feeding Schedule A common mistake that many people make, is to water their pla...

So you got the new home, and now you’re moving! After all the excitement wears down, the reality hits: you’re actually moving. This means packing up everything you own and often entrusting all of your worldly possessions to a moving company. So how do you choose a good, trustworthy moving company? Get online and do a quick Google search and pick the first name that shows up? You might as well put on a blindfold and throw a dart. You should always proceed with caution, because you just don’t know who’s out there & it can be daunting – you’ll see dozens of potential options that may or may not be worth your while. Before you get overwhelmed and decide it’s just easier to do it yourself, take the time to do some additional research. The American Moving & Storage Association According to the American Moving and Storage Association, the end of the month and summertime are the busiest times for moving companies. You should try to book at least six weeks in advance. October thru April...

Christmas is a wonderful time of year! People all over the world celebrate the holiday in different ways. Here are some interesting traditions from all over the world. Christmas Traditions in Brazil During the Christmas season, many towns in northern Brazil have a tradition of displaying the nativity scene. They call this a “presepio”after the Hebrew presepium. Presepium translates to “bed of straw,” which refers to the manger in which the Christ child was laid. As Brazil is a mostly a Catholic country, many people attend a midnight mass, called Missa do Galo (mass of the rooster) on Christmas Eve. The mass typically lasts until 1 a.m. On Christmas Eve Papai Noel (Father Christmas) brings gifts to children. In their tradition he resides in Greenland and dresses in light silk garments because of the hot weather in Brazil. Christmas dinner consists of turkey, ham, rice, vegetables and fruit. Argentina Christmas Traditions In Argentina Christians decorate evergreen trees with cotton to si...

  1) Needs & Wants I will work with you to establish and define your needs and wants (your wish list), including the neighborhood you’re interested in, school district, size and age of home, amenities, and more. 2) Get Pre-Qualified Once your qualifications are determined between you and your loan officer, you need to gather your financial information and get the lender’s pre-approval letter ready to go. 3) Home Search Next, between the home search features on  SeeValerie.com , market research and networking, I will create a list of prospective homes for you to choose from. Also, any additional homes you find doing your own home search will be included as well. We will visit the properties that best fit your search criteria. 4) Make an Offer on a Home When you’ve found the property that you’d like to purchase, we will work together to submit a fair offer by using recent comparable sales in the area to assess the home’s market value. 5) The Negotiations Begin Once the terms...

A good  real estate pro  can come in handy in more ways than you may have thought. In order to get the best out of your home selling and or buying experience, you should rely on a seasoned professional to guide you through every step. Understanding Necessary Paperwork When dealing with home purchases and or  selling your home , the paperwork can seem overwhelming. A professional real estate agent will help you decipher through what all the paperwork is. They will help with all contracts and disclosures necessary in today’s heavily regulated environment. Experience Matters Most real estate professionals are well educated in – and experienced – with the entire sales process. In this industry, experience really does matter. There are so many issues that could come up in any given transaction that the average consumer is probably not familiar with. Handling these difficult situations is second nature to an experienced, professional. Contract Negotiations A real pro will be ab...

You may have heard about the the interest-only (i/o) loan. Although interest-only loans have been available for quite some time, they’re becoming more popular. Currently, almost half of all adjustable-rate  mortgages  are interest-only, according to E-Loan. But why would anyone want to get an interest-only loan? Isn’t the point of home-ownership to build equity in your investment? That may be one of the points, but an interest-only loan can be an interesting alternative if you meet several criteria. For instance, you need a credit score of at least 680 if you’re a salaried borrower, and if you’re self-employed you need a 700 or higher. To put interest only loans in historical perspective, they were very popular in the 1920s when  home buyers  wanted to free up cash to invest in the stock market. When the 1929 crash came, scores of foreclosures bankrupted the i/o homebuyers. Just something to keep in mind as we explore this option. The Good News About Interest Only Lo...

Before writing your offer on that historic home, consider these factors… Many  home buyers  want a move-in ready home, but a large amount of people prefer older homes. Character and charm just isn’t found as often in newer homes. If older, historic homes are on your wishlist, take these factors into consideration: 1. Some Historic Areas Have Restrictions Many towns throughout the United States have commissions that protect historical districts and  neighborhoods . Depending on the town, historic homes will sometimes required an entirely separate layer of approval, not to mention the bureaucracy around it. For example, if you were to buy a 100-year-old home, you may not be able to renovate it the way you want. Many historic districts have a large amount of control surrounding historical properties and, as a result, renovations can take much longer and cost more. If you want to buy a historic home with the intent to renovate it, consider consulting an architect and town off...