Category: How to Sell Real Estate

How to Photograph Your Home for Sale in Coto de Caza

Posted on | by Cuselleration

Learning how best to photograph your home for sale in Coto de Caza is probably the most important thing you can do after finding a good realtor. Granted, a good realtor should have a photography staff already on hand, but knowing how to best showcase your home if you’re putting up your own pictures is important.

There are some very quick and easy tasks that you can set out to do today that will hopefully give you a spike in interest as soon as you post your incredible photographs.

  1. Highlight the Space and Lighting

Optimizing your home for the most available light and space isn’t just important for the showings. Opening up and lighting the rooms of your home for sale in Coto de Caza is one of the most talked about and stressed points of photography.

Getting rid of or packing up some of your belongings to cut down on clutter is a huge help when you are behind the camera. It exaggerates the space in a home when fewer objects are cluttering up a shot.

Also, lighting is important and the best light you can have is natural light. If you have windows, get them open and unobstructed for your photo shoot. In the case of rooms with poor or no natural light, bright bulbs and a great flash will help create the same effect!

  1. Don’t Use Effects

Instagram has taught us that the filters and effects are the best things you can do to gain notoriety. Unfortunately, this doesn’t apply in real estate photography.

You want things looking as open and lit up as possible, but you don’t want to use artificial effects to do it. That includes using effects like the fisheye or wide lenses.

When you view a home online and it looks absolutely massive due to a wide lens or fisheye effect, and see that it is much smaller in person, you’ll be disappointed. Disappointment leads to buyers feeling lied to, and a lied to buyer is no longer a buyer.

False advertisement is one of the largest deterrents to a prospective buyer because it opens up a whole host of other questions about your credibility.

“If they’re willing to lie about the size of the house, I wonder if they’re lying about the condition of the foundation.” Replace foundation, with pipes, water heater, and anything else you can think of and that’s what is going on in the buyers’ mind.

Don’t sabotage your chances of selling your home by trying to present it as something that it isn’t. Instead, be honest and forthcoming about your home’s size. Just because it may be smaller, doesn’t mean that you can’t highlight other aspects of it. Tell them about the proximity to the beach, parks, schools, and how Dave next door has the best Super Bowl parties!

These are the things that sell a small house, the truth about how amazing it is to live near all the amazing things and people nearby.

  1. Hire a Professional

If you aren’t a professional photographer, chances are you aren’t going to be able to give your home the fair shake it deserves. When I go to weddings, I think my photographs are great!

Then I see the professional photographs and I quietly start deleting most of my photos off of my phone. The pros don’t just have better equipment, they are better versed in getting the best angle and lighting for any situation.

Even going through a photography course doesn’t mean that you’re magically going to take incredible photos. The difference between you and the professionals come down to one huge difference: tons and tons of experience!

When your job is to take photos, you do it very well. When you have an Instagram, you think you take pictures very well, but really, no one really does except the pros.

  1. Go 3D!

Having 3D images of your house may not be entirely the same as getting a photograph of your home for sale in Coto de Caza, but it is definitely something you should look into! Going 3D gives the buyer an opportunity to step inside your home without ever having to leave theirs.

This is something that has been proven to increase buyer interest, and it is starting to become more and more common. Because of this, some people don’t even consider going to look at a home unless they can do a 3D walkthrough of your home first.

Help is On the Way!

If you want to photograph your home for sale in Coto de Caza, be sure to get the Kovacs Connection on your side! If you need any advice or tips, feel to call us at 949-350-0146, or you can email us as well at Debrakovacs@cox.net. We have many tips to help you and several services to offer!

Marketing Your Home in Coto De Caza To Make It Stand Out!

Posted on | by Cuselleration

Today, marketing your home in Coto De Caza using the newest digital marketing methods will give you the edge. It will also set your home apart, which will allow you to sell more easily.

Real estate marketing is changing in a big way today; gone are the billboards, the printed ads showing off your house and the direct mail.

It just doesn’t work like it did in the past.

Those who live in Coto de Caza know that their houses have a lot going for them because they are located in one of the most expensive and historic parts of Orange County.

Apart from luxury living, there are other exciting opportunities such as hiking, horse trails, parks, and pools. The question though is how to make your home stand out from the rest.

4 Ways to Increase Interest in Your Home

Space

Sometimes even the most quality items can cause a home to look cluttered. Solid advice for marketing your home in Coto De Caza is to look at your house from the buyer’s eyes. Too many items can make spaces look and feel cramped.

Color

Today, adding extra colors is considered as neutral when they work well in a setting. However, many times, the appeal of a house deteriorates when there are overly bright colors. Go with warm and inviting colors rather than striking ones.

This includes the outside of your home. Getting the best first impression means giving the outside a fresh paint job. This cleans and modernizes your home from the first moment they lay eyes on it.

If you want to change colors completely, you can even try the virtual paint programs. Many paint manufacturing websites have them for free use.

Artwork

Sometimes, even colors can be overlooked if there are art pieces placed in strategic areas throughout the home. Many people find themselves being “warmed” to a house by the lovely artwork. They start imagining the artwork in their new home, your old one!

Use art to its full advantage, mixing themes and styles. The appeal to the eye often causes more interest toward your home.

If you do not own a lot of artwork, and you want to buy some, you should ask for assistance from your realtor to know where and how to place it. Keeping it classy and appealing and making sure that you will want it to go in your new home is a good guideline to follow while you’re making your selections.

Staging

People who do research home staging tips claim that odd numbers make a better sale than even numbers when considering item placement. It’s hard to believe because most items come in even numbers. However, research shows that the eye is more attracted to an odd number of arrangements in the house.

Lighting is extremely important when it comes to staging, remember that some buyers will hit the streets to view your home and neighborhood at night. Installing light fixtures to enhance the ambiance of the home and modernize the exterior of the house in the day can do wonders!

What Marketing Your Home in Coto De Caza With Us Entails

  • Excellent home staging where we will make your home a space that people will want to live in. Through restyling, organization and top interior designs, we will create the most appealing version of your home for potential buyers.
  • Application of Drone videography which will show your entire property, showcasing the buyer the neighborhood in which they will live and offer valuable insights on what it will be like to live in your old home.
  • Real estate photography will allow buyers to imagine themselves living in their new house via high-quality photography.
  • 3-D tours will be created for buyers to “walk” through their new home and connect with it digitally.
  • Marketing on social media which will give your home exposure to a much larger audience.
  • Optimization of Trulia, Zillow, Redfin, and Realtor which is where most people are looking for property online.

Marketing your home in Coto De Caza can ease things up a great deal if you are in the best hands possible; ones that will solve your every problem and question.

We’ll help You!

If you want to market your home and you need more tips, feel free to call us at

949-350-0146 or you can email us too at Debrakovacs@cox.net. Selling and marketing your home in Coto De Caza can be easy with the Kovacs team on your side!

3 Reasons Selling a Home Is Easier Than Ever

Posted on | by Cuselleration

Selling a home is a process, but it has become easier than ever in the last few years. There are several reasons why, but we want to talk about three main tools that you can utilize now to make selling a home much easier.

Technology

Everyone knows that technology is an absolute game changer in the world, but its impact on the real estate industry has been huge. In the past, every house put on the market would have to go up through printed media like newspapers.

While this isn’t altogether a bad route to go if you want to increase your awareness of your home, it is being seen by fewer and fewer people these days. Online home listing websites are now the best and most used tool for selling a home quickly.

The other reason online listings are great is that they allow you to see what homes similar to yours are selling for. Using this information will aid you in setting up your initial price when putting your property on the market.

Another great tool to use is social media. You can post on your social media page about putting your home on the market and ask your friends to share it. You might just be able to reach a buyer just using this tool.

Using your Facebook or other accounts can even be ramped up by using their advertising tools. Advertising is best left to your realtor, but that might be one of the many online tools that they will implement when putting your home on the market.

If you aren’t utilizing the internet, you need to do so today!

More People Than Ever

The population of the world continues to grow, which is great if you’re trying to sell a home because everyone needs a place to live! Knowing this fact, it isn’t hard to see why the old open house method is still so effective.

Utilizing for sale signs and an open house is still one of the most efficient strategies to find a buyer that we implement when selling a home in Coto De Caza, Rancho Santa Margarita, and Mission Viejo.

The main reason it works so well is that people want to see things first hand. It’s very similar to buying groceries. Most people are fine with buying most things online, but when it comes down to picking out fresh produce, you want to handle it yourself to make sure you’re getting the best quality.

The same can be said about real estate.

Finding a beautiful looking home online and buying it doesn’t make sense, especially with the magic angles that photographers can use to make a room look bigger than it actually is. When it comes down to it, everyone wants to see a home first hand.

The truth is, people still find signs on houses they want to look at by driving around in neighborhoods they want to live in. Use that!

Put the for sale signs up and have the open houses, you never know how many people will walk up off the street to take a look. This happens at least once with almost every open house we do!

Realtors are Always Improving

Not only are there more real estate agents now than at any time before, but they are also better trained! The advances in technology have made it easier to get a top notch education in real estate much more accessible.

The number of highly trained and effective realtors is higher than ever, which means finding a good one isn’t as complicated as it used to be. Years ago, you had to search through ads or hope your family had a good referral. Now, the number of quality realtors is much higher, and so is the number of available homes out there.

Thanks to condos and new housing developments, the market is continuing to thrive and grow evenly with the number of new realtors out there. What that means for you is that you won’t have agents trying to steal you from another agent like was more common when the market took a turn several years ago.

The stability of the housing market today means that you’re able to find high-quality realtors to aid you in selling a home in pretty much every area you could imagine in the US!

We Want To Help!

If you’re thinking of selling a home this year and could use more information, please call us at 949-350-0146 or email us at Debrakovacs@cox.net and we will give you more details on everything that we offer!

4 House Staging Tips That Sell

Posted on | by Cuselleration

Making your home look appealing is one of the most important things you can do to get your house sold, so you’ll likely need some house staging tips. We have more information on home staging than we could probably ever fit on paper, but there are a few broad strokes that will work wonders for your buyer’s interest levels.

Declutter

Everyone thinks, “cleaning is a no-brainer” but we are talking specifically about clutter. Unfortunately for most, their prized possessions are actually cluttering up the look and feel of the home when we do a showing. Our advice is to start thinking about the home from an outside perspective, that of the potential buyers.

When you come into a home that you’re looking to possibly purchase, you typically don’t want to walk into a cramped looking home. Over time, the things we accumulate end up just taking up a significant amount of space that would be better left open for maneuvering. This is something that you should do for anyone coming into your home.

Opening up your home by decluttering the knickknacks will allow them to do two important things mentally: believe the home is bigger than it is, and start imagining their items cluttering everything up! That may sound silly, but it is exactly what people want to do when they purchase a home to make it feel like their own.

Make It Neutral

The color of your paint and decor can actually go a long way. These days, a lot more colors are considered to be neutral because of their ability to work well in any setting. I grew up with off-white walls, but nowadays tans, honey, and soft blue-greens have made a lasting mark on home staging decor.

One thing to note, the appeal of the home seems to go down with overly bright colored walls. This could be for a number of reasons, and honestly, research into the matter isn’t too clear, but for whatever reason, it acts as a repellent. So when you’re sprucing up your home, keep the colors warm and inviting rather than shocking and eye-catching to keep your interest levels higher.

Mix Your Walls Up

We mentioned keeping the walls simple for a great reason, what the color of the walls doesn’t do, artwork can! As far as house staging tips go, some well-placed artwork is a heavy hitter. Oddly enough, buyers often remember a home by a particular art piece, and even if the home doesn’t come with it, they mentally pretend it does.

The takeaway here is, use art to your full advantage. Buying different shapes of canvases like original and split canvas, contrasting themes, and unique color schemes to put in the rooms of your home is an absolute must. The eye appeal will increase the interest of any buyer.

A word of advice: if you don’t have any artwork and want to purchase some, get the help of your realtor to keep things looking classy. They also may have staging artwork, and that is a great option. Not only is it faster, but it’s more cost effective.

The biggest advantage to buying beautiful pieces yourself is that you get to keep them for your new home and keep that in mind when you’re shopping as well. These paintings should look good, but also be something that you’d want to see around every day in your new home.

Be A Little Odd

This is one of those house staging tips that makes you wonder how much time people put into researching the subject, but odd numbers sell better than even numbers. At least, when it comes to decorating your home for a staging. Why this is, we aren’t sure, but the fact is that it does sell.

Performing two showings with the same home, when the number of items on a table setting was changed from even to an odd number, it was better liked by clients. This seems to be the home staging secret that has eluded many people trying to do it on their own. It’s still a hard to believe fact, as most people prefer to buy items in round numbers. The proof shows, however, that even though we’d rather buy four plates, we’d rather see five items on a coffee table.

We Want To Help You!

If you’re still trying to figure out house staging tips for your future home on the market, please call us at 949-350-0146 or email us at Debrakovacs@cox.net and we can give you more information on everything we offer!

4 Tips on Marketing Your Home in Rancho Santa Margarita

Posted on | by Cuselleration

There are few things more important when selling a house than learning about marketing your home in Rancho Santa Margarita. Properly marketing your house is a game changer. A good marketing campaign can have your property sold in days instead of months!

We’ve compiled a few tips to help you get started in the right direction.

Get Online

It is said that up to 90% of all home buyers research homes online before ever going out and looking at one. It has been admitted by the online viewers that if a home’s online presence is weak, they won’t ever go to view it in person. That is nine out of 10 people you’re missing out on if you’re listing is not online!

What’s worse, if your listing is up but looks bad, those same nine people will move past your listing. You need to make sure that your listing has well-done pictures, and at least 6 or more to properly showcase the high points of your home.

One thing you need do is to make sure that you find a realtor that knows what they’re doing in when marketing your home. While interviewing realtors, it’s not a bad idea to check out their other listings to see what they’re doing for other clients.

Social Media Is Your Friend

Facebook is definitely the heavy hitter as far as social media is considered, especially for putting your listing up and spreading the word to people you may know that are looking for a new home. The reason that it is better than other forms of social media is that there isn’t a character count that you have to stay under and since it has been around so long almost everyone has it!

One tool that some people have incorporated in their posts is taking a video of their home and the environment to better give buyers an idea of the home and people in the neighborhood. It is successful because it personalizes the home by showing them the neighbors they’ll be living with and the cool things there are to do in the area. An exceptional video shows the home, the neighborhood, and things around the area that your family enjoys doing.

Always Be Accessible

Marketing your home in Coto De Caza is all about being accessible. So try to have your property fixed up and show ready at least during the daylight hours. This is crucial because the job market is changing and people are now becoming available at times that they weren’t able to be in years past. Being able to show your home off at virtually anytime makes you a huge threat to any competing houses in town.

We aren’t trying to push for you to be able to show your home in the middle of the night, but being more available than everyone else will do worlds of good for your selling speed.

Following Your Agents Advice

Let’s be honest; everyone wants to get a real estate agent to help them market and sell their home until they give you unpopular advice. This can come in many shapes or forms. Often your home needs to be fixed up, whether that means repaving your driveway or fixing up some structural damage. This is going to cost you some money to fix, which no one wants, but it will make you more money when you find the right buyer, and they aren’t deducting from your price for repairs that need to be done.

Another unpopular piece of advice to follow is getting rid of your prized possessions. The fact is that many people don’t like the same things that you might, and seeing a home covered in (sports décor for example) can be an instant turn-off. The worst part is that your home may have everything that they are looking for, but the decorations of your home have them making excuses as to why it won’t work out.

our realtor isn’t trying to get you to throw everything you love away just to sell your home, but packing it up in order to make a sale isn’t a bad idea. The personal touch here and there is great, but follow the advice on what your realtor thinks should stay and what should go because they are only doing it for your own good.

We Want to Help!

Call The Kovacs Connection at 949-350-0146 or email us at Debrakovacs@cox.net and we can help make your dream a reality. Marketing your home in Rancho Santa Margarita is what we do, and we will have your home featured the way it deserves to be!

4 Practical Home Selling Tips for Coto De Caza

Posted on | by Cuselleration

It is a buyer’s market right now, so you might want to consider some home selling tips for Coto De Caza that will earn you a hefty profit. If you bought your home at a good time for the market, or have had your home for a long time, it’s the perfect time to sell your home and make your money back and then some!

Make Your Home Inviting from The Outside

The concept of curbside appeal is very popular, and for a good reason, it’s the first impression a buyer gets of your home. Not only should you make any of the foliage in the front look great, but you should also add a little flair to your front yard as well.

Front yard flowers look better when cleaned up, and they look even better with some tasteful lawn ornaments and decorative pathways leading to the front door. If your front porch has enough space, add some comfy chairs and decoration. When it looks like a nice comfortable porch that you can sit and drink lemonade on during the summer, people instantly become more interested.

When in doubt, ask your realtor for help on making your home look the best it can from the first time they walk up to it. Most realtors have the right idea when it comes to tastefully decorating your porch and walkway.

Make It Personal

Many people tell you to completely stage your home in order to increase its appeal, and that is great advice. However, it’s not exactly practical for most people. Instead of moving all of your things into storage and living out of a hotel, start getting rid of old items or storing the less important ones in the garage neatly.

This will have two main advantages; it gets you started on your future move, and it allows you to give your home a personal and professional look. Staged furniture can be great, but often times it leaves the home feeling too planned. Leaving some of your items in will give potential buyers a better idea of what it will look like when it becomes their home.

This is a fantastic idea because many people become more sentimentally attached to your home with some of your family’s belongings than they would to a home full of staged furniture. So, feel free to keep a few of your personal decorations inside, but be sure to consult with your realtor to make sure that you’re utilizing the space the best way possible.

Open Your Space

One of the other great tools that you can use after packing away the loose items in your home to look tidier, is to rearrange everything. Moving the furniture around to open up space can do wonders for the appeal of your home. Just because the furniture was functioning a certain way for you where it was doesn’t mean that it looks good that way.

Moving your furniture to open more space will make people more interested because there is a growing sentiment in America. That sentiment is “bigger is better” and that goes double for purchasing a home. Everyone wants the most for the money they’re paying, so help it make look bigger.

Other great home selling tips for Coto De Caza include utilizing mirrors and opening closets. You might have a sliding mirror on your closet, but keeping it closed so the mirror makes the room look double the size is something you should consider. On the flip side, a closet with regular doors should be left open to help exaggerate the space you have in the home.

Make It Interesting

Some home selling tips for Coto De Caza work better than others, and making your home look appealing is one that will pay off. Often times, buyers go into a home and get bored because the house looks bland or the last home was closer to what they were hoping for. This can spell disaster for you!

An uninterested buyer will walk through your home in a daze, or worse; they’ll leave without searching the entire home. You have to make each room interesting in its own way. We suggest a stylish painting or decorative piece that will strike the eye and draw people inside. Once they appreciate the decoration, they’ll be more apt to looking around and taking in what your house has to offer.

We Can Help!

If you’re interested in more home selling tips for Coto De Caza that will get you a sale quickly, please call us at 949-350-0146 or email us at Debrakovacs@cox.net or realestatebyrana@gmail.com and we can help you get your home moving today!

5 Tips on How to Avoid a Foreclosure in Mission Viejo

Posted on | by Cuselleration

Facing a foreclosure in Mission Viejo? Not to worry, just because things look bleak now, that doesn’t mean that you don’t have any options. In fact, there are a few important things that you can do to put an end to talks of a foreclosure for good.

1. Renegotiate with Your Lender

Here’s the low down fact that you may not have thought of, a foreclosure is a lot of work! No lender wants to go through mountains of paperwork and process after process if they can easily avoid it. So, your task is just that, avoid it.

Negotiating with your lenders saves them a great deal of time that they can be spending on something that will ultimately bring the company more revenue. They want to renegotiate with you because it means that they can refocus on the bigger fish. This is the easiest way to avoid a foreclosure because the lenders are actually hoping for the quickest way out of the situation, just like you.

2. Sell Quick

Selling your home is another way to avoid a foreclosure in Missions Viejo, and the best part is that if you find a good deal, you might just make some money too. This is another one of those situations where a considerable amount of time is saved on the lender’s side because they would be trying to find a buyer after foreclosing on you anyway.

A good point to remember after the lender files the NOD (Notice of Default), any legitimate offers you get from a potential buyer must be considered by them. This sale can potentially save you and them a lot of time and money. Be aggressive, if they are foreclosing you need to try to sell your home as if your life depends on it!

3. Deed in Lieu

This option is when you sign the house back over to the bank. Great, right?! Not exactly. It will still affect your credit just like a foreclosure would. This is assuming, of course, that you can get one.

Lenders don’t often grant a deed in lieu because many homeowners will turn around and sue stating that the terms were unclear and therefore didn’t know what they were signing. Also, the second or third mortgage you took out on your house would need to be paid by the lender.

Even if you can document your financial hardship, you’ve had your home on the market for a good stretch of time with no luck, and there are no liens on the house, it’s still fairly rare to see a deed in lieu granted.

4. Have Your Buyer Step Up


There are two other ways that you can save your home from a foreclosure in Mission Viejo that involves your buyer. The first is an assumption and the second is a lease-option. Both are good options but might be tricky to navigate.

An assumption will basically have your buyer pay off the end of your loan. To do this, you’ll need the lender to delete the portion of your loan that requires you to pay off the loan at the time of sale. It may sound complicated, but this is actually a much-preferred option for lenders, buyers, and sellers alike to avoid a foreclosure.

A lease-option is when your buyer, in a manner of speaking, becomes your “tenant” until they can pay an adequate down payment. This agreement is usually for those that don’t have the upfront money, have poor credit and are trying to raise it or are in the process of selling their old house in order to get the funds necessary to purchase your new home.

In any event, you’ll be using their money to aid in paying your mortgage until they can properly take over ownership. A word of caution, though, be sure that you have enough money coming in with total to pay your mortgage and for wherever you will be living while these proceedings are going on.

5. Bankruptcy

Your last ditch effort should always be bankruptcy, especially because all it really does in the case of a foreclosure Is to freeze it until a later date. The way that this will work for you is this gives you time to recover financially by the time the negotiations start for your debt repayment on the home. Don’t go it alone; you should get a bankruptcy lawyer to help you get the best deal possible!

Need More Help?

If you need more hands on tips on avoiding a foreclosure in Mission Viejo, call us at 949-350-0146 or email us at Debrakovacs@cox.net and we’ll help you sell your home today!

How to Get the Best Realtor in Rancho Santa Margarita

Posted on | by Cuselleration

Whether people are buying or selling their first or tenth home, they always want to know who the best realtor in Rancho Santa Margarita is. Unfortunately, the answer to that question is not easy. The reason it is so difficult is that there are no specific criteria to judge who is the absolute best in real estate.

Take two different real estate agents, one has the quickest sales, and the other has the highest customer satisfaction in a given town. Each is qualified in their own way, and both of their clients are likely satisfied. So, can you say one is better than the other? No, because the one that is the best depends on what qualities you are looking for in an agent.

In other words, you need to figure out what characteristics matter the most to you and make your choice based on your criteria.

What is Their Specialty?

Some realtors are great at selling homes, others at finding and negotiating the best price for your perfect future home, then there are buyer’s brokers, dual agents, discount brokers, and e-brokers. What does all of that mean?! Let us help.

Realtors

Regular realtors typically make their commission on the sale of a home, which means they will often keep quiet about any problems with the property and try to sell homes as quickly as possible. This is great if you’re selling because that means that they have your best interest in mind.

Buyer’s Broker

For buyers, a buyer’s broker is probably the better option. This means that they will be on the buyer’s side, and they will do everything in their power to find you that perfect home you’re looking for. As a buyer’s broker, they will actively search out any problems with a home to ensure that you aren’t buying a lemon.

The thing to be conscious of is that you will either be paying them a commission based off of the price you buy the home for, or an hourly wage for their help. The best thing about hiring them is they will keep everything you say confidential.

Dual Agents

Dual agents can work for they buyers or sellers and typically work in a conventional real estate office. This means that confidentiality that you get with a buyer’s broker does not apply for them. That doesn’t mean you can’t trust them, but it does mean that information you give them about your interest in the home can potentially be shared with the owners.

To save yourself from being represented by an agent that is helping you buy, and the owners sell, look for a Split Agent. They may do the exact same job as the dual agent, but they don’t represent both parties in any transactions.

Discount Brokers

Discount brokers will typically save you money, but you will be trading your time for it. Discount brokers don’t charge as much on commission, but they also don’t offer the same level of marketing resources that a conventional realtor would.

E-Brokers

E-brokers don’t own a location, which saves them a great deal on renting a business property and allows them to charge less. This means that you will be doing the majority of the legwork yourself, like finding homes that you might like, and they will just set you up with someone to show you the homes you’re interested in.

Knowing what you need, what you’re willing to pay, and how much time you’re willing to spend to save money are the main things to consider when choosing a realtor type.

Don’t Let an Agent Buy Your Listing

The best realtor in Rancho Santa Margarita will not tell you that they will sell your home for much higher than their competitors or what the market price is at the moment. A realtor that makes these promises is trying to push the buttons that make you act without thinking.

Going with them will only benefit themselves because the promises they made you are false, and you will be stuck with someone who is willing to stretch the truth just to get business. If they are willing to lie about something like that, what else will they lie to you about? These are the realtors that make you feel like real estate is a shady business; stick with an honest realtor, and you’ll enjoy the entire process!

 

Interview More Than One Candidate

Now that you’re armed with the information you need don’t just pick the first realtor that seems ok. If you want the best realtor in Rancho Santa Margarita, you’re going to need to interview a few to see who fits your needs.

You’ll want an agent that can do the job, but also one that fits your personality and does things ethically. You ought to consider seeing them in action at one of their open houses if the interview goes well. You might be between a few agents, even after interviewing several, but going to an open house might just be the information that you need to make the right decision.

Let’s Get Started

Getting the best realtor in Rancho Santa Margarita is easy, just give us a call at 949-350-0146 or email us at Debrakovacs@cox.net so we can help you today!

Fastest Way to Sell a Home in Mission Viejo

Posted on | by Cuselleration

Almost everyone who wants to sell a home in Mission Viejo is trying to sell it fast. Actually, it seems to be the trend in real estate because when you decide you’re ready, you already want the process to be over with! We understand the selling process can be stressful.

Getting rid of your old property isn’t as problematic as most people think if you take some simple steps to get started. Here are a few tips to get you on the right foot.

Get A Real Estate Agent

Unless you are a practicing realtor, we suggest you get an expert to help you out. A realtor thinks about selling and buying homes all day and likely dreams about it too. This is exactly what you want!

Who would you put your money on; a person who has a home and is deciding to sell for the first time or with a realtor who sells a home every week. It’s a no brainer who would win in a competition, so hiring a pro should be number one on your list.

A seasoned realtor would also know the ins and outs of selling in Mission Viejo as well as what trends get homes sold well above the market price. Plus, the rest of the tips we’re going to suggest, they would start doing on day 1.

Get Rid of Your Pets!

Ok, not forever, but at the very least during the time that you’re trying to sell your home. Let’s face it, we all love our animals, but they can stink! Even worse, they seem to enjoy destroying your expensive things.

Even if they are the cleanest and most well-behaved dogs in the world, people don’t want to see them running around what could be their new home. Why?

They assume that they run around stinking and destroying nice things because that’s what most people complain about with their animals. Do yourself a favor, after getting your home cleaned out and ready for showing, have the animals stay with a friend or family.

The potential for damage to occur with animals is way higher than without. Plus, they will inevitably leave fur (dander) around the newly cleaned home. You never know who is going to enter your home and there is always a chance that someone might have an allergy to your beloved animal.

Those allergies are guaranteed to get them out of the house in a sneezing fit without even giving your place a decent look around. Avoid missing out on the perfect sale, send Mr. Softpaws over to Grandmas for a few weeks.

Make A Great First Impression

Making a memorable impression is one of the most important things to do when trying to sell a home in Mission Viejo. The majority of people want to buy a beautiful home that can be moved into that day if possible.

Making sure that the home looks stunning from the very second you set eyes on it from the street is step one. This means to trim and care for the foliage and even add more if possible. Bright beautifully colored flowers in the front yard can go a long way.

Next, a fresh coat of paint on the exterior is essential. Also, making a few repairs or improvements is an excellent idea. If you have a gravel driveway, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get fresh high-quality gravel or to pave it to improve its appeal.

On the inside of the house, cleanliness is the key to a fast sale. This doesn’t just mean getting a cleaning service out to get the nooks and crannies of each room. Getting your old furniture out and into storage and allowing your realtor to get staging furniture takes top priority.

As with the exterior, repairs should be done if needed. No one sees cracked bathroom tile and thinks happy thoughts. All the people looking at your home see when they see needed repairs is added money into the purchase. Don’t let that happen!

A few repairs, a fresh coat of paint, and some furniture handpicked to showcase your home’s strengths will work wonders on the interior. This is, again, why it is so important to pick a realtor that knows what they are doing. With these tips, you can be light years ahead of your competition!

Let’s Talk

If you’re still trying to figure out the fastest way to sell a home in Mission Viejo, please call us at 949-350-0146 or email us at Debrakovacs@cox.net and we can give you more tips that can get your property moving today!

What Are The Costs of Selling Your Home in Southern California?

Posted on | by Cuselleration

Do you want to sell a home? You’ve probably asked yourself about what would be the cost of selling your home. This article is going to help you with everything that you need to know in order to do the math yourself. However, don’t forget to first learn how The Kovacs Connection’s 21st Century Real Estate Marketing Plan can set your home apart from others and earn you more.

Let’s get started!

When a real estate agent comes to list your home, they are going to have a net sheet with them. A net sheet shows approximately how much the seller will be paying or receiving during the sale. In total, the seller needs to pay between 6-7% of the purchase price of the home.

So, now you’re probably asking yourself what do these costs include. Let’s break down each one of them in detail. In order to explain how the whole process goes, we’re going to use a $500,000 home as our example.

Commissions

The most common commission charged is between 6-7%. In case of a 5% commission, 2 ½ % goes to the agent that the seller hires to sell the home (listing broker), and then the same amount goes to the agent that represents a person that’s buying a home (selling broker).

The selling agent actually brings the buyer, which can be a bit confusing, but that’s just the way it is. There are some cases where the listing broker can make a deal with the seller by offering a reduced commission if they are able to find and represent both the seller and buyer of the home.

If it comes to that, then that situation is called a dual agency. Okay, now let’s take that $500,000 home. If the commission is 5%, that is going to come to $25,000, which means that each side is going to get $12,500.

Brokerage Processing Fees

Most Real Estate offices are going to take from you between $300-$500. That is if you are running the transaction through one of these offices.

Title Charges

The home seller will need to pay approximately $1,320 for Title Insurance on our $500,000 home. But, that is the insurance policy that a seller buys in order to ensure a clear title. There are also some other Title Fees which, when combined, will cost the seller an additional $100.

Escrow Fees

Both sides of the transaction pay their own escrow fees. In this case, escrow fees are going to cost $1,500. We reach that number by taking a fee of $250 and then adding $2.50 per one thousand of the full price of the home. A seller is also going to pay a documentation fee of $75, a loan payoff fee of $50 per loan payoff, a wire fee of $25, and an archive fee of $50.

Governmental Retrofit (Los Angeles County)

A Retrofit certification needs to be performed on homes that are being sold in Los Angeles County. This can get pretty expensive for the seller. The cost of this depends on what needs to be installed in a home.

HOA (Home Owners Association) Transfer Fees

This applies only when the seller has HOA’s involved. The cost of these documents can vary, but some of them can even cost from $300-$400. But, the buyer of the home is going to want to get these documents, so they can review them and determine what the HOA is going to expect of them. In turn, the buyer can decide if they want to buy the home with the particular regulations.

 

Termite Inspection

Some time ago, this was the seller’s responsibility. But, as of November 20, 2014, the termite inspection needs to be done by the buyer of the home. However, if it happens that the buyer’s termite inspector finds some damage that was done by the termites, he can ask you to perform the needed repairs or give credit for the needed repairs to be performed.

Flood Certification

The seller has to have the home certified because that way they can show the buyer how much it’s going to cost them to buy the flood insurance. This certification can be pretty expensive. It can cost the seller $500. It can also cause some issues for the seller while trying to sell their home.

Home Warranty

The buyer has the option to ask for a home warranty. However, the seller is not required to purchase a home warranty plan. But, it would be good to do so because that would be a good faith gesture by the seller to the buyer. The warranty plan for one year generally costs from $350-$550.

Transfer Taxes

The home seller needs to pay State and local transfer taxes. In Los Angeles County and Ventura County, these taxes cost approximately $550.

Natural Hazard Disclosure

A Natural Hazard Disclosure costs approximately between $85-$125. These reports are very detailed, and they are actually very interesting to read.

Requests for Repair

The cost of selling your home can increase if there is any damage in the home. That is because the buyer has the opportunity to inspect the home to see if there is anything that needs to be repaired. If they find something that’s damaged, they can ask the seller to either perform the needed repairs or give credit for the repairs to be done.

So, to make the cost of selling your home as small as possible, it is important to tell the buyer everything they need to know early on in the transaction.

Paying Off the Mortgage

In case the seller didn’t pay for the home in full, it is vital that they pay off the balance of their loan or mortgage. If the seller happens to have any liens on the home, then these will need to be settled, too.

As you can see, it is not always possible to precisely calculate how much would the cost of selling your home be. But, it is very easy to approximately calculate costs.

It may seem like quite a bit of fees to digest, but the correct pricing will get you on the right side of a sale (the one that makes you a healthy profit.) We hope that this article will help you understand the calculation progress, so you can sell your home with no stress.

While you’re selling your home, it’s likely that you’re looking for another home to move to. Be sure to check out our Featured Communities to give you a better idea of what’s out there!

Need Help?

This guide should be able to answer most of your questions, but if you need more help please call us at 949-350-0146 or email us at Debrakovacs@cox.net and we can help understand the costs of selling your home in today’s market.