4 Costs You’ll Need to Be Prepared For When You Sell Your Home

It’s always better to be prepared for the costs ahead of you so you can budget properly. Selling your home is no exception. Though the point is to be able to make money before moving on to your next home, selling is itself quite an investment, and there may be costs that you weren’t aware of beforehand. Here are a few that you’ll want to keep in mind.

Repairs and Updates

Are your appliances outdated and, well, quirky? Do you need to make repairs to your home’s roof, electrical wiring, or flooring before you put it on the market? These repairs and updates will help increase your home’s value on the housing market, but the costs can rack up, so you’ll need to be prepared for them.

Landscaping

It’s not just the inside of your home that matters. Curb appeal is crucial when it comes to making a good first impression on prospective buyers. If you’ve neglected your lawn in the past few months, now is the time to invest in landscaping. Even if you typically do a good job of keeping the lawn mowed and raking up any leaves, landscaping can help to take your curb appeal to the next level.

Closing Costs

Closing on the home sale itself has costs, usually about 2-5% of the sale price of the home itself. Escrow fees are split between the buyer and seller, property taxes, and HOA fees may all come into play. In some cases, sellers might cover closing costs for the buyer if they desperately want to close on the sale. However, most sellers will refuse to do so and in most cases, your realtor will advise against it.

Realtor Commission and Attorney’s Fees

Once the sale is finalized, you’ll owe your realtor a percentage of the sale as commission. This percentage is typically agreed upon beforehand, so this isn’t a cost that’s likely to sneak up on you. It’s for this reason that some sellers consider skipping realtors altogether, but the realtor’s housing market and local expertise can be invaluable when it comes to selling your home. You may also hire a real estate attorney to help mediate the closing, and in this case, you’ll have to cover their attorney’s fees, as well.

Need help managing the costs and knowing what’s the best investment when it comes to selling your home? Talk to a College Station realtor today for more information on getting the most out of your home sale.

4 Tips to Make Staging A Success

Essentially, staging is fashioning it to look as though it’s no longer your home so potential buyers can start to see it as their home. It can be challenging to step back and look at your home from someone else’s perspective, but if you stage your home effectively, it will go a long way towards selling your home. Your realtor can help with tips for reaching a broader market or covering staging costs. Here are a few tips to make sure your staging is a hit and helps potential buyers fall in love with your home:

Start Outside

When people think of staging, they often think of the living room, entryway, or maybe the kitchen and dining area. But the first thing potential buyers will see is your curb, so you want to work on curb appeal first.

Keep your siding and walkways clean and neat, power washing if you need to. If you have a flowerbed, make sure it’s neatly trimmed and cared for. If not, consider planting a few flowers to stand out. Mow the lawn and repaint if your paint is starting to fade a bit. Add friendly, welcoming elements like potted plants or a welcome mat to your porch. Perhaps most importantly, take a look at your house numbers. Are they easy to read from the street? If not, fix that right away. Buyers need to be able to find your home in order to consider it.

Clean House

Before you give the interior of your home a makeover, you want to clean. Wipe down all surfaces, pick up any toys, put any dishes in the sink or dry rack back where they belong, and make sure every bed is made. And keep the house clean throughout the selling process. This is also a good time to remove any personal items like family photos or make any cosmetic repairs that you might have let slide while you lived in the house.

Opt for Lighter Colors

When you’re designing the room for yourself, it’s only your personal taste that matters. If you like deep burgundy walls or darker curtains, suit yourself. When staging, however, you have to think of the wider audience. Lighter colors typically go over more successfully because they help the room to look lighter, airier, even larger. If you have dark curtains, you especially want to make sure to replace them with lighter curtains to let in as much sunlight as possible.

Keep It Uncluttered

Every room in your home should have clear walkways for potential buyers as they tour, and it should feel spacious enough for them to move through comfortably. Removing personal elements like family photos and toys will go a long way. So will removing any unnecessary furniture. Your realtor may pay for new furniture to be brought in for staging and for old furniture to be removed. You may not need to go with a fully minimalist look, but the more space, the better. It will not only make buyers more comfortable but make your home appear more spacious.

Your best resource when staging your home is your realtor. Contact a College Station Realtor today to get started on the process of making your home ready for its new owners and making you ready for a successful sale.

How to Make Yard Work Easier

Few homeowners enjoy doing yard work. It can be tedious and, in the hottest days of summer, uncomfortable to say the least. And if you have to untangle your equipment every time, you may find yourself dreading yard work day. But it’s important to keep your curb in good shape, both while you live in your home and especially if you plan to sell at some point. Fortunately, we have a few tips to make yard work a little easier to manage.

Organize Your Shelves

Do you find yourself wasting time sifting through gardening tools, garage supplies, and old equipment you no longer use every time you go to do a little yard maintenance? Then you may need to start by organizing. Invest in some vertical shelves so you can see everything you need as soon as you step into the garage or shed. Next, separate tools based on their use: gardening tools here, car maintenance there, kids’ outdoor toys on their own shelf. You may want to use labels to make the organization even clearer. This will cut down on your time by precious minutes.

Utilize Modern Technology

Yard work has come a long way with modern tools and technology. No longer do you have to get on your knees with a spade and a bucket to pull weeds out of your garden. Now there are standing weeders that allow you to root out weeds effectively without so much as squatting. Raking and bagging leaves is much easier with open funnel bags. So if you’re looking for a way to make your yard work less tedious and stressful, maybe you simply need to look into more modern yard tools that can take much of the weight off yourself.

Use a Garden Cart

Rather than going back and forth for garden supplies, why not keep them all in a handy garden cart that you can take with you? You can find a garden cart with two or four wheels and a handle for easy transportation. Place all your gardening equipment inside, as well as new bulbs or plants that need to be relocated. When you’re finished, simply wheel it back inside your garage or shed near your shelves.

Dress the Part

Everyone knows that it’s important to dress practically when doing yard work. Your clothes should be comfortable, something that’s easy to wash and that you’re not precious about. But that doesn’t mean you have to put on your ugliest outfit. Wearing clothes that make you feel good can go a long way when it comes to changing your attitude. A favorite t-shirt or most comfortable pair of jeans may even make you look forward to doing yard work.

When you find your dream home, you want to make sure that it stays your dream home, both inside and out. Yard work may not be the most fun task, but it can be worth it for the neat finished product. Still looking for your dream home? Contact a College Station realtor today to help you find what you need within your budget.

July Activities and Events in Bryan-College Station

Summer is in full swing in Bryan-College Station, and that means summer athletics, days at the pool, and summer festivals. With the sun shining brightly and exciting holidays like the 4th of July coming up, it’s a great time to get outdoors and enjoy your new community. Looking for something to do? Here are a few July activities and events in Bryan College Station that we’re looking forward to:

4th of July Events

Fireworks! Barbeque! Live music and waving American flags! 4th of July is an exciting time in Bryan-College Station and there are several events that you can enjoy here. At the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum on Texas A&M campus, there’s the “I Love America” celebration full of food truck vendors, rides and bounce houses for kids, and of course a grand fireworks show at the end of the night. If you’re an early riser, there’s also a 4th of July parade on Foxfire Drive beginning at 9am. At Century Square, you’ll find live music performances, or if you’re looking for something more traditional, you can head over to the Old Fashioned 4th of July in Heritage Park.

Music and Entertainment Events

Summer is the perfect time of year to enjoy an outdoor music event late into the night, and Bryan-College Station has plenty to offer. At Lake Walk Park in Bryan, there’s the Eats & Beats series, including food trucks for refreshments and musical performances from acts like David Michael George and Hayden Haddock. First Friday in Downtown Bryan also offers live music in addition to the late hours for several downtown restaurants and shops. Looking for something indoors? Check out Singer/Songwriter Night for local, budding musicians at The Village Cafe every Thursday in Bryan. Looking for something that will entertain the kids? Check out Free Film Friday at the Queen House in Bryan.

Sports Events

Football may be a few months away, but you can enjoy summer sports in the meantime. In the heat of July, swim competitions are understandably the most prominent sporting events. In the Texas A&M Natatorium on July 12th, you can enjoy the 2019 Northwest Circuit Invitational and a week later, you can come back for the 2019 US Masters Swimming South Central Zone Championships. When the swimming competitions put you in the mood to go swimming yourself, you can check out any of these places to go swimming in Bryan-College Station. From July 20-27 at the Brazos Valley Expo, you can also catch the Texas 4-H Horse Show.

If you’re new to Bryan-College Station, July is the perfect time to get out and experience all that the community has to offer. Still looking for your new home in Bryan-College Station? Talk to a College Station realtor today to find your dream home and expertise on getting the best value for it. And keep an eye on our blog to learn about more events that Bryan-College Station has coming up throughout the year.