Preparing For A Home Inspection as a Seller

If you’re planning to sell your home, at some point a home inspection is likely to happen. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; in fact, if your home is in good shape, a home inspection will only inspire confidence in the buyers. But it can be nerve wracking for sellers to have their home under so much scrutiny.

You may have had a home inspection in the past as a buyer, but it can be a different experience when you’re preparing to leave the house than when you’re planning to move in. At the very least, your mentality towards your home inspection is different. Here’s how you can prepare for the big day.

Clean Up

You know that all-too-common worry about needing to “get in shape” before hitting the gym? It might not make much sense when it comes to gym membership, but in the case of home inspections, there is some merit. In the years that you’ve lived in your home, you’ve probably become immune to all its little quirks. Your home inspector hasn’t, and they’re going to go over your entire home in as much detail as possible. As a buyer, your priority wasn’t to get a good home inspection necessarily so much as an honest one. As a seller, you want to pass this inspection with flying colors, so do your best to get the house in the best shape possible before the home inspector shows up.

Be On Time

We all have lives, and you might not be at home the whole day on the day the home inspection is scheduled. However, you want to make sure you’re ready on time — or ideally, early. Home inspectors have busy schedules and don’t like to waste time, so they may even show up early if they’re able. The inspection will start on the outside of the home so if you’ve just woken up, you can take that time for a quick shower or to make your morning coffee. Just make sure the shades are down until everyone’s decent.

Organize Your Paperwork

So you’re ready for your home inspection and even have a little time to kill before it starts. Do you have all your paperwork together? When we say “all your paperwork,” we really do mean all. Any maintenance or repairs you’ve had done on the house since you’ve lived there, any insurance claims, any paperwork relevant to your house should be kept together in a neat folder that you can present when necessary.

Consider a Pre-Inspection

Remember taking ACT or SAT prep tests in high school? It took a little bit of the edge off taking the actual test, because you knew what to expect and knew what your strengths and weaknesses were. A pre-inspection does the same thing. If you’re worried you might be shocked by some surprises in your home, you can hire an inspector yourself to go over the home before the buyer’s home inspector comes into play. If they notice something less than appealing, you may have time to fix it before the official home inspection.

Have any more questions about what to expect from a home inspection as a seller? Ask an experienced realtor who can offer insights as well as tips for acing your home inspection.

House For Sale in College Station

Sarah Miller, your RE/MAX realtor bryan-college station can help you discover a lot of great tips for making a profitable sale of your home. Call Sarah Miller at 979-255-1904 for your real estate needs in Bryan-College Station and the entire Brazos Valley! Sarah Miller, Associate RE/MAX BRYAN COLLEGE STATION 3030 University Dr East Ste 100, College Station, TX 77845 License #: 500065

The Best DIY Spring Cleaners

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Spring has always been the best time to do a top-to-bottom cleaning of your home - better known as Spring Cleaning. There are many cleaners you can buy at the store, but this can get a bit costly, as well as the harmful chemicals. Therefore, if you want to go a safer and more budget-friendly route, below are several Spring Cleaning essentials that will last through the year.

Laundry Soap
With a little elbow grease, you can make a super-sized container of laundry soap that will last for months. Most of the online recipes you will find use three main ingredients. They are graded bar soap, Borax, and washing soda. However, some add oxy boosters and even essential oils. The great thing about this DIY laundry soap is that it takes very little and stores quite well.

Window Cleaner
This usually takes 3-4 ingredients as well, such as vinegar, essential oils, rubbing alcohol, and water. The ingredients alone are inexpensive allowing you to make up a large batch to last a long time. Many of the recipes work on glass and mirrors as well.

Orange De-Greaser
This usually calls for either orange oil or to soak orange peels for an allotted amount of time. You will also use dish washing liquid and water. There are many recipes floating around online.

Heavy-Duty Rust Remover Scrub
If you have been battling rust stains on your enameled tub or porcelain sink, all you need are two ingredients. They are a lemon and Borax. You would simple dip a cut lemon in the laundry booster then rub on the rust. Then ta-da!, no more rust.

Water Ring Remover
If you have wooden side tables or nightstands, you are well aware the notorious white ring. There is a very simple solution. All you need is toothpaste (not the gel type), baking soda, and a little light buffing. Polish and your ring is gone forever.

As you can see, there are many DIY solutions to your Spring Cleaning needs. You will have plenty of left over cleaners to last for months afterwards. Also, you will cut the number of chemicals floating around in your home. These DIY cleaners are a win-win.

Featured Home for Rent in College Station, TX

Sarah Miller, your RE/MAX realtor bryan-college station can help you discover a lot of great tips for making a profitable and fast sell on your house. She is one of the RE/MAX Bryan-College Station Realtor that has a long list of the finest homes in College Station, Call her today at 979-255-1904

Making the Most of your Offer

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Finding and falling in love with your dream home is the easy part. Making an offer and waiting can be a bit stressful though. Take some time to talk to your Realtor when considering your offer, they are an excellent source for information you need. Here is a quick checklist of actions you might want to take to ensure that your offer is fair.

•  Research the neighborhood online. (Skip this step if you already live in the area, since your will know this info.) 

• Check the crime reports and rate.

• Seek out local amenities. If public pools, parks and tennis/golf courts are important to you, you’ll want to know how far these facilities are going to be from you.

• Test your commute. Unless you are extremely close to your job, you’ll want to check to see what your commute will be like to see if you’ll need to adjust your routines.

• Schedule an inspection. Your offer should include a home inspection. You will want to know upfront if there are any necessary repairs and how much they are going to cost as you’ll want these taken care of right away.

• Ask about taxes, homeowner association fees, homeowners insurance and general utility costs. Most of this information can be found with quick online research or by asking your realtor.

• Talk to the sellers. They have lived in the home and know its quirks as well as the neighbors and community. Never discount this wealth of information.

Spend a little time, do a bit of research and take the stress out of making the offer that will turn your dream home into your reality.

Featured Home for Rent in College Station, TX

Sarah Miller, your RE/MAX realtor bryan-college station can help you discover a lot of great tips for making a profitable and fast sell on your house. She is one of the RE/MAX Bryan-College Station Realtor that has a long list of the finest homes in College Station, Call her today at 979-255-1904

Tips and Tricks for Beautiful Lawns

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It’s never too early to plan out how to keep your lawn lush and beautiful. Keeping in mind the following three essentials will help you keep your lawn the envy of the neighborhood:

1. Watering. Many lawns suffer from over-watering. Most times the weather provides plenty of moisture for your grass. Keep in mind that lawns generally only need to be watered in extremely dry conditions. Also when you need to water just remember that sandy soils need watering twice a week while clay or loamy soils only need to drink about once a week.

2. Feeding. Healthy lawns need three essential minerals. These are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Nitrogen is responsible for healthy green growth, phosphorus promotes root health and potassium helps to strengthen the grass making it disease, drought and temperature resistant. Check your fertilizer or liquid feed to ensure that your lawn is getting all it needs to thrive.

3. Top Dressing. This is often the overlooked step to an envious lawn. Employing a top dressing will help even out your lawn, fill in holes and level out bumps and/or dips. You can pick up a ready-made mix or easily make your own with loam, sand and organic matter. Ideally lawns should receive topdressing once a year in the fall.

Featured Home for Rent in College Station, TX

Sarah Miller, your RE/MAX realtor bryan-college station can help you discover a lot of great tips for making a profitable and fast sell on your house. She is one of the RE/MAX Bryan-College Station Realtor that has a long list of the finest homes in College Station, Call her today at 979-255-1904