When you go to sell your home, your real estate agent will take care of playing host for interested buyers. This is part of the service that you get when you hire a real estate agent. The agent will not only handle setting up the showing appointments; they will also meet the prospective buyers at your home, walk them through the house and point out attractive features. While this is happening, you and your family can relax elsewhere. When the showing is over, the agent will contact you and let you know the coast is clear for you to return home.
1. Your Presence Will Distract Buyers
Your agent needs prospective buyers to focus on the house. If you’re there, the buyers’ attention will be torn between you and the house. Since showings only last a limited time, that will be valuable time lost for the agent to point out reasons why the house is a great fit.
2. Buyers Won’t Feel Free to Browse
Buyers need to be able to feel free to open cabinet and closet doors and look closely at details around your home. This is what will help make them feel comfortable about making an offer on the property. If the owner is present, buyers won’t feel able to look around. They may constantly turn to you to ask permission. This detracts from their ability to imagine the home as being their own.
3. You Could be Asked Difficult Questions
Buyers may take advantage of your presence to ask challenging questions. They may ask things like if the basement ever floods, if there are leaks in the roof or why there appears to be a crack in the basement wall. Your agent will know exactly how to field these questions and allay fears.
You hired a great real estate agent for a reason, so the best thing you can do is follow advice during showings and the rest of the homebuying/home selling process. By trusting your agent, the process will move smoother and assure you get the most bang for your buck.
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If you're a first-time homebuyer and you've already started exploring available properties, you might think to yourself, "Why do I even need a buyer agent?" After all, you've been looking at homes for sale and the realtors who showed you the properties were very nice and helpful. But here's the deal: Those realtors are seller agents. They represent the home seller. They are legally, morally and ethically bound to get the best possible deal for the seller -- not for you as the buyer! This is just one of the reasons why first-time homebuyers can really benefit from working with a buyer's agent. Here are some more advantages.
Buyer Agents Work for You -- The Buyer
Once you're prequalified and your buyer agent understands the features you want in your first home, the agent will locate for-sale properties that fit your criteria. Not only that, but the buyer agent will coordinate and schedule showings of those properties for you. You don't have to do all of the legwork. And remember: As your representative, the buyer agent is out to find the best possible deal on a first-time home purchase for you.
Buyer Agents Are Great Negotiators
Every home sale and purchase is bound to hit a snag or two along the way. It's a lengthy process to buy or sell a home, and it's also a highly emotional transaction for buyers and sellers. It is, after all, the largest emotional and financial transaction that most people will make in their lifetime. Therefore, the negotiating skills of a buyer agent will be of great benefit to you as a homebuyer. If something starts to go wrong, they know how to negotiate a fix and they know professionals within their network who can help iron out problems -- from titling companies to real estate attorneys and even contractors to fix unexpected problems with the property.
Buyer Agents Are Property Experts
If you look at a home, do you know all the potential problem spots to examine to ensure that it won't have hidden costs? For example, can you tell if the plumbing is too old and will need major repairs within five years? Can you assess the age and functionality of the furnace, hot water heater and other features? Probably not -- but the buyer agent can because he or she has that experience.
Best of all, buyer agents don't charge any upfront or ongoing fees for their services. They split the commission with the seller agent who works for the home seller. For all these reasons and more, it makes great sense to put the expertise of a buyer agent to work for you!
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Most times, after moving your property into your new home, you have stacks of empty cardboard boxes to put away. After taking out the contents, you might be wondering what to do with that pile of cardboard. Thankfully, cardboard moving boxes are easy to reuse and can serve other purposes.
Break Down All Your Boxes
The first thing to do with your moving boxes in preparation for recycling is to break them down; it makes it easier to recycle. Empty all contents in the boxes, cut tape along the connections rather than tearing it off, collapse the boxes, and ensure they are entirely flat. Cut out any part that might have damage from liquids or spills as it is almost impossible for recycling companies to recycle saturated cardboards. Store the deconstructed boxes in a dry place until you can bring them to a waste management facility or until you can arrange for pickup.
Check with the Waste Management Company
Before bringing out all your boxes and stacking them right next to your bin, ensure the waste management truck will collect them during regular pickup times. Most cardboard boxes take up a lot of space even when collapsed, so services pick them up on different days or require you to deliver them. Put a call into your waste management company or instructions or ask for a drop off point you can take the boxes to yourself.
Put the Cardboard to Use Yourself
You can repurpose your boxes without sending them to the recycling plants. Consider the following:
For Compost: If you make compost, throw your cardboard boxes into the pile. They will break down into mulching for gardening. You can compost boxes damaged by food or water but avoid incorporating boxes soiled by chemicals.
For Protecting Your Floors: If you intend to paint your new home, your cardboard will come in handy for protecting your floor from paint spills. Cut open your boxes to make them bigger and tape them together to protect a wood floor or carpet.
Lastly, rather than recycle or repurpose your boxes, be a good neighbor, and consider gifting them to someone that is moving. Check with your real estate agent to see if another client could use your boxes.
Energy Efficiency
As home buyers become younger and younger, energy-efficient structures become more popular. According to the National Association of Home Builders, the most sought-after green features in a home include:
- Energy-Star rated windows and appliances.
- Toilets that conserve water.
- Tankless water heaters.
- Solar panels.
- Extra insulation.
- Triple-paned glass in windows and doors.
Home buyers in 2020 want an efficient home that boasts big creature comforts, combined with a small monthly utility bill.
Sustainability
Hand-in-hand with energy efficiency comes sustainability. Recycled building materials such as reclaimed wood and recycled steel are gaining ground as viable alternatives to traditional building materials. The use of pre-cast concrete and bamboo is increasing as well. But homebuyers who really want to flaunt their devotion to sustainable products this year may be able to choose sheep's wool or straw bales as home insulation. Houses made of earth may even begin to crop up in places where they weren't previously welcome.
Technology
It's a digital world in which we live in 2020. That's why young home buyers want more tech features in the homes they're considering living in for the next three-to-five years. CNET includes the following devices in their list of top home tech:
- Smart speakers.
- Smart displays.
- Mesh routers.
- Smart plugs.
- Smart light bulbs.
- Smart thermostats.
- Video doorbells.
- Home security systems.
These devices not only protect your home from intruders and show you who's at your door from across the country, they do the little things, too. They can read you a recipe so you're free to keep your hands in the bowl. They can ensure you have seamless WIFI connection all through the house and have your rooms warmed up and waiting for you when you get home from work in the evenings. Today's tech is all about hands-free convenience at the simple command of a voice, and today's home buyers are crazy for it.
Wide-Open Spaces
Open-concept areas are still big this year, but in 2020, they're expanding to include the great outdoors. Homes that offer a seamless transition from indoors to an upgraded, outdoor living space are in demand. Walls of sliding, glass doors that simply fold away to remove the barrier between a kitchen and an outdoor deck are prime real estate.
Other top trends in home design this year include industrial living spaces and rooms that boast high-contrast decor. The majority of home buyers going forward are expected to be some of the youngest, most professional that the market has ever seen. Younger buyers means more adventurous floor plans and garages capable of housing multiple cars. In short, 2020 is shaping up to be a real estate agent's dream.
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When putting together a room’s design, there’s one area that often gets overlooked above all others, and that’s the ceiling. There are a variety of interesting things that you can do with a ceiling to bring life and add interest to a room. Some ideas will add a sense of height or give the space an elegant look while other things will even help enhance the room’s lighting—without the addition of new light fixtures.
If you’re looking for design ideas, don’t skimp on the ceilings. Instead, try one of the following!
1. Gloss Finishes are Fashionable & Brightening
People don’t normally think of high gloss finishes when they think of ceilings, but this is a trend that is taking off for two good reasons. Gloss, whether it’s glossy paint or a gloss wood finish, draws attention upward while also reflecting a lot of light. Lamplight or sunlight streaming in from windows—either way, the reflection helps make the room look much more spacious.
2. Wallpaper isn’t Just for Walls
Looking for an unusual way to make a statement? More and more, interior designers are turning to wallpaper as a creative way to change up the look of a ceiling. This is another technique that draws a lot of attention upward, and it has the added advantage of making a bold statement.
3. Choose Bright Colors for Low Ceilings
Low ceilings can make a room feel cramped even if it isn’t—and this is an effect that can be heightened if the room has a dark color scheme on the walls and ceiling both. Brighten things up and give the ceiling a little lift by choosing light shades to contrast dark walls. This also helps brighten the room, which is another way to make it feel a little more expansive.
4. Try the Beamed or Coffered Look
This idea will help you add loads of style to interior spaces. Beamed ceilings and coffered ceilings both, whether the style is rustic or elegant, lend a seriously high-end feeling to a room.
There’s lots of ways to get this look, too. Coffered ceilings can be created with lumber or even with moldings repurposed to lay out the ceiling’s pattern. You can just do simple, clean lines, or you choose lumber with intricate edge profiles for a more classical look. And then there’s the layout itself. Coffered ceilings are typically done in square patterns, but there’s nothing stopping you from making hexagons or using squares and rectangles in differing sizes.
Beamed ceilings work similarly in that you’ll use lumber to give the ceiling depth and texture. Here, however, the designs are usually simpler, as if structural beams have been left exposed. Because of that, this style often works well with rustic themes.
Even though ceilings are sometimes left out of the design process, there really are many ways to turn them into a thing of beauty. Your ceilings don’t have to be flat or understated. Use one of these ideas or come up with your own to draw attention to this key piece of the room.
