How to Have a Successful Last Minute Showing

So you’re enjoying a peaceful afternoon, when suddenly your phone starts to ring. It’s your Realtor, she is bringing a client for a showing, oh and they’ll be there in twenty minutes. No problem, other than your house is a complete wreck. So you scramble, clutter up the house a little more by accident, and jettison out, leaving it unnoticeably cleaner.

Last minute showings happen all the time, and if you want to successfully sell your house, you have to be prepared for them. So here are a few tips to succeeding, despite a last minute showing.

First, you should keep a stylish or good looking trunk that works with your furniture in every room. This way, you and your family can toss all your clutter in them and easily deal with it later. It’s a mess in there, but it’s better than a messy room.

Next you should make sure all of the surfaces are wiped down with a non smelly cleaner, and replace all the dirty dish, bath, hand, and face towels with fresh ones. You can do this by keeping clean towels on standby somewhere in the house. When you’re done cleaning, run and grab those new ones.

After that, dash to your medicine cabinet, and straighten it out. It’s rude to look in someone’s medicine cabinet, but we do it anyway. So clean it up a tad, and be sure to remove and personal or weird items from the drawers of the bathroom and medicine cabinet. It might even be smart to keep the weird personal stuff in a bag to quickly grab and/or hide when you go to leave. It’s weird, but people will look through them.

So you’re all cleaned up, now what? Run around the house and turn on all the lights. This will give the house a warm welcoming glow, especially if its rooms without good light from windows. Lots of light not only show buyers all the good features, but it also unmasks imperfections. Use the proper discretion with your lights.

Lastly make sure you have an escape plan for you and your kids (if you have them). This will allow you to get out of the house as quickly as possible without disrupting the buyers. Build rapport with a neighbor, (bake them cookies or something) and see if you can stay with them during showings.  If you have kids, and the day is nice, maybe take the buggers to a park. It’ll keep them entertained, and you can relax in the cool breeze as you wait for the showing to be over.

Do these things and you should leave a good looking clean house with ten minutes to spare! If you want, it might be a good idea to practice in the event you only have a few minutes. This way you’ll be sure to finish on time.

If you have any questions about selling your home, or perhaps scheduling a last minute showing of your own, don’t hesitate to call National Realty Group (951) 684-2600 or visit NationalRealtyGroup.com. Oh and don’t forget to like us at Facebook.com/Nationalrealtygroup

Break Out Your Kitchen Without Breaking Your Budget

It’s easy to get a little out of hand in the kitchen, and no I’m not just talking about cooking. The kitchen is one of the most used, examined, and occasionally coveted room of the house. It is also the most expensive to upgrade, especially with kids. With kids you want your kitchen to be safe, as well as amazing; an expensive combo.  So, here are some tips to decking your kitchen, without emptying out your wallet.

First off would be the cabinets. Brand new custom cabinets are expensive. They look great, but they could break the budget by themselves. Instead, look into premanufactured, modular kitchen cabinets. They may not be as fancy as custom cabinets, but they look good, cost loads less, and are relatively easy to install.

Second would have to be your counter tops. Everyone loves marble and granite counter tops, but when you’re on a budget, that’s just not feasible. Instead, look at ceramic tile. It comes in any color you can imagine and costs about a tenth of what granite does. Another option is solid wood. Wood can be cut, sanded, and treated to accommodate any surface. There are plenty of wood types, it’s not terribly expensive, and adds a kind of warmth to the kitchen you won’t get with anything else. The last cheapish option is quartz. It’s more expensive than the wood or the tile, but the stuff is indestructible. It’s great for families as kids will probably play in the kitchen.

Then there’s the stuff that’s going to go on the counters the appliances. Kitchen appliances, can look really fancy, but also cost the most in the kitchen. It might surprise you, but experts say there’s not too much difference between the high-end appliances, and the less expensive ones. Yeah you won’t get all the same bells and whistles, but will you ever really use them? If you can live without a Samsung refrigerator with a touch screen, and your Chef Crockpot with extra programmable buttons, go for the cheaper option.

Lastly, is the flooring.  It may surprise you, but less expensive flooring can actually be more cost effective in regards to resisting the wear and tear of kitchen use. Ceramic tile and Plastic laminate is cheaper, resists wear, tear, and dents, and is also much easier to clean than say wood flooring. Another great option is vinyl. Vinyl flooring is very inexpensive, easy to install and will last a long time. The best part is, it can be designed to imitate the look of more expensive floorings, without you actually having to pay for them.

As always, if you have any questions about your kitchen or pretty much anything stop by or call National Realty Group. We are the One-Stop Solution offering Real Estate Sales and Mortgages. You can also visit our website at NationalRealtyGroup.com.

Life on the Radio

A few months ago I was offered a rare opportunity. I was asked if I wanted to host a local radio show discussing all things real estate. I hesitated for a moment because I was 24 hours away from heading north on the 395 to Lake Tahoe for a week of relaxing and time with family. I relented and said yes.

When I got home the need to prepare set in. What will we talk about? Do we have to name the show? Will I have a co-host. The answers, simply, were I don't know, yes and yes. My wife took care of the name quickly. She said, how about, "All the Right Moves?" A play on words for making good decisions and the end result of buying or selling a home, moving.

I solved the third question by asking a Broker-Associate in my office to co-host. His name is Jeff Moore and along with his real estate expertise he has over 20 years mortgage experience. We would make a great team while complementing each other.

We now have a dozen shows under our belt and find it easier each show to discuss all things real estate. One segment that became a listener favorite is "I Knew a Guy." In it we discuss people we knew who made a bad decision regarding a purchase or sale of a home or in their attempt in getting a loan. We don't give out personal info but we do offer a solution or morale to the story. This helps our listeners learn while being entertained. That last part may not always happen, but we try.

Our show isn't all about real estate. We throw in some stories about faith, family and politics too, just to keep it fun. Most of the show provides questions and stories about what you need to know before your next real estate purchase. Better to listen before so you can Make All the Right Moves!

There are many ways to listen to the show so take a moment and check us out. You can listen live on AM 590 The Answer by radio or on the web. If you're interested in archived shows you can try www.SoundCloud.com/JeffMaas/AlltheRightMoves.

How To Not Fall for the Wrong Home

So you're looking to buy a home. It is fall, market traffic has slowed with the starting of school, but for you it's a great time to start shopping. However, not unlike House shopping at any other time of the year, it's plenty easy to fall for the wrong home. So what should you do?

Well first off you need to get pre-approved. A pre-approval is basically your lender giving you an amount of money he or she can give you for a house. There's no way for you to have a REALISTIC idea of what you can buy without pre-approval. It would be like trying to buy a TV but not knowing if you have 100 or 1000 dollars. 

Once you've been pre-approved you're going to want to start looking at houses. When you're doing so, you're going to want to be considering not only your daily activities but your potential activities later in life. Keep in mind that you'll want to live in this house for a few years before selling it will even be worth it. Consider the flow of the house, how people move around, does that fit with your daily life? If you and your spouse plan on children will the house accommodate them? Are there enough bedrooms? Are there enough bathrooms for the morning rush? Where will your kids put their back packs, and do their homework?

These are just a few things to think about. If you're not sure just  by looking at the house, stay a bit and run around the house even if you look ridiculous. You're making a huge investment with a house, you should be certain you can comfortably live your life in it. 

So let's say the flow is great but keep in mind you're not done yet. You also need to look at the basics of the home. By that I mean the basic features of the home. For instance, if you never cook, why have a house with big, decked out kitchen? Why have a large, fancy, delightfully posh dining room if you always eat on the couch? Keep in mind that the wallpaper, appliances and carpet can be easily changed, but the floor plan... Not so much. Make sure you're not sacrificing or investing for or in something you do not actually need, or ever see you and your family using. 

Lastly, never settle. If you ever say, "I guess this one will do." don't buy the house. Remember a house is a commitment and a huge investment. Why settle? I wrote another blog called "Why you should just buy the better home", check it out, it may help. 

As always, if you have any questions, stop by or call National Realty Group. We are the One-Stop Solution offering Real Estate Sales and Mortgages. You can also visit our website at NationalRealtyGroup.com. We’ll do our best to get you the information you need so you can get into the right house for you.