Category: Sellers

Information for Prospective Sellers

Posted in Sellers

Marketing on Steroids – 3D Home Tours

Posted on by Liz Walker

Home buyers make the decision to schedule a showing based on what images or media of a property is available online. That means that the photos and videos available to them can make or break the interest they have in your property. Most list agents use their cell phone to take photos and that’s it. No photo editing to enhance the images, no video tour, or aerial photography. Or maybe they add a “virtual tour” which in reality is just the photos they took clipped together in video format.

Now imagine being able to view your property in 3D with the ability to “move” throughout the home and turn the view you see. Check out what I mean by clicking this link. It’s a 3D Tour of our RE/MAX RealPros office.

https://rem.ax/3PZ1Osw

Wow factor right? Don’t settle for an agent that just takes cell phone photos. You deserve someone that has invested in technology so you get the most robust marketing possible. Take a look at the before and after photos below. Notice how the Before photo was taken on a gray, cloudy day. In the After photo I’ve brightened the sky, removed some distractions like the white lines on the parking lot, the white square on the front stoop and the trees in the background. Your eye is drawn to the our office building and not distracted by the clutter around it.

Your property deserves the same attention to detail. I offer 3D Tours, edited and enhanced digital camera photography, aerial drone photos and videography, 2-4 minute video tours and a 60 second highlight reel of the top features of your property.

Posted in Buyers, Homeowners, Sellers

MORTGAGE POINTS TO REDUCE YOUR MONTHLY PAYMENT

Posted on by Liz Walker

Sellers, if you are waiting to make a move because your current mortgage is locked in at a very low interest rate and the current rates scare you, here’s an option to help. Lenders offer you a way to “buy” a lower interest rate. This is called mortgage or discount points. In the simplest description, you pay interest upfront to lower the interest rate on your loan.

This option works best for sellers who have built up equity in their home. Those would be people who have owned their home for at least the last 5 years or longer. Home prices have increased greatly since 2019 so even if you haven’t paid much off on your home the market has helped to increase your equity. Another ideal seller to take advantage of this is one looking to downsize from a more expensive home to a smaller one. Using the net profit from the sale of your home, you can purchase points to lower your interest rate.

1 point = 1% of the mortgage amount which lowers your interest rate by .25%

This amount is prepaid interest, so it is tax deductible.

If you are interested in this, first contact me to give you an idea of the current value of your home. Then reach out to your lender for details on the mortgage aspect to see if it could work for you.

Posted in Buyers, Sellers

DO YOU KNOW YOUR CREDIT SCORE?

Posted on by Liz Walker

This is a pretty simple question but it’s come to my attention that most people aren’t aware that you can look up your own credit score for free. The federal government recommends using this website: https://www.annualcreditreport.com. The big three credit reporting companies, Equifax, TransUnion and Experian, are available from this site.

Lenders may use any one of these companies to obtain credit history on you so it’s important to check that the accuracy of your information with all three companies. While the reports and credit scores should be fairly consistent among these companies, it is possible that one has error while the other two do not. I recommend checking your credit at least once a year.

I personally have been using Credit Karma, https://www.creditkarma.com/, to monitor my credit for fraudulent use. A few years ago my debit card was one of thousands that had been hacked at a store and that store recommended using this service and it’s FREE! Plus the site also offers free credit monitoring which is more important. It automatically keeps on an eye on your credit and sends you notifications if something changes. Plus it offers suggestions on how to improve your score.