Best Place Real Estate

A loan modification or short sale is not always the answer for a homeowner facing foreclosure. However, at least in some cases, a “deed-in-lieu” option may help. The new Foreclosure Alternative Program (FAP) has a deed-in-lieu program that may help some homeowners. Under this program, sometimes referred to as “cash for keys”, the bank takes back the home from the borrower and agrees to write off the debt. This program does not work for everyone and a lender will only agree to do it under certain conditions. To read more about the program, see this week’s Beyond the Headlines by the California Association of REALTORS.

The Arbor in Lake Forest is the place to be this Sunday, May 17.  The City of Lake Forest is sponsoring “Exploration Day in The Arbor: Carnival of Discovery“.  The event is from 1:00 to 6:00 at The Orchard and Prothero Retail Center on El Toro Rd between Rockfield Blvd and Raymond Way.  The fun includes carnival rides, music, family entertainment and much more.

A few of the local service organizations will have information tables at the event.  They will have information on how they serve the community, upcoming events, as well as how to join if you are interested.  I belong to Soroptimist International of Lake Forest and we will have a table at the event. Soroptimist is a women’s service organization with the goal of improving the lives of women and girls both locally and internationally.

Many people have a collection of some sort. I have a blue bottle collection. Why, I don’t know. I think I had something that came in anice looking blue bottle, so I kept the bottle. I now have about 5 or 6 blue bottles of different shapes and sizes. I keep them in a cabinet in the kitchen and I rarely pull them out.

Some collections are just a few items, like my blue bottles. Others can be quite extensive and often people display them throughout their home. Collections can be a lot of fun and very interesting, something to share with family and friends when they visit. However, when you have your house for sale, it is usually best to put the collection away and out of sight.

For one, they can be a distraction. When prospective buyers are viewing your home, you really want them looking at your house, not at your collection. You want them to remember your house as the one with the nice kitchen or big backyard, not the one with the model airplane collection or all the plates displayed everywhere.

Also, collections often have a tendency to make the house look cluttered. Clutter is probably the worst thing to have in a house for sale. Likewise, removing clutter is the least expensive and best thing you can do to prepare your home for sale.

When preparing your home for sale, the goal is to make the home appeal to the biggest pool of buyers as possible.  Buyers need to be able to picture themselves living in a home. Sometimes sellers make this very hard for buyers to do. For instance, I recently showed a home where the seller had a doll collection. There were dolls displayed everywhere, on shelves, on chairs, and on all the beds.  These were probably antique and very expensive dolls. However, my buyer was a young bachelor and it made it really hard for him to imagine his belongings in among this menagerie of dolls.  If all the dolls had been removed, it would have been easier for him visualize himself living there.  Remember, it is best to depersonalize your home so it appeals to all types of buyers.

By packing up your collection before you list your home for sale, you make your house more marketable and you have one less thing to do when it is time to move.