Rehoboth Beach Real Estate Blog - Selling Your Home

When Does a Reverse Mortgage Make Sense?

Everyone sees those TV commercials featuring sincere celebrities pitching reverse mortgages. If you are 62 or older, chances are you’re also subjected to glossy mailers (and even DVDs!) that show up in your mailbox at regular intervals.

Latest stats show that approximately 83% of baby boomers plan to stay in their homes during retirement. That may be why some Coastal Delaware homeowners who have built equity in their homes may be paying attention.

You can’t blame them if they have one overriding question -- is this some kind of scam?

Essentially, a reverse mortgage is just one way to tap into a home’s equity regardless of the owner’s credit score or income. Under a reverse mortgage, borrowers receive a monthly payment, line of credit, or lump sum.…

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Selling? Improve The Appearance Of Your Home's Bathrooms.

Full-scale bathroom remodeling can be expensive and, in today's Rehoboth Beach housing market, you won't likely get all of the money back that you put into it at the time of sale.

Knowing that bathroom projects tend to have a low return on investment, therefore, here are a few inexpensive changes which you can make to spruce up bathrooms in a home for sale.

Fixtures
Most sellers will notice if the fixtures in a bathroom are old, and it can have a negative effect on their view of your home. Buy a new set of bathroom fixtures at a home improvement store. Most stores have matching towel racks and bathroom tissue holders, too. There is a wide selection of stainless steel, wood or ceramic fixtures available at most stores, too.

Paint
A fresh coat of…

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What To Do When Your Home Doesn't Appraise At Its Purchase Price

Experienced home sellers in Coastal Delaware know that reaching a sales agreement with a potential buyer can be just the start of the negotiation process. There are often inspection issues to resolve, among other items.

One particular negotiation point which can present difficulties for both buyers and sellers is when a home's appraised value falls short of its contracted sales price. Sometimes, this happens because the home's price was inflated. Other times, it's the result of a faulty appraisal.

As a home seller, there are some common appraisal problems of which you should be aware. Here are some of them, and how to seek remedy so that the home sale process remains smooth.

Inaccurate comparisons
An appraiser will assign your home's value based on…

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2012 Coastal Delaware Home Listings Tell a Tale

Homeowners who are puzzling over whether to add their property to the Coastal Delaware home listings this winter (rather than hold back until spring) have more than just timing to factor into their decision. How their offering will stack up alongside the other home listings is a prime consideration.

The residential market has made good progress this year – and a strong majority of pundits expect more of the same for 2013. I deal with the home-buying public all the time, and so get an inside look and listen to what features and qualities wind up having the greatest impact on their buying decisions. Another way is to survey home listings across the nation to track buying trends: the features highlighted in home listings are just about the most…

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Profit from Early Decisions When Selling a House

According to a recent survey, nine out of ten REALTORS® believe that clients who make improvements before selling a house are more likely to secure a successful sale. Why, you may wonder, would anyone take the trouble to run a survey to discover anything that obvious? Possibly because of a follow-up question Realty Times came up with: 65.9% of real estate agents – virtually two out of three – agree that a common mistake among homeowners is not making "the right" home improvements for the local market.

Uh-oh! Remodeling in the wrong direction can cost you twice! If it’s such a common mistake, it’s safe to say it might be best to consult an agent before rolling up your sleeves (or opening your checkbook). Active Rehoboth Beach agents are constantly noting…

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Rehoboth Beach Agents Dodge FSBO Drawbacks

FSBO: “For Sale By Owner” -- it can be a siren’s call when you first mull over the prospects for selling your house.  A Rehoboth Beach FSBO listing promises to allow a homeowner to sell without even consulting any local real estate agents! Depending on a home’s final sale price, the commission saved looks to be substantial.

While there are certainly theoretical attractions to the idea of working on your own, time and again statistics prove it is not only more efficient to work with a real estate agent -- it also frequently nets sellers more at the bottom line. There are logical reasons why it works out that way. They are the same reasons why only one in ten homes are successfully sold as FSBOs.

First off, while it may seem easy to arbitrarily pick a…

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Simple Techniques That Help Sell Delaware Beach Homes

Success in selling Delaware Beach homes can depend on being able to distinguish what is important to buyers from what is not.  Proactive homeowners know that one room usually gets more attention than does any other: the kitchen.

There are many good reasons why this is so (we have discussed them before) -- but one kitchen detail in particular can have a disproportionate impact. It’s a detail that is all too easy to overlook: the condition of the appliances.

Realty Times declares, “Sellers should update their appliances." I don’t think I would go quite that far, but the gist is right. When the appliances look like they deserve their starring role in the main act -- the kitchen -- it indicates a homeowner who has taken pride in their property. To a…

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