Bolstering your house's curb appeal is paramount if you want to achieve the best-possible results during the property selling journey. In fact, there are many reasons why you may want to dedicate time and energy to enhance your home's curb appeal, and these include:

1. You can differentiate your home from the competition.

Your home only gets one chance to make a great first impression on potential buyers. If your home stands out to buyers, it may lead to many property showings. Meanwhile, these showings ultimately may result in one or several offers to purchase your residence in the near future.

If you are searching for ways to promote your residence to buyers, it often is beneficial to upgrade your house's curb appeal. Because if your home has a pristine front lawn and other amazing home exterior features, it may stand out to many buyers. And as a result, you may be able to distinguish your residence from comparable properties in your area.

2. You can speed up the house selling process.

The home selling process may prove to be long and difficult, particularly for a seller who is unsure about how to showcase his or her residence to the right groups of buyers. Fortunately, a home that has outstanding curb appeal may make it easy for a seller to speed up the house selling cycle.

Remember, a home's curb appeal enables a seller to make his or her residence an attractive option for potential buyers. And if a buyer falls in love with a home as soon as he or she sees it, this individual soon may be ready to purchase this residence.

3. You can maximize your home sale earnings.

The goal of a home seller is to generate lots of interest in his or her residence. That way, a seller can boost the likelihood of receiving multiple offers to purchase that are at or above his or her initial home asking price.

If you spend some time enhancing your house's curb appeal, you could make your residence an appealing option for buyers. Therefore, as buyers compete for your home, you may be able to reap the benefits of a profitable house selling experience.

As you prepare to sell your home and explore ways to upgrade your house's curb appeal, you may want to hire a real estate agent. This housing market professional can help you list your home and promote it to prospective buyers. Plus, he or she will help you establish an aggressive initial asking price for your residence, set up home showings and open house events and much more.

Devote time and energy to upgrade your home's curb appeal – you will be glad you did. It generally won't take long to improve a residence's curb appeal. And if you focus on your home's curb appeal, you likely won't need to wait long to generate interest in your house and receive a competitive offer to purchase your residence.

Selling your home may seem like a relatively simple process. You hire an agent, let them take pictures and show the house to prospective buyers, accept an offer, and then close… right?

In reality, there’s a lot that goes into the selling process; especially if you want to have a smooth home sale.

Matters are further complicated by hr fact that most sellers are also in the process of buying, closing, and moving into their new home.

To make the most of your time in the weeks or months leading up to your sale, I’ve put together a list of tips that you can use to get ahead of the curve, making your sale as problem-free and simple as possible.

Set deadlines

One of the most important lessons homeowners learn when they sell their first home is how quickly moving day creeps up on them. Make a list of all of the things you need to do before you hand over the keys, and set dates and reminders in your calendar for those tasks.

You can do this if you’re in the beginning stages of finding out when you want to sell by, or if you’re in the final stages of packing and moving your belongings to your new home. Regardless of where you are in the home sale process, you can always benefit from preparedness.

Find an agent

To get the ball rolling, reach out to a real estate agent sooner rather than later. They’ve been through this process several times before and will be able to give you advice that is catered to your specific situation.

Make sure your home is ready for sale

We all love our homes and value the time and effort we put into them. But, to get top dollar for your home and ensure a smooth sale, you’ll probably need to do some work.

This can include getting an inspection to ensure that the vital components of your home are working properly. Knowing this now can save you time and headaches if a buyer’s inspector finds an issue with your home that you weren’t aware of.

Similarly, you’ll want to make your home move-in ready by making small repairs, putting a fresh coat of paint, and cleaning up the exterior of the home.

Do your research when setting a price

Setting the price of a home is not a road you want to take shortcuts on. Research prices for comparable homes in your area, consider recent repairs you made, and value the home at what you think is a fair price.

However, don’t get too attached to one number and be prepared to adapt based on the offers you receive.

Have a moving day plan

Planning for moving day could be its own separate blog post. You’ll want to start packing things you don’t need early on in the process. Then, make arrangements for young children or pets, so that you can focus on the move rather than keeping track of everyone else.

Once you have signed the purchase and sales agreement, the property will be appraised by a licensed appraiser. The home appraisal is an estimate of what the property is valued at. The appraisal takes into account a number of factors such as the location of the home, the condition of the house, and recent sales of like homes in the area. The value that is determined by the appraiser is the maximum amount that can be loaned out by a mortgage company.   

If you’re buying a $300,000 home, but the appraisal comes back at $297,000, you’ll need to pay the remaining $3,000 out of pocket in addition to the down payment and the closing costs that are paid up front at the time of purchase.

If the appraisal comes in too low, you might not have the necessary funds in your bank account to actually make the purchase of the home. Since you have already signed the purchase and sales agreement, you have signed a legally binding contract that states that you will in fact buy the home from the seller. If you break the agreement, you’ll lose your deposit, which could be a significant sum of money.  

The Appraisal Contingency

Most purchase agreements contain something called an appraisal contingency. This is an out for the buyer in the case of a low appraisal. If the appraisal is less than the agreed upon price, there’s a way for you as a buyer to get out of the contract without it taking a hit on your finances. You need this contingency to protect you.  

Is Waiving The Appraisal Contingency Is A Good Idea? 

You could be in a situation where you might consider waiving the appraisal contingency. This would be a case where you agree to pay the entire amount of the contact price, even in the event of a low appraisal. This gives the seller a clear message that you want the home no matter what. The only way that you should even really consider doing this is if there is a lot of competition for the home that you want to purchase. If an appraisal comes back much lower than expected, you’ll be expected to make up the difference in price. In most cases, it’s a good idea to keep the appraisal contingency in the agreement to protect yourself as a buyer.

How To Know For Sure

This is why it’s so important to hire a real estate agent. In many states, agents are able to give you advice on the best course of action for buying a home. You can also hire your own attorney to help you through the legal portions of the home buying process. In other states, attorneys are required for the sale of a home. These lawyers will be able to advise you as a buyer what’s in your best interest. Your attorney is there to protect you!

If you're ready to pursue your dream house, it generally is a good idea to enter the real estate sector with an open mind. In fact, there are many benefits to keeping your options open as you search for your ideal residence, and these benefits include:

1. You may be able to discover a bargain.

As you kick off your home search, it helps to pursue houses in a wide range of cities and towns. Doing so can help you separate your dream home must-haves from your wants. Also, this may enable you to find an affordable residence that matches or exceeds your expectations.

There is no telling whether a real estate market will favor buyers or sellers. The housing sector fluctuates constantly, and a buyer's market today may morph into a seller's market tomorrow.

Luckily, if you maintain an open approach to buying a house, you can remain patient as you search for your perfect residence. Perhaps most important, you can capitalize on homebuying opportunities as they become available and avoid the temptation to overspend on a house.

2. You can move quickly to acquire your dream residence.

With an open approach to the homebuying journey, you should have no trouble moving quickly to acquire your ideal residence. If the opportunity presents itself to buy a great house at a terrific price, you can submit an offer and proceed accordingly.

Of course, you should always think ahead before you submit an offer on any house, at any time. If you put together a competitive offer on a residence, you may receive an instant "Yes" from a home seller. Then, you can seamlessly finalize your home purchase and move into your dream residence.

3. You can minimize stress throughout the homebuying journey.

Buying a home is a major decision, and as such, stress can be problematic throughout the homebuying journey. If you are open to new ideas as you pursue a home, however, you may be better equipped than ever before to purchase your perfect residence.

Remember, stress may force a homebuyer to make rash decisions – something that a homebuyer probably wants to avoid at all costs. But if you're willing to take a deep breath and step back from the homebuying cycle at times, you can look at the big picture. And as a result, you can remain calm, cool and collected as you consider all of your homebuying options.

For those who are looking for extra help in their pursuit of the perfect home, it may be beneficial to hire a real estate agent too. This housing market professional can share details about a broad array of houses in cities and towns where you want to live. Plus, a real estate agent can keep you informed about new residences as they become available, help you submit offers on houses and much more.

Make your homeownership dream come true – take an open approach to the homebuying journey, and you may be able to accomplish your homebuying goal faster than ever before.

Welcome to WillowCrest! A 55 and over community located in Norton with only 21 units. Unit #28 is a large double wide home (largest home in the park) with an open floor plan, cathedral ceilings and new ceiling fans. Home has 6 rooms, 3 large bedrooms and 2 full baths set on a double lot. Master bath has a large soaking tub and separate shower. 2nd full bath has tub/shower combination. Home was built in 2000 and has had only two owners. Updates include new asphalt shingle roof and skylight in 2016, LR rug and central air in 2015 and furnace in 2014. Home has been completely painted within the past year with neutral colors, new wooden porch/stairs on side of home and professionally landscaped. Property has large backyard with two sheds and home sits horizontally on the lot. Large eat in kitchen is loaded with oak cabinets and large skylight that lets in tons of natural light and separate laundry room off of the kitchen. Close to all area amenities and highway yet set off the main road.

This property features 6 total rooms, 2 full baths, 3 bedrooms, and is currently available for $149,900.

For complete details click here.