Skin Deep: Sometimes Surfaces Matter for Selling your Metairie House!

Suppose you finally came to an important decision—that this October is going to be the right time for selling your Metairie house. If you had been biding your time, watching other Metairie houses being listed and closed throughout the summer, you may also have been getting a head start on some major maintenance or remodeling projects that you knew would be needed once you put your own place up for sale.

You may even have cleared away some extraneous furniture or décor items that had accumulated through the years, and made sure the landscaping was in good trim. If you had done those things—de-cluttered, spruced up, cleared the decks, etc.—you would have been just about ready to contact an agent to get the show on the road…

But what if even all the prep work nonetheless left you with the feeling that the old place still wasn’t quite ready. What if something still seemed to be missing: something you couldn’t quite put your finger on, but something that you just knew was needed to pep up the showings that would soon be taking place.

Selling a house to yield its maximum value can be more art than science. One of the skills that’s quite important is being able to envision what prospective buyers see. Especially with older properties, selling a house that to you seems filled with comforting familiarity might seem worn out (or just plain used) to others. Although many prospects do prefer older neighborhoods over newer ones, most folks also have a contradictory impulse: they appreciate the allure of the new. They may hanker for the mature landscaping and established community structures of older neighborhoods, yet simultaneously would prefer a place that seems freshly renewed.

Fortunately, taking a few steps to make an older property ‘new again’ needn’t be hugely expensive:

·         Cabinets – It’s relatively easy to put a fresh face on worn cabinet doors and drawers to rejuvenate a tired-looking kitchen. You can find a wide range of reasonably priced panels that fit many cabinets. Sometimes the same effect can be achieved by re-staining—or simply changing the cabinetry hardware (goes for stainless or brushed nickel to achieve the look the majority of today’s Metairie buyers prefer).

·         Appliances – Full kitchen remodels can be more expensive than is really practical, but sometimes much of the same effect can be achieved by simply replacing an old range, oven, dishwasher or refrigerator. Re-facing appliances that are perfectly serviceable (especially stainless surfaces that can’t be rescued) is another budget-wise option.

·         Tired-looking sinks and fixtures can all but ‘sink’ the prospects of selling your Metairie house. Sometimes the addition of stylish faucets and some fresh caulking can transform a kitchen or laundry room.

As you close in on the time for selling your Metairie house, sometimes a fresh pair of eyes can help you see what still needs to be done—or, importantly, what doesn’t! It’s a very good reason to give me a call!    

Want to know your homes value?   Click here:      Smart Home Price

Terez B. Harris

Keller Williams Realty New Orleans

504 975 1033

TerezHarris@KW.com

TerezSellsNolaHomes.com

8601 Leake Ave., New Orleans, La 70118

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Metairie Real Estate Observers Greeted with Multiple Surges!

If you are a Metairie real estate observer, last week was the time of month when you typically look for the major data releases which detail how residential sales and prices performed in the previous month. Metairie observers weren’t disappointed: last Tuesday, the key National Association of Realtors^® report came in right on schedule, with national media interpretations appearing close on its heels.

The NAR decreed that September’s existing-home sales numbers, which showed a 4.7% increase from the month before, indicated a resumption of the momentum that had momentarily faltered. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5,550,000 completed transactions was hailed as a strong rebound, marking the twelfth consecutive month of year-over-year increases.

          Realty Today agreed that the “more than expected” sales pace “suggests that the housing market continues to show strength compared to the rest of the economy.” In fact, the increase did contradict expectations from some observers. Their school of thought had been based on the common sense conclusion that if residential real estate price rises continue to outpace wage growth—as it has—the pace of sales would certainly slow. That prediction ran head-on into these latest figures. So much for common sense.

The financial press, which views real estate news from their own perspective had a slightly different take—one that was equally positive. “Good news abounds,” wrote CNN Money. “After years of flunking, the American housing market finally merits a B+ grade.” The financial publication’s ebullience was based on data which indicated that building activity was picking up “at the fastest pace since the recession.” That meant that the real estate sector had turned an important corner, with “the housing market…finally starts to be a real boost to the U.S. economy—and stock market—instead of a drag.”

             The Wall Street Journal gave Metairie real estate watchers an even more upbeat takeaway—going so far as to apply the rarely-invoked ‘surge’ word…twice! “U.S. Existing Home Sales Surge in September,” greeted WSJ readers on Wednesday. It was “a big increase” that put the real estate “market back on track for its strongest year since 2007.” Elsewhere, over the picture of a North Dakota roofer hard at work, another headline blared, “Home Construction Rebounds amid Surge in Multifamily Units.” With all that ‘surging’ going on everywhere, Metairie readers might have begun to worry about keeping their balance…

But they needn’t have worried—economic writers wouldn’t be performing as expected if they didn’t include at least some hand-wringing. The Journal didn’t disappoint on that score, either. They found one economist, Richard Moody, who complied. “I have this list of things that worry me about how we can sustain this,” he fretted.

If you are a current or prospective Metairie homeowner, national real estate performance is of more than passing interest. I’m here to help you transform your own personal Metairie real estate projections into real performance!

Want to know your homes value?   Click here:      Smart Home Price

Terez B. Harris

Keller Williams Realty New Orleans

504 975 1033

TerezHarris@KW.com

TerezSellsNolaHomes.com

8601 Leake Ave., New Orleans, La 70118

 Free Reports:

 7 Seller Tips for 2015

Home Trends

Smart Home Price

 Name Your Selling Price

Would you like more information?

We would love to help you with your Real Estate questions.

Buy-a-Home vs. Rent-a-Home Choice has Great $ Impact!

The answer to the question about whether any individual or family would be better off if they rent or buy a home can differ depending upon when the question is posed as well as the particulars of the available properties in either category. Even when the financial calculations make it clear that to buy a home in Metairie would result in significant savings, it’s possible that credit problems or simple cash inaccessibility render the choice moot—for the moment, anyway.

The reason a family budget is universally recognized as the single best way to get a handle on finances is because if you don’t know how much you’re spending in any given area, you won’t know when it needs to be curtailed. Given the size of monthly rent or mortgage outflows, it’s a pretty good idea for anyone with a long term outlook to know what the rent vs. buy a home trade-offs are. The answer to that can be spectacular enough that a change in plan is called for.

For some time, one of the national real estate web sites—Trulia—has posted a calculator that yields an approximate answer to the rent or buy question. It is aimed at metro areas only, and concedes it’s at best an approximation, but when you enter “US Average” for the location, it comes up with a percentage difference. Right now, for the U.S. median home price of $180,800 and median rent price of $1,545, “buying a home” comes up as 44% cheaper than renting!

Now, there are a whole bunch of assumptions that should have us taking that answer with a shaker or two of salt. This assumes, for instance, that were you to buy a Metairie home with the national parameters you would be the happy beneficiary of “today’s mortgage rate,” which Trulia presents as 3.6%. Yes, this rate is actually being offered in some places to borrowers with spotless credentials, but counting on it would be iffy for most folks. Yet if you substitute 3.9%, buying a home is still 43% cheaper; a 4.2% loan makes the answer 41% cheaper.

Likewise, because the tax advantage gained when you buy a home is so stark, your income tax bracket can tip the buy vs. rent comparison greatly. If you move down from the assumption of a 25% tax rate (seems unlikely for the $180,000 median home buyer), even with a 15% tax rate, buying is 41% cheaper.

Sooooo, it looks like it’s always a very good idea to buy a house instead of renting it, right?

Wrong! The most important factor is the one that makes the most sense: “how long you intend to live there.” Its starting point assumption begins at 7 years. Move that down to 3 years and—all else being equal—the calculator comes up with buying being only 19% cheaper. Assume 2 years, and the buy vs. rent answer is that the costs are about the same. And at 1 year, renting is 37% cheaper than buying!

The precision of these percentages are unlikely to be spot-on for any given local individual or family, but the answers are probably useful anyway. It does indicate that for anyone planning on staying put locally for at least 3 or 4 years, taking a closer look at the rent a home/buy a home financial impacts will be worthwhile. I can help with current realistic Metairie specifics, so why not give me a call?

Want to know your homes value?   Click here:      Smart Home Price

Terez B. Harris

Keller Williams Realty New Orleans

504 975 1033

TerezHarris@KW.com

TerezSellsNolaHomes.com

8601 Leake Ave., New Orleans, La 70118

 Free Reports:

 7 Seller Tips for 2015

Home Trends

Smart Home Price

 Name Your Selling Price

Would you like more information?

We would love to help you with your Real Estate questions.

There is one overriding quality you must demand when you hire the Metairie agent who will be your partner and representative. It’s a quality you and you alone are qualified to judge. And it should be the final determinant—the last factor you consider before you make your final agent choice.

Now it’s true that in many instances, this quality isn’t even one you have to think about. That’s true when you have previously worked with a Metairie agent who did what she or he had promised. When you’ve bought a home or sold one, been helped through successful negotiations, dealt with the unexpected snags with a minimum of disruption—and finally wrapped up the closing paperwork on schedule—you probably need search no further. It couldn’t be easier: pick up the phone, and voila! Your agent is on the job!

But if you’re new to Metairie; or previously had only a so-so experience with a Metairie agent; or if your Metairie agent is no longer available for some other reason, Job One before any selling or buying begins in earnest is the only part of the process that you will have to undertake completely on your own: identifying the agent who will serve you best.

When you choose a lawyer or accountant to represent you, a number of factors come into play that isn’t involved in choosing a real estate agent. With other professionals, their fee structures can be crucial. Although hiring the best lawyer in town can be out of reach for strictly financial reasons, that’s not true in real estate. If you’re buying, your agent’s fee come out of the seller’s proceeds—in other words, all town real estate agents, from best to worst, cost you nothing! If you’re selling, most agents work on substantially similar percentages. Another factor that plays a greater role in choosing candidates in other professions is convenience—where their offices are located. With real estate, everyone who actively works in the Metairie area will make your location (or the addresses of your prospective next home) the focus of activity. The agent’s own location isn’t a determining factor.

So what is that final determinant? After you have interviewed the agents who seem initially qualified—what should be the decisive factor?

It’s trust.

In the momentous enterprise that lays before you, the overriding factor has to be the degree of trust you feel in the individual who will be your teammate. It’s why you are the only one qualified to make the choice.

The process of buying or selling a home involves laying out your highest hopes and deepest reservations about home ownership—and trusting that between the two of you, the best opportunities will be uncovered, the best bargains struck, and all will be protected by properly executed documentation. Trust is the feeling you have for how the two of you interact—how the chemistry is there or is not. It’s how comfortable you feel when you are communicating, because you should trust your agent’s insight into your needs and goals, so that you can depend on the guidance he or she provides.

I hope when your next real estate venture is close at hand, you’ll make me one of your interviews. And if we’ve worked together before—welcome back! 

Selling Your Metairie House in Fall includes Planning for Success!

            It’s October­­­; a time of year that has a lot to recommend it. In many parts of the country, it’s the season when Mother Nature goes full throttle with the Technicolor. Sunsets can be outrageous. In some parts of the country, leaves can bid adieu with displays that put rainbows to shame. Fall weather turns the air a bit crisper. All in all, to a lot of folks, fall is the favorite time of the year.

            Selling your Metairie house in the autumn, on the other hand, can present some special challenges. Selling your house in the springtime, for instance, doesn’t include clearing the garden of the remnants of summer growth (that is, unless you let it go the previous year!). The plusses and minuses of selling your house after the peak spring-summer real estate rush is over can be debated at length. What isn’t debatable is that to take full advantage of selling your house this time of year, you should be aware of a few specifics:

• Keep up with the season

… leaf fall for yards with deciduous plants can require almost daily attention during some periods. You’re the best judge of when the debris crosses the line from pleasantly natural into downright unsightly­­—but in any case, it’s a good idea to make a quick inspection part of your daily routine.

• Keep up with the weather

… leaf fall is one thing, but windy fall storms can turn a well-kept garden inside-out in a few hours. After a storm passes, be prepared to hose off the traces of muddy puddles and do some organized sweeping. It can make a big difference when you approach a house with a clear walkway (vs. one that looks like a typhoon just passed!).

• Pet areas

…they can be more difficult to manage in autumn and winter when Mother Nature can keep them indoors for longer periods or make their favorite hangouts less accessible. Being more flexible and attentive to their needs than in summertime is often necessary.

• Prepare the mechanicals

…if sudden chills descend, knowing that your heating setup is ready to go into action assures a welcoming environment for prospective buyers. If it hasn’t been in use since last spring, a system may produce some unpleasant side effects the first time it’s fired up. If yours one that needs a yearly checkup by the utility company, better not wait!

• Anticipate success!

Selling your Metairie home in fal­l­ and winter may take a little extra vigilance when the weather acts up, but buyers at this time of year can be more eager to close on their new home. Be organized for success, which can mean everything from having a year’s worth of utility bills ready to show­, to scoping out where you’re headed next.

Selling your Metairie home efficiently takes some organization and planning. A good first step is to get in touch with a Metairie real estate professional who will pitch in and help every step of the way. In other words—call me!

Want to know your homes value?   Click here:      Smart Home Price

Terez B. Harris

Keller Williams Realty New Orleans

504 975 1033

TerezHarris@KW.com

TerezSellsNolaHomes.com

8601 Leake Ave., New Orleans, La 70118

  Free Reports:

 7 Seller Tips for 2015

Home Trends

Smart Home Price

 Name Your Selling Price

Would you like more information?

We would love to help you with your Real Estate questions.

Metairie Real Estate Watchers Give Price Graph a Double-Take

            When Metairie real estate trackers keep tabs on the progress of the national rebound, they note the findings of the major pollsters and data miners, read what the pundits have to offer, and look at charts and graphs—lots of charts and graphs.

            The graphs that chart residential real estate price history for the last decade or so tend to look very similar. It doesn’t matter whether they’re showing regional or state or national price movements. If they’re line graphs, they look like a cross-section of a trampoline just as it’s about to propel a 7-year-old into the wild blue—or what your overweight neighbor’s hammock looks like when he’s taking a snooze. The lines start high, tumble south, stay down there for a stretch, and then went way back up.

               Way up!

             Last week’s CoreLogic roundup of June home prices included a typical example. It showed four colored lines, each of which traced a different residential home price tier: low, low-to-middle, median, and high. Almost in parallel, they showed a dip from the ‘bubble’ highs, a slog along the bottom of the real estate bust, and the ascent that has been pleasing Metairie real estate watchers in recent years.

             There was a noteworthy detail in that chart. This was Figure 2, “HPI by Price Segment.”

“HPI^®” is CoreLogic’s own proprietary “home price index” which corrects residential real estate prices to account for the distortion inflation creates. The values are all corrected to 2006 dollars. Inflation may not have grabbed headlines of late, but even relatively tame rates add up: if you’ve bought a half gallon of milk or a dozen eggs lately, you know that.

               Anyway, the single detail that would have had sharp-eyed Metairie real estate observers doing a double-take was the dark blue line, which tracked the low-end residences (defined as 0% to 75% of median prices). It ended at what looked like—actually, did more than ‘look like’…it was—higher than the starting point…and headed up! The sale numbers—corrected for inflation, even—confirmed the story: that segment of the national residential real estate market has now eclipsed pre-crash price levels.

             CoreLogic’s commentary elaborated further. The low-price tier is up 53+% from its deepest point, registered in March, 2009. It has now surpassed the pre-crisis peak. With prices up 12.7% thus far in 2015, the segment has taken off the fastest—although the slope of the other three segments looks similar (just not as steep).

             The highest segment of market was an orange line, and it came the closest to that dark blue one. Still a little more than 5% below the heights of the previous high, it (and all the other price tiers) look to be headed skyward. For any Metairie real estate watchers who believe that ‘buy low, sell high’ is a guiding principal, the time to take a thoughtful look at the real estate market would be at a point in the charts where the lines are headed up. That would be a good time to give me a call…and it seems to be now!

Want to know your homes value?   Click here:      Smart Home Price

Terez B. Harris

Keller Williams Realty New Orleans

504 975 1033

TerezHarris@KW.com

TerezSellsNolaHomes.com

8601 Leake Ave., New Orleans, La 70118

 Free Reports:

 7 Seller Tips for 2015

Home Trends

Smart Home Price

 Name Your Selling Price

Would you like more information?

We would love to help you with your Real Estate questions.

Building a New Home in Metairie Could Mean ‘Cutting Corners’

            If you are considering buying a new home in Metairie, it might have occurred to you that building your own could be another option. Even if you aren’t one who has always dreamed of designing your own new home with exactly the features you want (and none you don’t), the idea might seem worth exploring—particularly when the reasonable asking prices for some of today’s Metairie “land-only” listings make for tempting daydreaming…

   The fact is, few have actually mapped out the cost of building their own Metairie new home, for a number of reasons. The most obvious one is that to project anything like an accurate cost, you would have to know its features—in other words, design it (or have it designed). But, short of hiring an architect, you can begin to appraise some of the major cost considerations that factor in when building a new home. A few:

• Once you have selected a Metairie contractor, you will find yourself asking him for his estimate of today’s average price per square foot. That will only be useful for a ballpark estimate (certainly not for creating the final budget). It’s simply the case that the details will determine the final square footage cost average. Kitchens, for example, as well as bathrooms, are usually the most expensive rooms in the house, so if you have more bathrooms or a larger (or smaller) kitchen, your total cost will shift accordingly. There are other variables as well: it usually costs less to build a two-story home than a single-story one with the same square footage due to the smaller roof and foundation.
• Add-ons will add up, of course—but the amount can be surprising. While the difference between a standard tub in your future master bathroom and that $3,500 Jacuzzi tub may not seem significant compared with the overall budget, but it’s not unknown for installation details like extra wiring and plumbing requirements to add more than anticipated.
• If you’ve ever wondered about the origin of the phrase “cutting corners,” it may be illuminating to check out some of the software that contractors use to estimate costs. One of the first questions is “How many corners do this new home have?” The difference between a 4-cornered and 10-cornered home is like night and day. There are also categories of features that run from classes (quality levels) of “Standard Homes” to pricier classes of “Custom Homes.” In other words, at the design stage it is possible to “cut corners” when you build your own new home.
• Cutting corners or not, those with remodeling experience know how absolutely necessary it is to add a ‘cushion’ to any initial budget. The same goes for new construction. That cushion should be at least 10%–and 20% is often advised. Surprises pop up, and you will inevitably find yourself ordering last minute changes. It always seems to happen.

Buying a lot and building your own new Metairie home can mean the fulfillment of a life-long dream—but one that’s most rewarding for those with the time and patience for such a major project. It’s also true that many of today’s best properties can be purchased for the same cost (or less) that such an undertaking would run. Contact me to go over today’s latest Metairie offerings!

Want to know your homes value?   Click here:      Smart Home Price

Terez B. Harris

Keller Williams Realty New Orleans

504 975 1033

TerezHarris@KW.com

TerezSellsNolaHomes.com

8601 Leake Ave., New Orleans, La 70118

  Free Reports:

 7 Seller Tips for 2015

Home Trends

Smart Home Price

 Name Your Selling Price

Would you like more information?

We would love to help you with your Real Estate questions.

Reverse Mortgage Pitches Draw Consumer Group’s Ire...

Whenever the words “reverse mortgage” are uttered, any Metairie TV viewer immediately makes the connection with one of several celebrity spokesmen who blanket the airwaves with commercials touting the concept. If you listen carefully, those reverse mortgage ads do actually describe the product with legal accuracy. If you have the standard degree of sales resistance most of us have developed after years of exposure to Madison Avenue pitches, you probably guess that instead of relying solely upon the celebrity spokesman’s trustworthiness, you’d better investigate further before running out and applying. Most people do.

So it was surprising when the government’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found it necessary to issue a special advisory on the subject. Potential Metairie reverse mortgage applicants—that is, Metairie homeowners who meet the minimum age requirement of 62 ½—were warned “not to be deceived” by the “late night TV ads that seem too good to be true.” Without quibbling with the CFPB about when those commercials appear (you can see them almost any time after about 3 p.m.), it is easy to see how they might create broadly mistaken impressions on at least two counts. And it’s too bad, because although a reverse mortgage can be a useful instrument, it really can have nightmarish consequences for someone who doesn’t fully understand the concept and its ramifications.

The warnings were the result of the consumer watchdog organization’s focus group study that showed many viewers coming away with misimpressions following screenings of the ads. Many did not understand that a reverse mortgage is a loan. Others got the impression that a reverse mortgage is a government benefit—and worse, some thought it guaranteed that consumers could stay in their homes for the rest of their lives.

The fact is, these loans are simply a specialized way seniors can tap into their home’s equity: the value that has built up over the years. It’s true that they are designed so that the homeowners do not have to repay the loan until he or she passes away, sells or moves out—but it’s no guarantee that other factors (like taxes, homeowner’s insurance, and maintenance expenses) might not still cause a default should the borrower run out of money.

There are other fine print details that are not mentioned in most of the ads…and they’re every bit as important as the terms of any loan. Among those that are barely touched upon are the facts that there are costs and interest provisions attached to reverse mortgages—and the CFPB finds them to be relatively expensive.

Most Metairie homeowners are probably skeptical enough of any “too good to be true” pitch to automatically take a harder look—especially when it involves their Metairie home’s equity. If you have questions about financial matters having to do with that equity, your best bet is to discuss the details with a trusted financial advisor or a federally-approved housing counselor. And for any other questions about Metairie real estate, you needn’t hesitate to give me a call!

Want to know your homes value?   Click here:      Smart Home Price

 Terez B. Harris

Keller Williams Realty New Orleans

504 975 1033

TerezHarris@KW.com

TerezSellsNolaHomes.com

8601 Leake Ave., New Orleans, La 70118

  Free Reports:

 7 Seller Tips for 2015

Home Trends

Smart Home Price

 Name Your Selling Price

Would you like more information?

We would love to help you with your Real Estate questions.