BestofShelbyCountyKY

Spring is in the air in some parts of Canada and the U.S., although it hasn’t quite reached my little corner of the world yet. This is the time of year when thoughts turn to spring cleaning; whether or not you’re selling your home. Of course, if you are listing anytime soon, you’ll want to be even more meticulous.

The busy spring market will be upon us before you know it, so here are some tips for getting the exterior of your home shipshape:

1. Remove glass from light fixtures and take out any little critters that may have found a home over the winter. Be sure to use glass cleaner on the panes before replacing them in your fixtures.

2. Clean your mailbox. If it hasn’t weathered well over the winter, it’s probably time to replace it.

3. Clean and polish, if necessary, your front door’s hardware. Replace it as well if necessary.

4. Check your house numbers. Are they still in good shape and visible from the street? If not, replace them.

5. Wash down your front door and garage door. If you find that the previous summer’s sun has faded the paint, consider repainting. (Your garage door should be painted a color that blends in with the brick or vinyl siding on your home.) Before painting, check with the paint manufacturer to see what the optimal outdoor temperature should be. You don’t want to paint when it’s still too cold outside.

6. Wash the windows. If this isn’t your strong suit, hire a professional.

7. Hose down the porch and driveway to remove any excess salt left over from de-icing.

8. Sweep the porch, driveway and patio to get rid of any rogue leaves etc. left over from the fall.

9. Check your porch, driveway, and patio for any cracking or lifting of patio stones that may have taken place during a deep freeze.

10. Check your roof to make sure no shingles are missing or were damaged during the winter.

11. Remove debris from your gutters and drain spouts.

12. Rake the lawn. However, before doing that it’s very important to check with your local garden center first to be sure it’s not too early. If raked too soon before the ground thoroughly dries, you could potentially damage your lawn.

13. Remove winter displays from your urns. For a burst of color, plant spring flowers as soon as weather permits.

14. Tidy up your gardens in preparation for planting season.

15. Organize the garage. Put away shovels, snow blowers, toboggans, and any other items that made their way into your garage over the winter.

16. If you don’t use your barbeque year round, it’s time to bring it out. If it’s a built-in unit that will be staying with the house, be sure to clean the grills and wash down the lid. If you have a cover for it, replace it if it’s worn.

17. Remove the cover from your swimming pool and clean your pool as soon as your pool service company advises that it’s OK to do so.

18. Bring out your patio furniture and set it up. Although it may be too cold to sit outside just yet, you want potential buyers to see your outdoor living space’s potential.

These are some suggestions to get your started. What else am I missing? Feel free to add to the list!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged First Time buyer, homes in shelbyville, ShelbycoKyMLS | Comments Off

The Three Biggest Turn-Ons For Homebuyers

Posted on April 11, 2014 by bestofshelbycountyky

As a seller, you have a lot more control in pleasing buyers than you think. If you start the selling process by learning what buyers really want, you can prepare your home to come as close to their dreams as possible.

Here are the five biggest turn-ons for homebuyers and what you can do to please buyers.

Curb Appeal

You only get one chance to make a first impression. Your home should sell to the buyer from the curb. That’s how important curb appeal is. Your buyer should be so impressed, so charmed, so delighted that they want to leap out of the car and run inside.

How do you create curb appeal? Show attention to detail. Your home has to be prettier, cleaner and in better condition than its neighbors.

Start with sweeping the drive, walkway, and porch or entry of dirt and debris. Get rid of leggy bushes, wilted flowers and broken tree limbs. Plant fresh flowers in the front garden or in containers at the entry.

Power-wash the exterior and hand-wash the windows. Touch up paint around the windows, if needed. Paint the front door a fresh, modern color. Replace the door hardware and porch sconces.

Space

The number one reason why people buy homes is to have more room. Whether they’re moving from an apartment or moving up from the home they have, they want to have plenty of space to do the things they enjoy.

If you have a large home, you’re golden, but that doesn’t mean you’ve got it made. You can ruin a buyer’s first impression with too much clutter, so make sure to keep your home picked up so your buyer can see your home’s features clearly and easily.

What if you don’t have a lot of space? Plan to do some storing and staging. Rent a storage unit and put away all out of season clothes, toys, and home decorations and accessories. Clean off all tables and countertops so you have only the minimum of things your need to operate your home. Empty closets of anything that is “stored” and move it to the storage unit. The small expense you’ll pay in storage fees you’ll more than make back from your buyer’s offer.

Updates

There’s a reason why first-time buyers and singles tend to buy older homes – they’re more affordable than buying new. So unless your buyer is a building contractor, chances are they want a home that’s as updated as possible.

You may not be interested in putting in a new kitchen in order to sell your home, but you can do a few things to make buyers happy. Replace the most dated features – countertops, cabinet pulls, or appliances.

Bathrooms are so personal that they can easily turn buyers off. Invest in new towels, bathmats and a shower curtain. Throw out slimey soaps and limp ragged bath sponges. Replace with liquid shower and bath products. You can take all the new stuff with you to the next home.

Painting is expected by buyers, but don’t repaint the same colors that you chose 10 years ago. Pick an updated neutral like a warm grey instead of beige. Be sure to choose a color that will complement the architecture and flooring in your home.

Keep in mind that the typical home purchased in 2013 was 1,860 square feet and built in 1996, so homebuyers aren’t expecting your home to be a mansion, nor do they expect it to be new, but they do expect to see pride of ownership. The more tweaks, updates and repairs that you perform, the more confident your buyers will be that they’re choosing the right home.

via The Three Biggest Turn-Ons For Homebuyers.

Posted in Buying a home in Kentucky, Real Estate issues in KY | Tagged homes for sale in Shelby county ky, Louisville.myzija.com, ShelbycoKyMLS, Todds station homes | Comments Off

17 Hacks to Get Your House Sold but what is a “Hack?”

Posted on April 11, 2014 by bestofshelbycountyky

What is a hack? Why do we call it a “hack?”

Yes I’m 40, and have no idea why this term is used for “ideas” with today’s social media.

17 Hacks to Get Your House Sold.

These opinions on how to prep our home for sale are very good, this is why you need a professional’s opinion on your home.

If you’re like many sellers, you think your house is perfect and you can’t imagine why it wouldn’t sell exactly like it is right now. This is a common problem. It’s called “You can’t see what’s right in front of your face because you’re enamored with your house-itis.”

This is often the cause of homes that go unsold while others fly off the market. Symptoms include too much clutter and personalization, outdated décor and fixtures, and a general unwillingness to see the things that other people – people like buyers and agents – are seeing.

There is a common cure. It starts with taking a good, honest look at your home and then making some small changes to turn what could be an unsellable house into a sold house. Try our 17 hacks and you’ll be eyeing that sold sign in no time.

1. Look at your home with fresh eyes. The reality is you may not even know what your house really looks like, because you’re not looking at it like someone who’s never seen it before. You overlook the pile of shoes at the front door, the lint on the ceiling fan, and the overflowing pile of mail on the counter.

Go outside, ring your doorbell, allow yourself to be let in, and scan the house, like you would an open house. What do you see? Clutter? Personalized items everywhere? Outdated décor? Dirty walls or floors? Broken appliances? Noticeable cracks in walls and wear and tear on floors? These are all things that will be noticed by buyers and can keep you from getting a good sales price or selling at all.

2. Organize bookshelves neatly, or, better yet if you’re a book hoarder, take half of the books and put them in boxes stacked neatly in the garage. You’ll have to box them up soon anyway, right? Get a head start now and de-clutter at the same time!

3. Apply that same principle to your picture frames and your knick-knacks. Creating some airiness will allow buyers to see the space, not your stuff.

4. And apply that same principle to your closets – and don’t forget the coat closet and linen closet too. Closets that are overfilled will be a turnoff for buyers. You want the house to look like it has ample space for everything, not that there is so little storage you have to cram everything in.

5. Clean your sinks and your toilets and keep them clean. Sound obvious? You’d be surprised.

6. Make sure the insides of your drawers and cabinets are tidy. Yes, people will open them. Wouldn’t you?

7. Have a dog? Clean up the poop in the backyard. Poop on a potential buyer’s shoe is a sure way to kill a sale.

8. Have a cat, bird, leopard, gecko, or any other type of animal? Tidy up their cage, take care of any visible waste, and make sure there are no prevailing odors. Stinky doesn’t sell.

9. And speaking of stinky… selling is about sensory. People will look, touch, and smell. Steal an idea from model home communities and bake chocolate chip cookies right before an open house or a showing if you have time.

10. At the very least, have fresh flowers in the entry to set an inviting tone. Also make sure you have a clean welcome mat out front and there are no advanced weeds, excessive leaves, or a dirty walkway. First impression, you know.

11. Look up, down, side to side. Let yourself see everything. Dirty light fixtures or missing or inoperable light bulbs, and filthy air conditioning registers or baseboards can put a bad taste in a buyer’s mouth, and all are simple fixes. Cleaning and painting baseboards is one of the quickest, easiest, and most impactful changes you can make to a space because it brightens up the space instantly and gives it a fresh look.

12. Check all the windows and doors, doorknobs, locks and any other little things that can be easily fixed by with a DIY moment.

13. Get dirty clothes off the floor. Even in the laundry room. If your laundry basket is overflowing and it’s time for a showing, put all the clothes in a trash bag and stow it in the garage. Just remember to bring the bag back in before trash day!

14. No dirty dishes in the sink. No time to wash them? Stow them in the dishwasher, even if they’re not scrubbed and ready to be loaded. And do it neatly. Buyers may open the dishwasher.

15. Same goes for your oven and your microwave. A quick fix for a dirty microwave: fill a microwavable bowl with water and zap it for two minutes. When it’s done, the steam will have loosened up anything caked or baked on, and you can simply wipe clean

16. Open the blinds or drapes and let the light in – and while you’re at it, clean the windows! Natural light is one of the top features homebuyers are looking for.

17. Make your bed. Seriously. No one wants to see your crumpled sheets or your jammie pants on the floor next to bed, for that matter.

Now, you’re ready to sell!

See all homes for sale here www.Shelbycountykyhomes.com

information provided by Realtytimes.com

Posted in Real Estate issues in KY | Tagged homes for sale in Shelby county ky, Keller Williams Shelby county KY, prep your home ky, rolling ridge homes for sale | Comments Off

5 Things Sellers need to know and Buyers always shy away from.

Posted on April 3, 2014 by bestofshelbycountyky

Realty Times has is nailed down. Read the entire at their site.

A lot of sellers don’t listen to their real estate agents, so we’ll tell you what your agent wants to say, but can’t say to you and this is it – your agent can’t get you the price you want unless your home is in pristine move-in condition.

That means no sticking drawers in the kitchen. No leaning fences. No rust-stained plumbing fixtures. We could go on, but maybe we need to make it clear. If you have even one of following “turn-offs,” your home won’t sell.

Buyers can get instantly turned off. Here are their five biggest turn-offs:

1. Overpricing for the market

2. Smells

3. Clutter

4. Deferred maintenance

5. Dark, dated décor

Overpricing your home

Overpricing your home is like trying to crash the country club without a membership. You’ll be found out and escorted out.

If you ignored your agent’s advice and listed at a higher price than recommended, you’re going to get some negative feedback from buyers. The worst feedback, of course, is silence. That could include no showings and no offers.

The problem with overpricing your home is that the buyers who are qualified to buy your home won’t see it because they’re shopping in a lower price range. The buyers who do it will quickly realize that there are other homes in the same price range that offer more value.

Smells

Smells can come from a number of sources – pets, lack of cleanliness, stale air, water damage, and much more. You may not even notice it, but your real estate agent may have hinted to you that something needs to be done.

There’s not a buyer in the world that will buy a home that smells unless they’re investors looking for a bargain. Even so, they’ll get a forensic inspection to find out the source of the smells. If they find anything like undisclosed water damage, or pet urine under the “new” carpet, then they will either severely discount their offer or walk away.

Clutter

If your tables are full to the edges with photos, figurines, mail, and drinking glasses, buyers’ attention is going to more focused on running the gauntlet of your living room without breaking any Hummels than in considering your home for purchase.

Too much furniture confuses the eye – it makes it really difficult for buyers to see the proportions of rooms. If they can’t see what they need to know, they move on to the next home.

Deferred maintenance

Deferred maintenance is a polite euphemism for letting your home fall apart. Just like people age due to the effects of the sun, wind and gravity, so do structures like your home. Things wear out, break and weather, and it’s your job as a homeowner to keep your home repaired.

Your buyers really want a home that’s been well-maintained. They don’t want to wonder what needs to fixed next or how much it will cost.

Dated décor

The reason people are looking at your home instead of buying brand new is because of cost and location. They want your neighborhood, but that doesn’t mean they want a dated-looking home. Just like they want a home in good repair, they want a home that looks updated, even if it’s from a different era.

Harvest gold and avocado green from the seventies; soft blues and mauves from the eighties, jewel tones from the nineties, and onyx and pewter from the oughts are all colorways that can date your home. Textures like popcorn ceilings, shag or berber carpet, and flocked wallpaper can also date your home.

When you’re behind the times, buyers don’t want to join you. They want to be perceived as savvy and cool.

In conclusion, the market is a brutal mirror. if you’re guilty of not putting money into your home because you believe it’s an investment that others should pay you to profit, you’re in for a rude awakening. You’ll be stuck with an asset that isn’t selling.

Search for the best homes here

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Ebay doesn’t cover Craigslist mistakes Rental Scams are rampant across the US–

Posted on April 2, 2014 by bestofshelbycountyky

With the invention of the world wide web, cam the world wide scammer. Our security of personal information needs to be even tighter than it was before yet some people can’t get the message until its too late.

If you are searching for a rental property for 12 months, 1 month vacation or even 1 week vacation. Be certain you cover everything possible. We are finding our REALTOR listed properties on craigslsit, Hotpads, Zillow, Trulia, etc, for 1/2 of what list the home on the MLS. Normally the numbers are suspicious math. If we list it for $1800 a month the bogus ads lead the reader to believe $1800 is total move in, $900 for rent, $900 for deposit for total of $1800. Clever.

Recently I found my newest listing on the vacation section of Craigslist for $110 a week. I’ve flagged it repeatedly and it will not come down. They are refreshing it every 2 days.

Talk to someone in person before making any deposit, check the BBB, and if you can check the state registrar for LLC’s, INC’s, and Coprporations for validity. Its your money! Ebay doesn’t cover craigslist!

Local new reports over the last 3 years are here: Its not new, only new to the victim

You can search for houses listed by REALTORS here at Shelbycountykyhomes.com

Posted in Homes for sale in Shelby county KY, Real Estate issues in KY, Shelby county Ky news | Comments Off

Scammers are everywhere, be aware of bogus rental listings and some FOR SALE

Posted on March 30, 2014 by bestofshelbycountyky

Flagging scams on my rental listings. FRIENDS BEWARE: ads on trulia, zillow, hotpads, etc are easy to create and there are always people trying to scam cash out of the unsuspecting person. USE A REALTOR TO BUY OR RENT if you can. renting can be difficult on our end AS REALTORS but we can help.

Guides to phishing scams

you CAN search all homes for sale in Shelby county right here. Even here too

homes for sale in Louisville are on the same site or here

Posted in Homes for sale in Louisville, Homes for sale in Shelby county KY, Real Estate issues in KY | Tagged Adam Borders, Best Buys in Kentucky, foreclosures in Shelby county, homes in shelbyville, ShelbycoKyMLS | Comments Off

18 Ways to Prep Your Home’s Exterior for the Spring Market

Posted on March 24, 2014 by bestofshelbycountyky