How to prepare your Home when you are selling.

How to Prepare Your Home for Sale
By Freddie Santiago
Prepping your home Every seller wants their home to sell fast and bring top dollar. Does that sound good to you? Well, it's not luck that makes that happen.It takes planning, hiring a good Real Estate agent and knowing how to prepare your home, that will send home buyers scurrying for their checkbooks. Here is how to prep a house and turn it into an irresistible and marketable home.

Here's How:

1.Disassociate Yourself With Your Home.

•Make the mental decision to "let go" of your emotions and focus on the fact that soon this house will no longer be yours.

•Don't look backwards -- look toward the future.

2. De-Personalize.

Pack up those personal and family photographs and memorabilia.. You want buyers to imagine their own photos on the walls, and they can't do that if yours are there! You want buyers to say, "I can see myself living here."

3.RemoveFavorite Items.

Remove every thing that is not going to be included in the sale of your property. If you are not including a ceiling lamp, remove it. If the buyer never sees it they will never want it therefore they will not covet it and it will not ruin your deal.

4. Make Minor Repairs.

•Patch holes in walls.
•Fix leaky faucets.
•Fix doors that don't close properly and kitchen drawers that jam.
•Consider painting your walls neutral colors,
•Replace burned-out light bulbs.
•If you've considered replacing a worn bedspread, do so now!

5. Rearrange Bedroom Closets and Kitchen Cabinets.

Buyers love to snoop and will open closet and cabinet doors. Think of the message it sends if items fall out! Now imagine what a buyer believes about you if she sees everything organized. It says you probably take good care of the rest of the house as well. This means:
•Neatly stack dishes.
•Turn coffee cup handles facing the same way.
•Hang shirts together, buttoned and facing the same direction.
•Line up shoes.

6. Rent a Storage Unit.

Almost every home shows better with less furniture. Remove pieces of furniture that block or hamper paths and walkways and put them in storage. Leave just enough furniture in each room to showcase the room's purpose and plenty of room to move around.

7. Make the House Sparkle!

•Wash windows inside and out.
•Rent a pressure washer and spray down sidewalks and exterior.
•Clean out cobwebs.
•Re-caulk tubs, showers and sinks.
•Polish chrome faucets and mirrors.
•Clean out the refrigerator.
•Vacuum daily.
•Wax floors.
•Dust furniture, ceiling fan blades and light fixtures.
•Hang up fresh towels..
•Clean and air out any musty smelling areas. Get a a fresh smelling air freshner Odors are a no-no..

8. Check Curb Appeal.

If a buyer won't get out of her agent's car because she doesn't like the exterior of your home, you'll never get her inside.
•Keep the sidewalks cleared.
•Mow the lawn.
•Plant colorful flowers or group flower together.
•Trim your bushes.
•Make sure visitors can clearly read your house number

Home prices are on the rise again. it is now the time to sell your home if you have been thinking about it

visit my website at: http://www.eastkendallrealestate.com and input your contact information.,iIf you would like more information on sellingyour home.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Freddie_Santiago

Coming up events and Some Real Estate news

*Avocado Festival
Saturday, Aug 18 9:00a to 5:00p
at Unity Center of Miami, Miami, FL
Age Suitability: None Specified
Tags: There are no tags.
CELEBRATE SUMMER WITH UNITY CENTER OF MIAMI'S EVERYTHING AVOCADO FESTIVAL.. PURCHASE HOME GROWN HOME PICKED AVOCADOS. ENJOY MUSIC, FOODS & DRINKS. FACIALS, HAIR & MASSAGE with Avocado Based Products.
August 18, 2012 9am-5pm @ 16320 SW 147 Ave Miami, Fl

*Wine by the Bay Presents a "Beer Tasting"
Thursday, Aug 16 7:00p
at Wine by the Bay, Miami, FL
Price: Call for Details
Phone: (305) 455-9791
Age Suitability: 21 and up
Tags: wine tasting event downtown miami cultural art
Tonight we will be tasting some of the best beers Germany has to offer. Lederhosen is optional! RSVP is required to info@winebtb.com or 305.455.9791.Wine by the Bay is Downtown Miami’s best source of wine for all tastes and budgets, Champagne, exotic beer, Foie Gras, and caviar. Plus art exhibits and cultural events! Free delivery to select areas with a purchase of 6 bottles or more.

*Sunset Marketplace
Saturday, Aug 18 10:00a to 6:00p
at Sunset Place, Miami, FL
Price: Free
Phone: (305) 531-0038
Age Suitability: All Ages
Tags: fruit, organic, honey, vegetable
The market will include organic foods, fruits and vegetables, soaps, tropical fruit smoothies, plants and baked foods

*Nestor Torres to Perform and Introduce New Musical Acts Towynwood Kitchen & Bar Weekly Music Series
Thursday, Aug 16 7:30p
at Wynwood Kitchen and Bar, Miami, FL
Phone: (305) 722-8959
Age Suitability: None Specified
Tags: There are no tags.
As part of Wynwood Kitchen & Bar's music series, curated by Grammy Award-winning jazz flautist Nestor Torres, musical talent Big Brooklyn Red will be performing Thursday, August 16 at 7:30 p.m.

The series continues through the summer and until further notice. All performances begin at 7:30 p.m.

*Miami Raymi
Saturday, Aug 18 7:30p
at Area Stage Company at Riviera Plaza, Coral Gables, FL
Price: $ 15.00
Phone: (305) 776-1073
Age Suitability: All Ages
Tags: music, folk, peru, andes, miami, kuyayky, raymi
"Miami Raymi"
Back by public demand

“Miami Raymi” is a unique and spectacular show that features Andean music, dance, video and photography as an allegory of the “Inti Raymi”also known as the Festival of the Sun, one of the biggest ceremonies
in honor of nature performed by the people of the Andes.
This event is produced by Kuy Productions and the Kuyayky Foundation.

REAL ESTATE HAPPENINGS

*Indian Creek mansion sells for record $47 million
In the latest sign that luxury property is hot, especially in South Florida, an estate at 3 Indian Creek fetched $47 million, a Miami-Dade record.

This bayfront Indian Creek mansion sold Tuesday for $47 million, marking the highest price paid for a residence in Miami-Dade County history.
A spectacular bayfront Indian Creek mansion sold Tuesday for $47 million, marking the highest price paid for a residence in Miami-Dade County history, according to real estate agents.
The new 10-bedroom, 14-bathroom resort-style estate at 3 Indian Creek is nestled on a lot that measures 200 feet by 400 feet — that’s a little less than two acres — facing west to the aquamarine waters of Biscayne Bay. It was constructed along a series of pavilions connected by stone walkways and garden walls.
The original asking price was $60 million, later marked down to $52 million.
The largely glass home, which brings in natural light and integrates the outdoors, features a 100-foot swimming pool and cabana, six wet bars, a rooftop sky bar and Jacuzzi, plus a spa and glass-enclosed waterfront gym at the home, which spans 22,000 square feet of enclosed space. Its beach has pink sand imported from the Bahamas.
There is a 3D theater, a recording studio, a vertical garden and indoor reflecting pools

*Insurance ‘sticker shock’ for home buyers
As rates rise at Citizens Property Insurance Corp., real estate professionals say Florida’s housing market is taking a hit
TALLAHASSEE -- Justin and Ashleigh Leto were ready to buy their Florida dream home. The property was perfect, the price was acceptable and the sellers were ready to hand over the keys to the first-time homebuyers.
One problem: insurance.
The home, a four-bedroom in Coconut Grove, had been deemed risky by all licensed private insurers, leaving state-run Citizens Property Insurance as the only company willing to cover it. Due to recent changes at Citizens, the quote for the annual insurance premium was far higher than anything the Letos had budgeted for. The deal nearly fell through.
“If I didn’t have friends who had warned me about the high cost of insurance, I would have been shell-shocked,” said Justin Leto, who closed on the house in June but still worries about the $11,000 annual insurance premium. “For a lot of people, this is going to make it impossible to buy a home.”
It’s a scenario playing out across the state, as rising insurance premiums play an increasing role in the home sales market, according to real estate agents and home builders.


RECENT SALES


*10170 SW 125 AVE$417,000.00 Buyer: ORTEGA, VALERIA C
Assessed value: $415,533.00
Recording date: 08/03/2012
Seller: PIONEER INVEST ENTERP INC TRU
Beds/baths: 4/2
House square feet: 2829

*10301 SW 117 AVE$293,000.00 Buyer: PERNUDI, KIMBERLY S
Assessed value: $291,713.00
Recording date: 03/27/2012
Distance: 1.6 miles
Seller: VELEZ, MARIO
Beds/baths: 3/2
House square feet:2490

*9300 SW 153 PSGE$275,000.00 Buyer: PRIVATE LENDING GRP LLC
Assessed value: $275,035.00
Recording date: 06/01/2012
Distance: 2.7 miles
Seller: PINO, SERGIO
Beds/baths: 4/3
House square feet: 3077