Southwest Missouri Homes and Lifestyles

10 Staging Tips To Get Your Home Sold  Ready to sell your house? Here is a few staging tips to get your home prepared for the market. When listing a home that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, you want to make sure it's presented in the best light. You wouldn't buy a $50,000 dollar car if it was filled from top to bottom in someone's personal content and trash. This is the same mindset you need to carry into selling your home that will be worth well over a $100,000. 1.  SAY BYE TO CLUTTER The best thing you can do for your home for sale is to get rid of all of your clutter! Make a rule for your home that for every new piece that comes in, one must go. One of the biggest factors to a cluttered home is too much furniture. Generally, in a professional staging, half the home owner's furniture is removed to make the house look much bigger. Look around your house and see what you can pack away. It'll be worth the investment to get a stor

Is your bathroom small? It’s the worst, isn’t it? Well, unfortunately, small bathrooms are very common, and are usually the smallest rooms in the house. I can almost bet that it almost always feels cramped and tight in there. Although the square footage doesn’t change, a change of organization and storage space can make a drastic change to how your bathroom feels. Here are a few tips and tricks to make your bathroom space feel more functional and spacious.  Medicine Cabinet If you have a regular mirror, replacing it with one that includes a medicine cabinet and provide further storage space.   Shelving If you have free space above your toilet, vanity, or other another empty part of the wall, install shelving units. Purchase a few decorative baskets to maximize shelf space.   Hooks With a few decorative hooks, in a style of your preference, you can declutter by placing a couple on the back of the door to hang towels or robes. Perhaps one or two right next to each e

Fall Leaves Bring Sold Signs Summer has come to an end and you probably are thinking you've lost the opportunity to sell, and need to wait till next summer. But that's far from the truth! Although it's not as hectic and crazy with the swarm of buyers on the market, the fall season brings out the most serious of lookers. They are the pool of buyers that waited out the summer frenzy to find their perfect home in the fall, and you don't want to miss these buyers! They are ready to make a move, today! And selling in a slower period does not equate to less money. That's a misconception that home owners have based on untrue data that floats around. With the right agent, and your home being priced correctly, you can get a great deal selling your home during the fall season. And might actually prefer it. Here are the top 3 benefits to listing during the fall season. 1. Serious Buyers -  Let's be honest, if buyers are out during the busy season, looking f

Newlyweds are saying "I do" to each other, and equate to over half of first time home buyers that are also saying "I do" to their dream homes. It makes sense! When you put two hearts together, the time comes to find a home to nourish that love. A home that brings two of your places together, and makes it one. If you and your spouse are ready to fall in love with the perfect house together, here are five tips to make sure the process goes smoothly, and you come prepared. 1.  YOUR WEDDING BUDGET:  Your wedding is a one-time event that shouldn't be less than what you'd imagine. It's a beautiful time to put all of your dream pieces together. However, it's best to sit down and find out ways you can shift the budget to help with your down payment for a home, if you plan to purchase. The average couple spends a little over $20,000 on their wedding. Even a savings of $5000 from your wedding budget can help with owning the perfect home.  2.  W

If you haven't bought a home yet, you're missing out on a wonderful feeling! That moment when you walk through your doors, throw your purse or keys on the floor, plop down on your couch and breathe a sigh of relief while thinking, " Finally, it's ours (or mine)! " And the joy of looking at all of your boxes, getting to roll your eyes about why you buy so much stuff, then giving yourself a moment to take a nap because you worked hard to get here and earned it! Yes that's a real feeling! We often hear, and read, about the cost effectiveness of home ownership. The equity build-up, the freedom it can give us from finances in our retirement years, and a plethora of other ways owning a home can be a positive impact on your bottom dollar. But we don't often hear about the emotional impact owning a home can have. Yes there will be days the fridge is acting silly and you need to call your home warranty, or days you have to get outside to mow your own

The real estate market is constantly changing, so of course DO YOUR RESEARCH! DO NOT jump the gun on this one! Unbiased advice from family and peers may be kind, but you are the only one who knows what your needs are when it comes to buying a home.   WHAT MADE YOU CONSIDER OWNING A HOME? Forget finances for a minute and focus on what made you consider even buying a home in the first place! ·      Is your family expanding? ·      Does your family feel safe? ·      Is there a STELLAR school system in the area so your     children can get the education they deserve? ·      How about that unbearable landlord?   WHICH WAY IS THE REAL ESTATE MARKET GOING? DON’T SLEEP ON YOUR DECISION TOO LONG! Home prices are on the rise! Not only are they on their way back up, but these increases are happening monthly. Don’t believe us? According to  Existing Homes Sales Report  from the  National Association of Realtors (NAR),  the average price of homes in May 2017 went up 5.8% f

Are you ready to sell your home and want it to have a great first impression on the market? Or maybe your home has been listed for a few weeks or months, and you can't figure out why it won't sell, and you know your agent is working hard to market it. We've listed below the top 6 reasons your home may not make a good impression and end up stagnant on the market. 1. IT'S OVERPRICED To be clear, an overpriced home is the #1 reason a home won't sell. We often times want our homes to be worth a lot more than we may see based on the data, but if you put your home on the market for the number you wish it will bring instead of the price it actually needs to be, your home can sit on the market for months without getting a single showing. If you're thinking you need to price high to leave room for negotiations, statistics show that views for your property, for buyers in your price range, can drop a whopping 90% if it's priced too high. Discuss with you

The market is hot, hot, hot! With interest rates at an all time low for buyers, the market has turned into a feeding frenzy, and home sales are skyrocketing in prices. In such a high demand, seller's market, homes are selling for record breaking prices, which means more money in your pocket. If you have been considering selling your home, doing so in today's market will bring you a larger sales price. Don't wait for the market to shift when interest rates begin to start going up again. The National Association of Realtors has gathered data to predict a strong 6 months of sales throughout the United States. And with such a large group of buyers hunting for homes during the summer months, you have a great potential to sell your home quickly, and move on to bigger and better things sooner. This is also a great buying opportunity if you are wanting to transition into a new home. Low interest rates equate to more savings. You could potentially end up getting a bigger home

Home ownership rates are the lowest they have been in the last 50 years. Yet a large portion of Americans are still renting properties, instead of enjoying a home of their own. Consumer reports believe this is an issue because of a buyer's lack of trust in their ability to purchase. It is still a long standing notion that a buyer needs 20% towards the cost of the home in order to move forward, but this isn't true. With countless down payment assistant programs, and closing cost roll-ins, a home owner could move in with as little as a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars. Which is a huge difference in the time it takes to save up to make the move.  With interest rates at an all time low, home ownership in today's market is a great investment. The money saved over a mortgage's lifespan can result in tens of thousands of dollars, if not hundreds. That's more money in your pocket today. Don't wait to buy when interest rates soar again. With low i

Finally ready to make the transition into home ownership? That's awesome, and in this exciting time you can be turning to friends and family for an insight into the process. However, there seems to be a circulation of misinformation spreading around, so we're here to clear up a few myths.  1. THE FIRST STEP IS SEARCHING FOR A HOME You know the saying, "Don't put the cart before the horse," well that's important to remember when it comes to buying a home. You don't want to start looking for a house until you have gotten to sit down with a lender and discuss what the bank will qualify you for. If you fall in love with a house that's $250,000 and come to find out you're only qualified for $200,000 you can get your hopes crushed and waste a lot of time. Don't start the process on the wrong foot and make sure the numbers line up. 2. YOU DON'T NEED A REAL ESTATE AGENT For starts, when buying a home, 99% of the time the buyer

If you are a first time home buyer and don't know where to start, take a deep breathe.  Buying your first home can be a very rewarding experience.   The following steps can have you on your way to home ownership with a few phone calls and/or emails.  During my many years of real estate, these are the steps I advise for some of my favorite clients! Contact a lender for a pre-qualification.   There are loan programs designed specifically for you. If you are in a rural area, I suggest working with a local lender versus an online giant. Local lenders are familiar with the area and can possibly offer better loan options. Start with your bank or contact a local real estate agent for suggestions. The lender will gather your information and tell you a price range for a home you can afford.    Go Shopping!   This is the fun part!  Contact a real estate agent and tell them your wants and needs. Find ONE agent you like and stick with them. All agents in an MLS system can show all the prop