Spring typically brings out buyers and is a good time to sell a home, but in the buyer’s market with so many homes for sale, sellers have to work harder to get the buyers to come see the property. With so many homes to choose from, what can help your home stand out from similar offerings? Try fixing up the yard. Boosting curb appeal doesn’t require a green thumb; it just takes some elbow grease, or a short-term contract with a yard service. A small investment in the yard and exterior can bring buyers in to look. Think of it as a prettily wrapped package over a brown paper bag; it gets people interested in opening it up. Strong curb appeal can be your edge over the competition. Here are a few easy tips to make your home look its best on the outside.

Clean up
Fallen twigs and leaves, long grass, wild bushes, overgrown trees, and any dead or scraggly plant  can make a home seem messy, ill-cared for, or neglected. Do a big yard clean-up when the home goes on the market, and a quick touch-up before showings to remove and new debris.
Clutter is a big turn-off. It distracts buyers from all the positives, so clean out carports, sheds, and garages and make sure the trash is picked up or well out of sight in the bin. Take a good hard look at the walls, windows, trim, and gutters. A session of power washing and a fresh coat of paint can make an old or drab-looking home shine.

Green up
Nothing appeals to buyers quite like a green lawn. Take advantage of spring showers (or create a few of your own) to get your grass growing. Throw out quick-starting seed (shade to full sun varieties are available) to fill in thin lawns, and apply proper fertilizers and weed killers to boost growth and remove unwanted intruders like dandelions and other fast-spreading lawn-wreckers. Spread a thin layer of topsoil over bare or rocky areas before seeding to give the grass something to hold on to. Regular mowing and edgings keep the lawn looking sharp and help grass build better root systems for stronger growth.

Brighten up
Consider investing in a few new plants. Fill in bare walls or fence lines with hedge or shrub varieties, and add in some bright seasonal flowers. Fill areas around plants with fresh mulch or pine straw for a polished finish. Healthy, attractive plants and neat growing areas make a home look picture-perfect complete, and create a cheerful atmosphere.  Even the addition of a single colorful pot of blooms can make a doorway seem much more inviting.

Buyer’s time is limited, and with so many options, they often decide whether to go inside based on pictures and drive-by viewings. Homes with attractive exteriors get more attention, more traffic, and more offers than similar homes with dull exteriors. This spring, boost your home’s selling power from the outside.  A good first impression is priceless, and it all starts from the curb.

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About The Author: Geoffrey Thompson is an owner and founding partner of Express Schools, LLC. Since 1996 the companies under this banner have offered online real estate licensing and insurance licensing courses as well as online real estate exam prep and insurance exam prep.

Renting a home used to be 10% cheaper than owning one, but in the current low housing market and high rental climate, renting now costs up to 15% more! The problem is threefold: rent is skyrocketing as the foreclosed and other former, declined, or prospective homeowners are forced to become renters, wages are stagnant as the low economy and high unemployment allows companies to offer less without fear of losing workers, and the value of the dollar has plummeted, driving up prices for everything.

For renters, it’s a simpler equation: can they make rent on their current paycheck? For all too many, the answer is starting to come up “no.”  Affordable housing is defined by costing no more than 30% of a household’s gross income. The Center for housing policy reported in February that 1 in 4 working households are spending an unsustainable amount to keep a roof over their heads: more than half of their pre-tax income on housing alone.  More recently, the National Low Income Housing Coalition reported that it is impossible anywhere in America to pay rent on minimum wage, and in 86% of the country, it is impossible on twice that much.

The demand and competition for rentals is a recent phenomenon spurred by the housing crash. Not only are a lot of former homeowners back in the rental market, long-time renters are afraid to make the transition to homeowners. There just aren’t enough rentals to go around, and landlords are getting top dollar as a consequence.

While rent rose an average 4% from 2008 to 2010, incomes dropped 4%, leaving household budgets to fall into a significant financial gap. As a result, more households are living in lowered or substandard conditions, struggling to make ends meet, or are seeking assistance,

All of this is related to the falling value of the dollar. As Forbes.com’s Charles Kadlec relates, “If the dollar had been as good as gold [maintained steady value over the past decade], the price of oil today would be about $20 a barrel, and the price of gasoline near $1 a gallon,” blaming the government’s ability to print money separate from the gold standard (gold-backed currency) for the erosion of dollar value, the explosion of national debt, and the general economic declines in the past 40+ years. He argues price inflation isn’t the cause, it’s the symptom: the dollar is worth less so it buys less.

There is some good news for the households that can make the transition: buying a home is at its most affordable levels in years. There are a lot of limitations; financing is still tight and a good job, credit, and a bit of up-front cash are still mostly necessary for homebuyers. The term “mostly” comes from some more good news: there are programs in place to help people missing a small part of that puzzle to take the plunge into homeownership. As rent becomes tighter, renters are strongly encouraged to talk to a housing specialist, a financial advisor, or a lending agent to figure out if and how home ownership could become their future.

Want to find out if you have what it takes to be a Real Estate Agent or Broker?

About The Author: Tom Davidson is the acting Director of Sales & Operations for Express Schools, LLC. Since 1996 the companies under this banner have offered online real estate licensing and insurance licensing courses as well as online real estate exam prep and insurance exam prep.

HOAs can provide many benefits for residents, and many homeowners are quite happy with their HOA governed homes. Here’s why:

Community Common Property
The largest single benefit from HOAs is the access to community properties and amenities that the associations maintain. Community public areas can be as simple as green space and storm water retention land; at mid-range include pools, parks, and recreational buildings; in the upper range sponsor golf courses, full-time security, staffed gyms and childcare facilities; or on the highest ends make up fully enclosed small towns, complete with fire departments and schools. Access to these amenities can greatly impact the residents’ daily lives and the neighborhood’s sense of identity and community. Well-maintained public areas allow homeowners the enjoyment of these areas and facilities without the personal maintenance and up-front investment of, for example, creating a large outdoor play-area, installing a pool, or building a home gym. Many residents consider these facilities alone well worth the association’s membership fees. These shared spaces also sponsor positive interaction between neighbors, rather than isolation, a trait that is beneficial to building healthy, involved communities.

Property Values
A significant number of CC&Rs deal with property values. They aim to create clean, uniformly attractive properties that, together, make the neighborhood attractive and desirable to current residents and future buyers. These restrictions prevent a resident from painting her house a glaring bubblegum-pink or other potential eyesores, like piled trash or visibly exposed clutter. Most have a requirement for yard maintenance, or include a community landscaping service as a part of the membership dues. These restrictions, however, are not limited to paint color or landscaping. The goal is to prevent eyesores; those things that upset residents and make buyers’ look elsewhere, but the definition of eyesore is in the eye of the beholder. Some HOAs use statistical information from real estate reports to limit seemingly innocent additions to properties that may threaten future sales, including basketball hoops, or any item that makes a single property stand out, for better (making the neighbors look bad) or worse (making the property look bad). Matters of personal taste, like holiday decorations, are also restricted in efforts to be conservative, politically correct, and uniform.

Behavioral Values
HOAs frequently have CC&Rs that regulate behaviors. While some of these behaviors are related to property values (such as bans on parking vehicles on the street or lawn, which is seen to invite negative attention, block access, and look “trashy”), many of these restrictions are intended to regulate interactions between residents. Pets, for instance, are a common restriction. Potentially dangerous dogs (as breeds such as pit bulls are often defined), dogs that bark loudly, frequently, or at night, outdoor cats that roam other properties, and other animals that may upset the neighbors are the targets of such restrictions. Noise and views are also frequently cited in CC&Rs. Residents complaining of noisy neighbors or neighbors who do things that “mess up” the resident’s views from windows or the view of their property from the street can take their cases to the HOA for review and relief.

All of the CC&Rs are ultimately designed to create a certain type of community and support the community’s values. In most cases these are structured for conservative conformity, but more recently HOAs have been created for “green” co-ops and other lifestyle choices. Home buyers that find an HOA that is a good fit for them tend to give neutral (“my life is not affected by the HOA”) to fully positive (“the HOA does things that make my life better”) reports.

Want to find out if you have what it takes to be a Real Estate Agent or Broker?

About The Author: David Goldstein is an owner and founding partner of Express Schools, LLC. Since 1996 the companies under this banner have offered online real estate licensing and insurance licensing courses as well as online real estate exam prep and insurance exam prep.

A Homeowner’s Association (HOA) is a legal entity that enforces rules and maintains common areas in many subdivisions and neighborhoods, including condominiums, townhomes, and single-family homes. These neighborhood organizations are typically created by the real estate developer of neighborhoods and housing types called common interest developments (CIDs), planned unit developments (PUDs), or housing cooperatives (co-ops). HOAs are frequently incorporated (corporations) and most maintain a non-profit status with a controlling board of voluntarily elected or appointed members from the association’s general membership. HOA membership is mandatory for all homeowners within the development and enforced with contracts signed during purchase. Membership contracts include regular membership fees or “dues,” and are subject to increases and assessments to cover costs associated with the HOA’s management duties.

A Brief History
HOAs gained popularity in the 60s and 70s, as developers realized that they could reduce their costs by building denser communities (more housing units on less land) while providing the sought-after suburban feel by providing shared public green spaces and amenities (typically pools, clubhouses, and other recreational facilities) rather than individual yards. They set up HOAs to collect dues from residents and maintain these shared facilities. HOAs also could be given authority to enforce rules that aim to promote neighborhood stability and preserve property values, which developers found to be useful selling points. Individual homeowners liked the increased housing affordability, the shared amenities (access without personal maintenance), and the sense of domestic security HOAs provided. Local governments (with supportive authorization from the Federal Housing Authority) liked that HOAs increased their tax base while simultaneously taking private responsibility for matters previously funded by those taxes (such as neighborhood roads, utilities, parks, and security), significantly increasing revenues, prompting many areas to exclusively support the development of HOA communities. Others legislative considerations, such as the Clean Water Act’s restrictions regarding water runoff created the need for storm water detention. In order to ensure such features were properly maintained (and privately funded), local governments soon began requiring these be public property under an HOA, instead of a single individual or the local government itself.

Purpose and Responsibilities
When created by the developer, an HOA helps to market, sell, and manage homes in the new development. Developers typically maintain privileged voting rights (controlling interest) in the HOA underneath the financial and legal cover of that community organization, and will transfer that control to the association after certain conditions have been met (usually a predetermined number of homes or lots sold).
The primary responsibility of an HOA is to maintain common areas. These can be as simple as a park or green space, a pool, or a recreational building, or as complex as enclosed community services such as sewer and waste disposal, childcare, schools, police and fire department, and other municipal services. While some small HOAs may fulfill their maintenance duties inside the membership, most HOAs hire full-time managers or management companies to oversee such maintenance.
Most HOA communities also include Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs). These are rules and requirements for all homeowners and are generally designed to promote uniformity and restrict homeowner activities or features than detract from overall property values and community harmony. CC&Rs are enforced through the citations and fines. HOA members are contractually required to comply with restrictions, pay fines, or face fine escalation leading to property liens and foreclosure. While most HOAs include an appeals process in their bylaws, many irreconcilable HOA disputes end up in civil court.

Currently, one in five, or 20% of all households in the U.S. live in an HOA community. Check out future blog posts to further discuss the Good and Bad sides of HOAs.

Want to find out if you have what it takes to be a Real Estate Agent or Broker?

About The Author: Tom Davidson is the acting Director of Sales & Operations for Express Schools, LLC. Since 1996 the companies under this banner have offered online real estate licensing and insurance licensing courses as well as online real estate exam prep and insurance exam prep.