Home Selling Tips

The Wall Street Journal recently brought up an issue that's likely to be near and dear to many people who want to sell their Boise, Idaho real estate. Do you need to undertake some home improvement projects before you try to sell your home? That was the question posed, and in short, the answer seems to be 'yes,' although home owners in different parts of the country concentrate on different things for these types of home improvement projects.

How to Sell Your Home in Five Easy Steps

The truth of the matter is, there aren't five easy steps to selling your Boise home for sale. There are a lot of them, but making quality home improvements can help (as can doing some home staging). For example, if the WSJ article, one home on the market sat for two months with

If you're considering putting up your Boise home for sale, you've undoubtably considered or at least have heard about home staging. However, there are many misconceptions about home staging. It's more than just cleaning up your home so that it looks nice, although that's certainly part of it. It really can be likened to your home's coming out party. It shows your home in its best light and at its best angles, allowing your home's next owners to envision how they could make your home theirs.

Here's some tips for staging your Boise home for sale so that it doesn't stay on the real estate market for very long:

Neutralize It!

You might love every personalized nook and cranny of your Boise home for sale, but if your home looks too much like you,

When you're hunting for Boise real estate deals, be sure to understand that price per square foot aloneis not a good estimator of value.  I find that many people too quickly jump to price per square foot without considering the factors that affect a homes value.  Price per square foot is only a reasonable measure to use when:

• The total square footage is similar. All other things held equal, a 1500 square feet home is not a good comparison to 2500 square foot home.  Smaller homes have a higher price per square foot because the land value has more of an influence and larger homes have economies of scale.
• Similar quality and finishes. A home with hardwood, granite, tile walk-in shower, etc. is going to have a higher price per square foot than a

Home Staging Checklist

Properly staging your home for sale takes some time and hard work but is one of the most important things you can do to sell you home for maximum value and get it sold in a reasonable amount of time.

As you go through this checklist and begin to clear out/reduce the clutter just think of it as getting a head start on the packing you'll have to do when your house sells. Also, quit packing around stuff you don't need or use any more. Make a donation pile and give it to charity.

In every room of the house, look as though you were the potential buyer. What do you see? What would make the room look better? What should be moved out? Could things be re-arranged to make the room look bigger? You don't want the buyer to not be

Are you having trouble keeping up with your mortgage payments? Have you received a notice from your lender asking you to contact them?

• Don't ignore the letters from your lender
• Contact your lender immediately
• Contact a HUD-approved Housing Counseling Agency
• Toll FREE (800) 569-4287
• TTY (800) 877-8339

If you are unable to make your mortgage payment:

1. Don't ignore the problem. The further behind you become, the harder it will be to reinstate your loan and the more likely that you will lose your house.

2. Contact your lender as soon as you realize that you have a problem. Lenders do not want your house. They have options to help borrowers through difficult financial times.

3. Open and respond to all mail from your lender.