Selling Your Home After Labor Day?

Spring is typically touted as the busiest home-selling season, you don’t have to give up plans to sell your home until nest year. September through December may actually be the right time to sell your home. 

Conventional wisdom is that once spring gives way to summer and school starts, you’ve missed the opportunity to sell your home. After all, families have settled into the new school year and so are less inclined to move. But, Boomers and Millennials don’t always follow conventional wisdom either when buying or selling.

So, if there are buyers out there after Labor Day, how do you attract them?

Take care of outdoor winter maintenance for curb appeal

If your home is on the market in autumn and winter months, the last thing you want is to let maintenance slide. Potential buyers are more likely to notice (and ask about) exterior issues, so beat them to the punch by making certain your home’s outdoor systems are in topnotch condition.

Here’s a list of places to pay attention to:

• As leaves begin to fall, mulch or rake them. If you mulch them as you mow, the minuscule pieces of leaves will drop between the grass-blades and decompose, nourishing your lawn. If you rake up your leaves, don’t leave them in a big pile in the yard or on the curb. Piles of decomposing leaves and debris reduce your home’s curb appeal. Instead, contact your municipality to learn the best way to dispose of your raked leaves.
• Avoid pruning shrubs and trees until late in the winter. The healthiest time to prune typically is late winter—just before the spring growth begins. If you aren’t sure about the best time to prune your trees, contact a local nursery or the horticulture department of a local university. One exception to this rule is that if you have any dead limbs or trees, hire an arborist to removes them so that winter winds to not cause them to fall on your home or power lines.
• Once the need for watering is past, turn off exterior faucets, remove and drain hoses. If your home is more than 15 years old, you likely do not have frost-proof faucets, so turn the shut-off valve to off inside your home. If your home has an irrigation system, hire a professional to drain your sprinkler system so that pipes don’t freeze and break underground during the colder weather.
• Check your roof. In particular, look for loose, missing or damaged shingles. If you have a steep roof, use binoculars, or hire a roofing inspector to check it for you. If you’ve had hail in your area, most roofing companies offer free hail damage inspection. If you have a flat roof, make certain you sweep up the detritus of the long summer and fall.
• While checking your roof, have your gutters and downspouts inspected and cleaned. If water backs up in your gutters because they are filled with dirt and leaves, the damage to your roof, soffits and even your home’s walls is expensive to repair. Simply cleaning your gutters protects you from costly fixes later. If your downspouts end at the bottom of the exterior wall, add extensions or splash blockers to divert water away from your foundation.
• Put away garden tools and cover or store barbecues, outdoor furniture and toys. Give your porch and patio curb appeal with pots of autumn plants such as Chrysanthemums, Alstromeria, Amaranthus, Carnations and other fall-growing potted plants. As winter nears, add other winter-blooming flowers like Pansies to your pots. If you’re not into flowers, use pumpkins, straw or other dried autumn foliage to brighten up your home.

If you plan to have your home on the market after Labor Day, make certain to follow the advice of your real estate professional to present your home in the best possible light to the buyers that search for homes during this time.

Fall Family Fun in Hendricks County

Summer is taking its final bow and we're slowing making our way into fall. Soon the days will be warm - not sweltering hot - and the nights will be brisk filled with campfires and fire pits.

Fall family fun in Hendricks County is soon to be in full swing in the next couple of months. You won't want to miss the Balloon Glow, hayrides, orchards and festivals!

Take note of these sure to be spectacular events in Hendricks County this fall!

Avon Balloon Glow

Saturday, Sept. 19 at 6 p.m.

Hendricks Regional Health YMCA

The Avon Parks and The Hendricks Regional Health YMCA are coming together to host The First Avon Balloon Glow, on the back fields of the YMCA in Avon. Balloons will be tethered to the ground, hot air balloons will inflate and the pilots light them from within.

Avon Heritage Festival

Saturday, Sept. 26 from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Location: Various

This annual event is several days and spans two weekends. It begins Saturday, Sept. 19 with talent show preliminaries from 8 a.m. - 1 p.m. at Harmony Baptist Church.  The 26th is the Heritage Day Festival through downtown Avon, beginning at Kingsway.

Hogan Farms Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze (Brownsburg)

Sept. 19 - Oct. 31

Monday - Friday 1 p.m. - 6 p.m.

Saturday - Sunday 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Come check out the corn maze - and the HAUNTED corn maze ! Also, stop by the farm animal experience. Learn how each animal has an important role in our lives and on the farm.  Also watch the sheep dogs herd the sheep and listen to commands. Miniature cows will be here this year!

Fair on the Square (Danville)

Saturday, Sept. 12, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 13, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Danville Tri Kappa's Fair on the Square gather around the courthouse in downtown Danville for a free weekend event featuring live entertainment, local food and craft vendors with antiques, art, jewelry and more!

Beasley's Corn Maze (Danville)

Sept. 25 - Oct. 31

Beasley's Orchard

This year is the he 50th Anniversary of the Ford Mustang with our corn maze design: Mustang Muscle!

The Mustang Muscle Maze theme has been designed to offer visitors of all ages’ great fun and adventure while celebrating the 50th Anniversary of a well-known and popular vehicle – The Ford Mustang!

Beasley’s offers a variety of family-friendly agri-entertainment activities throughout their season. Along with the ever-popular Corn Maze, every weekend in October, Beasley’s offers hayrides to their 15-acre U-Pick pumpkin patch, a giant Hay Mountain for young guests to climb, and our new Barnyard Bonanza which features: a giant jumping pillow, a spider web rope climber, and ball zone for testing your accuracy in throwing footballs, basketballs and baseballs!

Quaker Day (Plainfield)

Saturday, Sept. 19

Plainfield Friends Meeting

Plainfield will host their annual Quaker Day Festival with carnvial rides, games, bounce houses, food, vendors and a car show, this weekend is all about Plainfield celebrating their Quaker heritage. Come check out the community parade, the craft and community vendors, and car show under the trees!

Plus, many more great events are planned across Hendricks County! Visit the county tourism website for more details and other events!

What To Do When When The Appraised Value Of Your Home Is Lower Than Expected

If the appraised value of the home you just made an offer comes in lower than expected, you may have some options.

Any home financed through a bank or mortgage lender requires an appraisal to protect them against originating a loan is upside-down (the loan is greater than the collateral).

There are many reasons that an appraisal comes back lower than the home price. The comparable houses used in the appraisal may not actually apply to the property you’re hoping to buy. For example, if the home you’ve put an offer on is semi-rural or rural, the comparable homes may not have as much land, or may have land but not as much house, or fewer outbuildings. In residential neighborhoods, the home you wish to buy may have upgrades that none of its neighbors currently have. 

Often, there are no other recent sales in the same neighborhood to compare to, so the comparables are from other neighborhoods that may not have the same quality of life or amenities as the neighborhood you’re hoping to buy into. Sometimes, the home is subject to a bidding war that drives the price higher than its actual market or appraised value.

Traditional banks and mortgage lenders offer mortgages for a percentage of the appraised value, not the sales price or the offer you’ve made. 

If the appraisal is less than the agreed upon offer you may need to come up with more cash, but sometimes there are other options:

Get a second appraisal. Yes, you can ask for a second appraisal from another qualified appraiser. Of course, you’ll have to pay for it, but it’s a small price to pay for getting the house of your dreams. Just know that the lender doesn’t have to accept the second appraisal … it’s value may be in appealing the first appraisal.

Appeal the appraisal. On the other hand, you can appeal the appraisal with the original appraiser. Review the appraisal carefully. Sometimes things get missed. Sometimes the comparables don’t really compare. Sometimes the appraiser doesn’t have all the information. Give as much information to the appraiser as you can. In recent markets, short sales and foreclosures of similar properties might skew the comparable data too.

Review the appraisal contingency clause. A contingency clause means that if the appraisal comes in lower than expected, you can renegotiate with the seller. Of course, they are not obligated to use the appraised value, but they may be willing to cover closing costs or other expenses so that you make the purchase. Sometimes the real estate agent(s) will take a lower commission to compensate for the difference.

You can agree to pay the difference, but you are betting on the price of real estate increasing, so you really wouldn’t want to do this unless this is your absolute dream home.

The best way to ensure you aren't the victim of a disappointing appraisal is to work with a real estate professional who knows the market well and can advise you of fair market values ahead of your making an offer.

Preparing To Buy A Home

Buying a new home is a life-changing experience. It can be long and tedious at times; however, it can also be a pleasant experience if you do some hard work in advance to get prepared. 

Here are four things you can do to get ready when buying a house.

Check Your Credit Report

Mortgage lenders use your credit score and history from your credit report in order to determine whether or not you qualify for a mortgage loan. Your credit score also determines the interest rate for your loan. You should check your credit report on a regular basis to make sure all of the information reported by the three credit bureaus is shown correctly. There are many online websites where you can monitor your credit report. If you don’t currently have any credit, it will be hard to get a loan. 

Many people will open a credit card through their banking institution. Once the card has been received, they buy gas or groceries with it and pay it off each month. The better your credit score, the lower your interest rate will be.

If you have any delinquent accounts on your credit report, you should work with the creditor to bring your account up-to-date, offer a settlement, or pay it off in full. For any errors or discrepancies you find, you should send a letter or a claim form to the reporting credit bureau to dispute it.

Downsize Your Living Expenses

In order to purchase a new home, you will need to have money saved for the down payment, closing costs, and other expenses, such as moving.  By downsizing your current living expenses, you can use the money that you save for your new home. You can cut your expenses by moving into a cheaper place, stop eating out frequently, and reducing your cable bill.

For example, if you are currently renting a house with a large rent payment, you should consider moving into an apartment with cheaper rent. If you are not sure where the best apartments are in your area, you should do an online search for “Dallas apartment reviews” or “Phoenix apartments.” Be religious about saving money as well. It may be hard at first, but once you are adjusted to cutting back, it will seem like a breeze and you will be in your new house in no time.

Take a Home Buyer Course

Enrolling in a home buyer course is helpful, especially for first-time home buyers. These courses provide information on steps that you need to take to purchase a home, look for a real estate agent, or apply for down payment assistance programs, and other helpful tips. The length of the course varies from one day to a few weeks based on who is offering the course.

If you are interested in attending a home buyer course, you should check with local banks, real estate companies, and nonprofit organizations in your community. You may find that some companies offer this course for free or for a minimal fee.

Get Pre-approved for Your Mortgage Loan

Getting pre-approved for your mortgage loan is recommended before you start shopping for a house. A pre-approval allows you to know in advance how much you have to spend on a house. It also gives you a buyer’s advantage over other buyers, who haven’t been approved for a loan yet, when you make an offer on a house.

As part of the application process, you may be required to provide documentation to show proof of income, employment, rental history, and other important factors. So you should start gathering these documents as soon as possible.

By using these four tips, you will have a jump-start on making your dreams to own a home become a reality.