Real Estate Update

Archive for November, 2010

When selling your condo, it is extremely important to show it at its potential.  Here are a few simple things you can do to increase the attractiveness of your condo unit to potential buyers while still keeping within a budget. Some of these items are do-it yourself projects and some require the help of a professional. Either way these changes will help you get top dollar for your condo unit and also have a great return on investment.

In cost ascending order, here is what you can do to better present your condo unit for sale:

1)      De-clutter and de-personalize– This is probably the most cost effective yet easy improvement you can choose to do. When it comes to showing your condo, less is more. Remove religious items, family photos, gadgets and knickknacks. Keep in mind you want the buyer to remember the condo unit and not your extensive collection of DVD’s.

2)      Clean – I know you are busy, but grab the vacuum and the glass cleaner and get rid of those dust mites and smudgy windows. People can not envision themselves living in a dirty home.

3)      Upgrade hardware – Are those handles on your kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors still from the 90′s? Changing the hardware is a simple and cost effective way to give a new, modern look to an old cupboard door.

4)      Upgrade light fixtures- Change old, outdated light fixtures and electrical cover plates.  These are cheap to replace yet make a huge difference in the appearance of a room. Don’t forget to make sure to replace burnt out light bulbs as well.

5)      Paint – Freshen up the interior of your condo unit with a new coat of paint. Use a neutral colour to make the space appear larger than it is and also to allow the buyer to envision their own furniture in the space. 

6)      Upgrade flooring - If it’s in your budget, replace old broadloom with simple, neutral broadloom or hardwood floors. If hardwood is way out of your budget, opt for laminate.

7)      Kitchen Upgrades – One of the first areas in a condo a woman looks at is the kitchen. If it’s not in your budget to re-model the kitchen then consider replacing those old appliances with stainless steel.  Stainless steel appliances are sleek and will give your home that modern touch.

In today’s buyers market it is more important than ever to make your condo unit more attractive to potential buyers. After all, you only get one chance at a first impression so why not make it a good one!

Boston home owners should plan ahead to find out how much it will cost to paint their house. Boston house painting contractors may give different estimates depending on their work schedule.  To get a house painted in Spring, asking for a quote during the Winter, when business is slow, may save some money.  The cost of painting the same house may rise in the Summer and Fall when painting contractors are busiest.

A bit of education will reveal that Boston house painters may come up with different approaches to the exact same job.  Knowing what those approaches are will help determine your costs and allow you to intelligently evaluate a house painting estimate.

Exterior house painting can be accomplished in a variety of ways.  Some house painters will prefer to spray the paint on, and others will rely on brushes or rollers to paint the same walls.  Each technique has advantages and disadvantages.  Painting contractors using the spray method may be faster, but often create a mess if windows and trim are not protected from the spray. Rollers will give a fast job without the mess, but are best suited for painting stucco, concrete and brick.  Brushes are the slowest application, but experienced house painters will often rely on them for the best results, especially on shingle and houses with clapboard or other siding materials.  

Before calling a contractor for your first quote, be aware of the condition of the walls of your house. Is the paint peeling, bubbling or cracking?  Is there mold, mildew or moss growing on the walls?  A good painter will not paint over unstable surfaces. Preparation requirements like scraping off old paint, priming raw wood, and caulking imperfections, gaps and cracks will affect your estimate.  

For Interior house painting, the approaches are similar to exterior.  Faster jobs, especially in new construction and vacant properties where mess is not a big factor, could be spray-applied.  Finer interior work will be accomplished with rollers and brushes. In all cases, painting contractors should be protecting windows and furnishings from any contact with paint, so be sure to inquire how your contractor plans to do that.  Ruined carpets and windows with paint on the glass are things you should never have to deal with.

Your house painting estimate will also depend on your choice of paint.  This includes both the quality of the paint and the color.  Obviously, the best quality materials will cost more.  Decide in advance if you want a cut-rate job, or a first-class one.  Then be sure that quotes are for similar quality paints and the exact same colors.  

Painting contractors will know if the job will require one coat of paint, or multiple coats.  If you are trying to hold costs down, choose a paint color which is the same as the old color.  Painting white over white may involve only a single application, but painting a light color over a dark one may require three coats.  Since you will be paying for each coat of paint, be prepared for the cost.

Finally, with all this in mind, approach two or three Boston house painting contractors, and then compare the costs.  The estimates will give you a good idea of cost and value.

When purchasing a resale condo unit, the buyer’s offer to purchase is usually conditional upon a few terms such as financing, inspection, lawyer review just to name a few. One of these terms may be an unfamiliar item especially for first time condo buyers. This term is the lawyer’s review of a status certificate. What is a condo status certificate you ask?

How does the condo status certificate work? – Depending on what is stated in the Agreement of Purchase and Sale, either the seller or the buyer orders and pays for, usually 0 (inclusive of hst) a book-like report from the condo corporation, who then has ten business days to prepare the document. This document, or status certificate, outlines all the rules and regulations of the condo and what is expected of the owners who live in the building. It also provides information on the financial standing  or health of the corporation (the reserve fund), what is included in the maintenance fees, whether there is an increase scheduled in the near future and if the current owner is up-to-date on their payments. Once this document is prepard it is then reviewed by the buyer’s solicitor. Once the buyer agrees to all the information outlined in the document, the status condition can then be waived by the buyer’s realtor.

In situations where there are multiple offers, realtors and buyers may waive this condition all together. Even though it may be waived, it is still a good idea to order a status report. 

My last apartment was fantastic…beautiful hill country views; a swimming pool that looked more like a resort in the Caribbean than an apartment community’s; awesome monthly parties where I actually made friends…in essence, the perfect apartment community.

Unfortunately, I rented this apartment at the height of a booming apartment market economy…so with a teeny, tiny special. Oh well. I often thought it was worth it when I lounged by that pool.

Times Change

Well, times and markets change. In fact, each market, submarket, city, and neighborhood can yield totally different concessions and specials. So just asking a friend what special he got may not cut it.

An apartment community’s special could be totally different from up north in a suburb to down south in the heart of the city. Pricing and specials depend on surrounding apartment construction, overall occupancy, floor plan occupancy, desirability of the area, and of course, that ever increasing interest rate pushing more and more people to stay in apartments. It can make it all quite confusing.

Where can you find specials?

So where can the average joe go to find out apartment communities’ specials? How about the web?

Websites like Apartment Home Living.com are proud to showcase apartment community’s starting rates on all floor plans offered, as well as their randomly changing specials, to help each renter determine the starting specials at communities. Just look on the left side of each of our ads, underneath the main photo. There are such a variety of specials out there. You’ll find things like deposits, 0 off first months rent, and free application fees.

Sometimes, these specials are on top of already great specials that individual communities offer when you call or walk-in. So you will always want to call each community that you’re most interested in to see if the floor plan you like features an individual special. You might get lucky.

Summer = specials big and small

As summertime arrives, specials will become less frequent. It’s a great idea to hop online, complete an apartment search engine’s personality matching search, then check out your matches. Most sites will list specials, so you’ll know what you are looking at.

Many properties may list “call for specials.” Don’t be aggravated by this. Accept it as up-to-the minute consistency. Many specials do change day to day and week to week, as different floor plans change in availability.

This is your best avenue to begin the discussion process as to what exactly sets this community apart and why you really may want to check it out before deciding completely on price alone. Check out our other article on what to ask when you call.

Then call. You never know—your favorite place may be priced right where you need it—and right when you need it.

For more tips on apartment hunting and living in apartments check out: Apartment Home Living.com

Fees will range depending on the rules set by a particular community, but as a general rule you will find the following fees in place at most apartment communities. Be sure and keep yourself a handy copy of your lease agreement as that little packet of paper should contain information on all the fees that you may have to watch out for. We, at Apartment Home Living.com, have put together a list of the most commonly seen fees and fines to put you in the know of where your money may go.

1) Application fee- On some properties it’s low, some it’s higher. Some even waive this fee as a move-in special, so be sure to ask. This is a one-time fee when you apply for an apartment, but still a fee none the less.

2) Deposit- This isn’t technically a fee, but is still a cost to factor in when moving to a new place. In most cases deposits go up proportionally by the size of the apartment, but the amount determined for the deposit ranges from community to community. If you are looking to save some cash in this area be sure to shop around at different places and find out what the deposits are. If you are lucky, you might even find a deposit special and not have to pay a dime here.

3) Pet Fee/Deposit- Chico may have only been from the Wal-Mart parking lot when you picked him out of that litter of tiny barking black and brown muzzles, but he may set you back 0, 0, or even 0 for a pet fee/deposit. Sometimes you will even find that you may have to pay a monthly pet rent to keep little Chico at your apartment. A pet fee or pet rent is usually non-refundable, while if only a pet deposit is required you may have a chance of re-cooping that money as long as Chico doesn’t do any damage to the apartment. Usually the cost of cleaning the carpet will more than likely be taken out of the pet deposit however.

In terms of fees or rent pets are sometimes negotiable. There may be factors that help influence the cost related to your little mongrel. If Chico’s a cat, De-clawing may give you a lower rate. A lot of communities are more flexible on their rules regarding cats. Make sure and ask lots of questions and weigh the options.

4) Late Fees- Invest in some sticky notes to remind you to pay your rent on time. Unfortunately, there are generally hefty fines accessed every time your rent is late after a certain period of time as defined by your lease. It can go up to a day in some cases, with usually a maximum amount at some point (right before you’re evicted). So it’s very important to get that rent in on time.

5) Garbage, Patio Fees- You should try to always keep trash from sitting by your door or on your porch. Many communities access fees for unkempt property, including trashy doorsteps and patios. Saving a little spending money and getting a little exercise is definitely worth the extra steps to the dumpster.

If your community offers a trash pick-up service, make sure to only leave trash outside of your door on the designated days. Putting it out on the wrong day may end up in a fine.

6) Feces Fine- Walking the dog around the community’s courtyard, make sure to pick up after the dog. It’s much better to bag now than beg later.

7) Parking Fee- Most apartment communities include free parking stickers, but occasionally some do have fees to obtain one.

Key/Lock Replacement Fee- It happens to all of us at some point in our lives. We lose our keys. Most apartments will access a fee to replace a lost or stolen key as well as an additional fee to change the door lock for your safety.

9) Noise Violations/ Fines- Having a bunch of parties? If the neighbors complain about the noise to the police, you may be looking at a hefty noise violation ticket. The apartments may also have a fine or other type of corrective action for noise pollution. It’s important to have a lot of fun, but try to keep the noise down a little.

10) Redecorating Fee- After you move out, if the apartment isn’t left in the exact condition it was when you moved in there will more than likely be a redecorating fee. Usually this is deducted from your initial deposit return amount and covers and repainting, carpet cleaning, general apartment cleaning, etc that needs to be done after you leave. If you extensively damage the apartment while living there, you may be looking at charges that exceed the deposit amount. The best advice is to clean like your mama would approve before you move out.

While these seem the most common fees and fines found amongst the growing number of apartment communities, there may be additional ones to be aware of. Make sure to look over the lease well and discuss any concerns with the leasing agent before you sign it. The best way to avoid fees is to know about them first.

For more info on this and many other apartment issues visit Apartment Home Living.com .