If you are planning on selling your home, there are some simple things that you can do to drastically increase the amount of money you will receive from it. Remember that most people that will look at your home will also look at comparable homes in your neighborhood. Top real estate value can only be achieved for your home if it stands out from all the rest of the similar homes in the neighborhood.

Real Estate Value – The 60 Second And 60% Rule

A home has 60 seconds to make a lasting impression on the potential buyer, so make it a positive one. Experts agree that 40% of the buying decision is determined when the potential buyer first drives up and gets a glimpse of the house from the curb. Another 20% of the buying decision is made when the potential buyer first enters the house; in other words 60% of the decision to buy or not to buy the house has been made right after the prospective buyer enters the house. That should tell you that 60% of your time preparing the house for sale should be concentrated in the front of the house and in the area as you just enter the house

Most potential buyers are looking to get excellent value for real estate they invest in and are looking for an uncluttered home with a free-flowing floor plan, and bright, clean interior.

Real Estate Value – Tip Top Condition

Make sure you pay special attention to the front yard: cut and trim the grass, trim trees and shrubs, plant colorful flowers, and paint the exterior of the house, if needed.

Real Estate Value – Remove Clutter

It is recommended that you open up all tight traffic areas and remove some furniture from the home to make it look larger. Change the light bulbs to the maximum wattage allowed, and open all drapes, shutters, and shades. If you are going to repaint the interior of the house then use white, this gives the potential buyer a canvas to work with.

Real Estate Value – Appeal To The Buyer’s Senses

You must make sure there are no offensive odors in the house because nothing turns off a potential buyer like a bad smell. If you are going to have an open house, then turn off the TV, turn on some soft music, and make some fresh smelling cookies or bread.

Real Estate Value – Exposure

Pure mathematics suggest that, the more potential buyers that tour your home the better chance you have to sell it at top dollar. Make sure your marketing plan includes listing your home on the internet both locally and worldwide. Professional flyers and brochures distributed in the neighborhood is another excellent way to give your home exposure.

Real Estate Value – Don’t List Too Long

If your home has not sold in a reasonable length of time, then take it off the market. A house that stays on the market to long, goes stale, and then will sell for a lower price. It is better to let the market correct itself, then relist.

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You’d have to be dead not to be moved by the foreclosure stories in the press, on television and maybe even in your own neighborhood.  Americans in particular find their identity through their homes.Although a house does not make a home, any kind of foreclosure can drive a person crazy.  This is now the best and worst times for real estate foreclosure investing.

Sticks And Stones

It is recommended that you keep your enthusiasm for real estate foreclosure investing to an absolute minimum.  Although there is nothing illegal in real estate foreclosure investing, the current American recession has made the general public very easily angered.  The general public looks at the turmoil, weeping and destruction around a simple HUD foreclosure home and then assumes that you are a heartless Scrooge for being into real estate foreclosure investing.

The best thing you can do in this situation is not to argue back.You quietly do the best you can with the foreclosure property that's fallen into your lap and turn it onto a home for someone.If you believe in a God of some sort, than you can pray for the people who were kicked out of the home you now own.  By giving generously to homeless shelters and Habitat for Humanity, you also prove that you are putting your money back into the community and not just in your pocket.

Trust In Allah, But Tie Up Your Camel

It also is a sad fact that some people are trying to take revenge in any way they can on anyone who takes possession of their former home.  On the morning of this writing (July 24, 2008) a Massachusetts woman committed suicide in a foreclosed home that was going under auction.

It has been suggested by housing experts that as the America housing crisis grows, so will the revenge patterns.  Homemade bombs are being found, tons of pets locked in a home to die of starvation and someone leaving a ten foot alligator with attitude has also occurred.In this day and age, you need to keep your identity a secret and get a good security system for your home. 

You need to keep your guard up about strangers coming around your house, calling your or offering business proposals.  You need to educate everyone in your family not to talk to strangers, or let a strange person in the home.  Even though you might trust that no one will so crazy as to try to hurt you over real estate foreclosure investing, you never know.  As the old saying goes, “Trust in Allah, but tie up your camel.”

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With the recent down turn of the real estate market many astute investors are turning toward foreclosure properties in an attempt to find a way to make quick money.While in some cases this may work, finding a quality foreclosure property listing is not an easy task. 

What To Look For When Selecting A Foreclosure Property Listing

The first thing you want look at are any pictures of the property.  These should be prominently shown in any quality foreclosure property listing.  While a photo will not tell you right off the bat whether you should invest in a property, but it can let you know if you should not.  Before even going out onsite to look at a foreclosure property listing make sure that you get a picture even if there is not one in the listing.

The next thing you want to look for in a foreclosure property listing is who the broker who is handling it is.  This will give you an idea of what you can expect from the property as brokers will generally specialize.  Pick a broker and look at several properties that they have to offer so that when you go out you can examine many properties at once.This is the best way to maximize your time and canvas as many different properties as you can.  In addition you are going to want to find foreclosure property listings that are close to each other.  This strategy also helps to maximize the potential of your property as just about anything in the home can be fixed or changed except the location.  A good location is the best way to maximize the amount of money you can make.

Next you want to see whether the property is a HUD foreclosure or not.  HUD homes are generally very cheap but will require a lot of work to get back into a sellable form.  I would only look at a foreclosure property listing that is classified as a HUD property if you are prepared to do a lot of work.This is not to say that these properties are not worthwhile investments, but rather that they will require a lot more work than a non HUD home.

There are many other things that you want to look at before purchasing a foreclosure property listing.  These guide lines are a good place to start, but you will need to decide for yourself what is and is not a worthwhile property to look at.

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