Spring Cleaning Guide

Make spring cleaning less of a chore by following these smarter–and mostly greener–tips for this annual rite of homeownership.

Bathrooms

When it’s time to get down and dirty, many people start with the bathroom. Allen Rathey, founder of The Housekeeping Channel, says removing mineral deposits, rust, and such from toilets doesn’t have to mean chemical warfare. Don rubber gloves and use a pumice stone to erase stubborn stains. If you want more scouring power, Rathey recommends mixing baking soda with acidic vinegar. The concoction is just as effective as conventional cleaners, and there are no toxic fumes to inhale. This approach works equally well on tub and shower stains.

Buy your supplies in bulk to save. A 64-ounce bottle of vinegar costs about $4; a 12-pound bag of baking soda, about $7. Both items can be used throughout the house. For just $1 you can mix equal parts vinegar and water in a 32-ounce spray bottle to make a terrific all-purpose surface cleaner. That’s about $4 cheaper than buying a spray cleaner at the store.

Spring cleaning is the perfect time to extract dirt from porous grouted surfaces. For tile floors use your usual cleaner, but don’t mop. Instead, run a wet/dry vac, which will suck contaminants out of the grout. Mopping drives the grime into the grout rather than removing it. According to Rathey, grout can harbor stinky bacteria that leave a bad odor in the bathroom. This technique is more time-consuming than mopping, but it’s worthwhile to do at least once a year.

Kitchens

The kitchen can be a tough room to clean because there’s usually so much stuff in it, says Justin Klosky, founder and creative director of The OCD Experience, an organizational service. Before you break out the broom, go through your cabinets and drawers, and put together a box of items to donate and a box of items to store somewhere besides the kitchen. Clear your countertops of everything except items you use nearly every day.

After you’ve de-cluttered, you can get to work cleaning. Cloud Conrad, vice president of marketing for cleaning company Maid Brigade, says one tool you shouldn’t overlook is an all-purpose microfiber cloth (about $5). These aren’t run-of-the-mill dusting rags. Microfiber is a densely woven synthetic fabric that picks up dirt and greasy deposits without chemicals thanks to its unique composition. You should be able to clean surfaces like countertops, sinks, and stoves with warm water, a microfiber cloth, and a bit of elbow grease, Conrad says.

Since you prepare your food in the kitchen, consider using green commercial products for surfaces, or make your own vinegar/water spray. Conventional cleaners may remove dirt, but they can also harbor some nasty substances you don’t want in your PB&J. Microfiber, vinegar, and baking soda will clean and disinfect almost every kitchen surface at a fraction of the price. Don’t neglect once-a-year chores like vacuuming refrigerator coils (unplug your fridge first), and tossing out expired food from the back of the pantry.

Bedrooms

Since bedrooms are such individual spaces, there’s a lot of diversity in what needs to happen. Most homeowners should at least rotate and flip innerspring mattresses, and store out-of-season sheets and clothing. Also go through your closet, and donate or Freecycle items you haven’t worn in the last 12 months. For carpets and mattresses, consider using a professional cleaning service. Figure a typical mattress will cost about $70-$90 to clean, a bargain considering how much time you spend in bed.

Even if you’re getting your carpet professionally cleaned, you still need to break out the vacuum, says Leslie Reichert, owner of The Cleaning Coach. Use the hose attachment to get to the hidden particles along baseboards, under your bed, and in your curtains, favorite environments of dust mites. If you have a large-capacity dryer, throw curtains in on high heat for good measure to kill the little pests.

Living area

Another surface you should consider getting professionally cleaned is living room upholstery. It can be tricky to know exactly how to deep-clean different types of fabrics, says Rathey, especially if there are stains you can’t quite identify. Costs vary widely depending on the size of the furniture piece and the quality and state of its covering, but a typical sofa might run $70 to $90.

Microfiber cloths are great to use in the living area as well. Make sure you have cloths for each area of the house, though, so you’re not cross-contaminating bathroom, kitchen, and living areas. Use a damp microfiber cloth to wipe down windows, wood, mirrors, the tops of bookshelves, ceiling fan blades, and even the plastic housing of electronics for a quick, chemical-free clean.

Home Design Features Buyers Hate

Design glitches draw attention away from a home’s best features. Don’t let out-of-date fixtures and unappealing decor cost you a sale. While some buyers may actually appreciate “vintage” features, home and design experts say these 20 features almost always serve as a turnoff.

1. Dated and excessively bold or dark paint and tile colors, such as “Pepto Bismol” pink, Army Hospital green, deep plum, or jet black. Dark can be cool, but it has to be a color that’s popular today.

2. Lacquered or high-gloss painted walls that are expensive to repaint and show all defects. Likewise, faux- and sponge-painted walls can be so passe.

3. Painted trim that’s very dark-and costly to remove.

4. Wallpaper, which is a lot of work (and potentially expensive) to remove. Most disliked: Dated flowered or striped patterns.

5. Kitchens that lack any dining space. Also, outdated, small-scale, and dirty kitchen appliances that look like they won’t perform.

6. Worn, cracked laminate countertops, and backsplashes or plastic cultured marble.

7. Outdated bathrooms with small sinks, short toilets, squatty bathtubs, and tight showers-all of which aren’t conducive to unwinding after a long day’s work, says Ames.

8. Lack of ample closet space in bedrooms, or no closet at all and no place to build one or add an armoire.

9. Dens, libraries, and family rooms without built-in bookcases or a space to include shelves.

10. Stained and worn wall-to-wall carpet in rooms or on stairs. Worst choice: shag. Also, worn linoleum that suggests a house was never updated.

11. Poorly built additions that don’t blend with a home’s architecture, such as a sunroom with tinted glass.

12. Shortage of windows or very small windows, which makes a home feels dark and gloomy.

13. Ceilings with so many recessed lighting spots that they resemble Swiss cheese and are expensive to remove. Worst offenders: big 6-inch diameter lights.

14. Too many rooms outside the kitchen and bathroom that have cold ceramic tiled floors.

15. Children’s bedrooms with a theme that runs through the carpeting, wallpaper, murals, ceilings, light fixtures, curtains, and furnishings.

16. Homes without a foyer or garage.

17. Too many mirrored walls, ceilings, doors, and backsplashes in a single room. The effect is dizzying, Ames says. One mirror magnifies, but many cheapen the look.

I Hate That Wallpaper!!!

18. Skimpy molding and trim, such as 1-inch baseboards.

19. Noisy, grinding fan in a bathroom that’s attached to a light switch so it can’t be turned off.

20. Inexpensive gold-colored light fixtures in any room. Also, Hollywood-style lighting with huge bulbs in a bathroom is also out of date, design experts say.

More Time Than Money? Measuring Your Motivation To Sell

Welcome to the Price VS Time dilemma that faces all homeowners. Pick a price, any price for your home. Now wait. Eventually, someday, someone will probably be willing to pay you that price. The question is – Do you have the time or the desire to wait for that to happen or would you rather sell your home now for a reduced amount of money?

The Price VS Time dilemma is the challenge of determining which is more important to you as a homeowner – selling quickly or selling for top dollar. Of course, it’s easy to bang the kitchen table with both fists and say I want both, but that’s unrealistic. In the real world every homeowner falls into one of two categories: the necessary seller or the optional seller. Let’s define these two vastly different types of sellers:

The Necessary Seller: Necessary sellers are homeowners who must sell their home and it’s not something they can avoid or put off. Perhaps they have a job transfer or job loss, a pending divorce, health condition, or a financial crisis that is causing them to sell. Regardless of the reason, they need to sell, and the faster the better.

The Optional Seller: Optional sellers are homeowners who have made the choice to sell. They aren’t forced to move, they simply would like to make a housing change. Perhaps they want to upgrade to a newer home, a larger property, or just as likely, maybe they are selling to travel or move closer to friends and family. The bottom line is it will be inconvenient if they don’t sell, but the world won’t end.

So which kind of seller are you – a necessary seller or an optional seller? The answer to this question is key to determining how you resolve the Price VS Time dilemma, but be careful as it’s not as easy it might sound. For instance there are tens of thousands of necessary sellers across the nation who desperately need to sell their homes quickly, yet they act as if they are optional sellers.
These sellers list their homes for inflated prices and then are shocked, frustrated, or even angry that their homes fail to sell within their pre-set timeframe. Another wrinkle facing both optional and necessary sellers today is the issue of rapidly declining prices in many areas of the country. While in a typical real estate market an optional seller might hold out for top dollar, this strategy can easily backfire in today’s market as their home may be worth significantly less the longer they hold out for a higher price. In addition while many optional sellers may not be forced to sell, they may want to sell quickly because of other motivating factors. If this is the case they will need to adjust their pricing strategy accordingly.

If you are having a challenge determining just where you fall on the motivation scale ask yourself this follow up question. If I listed my home for 90 days and it did not sell, what would be my next step – adjust the price or give it a little more time? If your answer is to adjust the price, this would seem to indicate that selling quickly is more important for you. On the other hand if you feel more inclined to give it a little more time, top dollar is more than likely your primary motivator.

To unravel the Price VS Time mystery further sit down with me or Dave and give us an honest assessment of the reasons why you are selling. By reviewing what homes similar to yours have sold for in recent months and the time frame it took those sellers to sell, we can help you to set a pricing strategy that meets all of your needs.

The Murky Waters of Short Selling a Home

With residential real estate prices still depressed, sellers and buyers continue to find themselves navigating the murky waters of a short sale.

A short sale is a sale of property for less than the amount of the debt against it, and where the mortgage lender must agree to release its lien for less than what it is owed.

So why would a lender agree to such a sale? Because this is as good as it’s going to get. If the lender forecloses, it will incur additional costs and delays, and might have to evict its borrower.

In the end, the lender will receive less than what the short sale would produce. Thus, from the lender’s point of view, it’s better to have more money now than less money later.

For sellers, it’s important to understand that a lender’s agreement to release its lien for less than what it is owed does not mean the lender has agreed to forgive the remaining portion of the debt.

To the contrary, the lender may require that the seller sign a new note or an agreement modifying the repayment terms of the original note.

Or, the lender could file a lawsuit against the seller seeking a judgment for the unpaid balance of the original note. With a judgment in hand, the lender is then in a position to garnishee wages and bank accounts; have the sheriff sell the debtor’s possessions; and take other collection action.

If the lender does agree to forgive the balance of the debt — and this sometimes happens — the seller has another worry. Will the amount of debt being forgiven be treated as taxable income by the IRS?

In keeping with the tradition of the Internal Revenue Code, the rules here are technical and seem to change from time to time, so a property owner considering a short sale needs to check with a tax professional to determine the latest position the IRS has taken on this issue.

Because short sales are fraught with legal baggage of this nature, the Real Estate Division of the Washington State Department of Licensing and the Department of Financial Institutions have issued two bulletins about short sales. The DOL Short Sale Advisory is for home sellers but really should be for both sellers AND their Realtors/real estate brokers. DFI’s companion advisory is titled “Short Sale Guidance for Licensees” and contains many Q&As for both loan modification and short sale negotiation services.

Remember, Time is Not Your Friend when it comes to Short Selling your property. Call me today for solid answers to this very complex issue.

Should I stay or should I go?

I met with a couple the other night and they were facing some tough choices

Question: Should We Walk Away From Our Home?

They bought a home at the height of the market and now it is worth less than they paid for it. Not only has their value dropped, but they owe more to the mortgage company than the home is presently worth.

They both have good jobs and are not behind in our mortgage payments. But some family members are saying they should walk away. That it’s not a big deal, and they could start over. Is it really that easy? Should they walk away from their home?

Answer: You need a place to live. There are plenty of good reasons to own a home. For another, you made a promise to repay a loan, and most people feel an ethical, if not legal, obligation to follow through on their word. It’s a matter of personal integrity.

And yet another reason is markets move in cycles. You can’t time the real estate market. Eventually, what goes down comes back up. Historically, real estate values appreciate over time.

You have better alternatives to Buy and Bail.

Internet Sites for Walking Away From Your Home

For some people, walking away is the only solution because they can no longer afford to make an increased mortgage payment due to an adjustable-rate mortgage loan. So, they look online for a solution.

There are no honest solutions online from these walkaway profiteers. These are companies that prey on troubled borrowers’ misfortune and perpetrate the myth that walking away and going into foreclosure is a logical, foregone alternative.

You don’t need the help of an online company to help you do what you can do for yourself. Don’t line the pockets of opportunists. There are plenty of nonprofit organizations that can help you negotiate with your lender or offer up other viable options, and they don’t charge you:

You don’t need the help of an online company to help you do what you can do for yourself. Don’t line the pockets of opportunists. There are plenty of nonprofit organizations that can help you negotiate with your lender or offer up other viable options, and they don’t charge you:

• National Credit Foundation for Credit Counseling
• Hope Now
• HUD Approved Counseling Agencies

You can also find local nonprofit agencies that will give you free advice regarding foreclosure. Call your local council member’s office to get this information.

Foreclosure Scammers – If you fall behind on your payments, suddenly, plenty of foreclosure scams will find you. These companies will strip title from you faster than you can say, “What’s a quitclaim deed?” Don’t do business with them. Call a trusted friend or a real estate lawyer before agreeing to accept “help” from a company who wants to steal your home by making promises it can’t fulfill.

Stopping Foreclosure – If you’ve reached the point where a Notice of Default has been filed and you are headed into foreclosure, there are ways to stop foreclosure. Again, deal with reputable companies that don’t have a dog in race. Ask yourself, if the company stands to profit from helping me, how much help is it likely to offer?

Bottom Line on Foreclosures – Foreclosures will ruin your credit. That derogatory credit will stay on your credit report for 10 years. Short sales affect credit in an identical manner. Doing a short sale won’t save your credit report.

You may qualify to buy another home in two to three years, but the interest rate offered to you will be higher. If you are facing a situation like this and have questions, don’t hesitate to call me. We have been helping people in this area for many years and we can help you too.

Plan now for your housing concerns after retirement and beyond

Do you remember when 50 was waaaay old? I sure do. Now it seems rather youthful eh! Anyway, one of the major decisions facing us “older folks” is where to live in our later years.

Anyone over 60 (not me – yet) who has grown children should be developing a plan for where to live when they’re 75, 85 and even older. Like solid retirement-investment programs, your housing plan can be sidetracked by all sorts of things like recessions and personal issues. The downturn in the Seattle housing market and nationwide of the last few years doesn’t help, either.

When it comes to housing decisions, it’s been shown that people, who thought about the issue and planned accordingly, fared better when it came to housing decisions. In a 2009 study, Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research analyzed information about moves made between 1992 and 2004 by people who were 51 to 61.

The study looked at all moves made during the period and reviewed the reasons people gave for relocating. Those who tended to be in control of their own move were classified as planners. They tended to move to get a better location or home because of retirement or financial reasons.

People who said they had been forced to move because of family or health issues — the death of a spouse, a divorce, poor health — were classified as reactors.

Having a financial cushion is, of course, a big help in providing some control over the timing of their move and the ability to carry out their plan even when things go less than perfect. It should come as no surprise that setting aside money to complete a move should be part of your plan. But so should doing some homework:

• Where do you want to live?
• What’s the housing market like there?
• How will the cost of homeownership change in your new home?
• Can you afford these outlays in retirement?
• What’s the minimum amount you need to get from selling your current home?
• What’s the likelihood of receiving this amount, and are there home-improvement projects you need to undertake to increase the net proceeds from selling your home?

In the study, planners tended to have choices and fared better even if confronted with the kinds of problems that forced reactors to move. Reactors didn’t have the same range of choices.

“Those moving for retirement reasons are more educated, better off financially, more likely to be married and less likely to be in poor/fair health,” researchers said. “Those moving for health or family reasons have the lowest educational-attainment level, the highest incidence of poor/fair health and the lowest level of income and wealth, as measured by Social Security, housing and nonhousing wealth.”

Reactors lost an average of $26,000 in home equity when they moved. That’s explained, in part, by the fact that a third of them did not buy another home and either rented or moved in with relatives.

Planners, by contrast, gained an average of $33,000 in home equity when they moved, and only 18% of them did not buy another home. They had more choice and control and wound up improving their financial situation.

Older people who felt forced to move tended to include those who were recently widowed or divorced and those diagnosed with a new health condition, researchers said. “Surprisingly, the other shocks — being hospitalized or reporting worsened health, entering into a nursing home and losing a job — do not significantly impact the probability of moving in these households with at least one shock. Thus, again, it seems that family structure is a very important factor in these households’ decisions to move.”

During the period studied, about 30% of older people moved out of their homes, and major factors cited were family considerations, financial matters, wanting a better location or type of house and retirement.

Health was not cited as a major cause of moves, but researchers speculated that this might be because even the oldest people included in the study were only 73 when it ended.

Among people who moved, about 60% stayed within 20 miles of their former home, 20% moved up to 200 miles away and a comparable number moved farther away. A mass exodus to sunnier locales was not a major driver of relocation decisions. Aging in place continued to be the overwhelming first choice.

Many of our clients are facing some of the issues I mention here. Many have parents or others they really care about. If you or someone you think could use our assistance, please introduce them to us. We’d love to help.

The 10 Most-Searched Real Estate Markets Online Might Surprise You

Daily Real Estate News | Monday, December 19, 2011

Seattle didn’t make the Top-10 List! Chicago continued to hold onto the No. 1 spot for most searched for real estate market at Realtor.com in November. What other markets did potential home buyers have their eyes on last month? Realtor.com releases its top search ranking from November based on 146 metro areas.

The following are the 10 top-searched metro areas from November at Realtor.com.

1. Chicago

Median list price: $192,900

2. Detroit, Mich.

Median list price: $84,900

3. Los Angeles-Long Beach, Calif.

Median list price: $329,000

4. Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz.

Median list price: $164,700

5. Atlanta

Median list price: $156,900

6. Philadelphia, Pa.-N.J.

Median list price: $229,900

7. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.

Median list price: $144,200

8. Las Vegas

Median list price: $122,000

9. Dallas

Median list price: $194,900

10. Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif.

Median list price: $199,000

Source: Realtor.com

How will you deal with the demographic tsunami that may be on its way to Seattle?

How will you deal with the demographic tsunami that may be on its way to Seattle and beyond?

The first boomers have already turned 65, and every day for the next couple of decades another 10,000 people will do the same, according to data from the Pew Research Center. By 2030, 18 percent of America will be 65 or older, taking the Early Bird dinner special and slowly siphoning off their savings.

The front end of the baby boomer generation is starting to take money out, and that could become a big headwind for the stock market.

For six decades the boomers have driven everything in society, and that’s only going to continue. They can no longer afford to buy stocks for the long run and wait out any bust. They’re focusing less on capital appreciation and more on income, and we’re seeing that trend take hold already. Read more. .

Seattle On Top Ten list – Best Run Cities

Seattle On Top Ten list – Best Run Cities

The financial press’ favorite pastime, compiling lists, has produced yet another Top Ten product, 24/7 Wallstreet’s Best and Worst Run Cities.

Seattle makes the list at number seven on the list of Best Run Cities. Do you agree?

In compiling those lists, 24/7 Wall Street considered violent crime rates, poverty, the citizenry’s education achievement and the city’s credit rating.

The rating cities Seattle’s poverty rate (14th lowest), its high educational achievement (7th), its Aaa credit rating and its 43rd ranking on violent crime.

The city’s achievement was particularly noteworthy because all of the other cities on the Best Run list were much smaller with several such as Plano, Tex. (10th), Scottsdale, Ariz. (8th) and Irvine, Calif (2nd) being well-to-do suburbs without the typical urban crime and  poverty issue that come with being a larger central city like Seattle.

Tops on the list was Virginia Beach, Va.  On the Worst Run list, Miami was number one followed by Detroit and Newark, N.J.