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Seller's Home
Appeal for Today's Market
 After years of hearing from
successful sellers that they didn't have to do a
thing to sell, they now need to understand how
they can stand out from their competition. Here is
a handy list to help sellers determine if some
features in their home might need some attention.
 Test all door and cabinet
knobs. Replace mismatched or inexpensive hardware
for a quick update. Buyers rarely can get beyond a
knob that comes off in their hand as they attempt
to use a door.
Take the time to paint walls, trim and ceilings.
Keep adjoining rooms in one
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color palette,
which will make your home appear larger. Clean
up spills from messy painters. Hire
professionals to paint mullions on windows and
staircase spindles.
Slipcover mismatched furniture in a
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Buying To
Expand
Can Be Tricky
It may be better to buy the square footage
you need in a neighborhood of larger homes rather than
buying into a neighborhood of smaller homes with plans
to build up or out.
At the very least, if you decide to shop for a home you
want to expand, also shop for zoning laws that will
allow it.
The
purchase money you save up front on a smaller home may
not be worth the headache that could come later from
building restrictions and market conditions that leave
you with a home that doesn't fit.
Shifting cash into
major home improvements can have a triple payoff -- the
work will likely increase the value of your home, boost
your net worth and improve your quality of life,
especially if you need room for an expanding family.
But if you've got a
case of palace envy and plan to tear down walls or pop
off the roof to create an expansive estate, make sure
you don't move into a community where zoning laws won't
let
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Keeping Your Credit
Clean
Many homebuyers frequently wonder, "If I
am shopping for a home loan will my credit be affected
each time a credit report inquiry is made?"
It's a logical and
intelligent question to ask; the answer is: not
significantly, if the credit checks are done in a short
period of time.
When
a credit check is made by a potential lender it is
called a hard inquiry. When a hard inquiry occurs it
does have an impact on your credit score. However, when
you're shopping for a mortgage or a car loan, credit
bureaus typically cluster the hard inquiries together
because the credit reporting bureaus understand that the
consumer is shopping for the best loan.
"So for example, if
you're shopping for a new mortgage and three potential
lenders pull your credit score within three weeks, that
is looked at as one inquiry for that purpose," says
Steven Katz a spokesperson for TransUnion's
TrueCredit.com.
Keeping your credit clean is critical. Katz offers the
following advice to help ensure healthy credit.
One card you should
not carry: Leave your Social Security card at home.
"There is basically no reason that you need to carry
that with you," says Katz.
Most people have
their Social
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Document Value Of Donated
Household Goods
 If
you regularly count on Goodwill, the Salvation Army and others
to find homes for what won't fit in your attic, garage or
spare room -- all while getting a charitable tax deduction --
do your spring purging now.
That's especially true if you commonly fudge the value of
donated items.
In 2007, the
Internal Revenue Service will hold you accountable for
accurately documenting the value of donated goods under a new
tax edict tucked away in the Pension Protection Act of 2006,
signed by President Bush this summer.
The broader act is aimed at
curing the ailing defined-benefit pension system but it
includes a host of unrelated provisions, including one that
governs required, accurate documentation when you claim tax
breaks for gifts, including household goods trucked off to
charitable
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