Selling Houses: Design Psychology Works!
July 23, 2007
I’ve taught the concepts of Design Psychology for many years, and I know how much it can empower a person, and allow them to create a fabulous home that sustains their emotions. Since it’s based on science, I know that Design Psychology is effective at turning plain spaces into happy places.
I discovered Design Psychology in 1985, when my husband and I purchased an 1878 Queen Anne Victorian and began a major renovation. After tearing everything out of the kitchen, we rebuilt the entire space, using concepts I’d learned while studying interior design. But when the project was complete, the feeling of the space was all wrong, so I began a fifteen-year search to learn about how design details influence our emotions.
Although I know a number of interior designers, Design Psychology differs from “traditional” interior design in that it acknowledges how our senses can profoundly react to many other factors besides those of basic interior design. The concepts of Design Psychology address elements of the human psyche that interior design doesn’t take into consideration.
Achieving Positive Cash Flow from Your Real Estate Investments
July 22, 2007
Even if you’re counting on rising property values to eventually make a profit on an investment property, it’s far more desirable to have a positive cash flow each month. If you’re losing money on a property every month, it may not take long until your future profits will have been lost. Owning investment property is much more enjoyable if you’re making money along the way.
Here are a couple of ideas for keeping your investment property cash flow in the black:
If you don’t already own your own home, your first goal should be to live in your first “investment” property. Interest rates and down payments are considerably lower for a primary residence, and you won’t have to deal with finding and managing tenants or absorbing the cost of an occasional vacancy.
Once you begin looking for your first “official” investment property, you’ll want to concentrate your search for less expensive homes, because they’re generally easier to rent for a profit than higher cost houses. You can also purchase two or three smaller homes for about the same cost as one larger one, thus giving you an even greater cash flow.
How to Make Money in Real Estate Without Doing the Scrunch Work
July 21, 2007
If you don’t have the time to invest working on fixers or if your tired of working on fixers to make money investing in real estate, try this method.
Many real estate investors make thousands of dollars on brand new homes with little work. To test this money-making system in your area, call new development home sales offices that have most homes sold. Ask about their price for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath. Ask how much this model has gone up since they were first available. If this increase is a substantial amount, then this real estate investing system most likely works in your area.
How to do the “new home” investing system:
1. Look for a new development with only a sales office trailer and pre-construction site.
2. Pick out the model you like and the lot you want. Get a corner lot inside the tract away from noisy streets. Avoid lots that could back up to a major street someday.
3. Secure the purchase of the home with a deposit.
4. After completion of home and purchase, the home should have appreciated.
Investing in Real Estate Profitably: Eliminating the Need for Mortgage Insurance
July 20, 2007
In an earlier article, we presented various options for ensuring that you have positive cash flow when holding rental houses, by minimizing loan payments. One problem which we now can address is to how to eliminate the need for paying mortgage insurance. Any loan with less than 20% down payment will include or require mortgage insurance. It may be included in the rate (which is called “Lender Paid Mortgage Insurance” or LPMI) or more commonly it is a separate itemized item, but in either case you must pay it.
If you want to pay less than 20% down, the best way to get around mortgage insurance is to finance your purchases with two loans, a first and a second mortgage. For example, the first mortgage is commonly 70%, 75% or 80% of the purchase price and the second mortgage makes up the difference to 90% or 95% of the purchase price. You can get both mortgages from the same lender, but usually you can find better rates on the second mortgage from a lender that specializes in second mortgages. An independent loan broker can put this together for you nicely.
Selling by Owner Escrow or Closing Checklist
July 19, 2007
Home sellers should keep on top of their pending sale; especially when selling without the assistance of a real estate agent. Sometimes busy real estate agents forget to monitor all aspects of a pending sale.
Here’s a checklist for home sellers:
Selling Escrow Checklist
Property Address:
Date escrow opened: Estimated closing date: Escrow office: Telephone Number: Escrow officer: Officer’s assistant: Escrow number:
Buyer: Buyer’s phone: Title company: Fire insurance provider:
Listing agent: Phone: Selling agent: Phone:
Deposit to be increased to: Date:
Preliminary title report received: Appraisal ordered date: Appraiser: Appraiser phone: Termite inspection company: Home inspection company:
Commitment letter from lender Loan documents Funding Recording Dispersal
Note: For seller’s desiring to collect closing funds immediately, have your money wire transferred into your bank account. Otherwise, your bank may hold up your money for days.
(c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.
Professor Jeanette Fisher, author of Doghouse to Dollhouse for Dollars, Joy to the Home, and other books teaches Real Estate Investing and Design Psychology. For more articles, tips, reports, newsletters, and sales flyer template, see http://www.doghousetodollhousefordollars.com/pages/5/index.htm
Talk to a Lender Before You Sell Your Home
July 19, 2007
If you’re looking to sell your home quickly, and for top dollar, the best thing you can do is to be able to offer your buyers some sound financing options. That’s why developing a relationship with a lender can be the key to a quick sale, and to more money at closing.
Some of your potential buyers will have already gotten themselves preapproved with a lender, but many won’t, and being able to offer financing options will open up a number of possibilities for selling your home. The easier you can make finding a loan for your potential buyers, the better your chances of selling your home.
Find out what type of loans are available at your local lending institutions, and what kinds of programs they can offer buyers. Ask about income qualifications, credit scores, down payment requirements, both for buyers with good credit and for those whose credit is less than perfect. Ask if the lender will allow you to contribute to the buyer’s closing costs.
Get an Accurate Appraisal
Selling Your Home Quickly, Even if You Have No Money For Repairs
July 18, 2007
Do you need to sell your home quickly? If so, don’t be tempted by the ads you see that say “We Buy Houses” or “Sell Your Ugly House in 9 days for Cash.” Those types of ads are placed by real estate investors who are looking for sellers under duress, and they’ll only pay up to 70% of the low end market value for your home.
But you don’t have to be at the mercy of those scavengers. Selling your home is stressful enough without worrying about getting a fair price, so even if you have no money for repairs, here are a few tips for getting fair market value for your home in the shortest period of time:
Outside:
- Clean up all the weeds on your property
- Remove dead plants and trim overgrown limbs
- Plant brown spots with cuttings of ground cover from friends
- Either remove empty pots and containers or fill them with cuttings
- Wash all the windows
Inside:
- Take town any tattered window coverings
- Open all curtains and let the sunshine in
- Air our your home
Fixing Houses: Using Psychology for Profits
July 17, 2007
Real estate investors who specialize in fixing houses for profit gain new insights from Interior Design Psychology ideas. Increase your profit potential in the new buyer’s market with these new transformation strategies.
Your satisfying and lucrative real estate business depends upon your correct assessment of profit potential, successful purchasing, and triumphant transformation of a fixer into a dollhouse. The renovation process includes the physical work and the choice of the best supplies to elicit maximum positive emotional effect from prospective buyer.
This article brings to light the psychological impact of design details which result in the desired transformation, promising the highest potential resale value. By incorporating the psychology of residential design, you intentionally choose how to transform your fixer by using colors, textures, building materials, and decorations that assure your future speedy and cost-effective sale.
The psychology of residential design joins the entire home, inside and out. Transformation Psychology differs in that you make use of residential Design Psychology with a different goal in mind. Using Design Psychology in your personal home is much more individualized. Renovating a doghouse for dollars integrates generalized design ideas appealing to a broader spectrum of buyers.
Credit Help: Buying Real Estate — Not the Same as Buying Cars
July 16, 2007
Credit for Buying Real Estate is Different than Credit for Buying Cars
Forget what you’ve been told about credit.
You may be shocked at some of these tips because this information runs contrary to what other so called experts tell you. Qualifying for a real estate purchase requires different credit than automobile financing or retail credit.
Common Credit Myths
1. You need to pay off your credit cards 2. You need to close credit accounts 3. You need perfect or good credit to buy a house
Credit Facts
1. Paying off your credit cards lowers your credit score 2. Closing credit accounts lowers your credit score 3. You don’t need perfect credit to buy real estate
Why not pay off credit cards? Because paid off credit cards do not compute in your credit score. Real estate lenders like to see open, active accounts with low balances.
Why not close accounts? Closing accounts before the payoff often costs consumers more money because credit card companies raise interest on closed accounts.
Selling Houses: Psychological Effects of Landscaping
July 15, 2007
Buyers think they care more about the inside of the house than the landscaping, but in reality, most buyers won’t even get out of their car if the front landscaping lacks the promise of great details inside. Therefore, your landscaping needs to arouse buyers’ expectations and entice them into viewing the inside of your home.
When marketing your home, you’ll get the highest return for your landscaping dollar when you employ Design Psychology tactics. Design Psychology is based on scientific research into the underlying psychological effects of design on buyers, and these innovative design ideas will help your home sell quickly, and for more money, by influencing buyers’ emotions.
Foliage Colors
Begin by coordinating the colors of your flowering foliage. Think about your selling season and plan for flowering plants that perform well during that time. Also give thought to the desired atmosphere and use plants to support that concept. For instance, tropical, desert, forest, and beach environments all differ in plant types.
Use a lot of green and white in your color scheme. Green conjures feelings of coolness, freshness, and vitality, while white flowers also suggest cleanliness, and show up better at night, when many buyers will be looking at houses. Since yellow is the first color our eyes process, yellow flowers by the front door attract the buyer’s eye from a distance.
