8 Things to Check Before Buying in a Neighborhood in Naples
Touring various homes for sale with your REALTOR® can be a lot of fun. Finding the perfect home is a thrill as well but what about the neighborhood the home is in? Trust me—the perfect home in a bad neighborhood will have you itching to move again before you know it. Avoid this common problem by doing your due diligence and checking into these 8 often-forgot aspects of your potentially new neighborhood. Homeowners Association The Rules of the HOA We all know that living in an HOA comes with a set of rules all residents must abide by. However, there are a few tricky rules that may greatly affect your enjoyment of your new home. Many HOA’s do not allow pickup trucks as one example. This odd rule can be especially burdensome if your job demands the use of a truck. Similarly, many neighborhoods limit the number of vehicles owned in a household. If you have a child turning driving age, make sure you select an HOA that will allow the three cars you will need parked. I commonly have buyers that say they want to fence in the yard for their pets. Here in Naples, that is often a problem! Most communities will not allow fences and those that do will have very detailed guidelines on the type of fence that can be installed as well as the height. Be sure you know this rule before moving your pup into a new neighborhood. How Financially Strong is the Neighborhood? When homeowners associations do not have necessary funding for projects around the neighborhood, special assessments will often be levied. These special assessments come in the form of a bill that you must pay, above and beyond your normal quarterly dues. By reviewing the reserve balances you can determine the level of risk that you will be required to pay a special assessment. Check on big ticket items such as roads, roofs, etc.. Readily Observable Neighborhood Traits How Noisy are Your Neighbors? I encourage my customers to visit neighborhoods again on a Friday or Saturday night to see if there are any late-night disturbances. I recently had a customer sell her home because the neighborhood was very noisy and the Board of Directors would not take action against the violators. It’s worth the time to drive through (perhaps more than once) and see for yourself if there will be a potential problem. When in Doubt, ask the Neighbors! Every neighborhood will have owners out and about so stop and chat about the community. Asking a current owner how they like living in the community; Although it may be disappointing to hear someone explain why they do not like the community, hearing that news will save you so much heartache down the road. How’s Your Morning and Evening Commute? I often encourage my customers, especially those new to the area, to wake up a bit earlier and drive to the neighborhood. Immediately turn back and drive to work! Doing the same leaving work in the evening is equally beneficial. Naples has many roads that flow very smoothly in the afternoon but become a standstill in the morning and evenings (here’s looking at you, Immokalee Road). Would your opinion of a neighborhood that you love change if it made your commute a bit painful? Don’t find out after you’ve purchased the home! Check School Zones (Even if you Don’t Have Kids) Buying in a great school zone is a fantastic choice whether you have children or not. I always tell my clients that they may not have children yet their buyer likely will. A good school zone is a factor that will keep values up in most cases and will give you another marketing tool when the time comes to resell. Crime Statistics Check for Frequency of Crime and Type Crime statistics are readily available online so there is no reason to miss this key bit of research. The Collier County Sheriff’s Office releases crime maps to show the type of crime committed that officers were dispatched to. Other sites, such as AreaVibes and NeighborhoodScout , can shed insight as well. The Sex Offender Registry The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has a great site for viewing sex offenders on a map. As a REALTOR®, I am actually not allowed to tell you where the sex offenders are or steer you away from neighborhoods with one. However, you can certainly check online and make your own educated decisions. What Did I Miss? Those are 8 of the factors that go into choosing a community. Are there more? Share in the comments below what other aspects of a neighborhood you look for when buying a home here in Naples, FL.
5 Tips for Showing Your Home That Will Help You Sell
It's hard being a seller yet these 5 tips will have your home set up for success and hopefully a quick sale! Tip 1 - Leave The House We know this is really hard to do. You’re leaving your trust in a buyer’s agent you’ve never met and hoping she stays with her customers as all goes well. I can tell you from many experiences that when an owner stays home for a showing and I walk buyers through, it is awkward. Buyers will stay silent if you’re at home and they won’t explore and take note of the features and benefits your home has to offer. Instead, they will hurry through so they can leave as soon as possible. Instead, head to a coffee shop, walk the dog, go to the movie or do just about anything other than staying home! Tip 2 - Set Your Home Up For Success Turn every light in the house on. It may seem like overkill but people love bright spaces. If you aren’t at home just before the showing, let us know and we’ll happily drive over and turn the lights on ourselves. Buyers like to see "light and bright" homes. Set yourself up for success! Tip 3 - Make it Easy for People to See Your Home It would be ideal if buyers made their appointments 24 hours (or even days) in advance but that rarely happens these days. Buyers want to see homes on their own schedule and will often make showing requests only hours in advance. If you take my advice on selling, you’ll have your house ready for showings every night before bed. That way, you can accommodate last minute showings like these. Also, keep in mind how buyers make their showing requests. Buyer’s agents will organize a list of homes and make all of the requests. If you deny a buyer’s request to see your home, odds are they will simply skip it. It is highly unlikely they’ll come back at a different hour or day. Tip 4 - Don’t get Upset When the Unexpected Happens I’ve shown buyers homes and halfway through they fall in love and decide they want to put in an offer. This means they’re skipping the remainder of homes they’re scheduled to see and I have to let the sellers down. This happens so don’t get upset. We’ll get the next one! Tip 5 - Make Sure you do These Things Before Every Showing I always encourage my sellers to take 15-20 minutes each night before bed to make their home perfect just in case someone wants to see it the following day. Some of the things you should do are: Make all of the beds when you wake up Take out the trash Do your dishes and remove clutter from the kitchen counters Freshen up the bathrooms Clean the kitty litter box and replace litter as needed Vacuum Take Our Word For it and Sell Your Home! Following these 5 tips will set you up for home selling success! It’s tough being a seller—we know that. However, if you routinely set yourself up for success by following these steps, your home shouldn’t be on the market very long!
How to Prepare for a Home Inspection as the Seller
Buyers want to feel comfortable that the home or condo is in good repair and the worst thing we can do is have a lengthy inspection report full of issues. This can cause a lot of fear in the buyer’s mind that home maintenance has been neglected. Worse, if the contract is an “As Is” contract, your buyer can simply walk away and get their deposit back within the inspection period. Therefore, it is imperative you set your home up for a successful inspection that is free of the most common defects outlined below. A home inspection is one of the most important tools in a buyer’s toolbox as it unveils any issues, potential or existing, of the home being bought. It can also mean new costs for the seller to repair the defective items (or give a cash credit to the buyer). Luckily, there are some things we can do in advance to make the inspection goes well. Inside The Home Lighting that functions is important and the easiest fix Walk around your home and turn on every single light. If a bulb is out, replace it! This doesn’t sound like something that would show up on an inspection report yet if a light doesn’t come on the inspector will generally write it up as a possibly bad light fixture which just scares your buyer. Has your A/C been professionally serviced and cleaned? Do you have a service contract on your air conditioner? Even if you do not, have the A/C company of your choosing come out and tune it up. Make sure they clean the A/C as well as any substance in the A/C will be noted as possibly being mold. Talk about scaring a buyer! Look for signs of water intrusion at your windows Look at every single window sill and ensure there isn’t any staining or signs of water intrusion. If there is, have a handyman over to fix it and repaint or replace the sill. A leaky window can lead a buyer to think there is mold damage under the window. Stains on the ceiling could be a major roof leak When a roof leaks or condensation builds up on the A/C ducts, ceiling staining can occur. As this is a sign of moisture in the home, your buyer is going to panic and instantly assume there is mold. Walk around your home looking at every bit of your ceiling and ensure there aren’t any stains. Is there water or moisture under your sinks? Drip, drip, drip. In extreme cases, you’ll see damage to the cabinetry if a sink is leaking. In more mild cases, the inspector will simply find some moisture on the pipes. An easy way to test this yourself is to take a thin tissue and wipe the pipes down under your cabinets. A thin tissue will show any moisture there might be. Again, a handyman can fix this up for you in no time! Every GFI must trip and reset One of the easiest tests and fixes in your home is to ensure that GFI outlets trip and reset properly. You’ll usually see two buttons on them—one for trip and one for reset. Press the trip button and ensure the power goes out. Then hit the reset button to turn the outlet back on. These outlets cost under $20 so fix any that do not work. All windows open easily and stay open Open every window fully and ensure it stays up. If your window drops at all, the spring is generally the cause. A handyman can fix this common problem for you. Smoke detectors all working Easy peasy! Press the test button on every smoke detector in the house to make sure they all function. Are the smoke detectors original? If so, consider replacing them as they are relatively inexpensive. Outside the home How is your roof? I don’t want you to climb on your roof to inspect the tiles however a lot of the roof is visible if you stand back a bit. If there are obvious issues such as missing shingles or cracked tiles, be sure to fix them. Want to cause a buyer to freak out? Leave them alone and the buyer will assume there’s water intrusion! Are there any busted sprinkler heads? Turn on that irrigation system and make sure all sprinkler heads are functioning. If not, they are also very inexpensive to replace. Ready, aim, fire! Are your sprinkler heads aimed properly? Your sprinkler heads may be working but are they aimed properly. I often see them aimed where they’re hitting the home! This can cause staining on the exterior of the home or worse, water can get inside. It’s easy enough to adjust where the heads are aiming so be sure to pay attention to each. Are GFI outlets covered? Now that we have your GFI’s all working inside, it’s time to test those outside. More importantly, outdoor outlets should be covered. If the cover is broken (or missing), replace it! It will just shrink the inspection report. Is your pool and spa equipment functioning properly? Is your pool pump and heater working properly? The inspector will certainly check these items so it may be worthwhile to have your pool company of choice come and service the system. What did I miss? What are your inspection stories? Are there other items that you had pop up on your inspection that you wish you would have fixed beforehand? Leave a comment and let us know!
Categories
Recent Posts
