When you are considering how to ‘Dress your House to sell’ the key to remember is that you want to sell fast and for top money.

One of the most important aspects to consider is that purchasers are buying a home not just a house.

The purchasers of your property are ultimately trying to improve their lifestyle.
They are looking to buy a new home and will be spending a relatively large amount of money on this purchase.
If you present the property attractively it is more likely that your property will stick in their minds. If they find it more striking than other properties in the same price range, then even if they don’t offer straight away they will definitely be back for a second viewing.

When you apply either of these outcomes to selling your property, your potential buyer will either buy another house, or make you an offer lower than you want to accept.

There is a saying ‘Good First Impression’. This is vital to remember when selling a property during a recession. You want to ensure that the buyer falls in love with the property the very first time they see it.

NOTE: The first time your buyer will see your home is from the outside. This might be in a newspaper advertisement, online or from just driving past the property and seeing the for sale board.

The Front Of The Property
The exterior of the property is very important and surprisingly, commonly forgotten about.

Paint the front of the property, a fresh coat of paint will really brighten up the outside of any property.

If the budget and need is there then a new front door is a good idea, however if the old door will suffice, then a fresh coat of paint would be a good idea.

Make sure the front garden is immaculate with a nice path to the front door. Replace any cracked or broken paving slabs and ensure there are no unsightly weeds.

Windows
The first thing that your buyer will see as they walk up to your front door is the windows. Ensure that if they are wooden, the timber is sound and freshly painted. If the property is suited to uPVC double glazing and the budget allows I would highly recommend you install them.However if you do nothing else to the windows accept for ensuring the glass is clean and free of smears you will certainly be heading in the right direction.

Clean windows make the rooms look lighter and brighter.

http://www.propertysecrets.net/topic/post36036.html

About 12,000 houses in a five county viewing area have a “for sale” sign in their front garden.

If you are selling your home, how do you make your home stand out from the rest? One way is to put a virtual tour of your home online.

The virtual tour offers potential buyers a sense of being inside the home, you can almost feel the warmth from the fireplace.

We’ve all been hearing that now might not be the best time to sell your home, but realtor Doug Clifton says that’s not necessarily the case for eastern North Carolina. “We hear the gloom and doom of the housing market and our area of the world isn’t really like that; it’s true that we’re slower than we normally are, but houses are still selling.”

And some are turning to even more creative ways to sell those houses by using the internet.

“Any seller that’s out there, that has a property to sell, this is the way to go because the internet, world wide web, you’re going to get world wide,” said real estate investor MariAnn Harvey.

Harvey buys and sells homes for a living, so she thought, why not market her homes on YouTube. “We’re such a community of people who want everything fast and they want it at their fingertips and of course the computer is the fastest way to do it.”

With a little help from her son, she discovered how simple it is to make a virtual home tour.

Dara Dimitri posted a home tour on YouTube. “Most other houses online just have a few pictures to look at so you don’t get a flavor of what the whole house looks like.”

So Dara Dimitri decided to put a tour of her home online, and it seems to be paying off. “We have had several extra showings that I don’t think we would have gotten otherwise. I have the house listed on Craigslist with a link to the virtual tour so several showings have come as a result of that listing.”

http://www.wwaytv3.com/node/13962

More than 60,000 homeowners are forced to sell up each year to pay for a place in a care home, according to a leading charity.
The figure has been rising fast because of the growing numbers of elderly Britons and the fact that many of those entering old age bought homes during the property booms of the past four decades.
However, an ever-increasing share of the wealth they hoped to leave to their families is being seized by the state to pay for their care in later life.
Last year half of the cost of care for the elderly - £6billion - was taken from the pockets of the middle classes who own their own homes or who have savings.
The 60,000 figure was made public yesterday by the charity Counsel and Care. It is to put forward plans for easing the plight of those who fail the state means test and so have to pay the £500-a-week plus costs of a care home place for themselves.
Counsel and Care’s estimate follows figures put forward by the House of Commons library, which suggested at the weekend that 45,000 people a year sell their homes to pay care home bills, a rise of 5,000 since 2003.
The charity’s estimate is closest to the 70,000 a year level that is widely accepted among advice and pressure groups and local authorities

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1152423/60-000-elderly-year-forced-councils-sell-homes-pay-care.html

Commercial real estate prices in the U.S. dropped by almost 15 percent in 2008, more than home prices, with fourth-quarter depreciation the greatest in the national apartment market, Moody’s Investors Service said in a report.

The price decline eliminated the gains seen in 2006 and 2007 and returned values to 2005 levels, according to the Moody’s/REAL Commercial Property Price Indices. Prices fell 2.2 percent in December from November, said New York-based Moody’s.

Commercial values are now down more than 16 percent from their peak in October 2007, said Moody’s. The deepening recession is causing tenants to cut jobs and vacate space, bringing down building incomes, while the credit freeze is making it difficult to finance property purchases.

“The commercial real estate market has followed the larger economy into a downturn that is likely to last through 2009 and possibly into 2010,” Prudential Real Estate Investors said in its quarterly outlook in January. “With unemployment rising, consumer spending falling and home prices dropping, the recession will impact all sectors of the real estate market.”

Commercial real estate prices fell more than home prices last year. The median price of a U.S. home declined 12 percent to $180,100 in the fourth quarter from a year earlier and sales of properties with mortgages in default accounted for 45 percent of all transactions, according to the Chicago-based National Association of Realtors.

Northern Rock has suffered losses of £45.9m since 2001 as a result of having to repossess property on its books.

Data from the nationalised lender’s securitisation vehicle Granite shows that in December alone the figure for repossession losses came in at £8.7m.
This amounts to an average loss per property of £ 19,348.

Of the properties that Northern Rock has not repossessed, some 6.3% of borrowers are behind with mortgage payments by at least a month.

The figures also reveal that 3,719 mortgage loans under Granite are now worth less than what was originally loaned out by Northern Rock.

It means that 1.33% of borrowers with assets under the Granite trust were in negative equity as at December last year.

The Granite securitisation vehicle does not represent all of Northern Rock’s mortgage book, but does give a clear indication of the scale of losses the nationalised lender is now facing.

A report by the Centre for Policy Studies has called on the British Government to learn the lessons of the 1990s and save the ‘tsunami’ of repossessions expected for this year.
The think tank, which was established by Sir Keith Joseph and Margaret Thatcher in 1974, stands to promote the principles of a free society and free market economics.

Their call comes a few weeks after church leaders in the UK wrote to the Prime Minister calling for an economic recovery plan to be launched in the midst of the global recession.

Entitled ‘Save 100,000s homes from repossession’ the report from the CPS welcomes the limited steps taken by the Government – such as changes to stamp duty – but argues that these would only help a few households.

The think tank warns that if the Government does not act, repossession orders could exceed those in the 1990s.

Report author Natalie Elphicke, said: “The Courts have huge discretion in determining civil claims and can postpone, adjourn, stay or suspend a claim for repossession. If we are to stop the tsunami of repossessions then the Government must recognise the role of Civil Courts rather than ignore them.”

She added: “Court guidance for dealing with repossession hearings should be improved to assist those in need. There is a growing amount of case law that will help people stay in their home, but no clear guidance.”

Such reforms would be practical and would take account of each individual’s unique circumstances, she said.

For more information, http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=3863

Mortgage-finance company in Washington Freddie Mac said it will allow some borrowers to rent out their homes after losing them to foreclosure.

The goal of the new policy is to prevent properties from becoming vacant so they won’t fall into disrepair.

Freddie also said it will allow renters to remain in their homes even if their landlord enters foreclosure. It has about 8,500 properties in the foreclosure process, but many are vacant.

“Keeping foreclosed properties occupied and in better repair will support local property values and promote a faster recovery in the housing market,” said Freddie Mac Chief Executive David Moffett.

Fannie Mae, which announced similar plans in January, said it has stopped about 20,000 foreclosure sales and halted 6,300 evictions of owners or renters this winter.

Under Freddie Mac’s new policy, tenants and former property owners need to demonstrate they have enough income to pay the rental bill.

Freddie Mac also said it would consider reinstating a mortgage for those borrowers who can qualify for a modified loan.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were taken over by the government in September.

For more about this issue, http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2008742377_freddiemacrent15.html

HOMEOWNERS in Johannesburg continue to struggle to meet mortgage repayments because of the prevailing credit crunch. The FNB residential property barometer, a survey of the property market based on data from local estate agents, indicates that in the fourth quarter of last year most homes were put up for sale by homeowners trying to downscale due to financial pressure.

The survey revealed that a total of 26% of homeowners across all income brackets were opting to sell because mortgage repayments were becoming too difficult to meet.

The recent interest-rate cut is good news and will provide at least some relief to over-burdened homeowners.

However, there are ways of easing the stress of bond repayments. Mark Beckett, CEO of Bond Choice, says: “Approach your bank as soon as you realise you are in financial difficulty. The banks want to assist clients and consider it a last resort to repossess homes. “Running away from the responsibility only compounds the problem in the future.” He says that extending the home- loan period from 20 to 25 or even 30 years will help to reduce the monthly instalment amount.

For more about this issue, http://allafrica.com/stories/200902130483.html

HOME repossessions are soaring in the credit crunch according to a shock new report — with one desperate family forced to live in a pigeon shed.
The Council Of Mortgage Lenders said there were 27,100 repossessions in 2007 and warned that this year there could be a 65 per cent rise to 45,000.
One family hit by the crisis are the Galloways. They had their three- bedroom semi repossessed in June when they fell behind on repayments.
Checkout operator Debbie, 31, and husband Philip, 42, have six children aged between four and 14.
While the cash-strapped couple sleep in a relative’s pigeon shed the children are having to live with another member of the family.
Distraught Philip says: “We worked hard and did our best to buy a house, to get on the property ladder and have something for our kids. “We tried to pay and tried to get help to sort it out when things got tough . . . but we were too late. No one would help us.”

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/real_life/article1519444.ece

SCROUNGING squatters have set up home in two seven-storey mansions on London’s Park Lane — worth a total of £30MILLION.
The 20 crusties, some of whom sneaked in through an open basement door, are living rent-free yards from Madonna’s luxury pad.
They spend their time strumming guitars while letting three huge dogs foul the rooms.
The scruffy squatters boasted last night of the “magical” views of Hyde Park.
And the scroungers, whose presence in the exclusive area has horrified posh locals, asked: “Why would we live anywhere else?”
The hippies — aged 21 to 45 — moved into the properties, with a combined value of £30million, two months ago.
Since then they have rubbed shoulders with the mega-rich residents of the capital’s most exclusive street, lined with flash car dealerships including Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin.
Their seven-storey paradises share a clear view over the park, where the group walk their smelly dogs.
And one squatter, 27-year-old Martin, from Cape Town, South Africa, said: “The view at sunset over Hyde Park is just magic — especially from the penthouse. I really love it here.”
The loafers spend their time strumming guitars and creating “art” in the 12,000sq ft, 12-room homes.
They claim the properties — previously used as offices — had stood empty for about two years.

And they are able to live there because squatting is NOT illegal if entry to an empty property is not forced and there is no criminal damage caused by the squatters.
Owners must obtain court orders to boot out unwanted occupants.
The freehold to both properties is owned by the Duke of Westminster via his company Grosvenor (Mayfair) Estate.
There are also a small number of leaseholds, controlled by property investment firms based in Guernsey and the British Virgin Islands.
No legal action had been taken to remove the squatters last night. The owners only learned they had moved in when they were told by The Sun.
Inside, the magnificent homes are now a clutter of amateur art, acoustic guitars and overflowing ashtrays.
More dishevelled-looking squatters arrive virtually every day. Some stay weeks while others drift off quickly. The sole price of admission is an electric heater to warm the vast rooms — as there is no hot water or central heating.
Three huge dogs roam freely about the houses, leaving droppings everywhere.
Martin brazenly asked The Sun to urge its readers to send money and furniture.
He said: “A lot of those here have to get by on Jobseeker’s Allowance. There was no furniture, so we had to bring our own. If anyone could send us money or furniture it would be great.
“We’ve no TV and make our own music to keep ourselves entertained.”
He added: “There’s quite a large squatters community in London and we always pass on information. We’d noticed these houses had been empty for about two years. We got in through an open basement door.”

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2158953.ece