Avoiding 7 Costly Mistakes of Selling Your Home

by M. Anthony Carr

Mistake 1: Putting the home on the market before it's ready. Most times this happens because the seller gets impatient or is a procrastinator and has pushed himself up against a moving deadline without getting the pre-sale work done. So it comes on the market with the horrible carpet (that gets replaced during the marketing of the home); or they are painting it while it goes on the market. Presentation is everything -- so get the work done before marketing the property.

Mistake 2: Over improving the home for the neighborhood. This happens with additions, bump outs, and upgrades that make the home stick out from among its competitors so much that it's an anomaly, instead of a nice addition to the community.

Mistake 3: Pricing the home based on what the seller wants to net. This pricing strategy always ends in failure. Sellers can control the "asking" price, but they don't control the "sales" price. The market does. It doesn't matter what the seller wants, the price is determined by the black-and-white, matter-of-fact reality of the market.

Mistake 4: Hiring an agent based on non-business factors. Make sure you're hiring a professional with a proven track record. It might be nice to hand over your largest asset to your nephew who just got his license -- but make sure he has a mentor to keep your deal from going south.

Mistake 5: Getting emotionally involved in the sale of the home. This is one of the biggest challenges home sellers face when putting their house on the market. Once you decide to sell your house, it's no longer a home, but a commodity. It needs to be prepared as a commodity, marketed as a commodity, and priced as a commodity. It doesn't matter what you "want," only what the market can bear on pricing. People are going to come in to kick the tires, so to speak, and you can't get emotional about how they may or may not appreciate the nuances of your home of seven years.

Mistake 6: Trying to cover up problems, or not disclosing them. Most states have a property disclosure/disclaimer form -- use it wisely. Just because you disclaim doesn't mean you cannot be sued later for the leaky basement, or dilapidated heating/air system that's discovered 30 days after settlement.

Mistake 7: Not getting your ducks lined up before trying to sell. This would involve financing, reading the fine print on your current mortgage to ensure no pre-payment penalties, not listening to the particulars of your local market, etc. If your local market is dictating lower home prices, then lower it early, not later -- it will cost you more. If the local market dictates selling your home first, then buying second, do it in that order, or vice versa.

Avoiding these mistakes is not that difficult. There are plenty of resources and professionals, who are there to help you step over the pitfalls. Do the research early, and listen to that voice in your head (it's probably the whispers of the finance, real estate, insurance person who's warning you of a hole you're about to step into). Sell well.

Married With 2.5 Children

by Margo Rudman Gold

When my husband and I bought our first house, we tried to anticipate the needs of the babies we hoped to have. The house had three bedrooms, a big flat level yard for playing, and was in a top rated school district.

What we did not foresee was that the spiral floating staircase would necessitate extensive custom baby proofing when we had a cruising toddler. The "open plan" layout which had been great for adult entertaining later became problematic when the happy noise of children was channeled throughout the house.

The ski-slope driveway led to another set of issues. With the first sign of snow on our driveway, nervous neighborhood parents canceled play dates.

When buying a home, it's important to look at your future needs as well as your current ones. According to the National Association of Home Builders some important things to consider are:

Lifestyle
Do you entertain frequently?
Do you have plans to expand your family?
Do you need rooms to retreat for privacy?

Size
Square footage does not always equal useable space. Consider the placement of furniture in the space. How will each room flow into other rooms?

Openness
Open plans work well with traffic flow, but can also channel noise from one room to another.
With this type of plan, do you want to create a private room such as a library or small den off a larger room?



Parents moving with children should not assume that the optimum arrangement is one child per bedroom. Children may prefer to share a room, especially if that's been the arrangement in their prior home.
"When children are young, they gain a feeling of security from another's presence, and a sibling can be a real comfort at bedtime," says Patricia Dalton Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and family therapist in Washington, D.C. "Parents should not feel guilty if they cannot provide each child with their own room, as there can be benefits to sharing a bedroom." Independence can be gained when siblings work issues out together, without their parents' mediation, Dr. Dalton also noted.

For those with new babies, child safety is a key concern. According to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission 2.5 million children are injured or killed by hazards in the home each year. Many of these incidents can be avoided by childproofing your home.

"A knowledgeable sales person at your local baby store or an in-home safety consultant, or "baby proofer," can help you find products to meet your home's unique needs and possibly even identify problem areas you haven't considered" says Debora Robertson, Group Publications Manager of the Expectant Mother's Guide series.

If you have hand-me-down products, you should check that they meet current safety standards and have not been recalled. You can do this at the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association consumer section or The Danny Foundation for Crib and Child Product Safety.

Developer WantsTo Entice Omahans Across The River

BY JOHN FERAK
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

MINEOLA, Iowa - The developer of a new 350-lot lakeside housing development hopes to lure commuters from metropolitan Omaha across the Missouri River to rural Mills County.


Craig Nakamoto plans to turn 700 acres of rolling hills and pasture land two miles west of this town of 200 into the largest subdivision ever built in this county.

Besides the housing development, to be called Lake Ohana, six to eight commercial buildings are planned on a four-acre site. Nakamoto hopes for a bank, restaurant, dry-cleaner, gas station and small grocery store.

One acre of the development would be donated to the Oak Township Fire Department in Mineola to build a new station.

Nakamoto has asked the Mills County Board for final approval of the first phase of the subdivision along 230th Street. The project is five miles north of Glenwood, in the Glenwood Community School District. Mineola is about 22 miles from Omaha.

If approved, the development would join several others that have sprung up in this Loess Hills area over the last decade. The housing boom has helped make Mills County one of the fastest-growing counties in Iowa.

Mills County Board member Joseph Blankenship of Glenwood said he plans to vote for the project. "I think it's a high-class development for southwestern Iowa," Blankenship said. "I don't know of any other developments currently like this. These will be expensive houses with a lake and public utilities."

The development will include three lakes, which would be "a huge attraction," County Engineer Jim Ebmeier said. "We have hardly any lakes in Mills County that are private," Ebmeier said. "This is a very nice development, and it's going to bring quality people to live there."
By early fall, if the county gives its approval, bulldozers will begin to construct a 20-acre lake.
Construction on a 120-acre lake, which will be large enough for recreational boating and watercraft, would start in summer 2006, pending state and federal approval. And a five-acre lake would offer fishing, paddle boats and canoeing.

Public water and sewer lines would be extended from Glenwood to serve the development, Ebmeier said. The Glenwood Utility Board is negotiating with Nakamoto to provide city water. Mills County is considering tax-increment financing to provide sanitary sewers, said Glenwood attorney Jim Thomas, who represents the Nakamoto land trust.

Most of the subdivision's lots would be one acre or larger. Houses would range in price from $250,000 to $500,000, Nakamoto said.

Nakamoto, who grew up in Hawaii, said he named the develop- ment after the Hawaiian word for family. The Glenwood resident has already built three smaller housing developments in the area.