Tampa Bay Blog

A Roaring 20's Gala to benefit Academy Prep Center of Tampa and you are invited!

In the heart of Ybor City, Academy Prep Center of Tampa changes young peoples lives by providing an education that is more than just a traditional school.  Each student receives four year of tuition-free, college preparatory education in the 5th through 8th grades.  Students attend up to 11 hours a day, 6 days a week, 11 months each year.  The schools provides a demanding academic curriculum and a multitude of enrichment activities along with emotional support and social guidance.  Students benefit from an additional eight years of graduate support that guides them continually through their high school and college years. 

Keller Williams has committed to sponsor two students each year.  Funds generated from the Roaring 20's Gala will contribute toward the significant tuition required to allow deserving students to attend Academy Prep.  Tickets are on sale for the event scheduled April 19, 2007.

If you would like to attend or to offer a donation, please contact Amy Kennedy at 813-713-2053.

Christine

P.S. Life's great at the Delgado Home Team!

1. Refinish hardwood floors. These are a major selling point when selling your home and sometimes a home's most compelling feature. Often they don't need complete refinishing, just to be roughed up and polyurethaned to obtain that killer shine. If yours are looking tough give a couple of pros a call and check out the price. In some markets several rooms can be extensively refinished for less than $1,000.00.
   
   
2. Paint / Repaint Your Home. If your taste in decorating is a bit, shall we say strong, it may pay you to hire a professional to tone down some of the more dramatic color rooms. Many people love dark red dining rooms, but none of them may be looking at your house. Neutral colors are best for marketing your home for sale. There was a house, a very expensive house, in a "bubbly" Boston suburb that was on the market for a year and with a total of four agents. The house was in a wonderful neighborhood, had a traditional floor plan and a beautiful yard, but every room and every ceiling was papered in a different black and white pattern. Moving from one room to the next induced vertigo. Agent after agent tried to convince the seller to invest four or five thousand dollars in a professional redo (two of them got fired for suggesting it) but the owner would not budge. A sharp-eyed investor finally picked it up well below its original listing price, did the remodel and sold it three months later for a substantial profit.
   
   
3. Buy, borrow or rent what you need. If your furniture shows the effect of raising five kids or if pets have ruined the rugs and upholstery think about storing or getting rid of your existing furniture and finding just enough more attractive stuff to get by. If your nest is empty and the kids' rooms are beaten up, throw out the furniture, give the walls a quick wash coat of paint and put one or two small flea market pieces - a hobby horse, a bean-bag chair, the old bassinette from the attic - in the room to merely "suggest" its use. A rocker, table lamp and a pile or books in an otherwise bare room gives it the feel of a cozy study and so forth. If you want to go all out there are dozens of companies, some of them national, that will rent a roomful or a houseful of furniture on short term contracts. Not cheap, but maybe worth looking into.

If your house has a lot of competition in the market you need to measure up. Think of it as show biz.  If you need help getting your home ready to sell don't hesitate to call.

Christine and Walter

Before you think about professional staging your home do yourself a favor and start with the basics.

1. Open the drapes and blinds. Sunshine is the world's best decorator and nothing is more depressing than walking into a home where shades, curtains and drapes are closed. The buyer is likely to leave with the impression of a dark and claustrophobic property.
   
   
2. Wash the windows - inside and out. For the same reasons as above, no other small improvement will give you more bang than this.
   
   
3. Clean up the yard. You've heard of curb appeal? How about unseen from the curb? Cut back overgrown shrubs, particularly those that obscure windows or make it difficult to get to the front door. Mow the grass. Rake or pick up downed leaves and branches. Put away lawn tools, kids' toys and discard or store any outdoor furniture that is rusty or ragged. If season and funds permit, put down some colorful annuals or put a few nicely planted containers on or near the front porch.
   
   
4. Clutter Control. You have heard this a thousand times, but de-cluttering and organizing a home is very important and not just to make the place look neat. A cluttered home looks smaller and less airy. All of the pictures, knick-knacks, even an exquisite art collection are distracting to many buyers. The agent is trying to point out the gas log in the fireplace and the customer is studying your collection of old ink wells on the mantle.
   
   Also, you want to make room for the buyers own things. If the living room is jammed with furniture the buyer might not be able to figure out where his own stuff will go. It does no good to explain that your stuff won't be there when he moves in. Some people just can't visualize. If you can't get rid of some of your home clutter- house plants for example - round them up and make a single display rather than have them in dribs and drabs through a room or the whole house. The rule of thumb: count every item in each room - furniture, books, vases, old birthday cards propped up on the shelf - and pack up or eliminate 50% of them. Then, if there is time and energy, get rid of 50% of the remainder.
   
   
5. Clean your kitchen and bathrooms - Scrub like crazy, particularly the kitchen and bath(s). The kitchen may be old but it can still sparkle. Clean the stovetop with a good degreaser and all countertops with whatever it takes to remove stains and discoloration. Wash the front of all cupboards and appliances and keep the floor swept and scrubbed for the life of the listing. De-clutter here too, especially the refrigerator door (death by a thousand knives for the inventor of the refrigerator magnet). Ditch countertop appliances, canisters, etc and keep cupboard doors and drawers closed if your hand is not actually in them. It is critical that the bathrooms sparkle. Old bathrooms can be charming and a new shower curtain or fresh flowers on the counter may be all you need. Put out your best towels and, if you have young children, please enforce the flush rule. Clean bathrooms are a must.
   
   Next time I write there will be more expensive staging suggestions, but they will really help you prepare your house to sell if they are needed and you can afford to do them.

Have fun, make a game of it and remember the payoff will come a lot sooner if you start with the basics.

I thought this was a fantastic article on foreclosures published by Inmann news.  This a perfect buying opportunity for all our "real" investors.

I am shocked at how many people are out house shopping this week.  We anticipated the the weekend would be slow because of Spring break and the Easter Holiday...but to our delight we were wrong.  Buyers are out shopping and more importantly they're out buying.  It is interesting that the offers are also coming in more reasonably.  Five to ten thousand off the asking price is a great way to start negotiations.  Lets hope that this trend continues until the bulk of our sales inventory is depleted. 

Happy Hunting!

Featured Home of the Week!

        By:Christine Delgado, Keller Williams Tampa Properties

Ever stumble on a home  that is UNBELIEVABLE deal??   Look no further, this home is it. 

Welcome home to this 3 bedroom, Carrollwood Home with a gorgeous in ground pool for just $197,880.  Call Walter Delgado (813)920-7575 for info.

Buying a home is a adventure. It's exciting, time consuming, at times frustrating, but ultimately fulfilling -- that is, if you end up with the right home in the right neighborhood for the right price.

Home buying is best approached with a game plan in mind, and with the understanding that home buying is a process that takes time. It's hard to predict how much time it will take to buy a home because there are many variables that are beyond your control.

However, there are elements of the process that you can control. The most important is to assemble your home-buying team. At a minimum, you need a mortgage broker or a loan officer and the best real estate agent you can find. Working with good, professional and conscientious people will improve the quality of your home-buying process.

HERE'S A TIP: One way to find good real estate professionals is to seek recommendations from friends and colleagues who've bought a home recently in an area where you want to live. Another way to look for agents to dominate a market and check out their references.  Some buyers interview more than one person for the job. This enables you to compare rates and fees. However, keep in mind that rapport, particularly with your real estate agent, is essential to a satisfying transaction.

When you find a real estate agent you can trust ask them for trustworthy Mortgage professionals who will give you good service, find out how much you can afford to pay for a home. Then get pre-approved for the mortgage you will need to close the deal. In order to be pre-approved, your credit needs to be checked and your financial qualifications verified.

One benefit of getting approved before you're in contract to buy a home is that you know you have a loan commitment when you need it.  Also, if you're buying in an area or price range where multiple offers are still prevalent, you'll have a hard time competing unless you're pre-approved.

The next step to purchasing a home is the Buyers Consultation. You should have a list of the features you want and need in the home before you start your search. But, the list will be provisional until you research the inventory in the areas where you'd like to live. A great agent will provide you with a Buyers Workbook outlining the purchasing process.  Even consumers who purchase many home find this process enlightning.

For example, you may find in your perfect neighborhood of neo-traditional homes, but most of the houses have one-car garages and you'd been hoping for a two-car garage. So, you either modify your wish list or change neighborhoods to one that has similar homes with larger garages.

There are always compromises to be made when buying a home. The perfect home doesn't exist -- not at any price. It takes some time to learn what the inventory in an area has to offer so that you can decide how you'll be willing to compromise.

The final step of the process is negotiating a home purchase with the seller of the home you want to buy. Agent negotiations can go quickly or they may be carried out over days or weeks, depending on the situation.

IN CLOSING: Be patient and keep your goal in mind.  Your home is just a contract away!