Smells and Real Estate

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What do smells and real estate have to do with each other? It might sound funny, but they actually do go together when selling a home. Smells can make memories. Think: Grandma’s fresh bread coming out of the oven, or Mom’s freshly baked chocolate chip cookies after school. 

Smells have the ability to turn people on (loving the house because of the great smell), or off (can’t breathe from the terrible smell and running out as soon as you can!). Every home has a smell, whether it’s a cooking smell or something else. Sometimes when the smell is too strong one way or another, it can turn buyers off or it can make buyers remember your home. I recently spoke to a seller who sold her home a while back. She met one of the buyers that saw her home. The buyer told her she remembered the house being very organized but what stood out the most was she remembered the house had such a good smell of cooking chicken soup. People say to bake a pie or cookies or to light a scented candle before an open house. But we know it’s not always practical or realistic. We always tell sellers, especially when they don’t live in the house or are away for an extended period of time, that not only should it look presentable, but it should smell good. Your house should not only look it’s best, but it should also smell fresh and clean.

Mortgage Myths

Here are five myths you may have heard about mortgages.

You need to save 20 percent of a home’s listing price for a down payment. In reality, this percentage will vary. Work with your lender to find out a more accurate estimate.

You don’t need to get pre-approved until the sale is approved. Big NO! Get pre-approved as soon as you start looking for homes to streamline the process and to demonstrate you’re an eager buyer.

You can’t pay off your mortgage early. Though some loans include a prepayment penalty (whereby you would pay a fee to pay off your mortgage early) this is seen much less commonly now.

You must have perfect credit. There’s no doubt credit plays a significant role in qualifying for a mortgage but there are still options for people with low credit scores

Having debt ruins your chances of getting a mortgage loan. Like credit scores, your debt-to-income ratio is important, but definitely is not the only factor.