Harrisburg PA Homes for Sale Blog

How to Buy a House in Harrisburg Pa - Cleaning Up Your Credit: More than ever having a healthy credit score is important. It may mean the difference between securing a home loan or not. Don't let old habits or debts stand in your way of taking advantage of historically low interest rates and great deals on housing. For more Buying Tips, check out KensHomesales.com!

How to Buy a House:  The first order of business is to arm yourself with the cold, hard facts. What is the state of your credit report and score? You can visit annualcreditreport.com three times a year for free to view your credit report. You will have to pay a nominal fee in order to view your score.

How to Buy a House:  Once you have accessed your report be sure to check it over carefully for errors. This is not a time to let identity thieves abscond with your good name. Besides identity theft there may also be errors and omissions that should be corrected. Contact each of the three major credit reporting bureaus to have your report updated.

How to Buy a House:  There are also many programs available today to protect against identity theft. Many banks now offer convenient ways to monitor account and card activity. If unusual spending shows up on your account they will halt any purchases and contact you immediately to confirm you are in fact the person making them.

How to Buy a House:  Now that your existing report is in good working order and safeguarded from theft, it's time to start making repairs. First reduce the amount of hard inquiries. The home buying process is not a time to start opening new accounts and lines of credits.

How to Buy a House:  Resist the urge to buy the new car, call DirecTV, and buy new furniture on credit. Wait to make those purchases after you've closed on your home. Your future interest rates will reflect your patience.

How to Buy a House:  Start paying down balances on credit cards. While some revolving accounts like car payment and home mortgages show you are a responsible borrower, having high balances on your cards dramatically reduces your score.

How to Buy a House:  Don't pay off cards just to close them; however, if you're looking to raise your score. The way this works is simple. If you have a total of $10,000 in credit available and you carry a balance of $5,000, you are using 50% of your available credit. That is too high.

If you close a card and are using $5,000 of now $7,000 available credit, you are using 71 percent of your available credit and are worse off than you were!

The key is to start paying down balances and keep that percentage low. Once you're positive that your mortgage and loans are in place you can then consider closing card accounts.

How to Buy a House:  Next, never pay late. If you need to set up payment reminders or automatic withdrawals for certain bills in order to pay on time then by all means do it.

If you fear that you will miss a payment or will be late be sure to contact lenders or creditors before this happens. Many lenders will work with you without reporting the missed month to the credit bureaus. Every reported late payment docks your score and stays on your report for years.

How to Buy a House:  Finally, pay off debt instead of moving it from one card to another. It might be tempting to put this debt on that card and so on, but that doesn't remove the history from your credit report. In fact, if you have now opened a new card, you might have just dinged your score.

How to Buy a House:  Responsible spending and payments are how you build a credit report. There is no overnight fix to a score (don't buy into those scams)! Do your work to pay down debt and over the next months and years your credit score will soar sky-high.

The Weekend Project in Harrisburg PA: Newly Painted Walls

 You don't have to hire a professional painting crew to get a professional paint job! You have all the tips and tools you need to turn dull rooms into beautiful escapes.  

First, you must decide what prep work needs to be done to your walls. Walls should be clean and free of holes and blemishes. Spend a little time filling nail holes and any cracks with caulking. This crucial step will make for a clean finished product.

Do you have mildew growing on your walls? Use a 1 part bleach to 3 part water solution to wash or scrub the mildewed areas. Rinse away the bleach solution prior to the rest of your prep work and voila you'll have a mildew-free surface.

Next, prep the space for the actual act of painting. Remove any furniture or knick-knacks. Lay down plastic or cloth drop clothes to protect your floors. If drop clothes aren't in your budget, consider laying down pieces of cardboard around your room's edge. Finally, use blue painters tape around trim, windows, and doors to ensure a clean edge. Sometimes the prepping phase takes longer than the painting phase, but trust that it's worth it.  

Once you have prepped the space, it's time to make a trip to your local home improvement or paint store to pick out the color! Do you have an inspiration room you've found in a magazine or book? Are you wanting to match your walls to a specific object or fabric?

Be sure to take these items with you since many paint departments now offer color matching. If they don't, at least you'll have the color with you as a visual reference.

Do you have an especially rough or marked wall? Consider hiding blemishes with a faux texturing technique, such as applying paint with a sponge. Your local home improvement store will have brochures and maybe even classes teaching you how.

The color and style of paint your room is a big choice. If you need help deciding on what colors are most popular today don't shy away from the display of brochures available in any paint department. These pictures can serve as inspiration.

Now, it's all about the right tools. Be sure to select brushes based on the type of paint you choose. There are different brushes for latex, oil, and stains. Use brushes for cutting in around edges and do the bulk of your work with rollers. Just be sure to wash out whatever tools you use at the end of each day. If you need to walk away from a project for more than 30 minutes then be sure to wrap brushes in plastic (even a shopping bag will do) to ensure they don't dry out.

Get that perfect ceiling line with a pro edger. It looks like a long piece of metal with a handle and helps you create that professional line. No cutting-in experience is required! Plus, don't forget to pick up pole extenders and step ladders for those hard to reach places.

Paint in a well-ventilated space and only on warm days. Paints must be applied in temperatures above 35 degree (and most about 50). If you want to go green with your paint be sure to select only zero-voc paints. They cost only a fraction more and kind to both the environment and your body.

Painting is a simple and very rewarding task. It can be one of the least expensive ways off breathing new life into an old space. Be sure to take your time doing the prep work and your hard work is sure to pay off big -- in style or in impressing buyers!  

What a fun idea for the spring! Come join in!

Home Improvements can Increase Your Value!

In order to maintain a beautiful home, it is essential to make periodic home improvements. Not only will these upgrades add sentimental value, but they will also increase the financial value of your home.

Inspect Your Windows

The largest sources of wasted energy are windows. Inspect the weather stripping and caulk for cracks and reseal air leaks. Decorate your home with energy saving window treatments and install window insulation film to save energy and prevent heat from escaping your home.

Check Your Heating System

Reduce maintenance and utility costs by upgrading your central heating. Close vents near the ceiling and open those near the floor for better air circulation.

Paint The Interior

Painting is one of the easiest yet most cost-effective home improvements. It is important to keep in mind that neutrals appeal to the largest number of people and that your paint colors will make a significant impact when selling your home.

Change Your Baseboards

Baseboards often get damaged and beat up from shoes and moving furniture. Give your home a new look by changing your baseboards. You could pick a new design or even add some color to them.

Update Your Cabinets

Tired of your outdated cabinets? Changing the hardware will give your cabinets a fresh and more updated look. Buying new hardware is inexpensive and can be installed easily with a screwdriver and drill.

Love Your Home

Improvements!

How to Sell a House in Harrisburg PA – The Garage Can Help Sell a House!

They're for more than parking cars, stacking boxes, and holding trash bins. The garage can help sell a house if you stage it right. Most homeowners might think of staging their kitchens and bedrooms, but the garage is a feature that is playing an increasingly important role in how to sell a house.

Here are some organizing tips to help you increase the appeal of your home and to help sell a house faster:

How to Sell a House- Entice buyers with a garage that is organized, kept up and shows off its most important features. Storage is always a premium in homes and if your garage showcases closet organizers, hand shelving, and storage bins that can stash away seldom-used items or tools, buyers will find your garage a must-have item on their home-buying list.

How to Sell a House- Use walls and ceilings for storage. Consider having one or two loft-type storage areas built into the garage. They drop down from the ceiling a few feet and allow homeowners to store multiple large plastic bins of seasonal decorations and items they rarely use. Having the extra space allows you to get boxes up off the ground, making the room look larger. To add a decorator touch, add curtains around the storage area to hide the boxes and bulky items that are stored up high.

How to Sell a House- Add lighting. It's relatively inexpensive, but it makes a huge difference in increasing a garage's appeal. Replacing the single center bulb with a strip of lighting is a fantastic way to spark a buyer's interest. Garages are often too dark and dreary. Adding an eight-foot fluorescent light strip will light up the room and make your garage shine.

How to Sell a House- Coat your floor. A concrete floor in the garage can show off the wrong things, such as those icky, ugly oil stains. If you coat your floor with an epoxy resin-based paint or rubber mats and tiles, then drippings and spills are easy to wipe up. The mats and tiles help to reduce the amount of dirt that gets tracked inside the garage and ultimately into the house. They also can help with insulation and noise reduction. For practical reasons, coating your garage floor is ideal. For staging reasons it simply looks nice and is much more welcoming than a concrete floor.

How to Sell a House- Make sure your garage door and opener are working quietly. The first automatic garage door openers became commercially used back in the 1950s and if yours is an original, it's time to upgrade! Keep the garage door in the same theme style of the home, color and overall decor. Make sure the door doesn't squeak when it's opened. Get it checked out by the garage door company that installed it or sometimes all it needs is a good oil job to lubricate it. A noisy garage door opener could indicate to a buyer that it's on the verge of breaking down.

How to Sell a House- Finish your walls and ceilings. Many garages are not finished, but if you put up wall board you can complete the look of the garage. Finished sells better. Make sure the garage is insulated before you finish it. That can save on your heating and cooling bills.

How to Sell a House- Add a coat of fresh paint. Yes, painting the garage can add a lot. You don't have to go wild with color; neutral tones are fine. It's all about the overall theme of the room. Don't be afraid to add a little style to your garage; just don't clutter it with too much decor. When it comes to selling, a garage should be spacious, organized, and a place where buyers can imagine easily storing their own stuff!

Here are the Top 10 Flowers for Curb Appeal in Harrisburg PA! Are you fighting a bad case of cabin fever this Winter? If so you're not alone! Dormant flower beds all across the nation are begging for some splashes of color. Here's a list of the top 10 inexpensive, easy-to-maintain flowers that will please those beds, your budget, and your neighbors.  

Curb appeal is your home's first impression to buyers and neighbors alike. It can say a lot about how you respect your home and property.

Ask yourself these questions: How do you feel about a home with an overgrown lawn? Do you prefer flower beds that are empty and full of weeds or beds that are planted with new Spring flowers? The answers are easy! We all prefer yards that are well-kept. That includes buyers.  

When a buyer makes an offer on your home they are buying the idea of a lifestyle as much as the structure itself. This is why it is so important to start off on the right foot. You want buyers to think of your home as the perfect home with the perfect, charming yard.  

Here's are the top ten flower to include this year:  

1.  Knock-Out Roses. Traditional roses usually have a few week blooming period. And while those blooms can be fragrant and spectacular, it means limited time when the color is out. Instead opt for these high-powered performers.  

2.  Hostas. While a hosta isn't a "flower" per se (though they do flower), it can be a perfect addition to beds that beg ground cover. They work great in shady areas and as an added bonus come back year after year.  

3.  Geraniums. These colorful flowers bloom all summer long (when you pick off dead blooms) and pack an added bonus. Their fragrant scent is a natural mosquito repellant. Geraniums come in a wide array of colors so let your creative side come out to play when choosing your hues this year.  

4.  Petunias. There are lots of colors to choose from and these growers look great in hanging baskets. Pick complimentary colors for your house. Red with green, orange with blue and so on. Keep them watered and they'll bloom well into Fall.  

5.  Violets. These low growing purple flowers are also perennials and can add a lovely border edge to any bed.  

6.  Impatiens. These little beauties are another shade-tolerant plant that looks great in beds around the base of trees as well as along borders.  

7.  Marigolds. These golden-hued bloomers are hardy. This means even those with a black thumb may have a hard time killing them! Just like their color implies, these flowers love full sun.  

8.  Vincas. These delicate little flowers can add just the touch of charm to sidewalk borders. They are low maintenance and will add color all season.

9.  Grasses. Do you need to add some height to your flower beds? Pampas and other ornamental grasses can be real statement plants. They "bloom" in a variety of colors. Just keep them away from your house since dry grasses in the Fall can be a fire hazard.

10.  Zinnias. Does your region get blistering hot summers? Do half of your plants die every year? This sun lover with bask in the heat and keep on blooming.

Once the risk of freeze is passed in your town your local home improvement stores will start offering your favorite blooms and buds for sale. Remember the simple rule of thumb that annuals are here for the season and then gone, while perennials come back year after year. When the time for planting comes to your region, give some thought to the curb appeal of your home and how plants can help you make a statement.

The Selling Power of Closets in Harrisburg PA! At first glance your closets may seem like insignificant or unassuming rooms in your home. The truth is, however, that closets can be real selling features. Homes must have storage. From clothes to food to cleaning supplies, closets are the heart of every clean house.

The first order of business in revamping your closets is to get rid of the clutter! We all are a little guilty of holding onto clothes and other "valuables" that we no longer need. These superfluous items can make closets burst at the seams and can turn a ready and willing buyer off.

Downsize these items by holding a yard sale, giving them to charity, or gifting them to family and friends. Chances are you'll never miss the items you give away, but your closets will breathe a sigh of relief!

With all that extra clutter out of the way it's now time to get organized. Even cheap fixes can make a real difference.

First, organize your closet by color blocking your clothes, grouping like items, and sorting smaller items into storage totes or even labeled shoe boxes. You can also store away winter/summer items in the garage in the off season.

Tame your shoes with shoe racks. You should always be able to see the floor of your closet!

Are you needing to organize your pantry? Use the same principles as with your bedroom closets. Remove unnecessary items, get storage totes for small and miscellaneous items, and them group like items together.

Every closet needs shelving and racks. Depending on your budget and your housing market there's a wide range of choices. Simple and inexpensive Rubbermaid shelving can be configured in a myriad of patterns and can be installed with nothing more than a drill or screwdriver.

If your budget allows, however, custom built-in units can wow your potential buyers and put your home at the top of their list. Taking it one step further if you have a walk-in closet. Walk-ins are super selling points in a home, so it's time to maximize the potential of this space.

The main key with closets is to allow buyers to see the true size and functionality of the space. You don't want them to be overwhelmed by your junk the minute they open a door and yes, they will open the closets! Instead, let them be inspired by your organization!

How to Sell a House in Harrisburg PA - Pricing Advice for Sellers: One of the most common questions a Realtor hears is, "How do I price my home?" I cannot stress enough to you - the one who wants to sell your home - the importance of pricing your home where it needs to be. Here is the best tip on how to sell a house: this is pricing advice for sellers that will make a difference:

Pricing Advice for Sellers: “They can always make an offer.”

The problem is, most buyers shop up to their price range, peek a bit over, then focus only in their price range. By overpricing, you put your home into a price bracket where they won’t look. The wrong price attracts the wrong buyers. The ones who could afford a market value price won’t see it… and the buyers who do see your home won’t be interested. 

Pricing Advice for Sellers: “Couldn’t we try it for a couple of weeks?”

The majority of market activity occurs in the first two to three weeks, therefore, that is the worst time to overprice, because that’s when your best customers see the home. So when you ask, ‘Can we try it for a couple of weeks,’ look what you’re doing. You’re overpricing your home during the period of its best activity, then lowering the price after they’re gone. It’s like having a dinner party on Saturday and having the caterers come on Monday. I recommend that you price it at market value so you can capitalize on the best buyers you’ll have.

Pricing Advice for Sellers: “But we paid more than that for it.”

Many owners connect cost with value when in fact there is no direct relationship. What you paid for something has nothing to do with what it’s worth today. I hear you say that the value of your home should be based upon the cost? Then let me ask, if you had inherited this home, that is, paid nothing for it, what would you try to get for it today? You would want as much as you could get. Why, when you wouldn’t have paid anything for it? Say you were the buyer and you asked what the owner paid for the home you were looking to make an offer on and you found out that they had inherited it. How would that affect your offer?

Pricing Advice for Sellers: “We can always come down.”

People tend to list their home starting thousands of dollars over market price. It doesn’t sell so they reduce the price. It still doesn’t sell so they continue to reduce it until it is at market value. What do you think happens? It doesn’t sell. Do you know why? What question do you ask me at the front door of every home I show you? You ask how long has it been on the market? You ask me that because a long market time creates the belief that it is overpriced or that something is wrong. That’s what happens to homes that are overpriced. They get sold below market price. So, you can come down, but it may be below market value.

Pricing Advice for Sellers: “We need the money.”

An owner’s need for money doesn’t affect the value of the home. Being objective about an asking price can be difficult when driven by a need for money. If you don’t get that extra amount, what will you do? You will either sell the home at market and alter things at the other end, or stay here and wait for the home to be worth more. If your decision is to stay, then obviously their need for money exceeds the motivation to move. What if you found a home to buy that was $12,000 overpriced, would you pay the extra amount if you knew the owners really needed the money?

If you follow this pricing advice for sellers, you have a better opportunity of being competitive in this economy; and therefore selling quicker. Please think about this pricing advice. It comes from years of experience!

How to Buy a House in Harrisburg PA - How Much House Can You Afford? The typical homebuyer has been browsing through properties online and driving around looking for yard signs.  This is a great start since it is important to get an idea of what you are looking for; however, when considering how to buy a house, it is even more important to know how much you can afford to spend.  Follow these steps to get a basic idea of what monthly mortgage payment will work for you: 

1. Allowable Monthly Debt Payments

Although it varies, many lenders typically prefer that when you buy a house, your monthly debt and housing costs are less than 28% of your gross monthly income.  Even if your debts are higher than 28% of your income, that doesn’t mean you can’t get a mortgage, there are financing programs that help make homeownership a reality for people from various financial backgrounds.

            $5,500    Gross Monthly Income*
        x        .28    Debt-to-income ratio
       =   $1,540   Allowable Monthly Debt Payment 

*You and your spouse’s total income before taxes and other expenses 

1. Total Monthly Debt Expenses

When you buy a house, add together your regular monthly debt payments: car payments, student loans, required minimum credit card payment, and any others. 

            $300   Monthly Car Payment
       +   $150   Monthly Tuition Payments
       +   $90    Other Monthly Debt Payments
       =  $540   Total Monthly Debt Expenses 

1. Maximum Mortgage Payment

Subtract your monthly debt expenses from your allowable monthly debt payment in order to find your maximum mortgage payment.

            $1,540    Allowable Monthly Debt Payment
         -   $540      Total Monthly Debt Expenses
        =   $1,000    Maximum Mortgage Payment 

Keep in mind that when you buy a house, your maximum mortgage payment should include mortgage insurance, homeowner’s insurance, and property taxes. 

If you want to buy a house, and need to know how much you can afford, or if you have questions or need help obtaining a mortgage, please don’t hesitate to contact our loan officer at GMH Mortgage.

How to Sell a House in a Tough Market in Harrisburg, PA So, you've decided to sell a house in a tough market. It is stressful! But there are things that you can do to help speed up the process. Even simple details like rearranging furniture and replacing light bulbs can bring better results with buyers; therefore enabling you to sell a house quicker.

Where should you focus your attention when you want to begin to sell a house? Start by looking over these tips and deciding which areas of your home can benefit from some changes that don't cost much; yet can increase the offers on your home.

Off the walls: Moving your furniture away from the walls can make the room appear larger not smaller. A lot of people think it's the opposite. Of course, it depends on the shape and size of the room. If you're trying to make the room appear larger, just remember that you don't have to shove all the furniture against the walls. Sell a house with the thought that less is usually more!

Mix & match: Just because you bought a couple of pieces of furniture as a set doesn't necessarily mean that they have to live together in your house side by side. Sometimes you can take one item and place it in another room and create a unique look that actually fits your space better than when the two items were paired together. Move furniture and artwork around to see what is most visually attractive. It may not be how you lived in the home, but often the way a home shows best is not necessarily the way it's lived in. If you want to sell a house, go outside your 'norm' and get creative!

Junk room: Even just adding a colorful chair and small table can start to make a room look more appealing. If you have a junk room, and you want to sell a house, it's time to tidy it up! Even a room that is a "miscellaneous" room should have some pleasant decor. Give the room a purpose. Is it a reading and writing room? Is it a sewing room? Is it the game room? Sell a house with the intention of helping buyers see how you use the space. This way they'll get their own ideas about how to use the area.

Turn on the lights: A room that has poor lighting can make buyers want to leave the room quickly without even understanding why. They might feel cold, uncomfortable, and overall uneasy in the room. Staged homes look great often because of the lighting. According to HGTV.com, there are three types of lighting that help create good lighting: "ambient (general or overhead, task (pendant, under-cabinet or reading) and accent (table and wall)". If you want to sell a house quickly, the best way is clean and bright!

Match the paint and drapes: This is an easy tip to make a room appear seamless. Paint the room the same color as the drapes. This creates the illusion that the room is larger and gives an unending feeling. Also, if you have an adjacent room, paint it the same color and it helps the rooms to blend together and seem like one larger space rather than two small spaces. Sell a house as if you were buying the house! Think what would please you most.

Go neutral: Outdated furnishings and bold paint colors can turn off buyers quickly and even reduce offers and will not sell a house quickly. Don't worry if you've been turned off by the off-white walls you grew up with, neutral doesn't mean just boring beige anymore. Today, neutral colors include warm tans, honeys, and even soft blue-greens. Remember to use these colors in large areas. It's often a good idea to keep the extra bold colors to accent walls. Buyers don't always appreciate bold colors.

Rule of three if you want to sell a house: Our eyes are attracted to groups with an odd number of pairings. It seems groups of three are very eye-pleasing. But don't just take a trio of home decorations and line them up - that's boring! Use different textures, sizes (height and width), colors and shapes. Place them in a triangular formation. You can use a couple of groups of three on a larger table or surface.

Hotel Swank: The bathroom is one area to really take a close look at before you sell a house. Just about nothing is worse than walking into a dirty, smelly bathroom. If your grout is worn or dirty, spend the money to get it cleaned and sealed or do it yourself. This can be a tedious task but it will help when it comes time to sell your home. Get rid of any countertop clutter like electrical cords and items that somehow wound up in the bathroom but have no reason to be there. Add a couple of mildly fragrant candles and roll your towels (like the hotels do) and set them on a counter or in a basket; it'll give it that welcome feeling -- like visiting a spa.

Remember, if you want to sell a house in a tough market, it's about creating broad buyer appeal. Buyers are sure to appreciate special finishing touches, especially when some listed homes (like many foreclosures) aren't being maintained.