Spring Clean Before You List Your Home for Sale

With Spring upon us, and now that Daylight Savings Time is here for most of the country, it is time for home sellers to start thinking about the spring housing market. One of the best ways to prepare for putting your home on the market, even if it doesn’t feel like spring yet where you are, is by an early spring cleaning.

The best place to start spring cleaning in any room is at the top. With a cloth or a microfiber mop, dry dust the walls and pay particular attention to the corners of the room where cobwebs tend to collect. Depending on the type of wall covering or paint, you can also damp wipe the walls to help remove any sort of cooking residue or fingerprints from the walls. Pay particular attention to the corners around doorways and the vicinity around switches; these areas tend to get the dirtiest. If plain water won’t remove smudges, use a mild vinegar solution instead.

Take care of your windows next. Check the washing instructions on any fabric drapes and wash or dry clean them as required. Dust your window blinds carefully so they don’t get bent. Wash the inside and outside of your windows to let the spring sunshine in. You may want to wait on doing this until after all the Spring pollen has cleared in your area. One of the best ways to clean glass is with a spray bottle of vinegar and newspaper to wipe it down. The outside of windows might require a ladder or a window washer’s squeegee to get high enough. In some areas it’s also possible to hire a company to come and clean your outside windows.

If you have carpet or rugs you have a few options. Area rugs can be sent out to have cleaned and wall to wall carpeting can be steam cleaned if it’s really dirty; but if your carpets or rugs are just a little stale you can sprinkle a liberal amount of baking soda over them, let them sit for a few hours or overnight and then vacuum it up. This will pull any smells out of them and leave them fresh and clean smelling.

There are probably more areas of your home you can think of that might need a good cleaning when the bright spring sunshine peeks in your windows, but these steps will give you a good place to start. Another benefit to giving your home a good cleaning before you put it on the market is that you can see where repairs might need to be made or painting might need to be done to help perk up your home.

Happy cleaning!

Passing Your Home Inspection

If you're getting ready to sell your home, do everything you can to get the house in good condition before you attempt to sell it, but don't be discouraged if the inspection report contains negative statements. Home inspectors make note of everything they see. No home is perfect.

Fix leaks and clogs before the home inspection takes place. The inspector will check water pressure by turning on multiple faucets and flushing toilets at the same time. Appliances such as dishwashers and clothes washers will be tested, too. Leaks and clogs will be apparent during these checks.

The home inspector might check the septic system (if you have one). During one method dyes are flushed down a toilet. The inspector waits to see if the dye surfaces on the drainfield, indicating a drainage problem.

The electrical panel and circuit breaker configuration should be adequate for the needs of the house. A 125 amp electrical panel works for most homes. Individual circuits should not be overloaded.

The inspector will look for receptacles with ground fault circuit interrupters (GFI) in bathrooms and kitchens. These receptacles have little test-reset buttons on them. The home inspector will likely make sure the receptacles are what they appear to be, and not "dummies" that aren't wired to work.

Some of the grounded receptacles (with 3-pronged plugs) will be checked too.

The inspector will check the heating and cooling systems, making sure they work he may add comments about their efficiency. The inspector will take a close look at the structure and foundation. All appliances will be checked. The inspection report will include details about smoke detectors.

Remember that the home inspection report is not a wish-list for buyers. Read your contract carefully–it probably states which systems should be in good working order at closing.

Your contract may also state that you are under no obligation to make any repairs at all–although the buyers can then likely withdraw from the contract. Don't feel you must comply with unreasonable demands for repairs.

Taxes: Most Common Mistakes

With tax time here again, here are some of the most common mistakes people make while doing their taxes. Avoid these to save yourself money, and a possible audit.

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Time Swapping Using Time Banks

Exchange your time for favors from others in a virtual time bank. Here's how it works:

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Struggling Refinance Program Extended

The Obama administration recently announced that borrowers with little or no equity in their homes will have yet another year to take advantage of a refinancing program that so far has made little progress.

The initiative, known as Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), was set to expire in June. But, so far, it has reached fewer than 200,000 of the up to 5 million borrowers federal regulators hoped it would help.

The program is aimed at the millions of borrowers whose home equity has been diminished by falling home prices, or who owe more than their homes are worth, making it impossible for them to take advantage of historically low mortgage rates. Originally the program targeted borrowers whose loan balances were slightly higher than their property's value. The program was later expanded to include borrowers who owe up to 25 percent more than their homes are worth.

These underwater borrowers are at greater risk of foreclosure, and the administration hoped that lowering their payments would decrease their chances of falling behind.

But the program ran into several problems. Many borrowers were too underwater to qualify and the program was limited to loans backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, the mortgage financing companies. The initiative was also dogged by delays as lenders struggled to update their computer systems to accommodate the program. Another obstacle was that many homeowners have second mortgages or private mortgage insurance, which can get in the way of refinancing a primary loan.

And for some borrowers, the costs associated with refinancing, such as closing costs, were not worth the lower interest rates, especially for homeowners worried they might lose their jobs or might hit another financial crunch later.