Tips to Save Money on Repainting Your Home to Sell

When you’re selling your home in Aspen, Basalt, Carbondale, Snowmass or Woody Creek, your Realtor(R) might suggest that you repaint it. Maybe you only need a few rooms done, or perhaps the whole house.

The good news: There are ways you can save money on repainting.

Tips to Save Money on Repainting Your Home to Sell

Shop around
Get everything in writing
Do some of the work yourself

Shop Around

Don’t automatically work with the first painter you call – or the one all your family and friends recommend. You might be missing some great deals. In fact, painters often run specials to stay competitive, so get plenty of quotes.

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Get Everything in Writing

Make sure everything you and your painter agree to is in writing. You need time estimates for the job as well as costs – that way, you know what you’re getting into.

Do Some of the Work Yourself

Sometimes you can do a little bit of the work yourself to save on labor costs. If you’re having the outside of your home painted, for example, you can trim the shrubs. Inside, you can move furniture, remove and reinstall outlet covers and doorknobs, and do prep work like sanding and patching yourself.

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Can You Buy a Home With Bad Credit?

We’re not going to sugar-coat it: It’s harder to buy a home with bad credit than it is to buy a home with good credit.

But there is still good news: It can be done.

For most people, credit is the biggest obstacle to buying a new house. When your credit isn’t shining very brightly, you’ll have limited choices when it comes to home loans – and you won’t qualify for the best interest rates.

The best course of action is to work hard to clean up your credit while you save cash to use as a down payment. Follow these tips to begin boosting your score:

Don’t pick up any new debt. Don’t buy a new car, get new furniture or anything else that requires you to take out a loan or have credit extended to you.
Don’t apply for new credit cards. When you apply for credit, that’s a ding on your credit report. And when lenders see that you’re picking up new ways to get yourself into debt, they’ll be less likely to approve you for a mortgage loan.
Keep an eye on your credit report. Use a free tool like the one Credit Karma provides to monitor your scores weekly. You also need to dispute items that are dragging down your score that don’t belong to you, which happens far more often than you think.

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What if You Don’t Have 20% Down?

If you’re like many renters, you really want to buy a home – but you don’t have enough cash to put down a 20 percent down payment.

The good news: You can still swing it.

Here’s how.

What if You Don’t Have 20 Percent Down?

Sure, 20 percent is the “gold standard” in buying a home. That means you pay 20 percent of the home’s purchase price up-front – but it’s not always necessary.

In fact, according to the National Association of Realtors(R), about 81 percent of Americans buy their first home with less than 20 percent down.

There are homebuyer programs that let you buy with as little as 3 percent down – and if you’re a qualifying veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces, you could qualify to put nothing down by using your VA loan.

But that aside, you need to know there are some disadvantages to buying with less than 20 percent down, including:

A private mortgage insurance requirement. Your lender will most likely require you to buy PMI to protect the lender’s investment in your home.
You’ll have to take out a larger mortgage, which raises your monthly payments.
You may have to deal with higher interest rates and less-friendly terms than you would have if you put down more money.

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How to Tell When a Seller is Hiding Something

When you’re looking at homes for sale in Aspen, your Realtor(R) will walk through each home with you and look for red flags that might pose a problem for you – but there are plenty of ways you can find trouble spots, too.

Here’s how to tell when a seller is hiding something.

How to Tell When a Seller is Hiding Something

Check out these tips to find out if there’s something the seller doesn’t want you to know.

#1. Look for overstaging, like mood music piping throughout the house. While it’s a great way to sell a lifestyle, it could be being used to mask traffic noise or other nuisances.

#2. Check how big the sofa is. Sometimes people try to use less furniture in an effort to make rooms look bigger than there are. If there’s only a loveseat and no sofa in the living room, there might not be enough room for your own furniture.

#3. You smell a lot of Febreze or other air fresheners. There’s something to be said for a home that smells good – but it needs to smell good because it’s clean, not because it’s been doused in perfumes.

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How to Prevent Frozen Pipes

If you’re like most homeowners, you know that you have to prevent your pipes from freezing.

But where do you start?

How to Prevent Frozen Pipes

Insulating your pipes is just about the best way to prevent them from freezing this winter. You can use a pipe-heating cable on all exterior pipes if you don’t think your home’s insulation is sufficient.

And in winter, it’s important to let your pipes drip when you’re not using them. That’s particularly true if the water is coming from an exterior pipe.

You can keep your under-sink cabinet doors open, which will keep room-temperature air circulating around the pipes (those cabinets can get really cold when they’re on outside walls). Also, make sure you’ve sealed all the external openings on basement doors, windows and crawlspaces with weatherstripping, caulk and sealant.

If you suspect that your pipes are freezing – or if they’re already frozen – because your faucets aren’t delivering water, it may be time to call a plumber. If a pipe bursts, you could have thousands of dollars of water damage on your hands.

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What to Do if Your Pipes Freeze

Aspen winters can be pretty rough – and it’s not unheard of for pipes to freeze.

So what do you do if your pipes freeze? Here’s how to tackle the issue.

What to Do if Your Pipes Freeze

First things first: When there’s no water coming out of the faucet, the first thing you should do is call a plumber. It’s a sign that you may have frozen pipes – especially in one of our famous cold snaps – but it could lead to even bigger trouble.

If you don’t want to call a plumber, you can try defrosting them yourself. Just be smart about it; if you need a plumber, call one, because the damage a burst pipe can do will end up costing you much more than a housecall from a plumber.

How to Defrost Your Pipes

Turn off the water at the main shut-off valve before you do anything. If you thaw a pipe that’s split, you’ll have a flood on your hands!

You can use a space heater near the frozen area on the pipe, but don’t try to prop it up anywhere – electricity and water don’t mix, so if it falls, you’ll have bigger problems. You can also use electrical heating tape, which may need to be plugged in, but never, ever use:

A blowtorch
A propane heater
Kerosene
A charcoal stove
Any other flammable device or substance

Are You Buying a Home in Aspen or the Surrounding Communities?

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3 Tips for Clearing Out Clutter in the Kitchen

If you’re like most people selling a home in Aspen, you know that you need to create as much space inside as possible – your Aspen Realtor® has probably told you as much.

But even if your home doesn’t appear cluttered, should you still clear things out?

Yes!

Here’s how.

3 Tips for Clearing Out Clutter in the Kitchen

The bottom line is that prospective buyers want to buy a home with a lot of space. Every piece of furniture, knickknack and other item you have in the house makes it look a little less spacious, even if you don’t see it. You don’t want the home to be empty when you’re going to sell – that would be bad staging – but you do want it as clutter-free as possible.

Here are three tips you can use to make your home appear less cluttered.

#1. Use a caddy in the kitchen.

Put a caddy on your kitchen counter to keep all your everyday items in. When someone comes to see your home, whisk them away and put the whole caddy in a cupboard, off the counter and out of sight.

#2. Add a kitchen cart.

Put things like pots and pans, as well as things that would take up counter space, on a wheeled kitchen cart. You can move the cart to the garage when people come to view your home, or you can leave it in a spot where it looks great – beside the island, for example – if it’s a nice-looking cart that’s well-organized.

#3. Remove items you haven’t used in 6 months.

If there’s something in your kitchen you haven’t used in 6 months, it’s time to make a decision. Do you want to keep and store it (preferably in a box in a storage unit), or do you want to sell, donate or throw it away? One of these things needs to happen.

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5 Tips to Save Water in Your Aspen Home

If you’re like many Aspen homeowners, you’d love some eco-friendly tips on saving water – and we’ve got five of them you can start using today.

5 Tips to Save Water in Your Aspen Home

You don’t have to make huge adjustments to your lifestyle to save a lot of water. These five tips will get you started on the right path:

Install water-saving shower heads
Use only full loads
Make sure your faucets don’t leak
Turn off the water when you brush, shave or do dishes
Don’t run the tap to wait for cold water

Two of these tips can also help you sell your home when it’s time to move on: making sure your faucets don’t leak and installing water-saving shower heads.

Repairing Leaky Faucets

When you’re ready to sell your home, your Aspen Realtor® will talk to you about improvements you can make to help sell your home faster – and that goes for repairs, too. Buyers expect everything to be working well when they purchase, so repairing leaky faucets (which, in many cases, you can do yourself) is par for the course.

Installing Water-Saving Shower Heads

Buyers love knowing that they’re making a solid investment that’s environmentally friendly, so installing attractive, water-saving shower heads can go a long way toward that “wow” factor you want buyers to have.

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Caring for Stone Flooring in Your New Aspen Home

If you’re buying a home for sale in Aspen that has stone flooring, here’s how to care for it.

Caring for Stone Flooring in Your New Aspen Home

Taking good care of your stone flooring ensures that it’ll last as long as possible – and it’s a way to protect your investment.

Remember:

Dirt is abrasive and can damage your floor
Damp mopping is the way to go
Don’t use harsh cleaners

Dirt on Your Floors

Dirt and sand are really abrasive, and they can scratch away your floor’s sealant and polish. If you see dirt or sand, sweep or vacuum it away immediately.

Mopping

Look for a pH-neutral soap that’s safe for use on stone flooring. Detergents made for porcelain or ceramic can be abrasive.

Cleaners

Harsh cleaners, when it comes to stone flooring, include anything with acids in it – and anything with abrasives.

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3 Things You MUST Ask When You Hire a Realtor

If you’re buying or selling a home in Aspen or any of the surrounding communities, you’re going to need to interview some Realtors®.

But asking, “Have you ever done this before?” isn’t going to be quite enough.

3 Things You MUST Ask When You Hire a Realtor

If you know what to ask, you can find the right Realtor for your needs.

How Long Have You Been a Realtor?

New agents can start with tremendous enthusiasm and skill. In fact, some relatively new Realtors are among the best in their fields.

However, when you’re purchasing a home, it’s about more than that. It’s about hiring a Realtor who can anticipate your needs, make sure she’s looking out for your best interests every step of the way, and who has extensive experience in your market. This can be particularly true in luxury real estate.

Experienced agents understand the city’s highs and lows, how much properties are really worth, and how to find out what’s most important to you as a buyer or seller.

Can You Provide References?

A great agent will have testimonials… and she won’t be afraid to share them.

A background littered with happy clients who’ve turned into friends is the hallmark of a Realtor you want by your side when you purchase or sell a home in Aspen.

What Makes You Different From Your Competitors?

No two Realtors are alike. In fact, there should be a solid number of characteristics that your Realtor is willing to share to differentiate herself from the competition.

This answer can tell you just about everything you need to know about an agent… and it can help you make the right choice.

Are You Buying or Selling a Home in Aspen?

If you’re thinking of moving to Aspen or any of the surrounding communities, we’d love to help you find your dream home. Give us a call at 970-429-8275 or get in touch with us online.

If you’re selling, get your free Aspen real estate market update and find out how we can sell your home quickly and at the best price. Call us at 970-429-8275 today!

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“Brenda went above and beyond as our realtor”

My fiance and I moved to the Valley from Minnesota this past January. We were lucky enough to be set up with Brenda from our realtor in MN. The day we arrived for our house hunting trip, Brenda met us for lunch and went over our plan of attack for the week, as she knew Continue Reading

Maria Golbirsch (and Greg Gazillo) February 28, 2017

“Brenda Wild is our exclusive Realtor”

A consummate professional who always looks out for your best interests…and yet takes the time for hand-holding too…this is why Brenda Wild is our exclusive Realtor.

Roger & Kelly Guth February 28, 2017

“You can expect the royal treatment”

Brenda and her staff get to the heart of your desire, needs and dreams. You can expect the royal treatment and awesome results with Brenda and her team.

Jenn Carlson February 28, 2017

“She gets anything you need”

Brenda is great, very efficient and hard working. She gets anything you need from home and land info to anything about Aspen you could need quickly and accurately.

Bruce Lange February 28, 2017

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