TIps from Mom about Buying and Selling a Home

This is a sponsored post written en behalf of a Missouri real estate company, but all opinions are 100% mine.

Being a gal on the move all of my life I have figured out a few things about buying and selling your home along the way.  I thought I might share a few tips with you.

There are no coupons to use unfortunately so a girl has to use her head throughout the entire process of buying and selling a home. One key element is to find yourself a good Realtor. Really you need an expert. If you are moving to a new area you can get so much needed information from them. Besides helping you thhroughout the entire process of buying a home, a good realitor will also be able to tell you where a good place to shop will be or where they take their own kids to school. When I moved to Texas my realtor gave me her connections to a woman that made the best tamales I have ever ate in my life!  

So where do you find a great realtor?   You have to sort through them just like if you were making new friends.  You can look here if you are looking for Kansas City Homes for Sale or for Missouri Homes for Sale. 

Then when you are looking at homes ask your realtor to give you a print out of each home you view with the specs listed and a picture.   Bring your clipboard and a pen. Write down your first impression when you get to the home, like ugly yard or beautiful hardwood.  Write down everything you like and don't like while you are touring the home.  You can even bring a video or digital camera and create a nice visual file of the homes you see.  Believe me this will come in handy at the end of the day.  The more homes you look at the more they will start to blend in and you will forget little details that could really make a difference. 

By doing this you will also have a list of pros and cons for each home that you can use to help you make your final choice between the top two.  

Buying and selling a home is a big deal, and very stressful so make a list of things to do and work on it from the top down.  Also take a pad and paper to bed with you and before you douce the light write down your list of things to do tomorrow.  Then sleep well, because you won't have to think and worry about all you have to do the next day.  Leave all your worries on that list the night before. 

Wait don't put the the paper away yet, you have another list to make;  make a list of everything you need to have imediately when you move into your new place.   This is the stuff that will go last in the back of the moving truck or in your car.  This can really save your sanity.   Have all the school/shot  records in that box.  Then you won't have to search when you are trying to enroll them in their new school. 

In your address book before you move put your old address in there, you think you will remember but you won't two years from now.  Also put the addresss and phone number of the olds schools, and work numbers.  Then next to your old address write the dates you lived there or the dates your kids attended that school.  Someday later you will need that information.  

If you are trying to sell make your house clean, orderly, shiney and blank.   You need to have a clean house to show, no one wants to buy someone old stinky dirt.   Take all your pictures of you and your family and pack them up and slap on a fresh coat of paint.  Make your house look like a spa condo so it is inviting but anyone that walks in will be able to imagine their stuff in that room and not be overwhelmed with your plate collection.   Clean, clean and clean somemore.  Pack up any clutter or get rid of it with a yard sale to get you some extra moving money.  Never leave the dishes dirty or the beds unmade so you are ready to show on a moments notice.  If you pack up your stuff and get rid of everything so you only have the bare minimum this will be much easier to do.  It is always easier to clean if you have less stuff to pick up. 

Your realtor will have good ideas on what you should personally do for your unique situation and you should really take their suggestions into consideration.  They are professional at this and they want to sell your home just as much as you do!   So if they ask you to get rid of the dog, send Rover to your Uncle Steve's house for a few weeks and get your house sold.  

The Kansas City Real estate Market, the Missouri Real estate market, the all over the country real estate market is really a hot spot right now for buyers and this might be the time you can take advantage of it.  If you are in the market to buy a home this may be a way you could save and make some green yourself!