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Selling your Las Vegas house or selling your Los Angeles home might be one of your New Year’s resolutions, but keep in mind, there are dozens of steps involved and many details to attend to before your home is ready for the market. These include repairs, some of which can cost you thousands. So if you own a home and are considering selling in the New Year, make sure to assess the condition of the items in the list below to be sure you can afford all of your needed repairs, and to learn how to prevent having to make large repairs so often.

1. Foundation. Water is the enemy of concrete and especially foundations. Because foundation repairs are one of the most costly repairs, you want to prevent this damage before it can occur, which means ensuring that water is directed away from the foundation rather than toward it.
2. Roof. Just like a foundation, roofs are highly susceptible to rot and water damage. And because a roof is one of the first things that people notice when looking at a house, it’s vital that your roof is in good shape before selling. You should regularly check for leaks, holes, and wear on your roof. If you don’t, water will seep into your house and wreak havoc that can cost anywhere between $3,000 and $12,000.
3. Deck. One of the easiest ways to preserve your deck for longer is to keep the wood protected from the elements. This means applying stain or sealant every year or two, to extend the life and health of your deck.
4. Septic system. Which would you rather do, pay $15,000 to fully replace your septic system, or spend a fraction of that to have your tank inspected annually? Chances are good that you chose the second option. Septic systems are complicated to replace, so it’s worth it to have it inspected regularly to prevent such a large expense from becoming necessary.
5. Driveway. Like anything that sits outside constantly, driveways experience a lot of wear and tear. When they’re not being strained by the weight of vehicles, they can crack and crumble from water damage or too much sun and humidity. To prevent having to pay up to $5,000 to re-pave your driveway and haul away the old one, take care to protect your driveway from excessive wear by applying driveway sealer. It’s a simple process and relatively inexpensive, especially compared to the price of replacing your driveway entirely.

If you’d rather sell your home without the time and expense of repairs, contact Seller’s Advantage today. At Seller’s Advantage we buy houses for cash fast AS-IS condition and will give you a cash offer in as little as 24 hours. Contact them online at Seller’s Advantage.com or call 1-800-208-3243 to get a no-cost, no-obligation quote on your home. If you’re ready to sell, Seller’s Advantage is ready to help and you can learn more about our Yelp and BBB reviews on our Sellers Advantage reviews page.

Traditional wisdom says winter is an unwise time to sell your Los Angeles home fast. The open house was once a very powerful tool for selling, and no one wants to go out when it’s miserable January cold. That was how it was, but the real estate business has changed dramatically. We’ll give you three excellent reasons why January is now a great time to sell.

1. The internet. Vast resources and information available on the internet make an open house far less necessary. Pictures and descriptions are easily viewable online. When someone comes to look at a home, they almost always have a pretty good idea of what they’re going to see. Pictures will also give them a good idea of what the house will look like with green grass and flowers.
2. The crowd. Most people still follow this old wisdom and wait until the spring to list their house. Selling in winter gives you a distinct advantage as there are fewer houses for buyers to choose from.
3. Buyers with cash. Many people get bonuses and monetary gifts from family over the holiday season. Particularly first time home buyers also often file for their tax returns as early as possible, so most at least know what kind of return they will be getting, and many have access to the cash through tax return loans offered by tax preparation companies.

Sometimes it is wise to follow traditional wisdom to sell my home fast. Sometimes it’s smarter to follow new trends and pay attention to how the world is changing. If you are ready to sell now, we are ready to buy. Please contact us to see if you are interested in getting a cash offer for your home in as little as 24 hours.  Click here to learn more about our Yelp and BBB reviews on our Sellers Advantage reviews page.

Unless you build a new Las Vegas home, you probably have little control over the shape of your bedroom or location of its closet or dressing room. You can still create a cozy, comfortable room by combining light, view, layout and circulation.

Built Just Right
A bedroom with an efficient design and of well-organized space provides an enjoyable environment for a good night’s sleep. If you build new or remodel your home, first, think of the room’s circulation when designing it. Circulation refers to the paths of travel in a room. Strive for a circulation design like that of a hotel room. It provides one clear path from the adjacent bathroom to the bed and further to a writing-table or dining table. The television sits across from the bed and nightstands flank either side of the bed. This provides a clear, straight path of travel through the points of the room. A closet across from the bathroom creates an efficient design.

Provide yourself a lovely view. Include a window or two overlooking the backyard or a more exciting view if you have it. Try to make the view, not the bed, the first thing you see upon entry. If you can, connect the room to the outdoors with patio or French doors. Placing your bedroom on the corner of the Los Angeles house provides at least two walls of window space. Windows provide ventilation and light.

Design with privacy as a priority. Don’t site bedrooms across from family rooms, great rooms or kitchens. Remove the bedrooms from high traffic areas using a foyer or hallway. Design with a designated bed wall. Also, design for the furniture you’ll need to place.

Working with What You’ve Got
In an existing home, you work with the space you’ve got. Organize your furniture as efficiently as possible. Layout the room for optimal circulation with the bed against one wall. Leave space on either side of the bed for night tables. Think about hanging your television. Both static and adjustable mounts are available. This saves space in smaller rooms and makes viewing from bed easier.  Try to provide yourself a view upon entry, but if it’s not possible to see a window upon entry, hang a painting on the wall opposite the entry.

At night, close blinds, curtains or shades, so you maintain a darkened room until your alarm sounds. Open window covers let light in as the sun rises which may be before your alarm. Open the window dressings upon waking to enjoy a healthy, natural light.  Learn more about our Yelp and BBB reviews on our Sellers Advantage reviews page.

Organizing your bedroom and controlling light entry can help you enjoy time spent there, especially sleep hours. You can get a better night’s sleep in an optimally designed room. Contact us to sell your home and find the perfect place to lay your head.

The term ‘Rental Property’ can make your second property sound a bit like a cash cow. You would have to be crazy to turn down a solid chunk of passive income, right? If you’ve recently inherited or otherwise came into possession of a second house, becoming a part-time landlord can sound like a pretty tempting idea. Here are a few things you should know before you become a landlord.

Passive Income
Passive income, or income that comes about without any substantial investment of time or effort on your part, is an attractive reason to invest in rental properties. Much like investing in stocks, in order to generate truly passive income off of your investment, you will need to hire someone with a portion of the rents to keep an eye on them while you go about your business. Rents collected are used to pay for repairs, wages and fees and the remainder is returned to you in the form of passive investment income.

Single Unit Ownership
Owning a single rental unit does not carry with it the benefits of a large rental investment portfolio. Less income means you cannot pay for someone else to handle your property. There are no managers to take care of your tenants, maintenance employees to repair your units or an accounting department to keep track of expenses and prepare tax documents at the end of the year – you don’t even reap the benefit of volume purchase discounts at the local hardware store.

As a small-time landlord, you will need to cover these bases on your own. You will also need to keep abreast of all local, state and federal laws regarding your unit, your tenant and your income.

Tenant Management
One of the biggest surprises to new landlords is how difficult it can be to find and keep good tenants. It is an unfortunate reality that many tenants, regardless of your screening process, will damage your property and skip town without paying their bills. Where a real estate investor with a large portfolio can absorb the occasional speed bump, spending thousands of dollars repairing your rental property can be hard to swallow for your average homeowner.

Legal Concerns
Being a landlord will require you understand and obey a variety of regulations regarding your property. Depending on where you live, this may be as simple as ensuring your home has a functional fire safety system. However – most areas also have rules that will require you upgrade the structural and building materials to meet local guidelines regarding natural hazards (earthquakes, fires and floods), health hazards (asbestos, pests and air quality) and safety standards – such as fire and carbon monoxide sensors, egress windows and handicap accessible bathrooms. Failure to follow these guidelines can result in substantial fees.

You will need to be prepared to deal with legal matters regarding your tenants too. In many areas, you cannot remove a renter without a court ordered eviction and before you can collect damages you will need to plead your case in conciliation court as well if you need to sell my house fast Los Angeles.

Renting out your second property sounds fairly simple – you register it as a rental property, put up an ad and someone gives you money to live there. However, there are a variety of federal, regional and local laws that govern you, your property and your tenant that must be obeyed at the risk of substantial financial and legal damage to yourself.

Sellers Advantage can offer you an alternative that will provide you with money now – with none of the time, costs or risks involved in maintaining a rental unit. Contact Seller’s Advantage online or call us at 1-800-208-3243 and read our Sellers Advantage Reviews to get a no-cost, no-obligation quote on your home. We buy houses for cash and Vegas homes in AS-IS condition and can give you a cash offer in as little as 24 hours.

If you want to sell your home before the end of the year,  you need to be prepared to take an active role in getting buyers through the door. Trying to beat the market is an uphill battle, here are a few strategies to help you sell your house fast.

Blast Your Listing
If you’re trying to sell your home on the traditional market one of the best ways to save time is to blast your listing. Some realtors only list on their own website or not at all, trying to “double-end” the deal to keep 100 percent of the commission for themselves.  This limits competing bids on your property. It’s often up to you to make sure your listing is EVERYWHERE. There are plenty of real-estate listing websites out there and if you want your house sold fast you want to be on all of them. Make use of the local papers and community bulletin boards, and inquire about feature listings at kiosks in shopping centers and malls. The higher profile your listing is, the more people will see it and the faster your house will sell.

Focus Your Listing
Don’t waste time on the wrong buyers. Every location has a buyer focus. Figure out what type of person is looking to move into your area and focus your attention on locating these buyers. Make sure your listing is designed with them in mind. Pinpointing their voice and dreams will go a long way toward closing the deal quickly.

Networking
Everybody knows someone who knows someone else who is in the market for a home. Networking isn’t just for business. Get your name out there, be seen. Many houses are sold on word of mouth alone – make sure your listing is screaming, not whispering. Getting your face out there may seem daunting, but if you want your home sold quick your friends and neighbors can be an invaluable resource.

Go for the Quick Sale
The traditional market isn’t the only game in town. If you need to sell your house fast there are less intensive, pain-free methods available. Selling your Los Angeles house quickly to through Seller’s Advantage can mean a cash offer in as little as 24 hours. If you’re in a serious hurry and don’t have time to play the market a quick sale is your best bet.

Seller’s Advantage is a real estate broker in your area you can read our Seller’s Advantage reviews. Contact us online or call us at 1-888654-AS-IS (888-654-2747) to get a no-cost, no-obligation quote on your home. We buy homes for cash in AS-IS condition and can give you a cash offer in as little as 24 hours.

Unlike your grandmother’s powder set and storage crocks, your house is never going to become an antique. Older homes, especially those made prior to the 1950’s, can have significant difficulties being sold on the open market. However, you can improve your chances of making a sale with a few renovation projects that will increase the value of your home and make it more attractive to potential buyers.

Rewiring
Up until the 1950’s, houses with electrical service used knob-and-tube wiring. Unfortunately, if your home still relies on knob-and-tube you will likely experience a lot of pushback from buyers and lenders regarding the need to renovate the property. Because of the age of your electrical system, it is in your best interests to have your house rewired before putting it on the market.

Subfloor Support
As your house ages, it settles and building materials buckle and slide. For your floors, this can mean noisy creaking and awkward bowing. Unfortunately, while these things are to be expected in older homes they give prospective buyers the impression that the house may not be structurally sound. Older houses generally need to have their subfloors shimmed or replaced entirely to repair damage caused by aging prior to going on the market.

Siding
Mice and bats are extremely common pests to find in older homes that have not had an exterior renovation. These pests enter through small holes in siding, casing and dirt access in your basement or crawl space and can make selling your home difficult on the traditional market. Replacing your siding is the best way to ensure that above ground access to your walls has been sealed off. You should also consider having your basement, eaves and overhangs inspected and resealed by a professional.

Selling an older home on the traditional market is hard, but it is not impossible. Hopefully, the amount of time and money you invest in your home prior to sale will help you attract buyers. If you are unable or unwilling to invest the time and money needed to improve your property before it hits the open market, a private sale can significantly reduce the length of time and amount of effort you will need to put into getting your house sold.

​Contact Seller’s Advantage online or call us at 1-800-208-3243 to get a no-cost, no-obligation quote on your home. We buy homes AS-IS condition and can give you a cash offer in as little as 24 hours read our Sellers Advantage reviews.

Bob and Suzanne had lived in their home since the 1970s. They had always said that when the nest was empty, they’d move to the beach, or maybe get a loft uptown. They had taken great care of the house over the years, and had updated so that when the time came to sell their realtor thought they would get a great price, and quickly.

The house, in an established neighborhood with lots of trees, a neighborhood park, and great schools, went on the market and they were overwhelmed with people coming though. They were lucky enough to have several people make offers, and they were thrilled when they had a contract in just a week. They made an offer on a condo, without any contingencies since they had such a great offer and so many people wanting their house.

The Las Vegas cash home buyers wanted an inspection, and that was the beginning of the end for Bob and Suzanne’s dream of downsizing. The inspection found wiring that was not up to code, and insufficient amps for the power needed to run the house. It turned out that when the house was built, there was a copper shortage and builders used aluminum wire. They went back to copper when prices came down, but houses built in the early to mid 1970s have aluminum wires. They had never had a fire, and had no idea that this was even an issue.

The mortgage company would not approve a loan unless the wiring was replaced, and the buyers couldn’t get homeowners insurance, even if they could get the mortgage. Bob and Suzanne were hit with a repair that they couldn’t really afford, and another contract they were bound to. So they were faced with tens of thousands in repairs, and losing their deposit on their new condo.

​Bob and Suzanne found for a less traditional way to sell my home fast in “as is” condition–they called Seller’s Advantage. They even went online for a quote on the sales price, and had the money to get into their dream retirement condo in Los Angeles within the week after reading our BBB and Yelp reviews on our Sellers Advantage reviews page. If you’re afraid of what’s in your walls, contact us today.

Chances are, when you bought your house, you had saved enough money for a down payment and closing costs, and your bank gave you the mortgage. Financing is a little bit Wild West these days, and lots of homebuyers are getting their loans through more unusual channels, like online lenders, and peer-to-peer lending sites. And buyers can get a little crazy and kill the sale without having any idea what they’re doing wrong.

When you sign the offer to purchase contract, the person buying your house is no longer the anonymous buyer, but a real person with a name. And in this age of the internet, most sellers will do a little social media stalking to find out more about the people buying their home. Buyers do the same thing, by the way….
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What one seller found online created a tidal wave that ultimately terminated the contract–in about an hour.

The buyer, moving from out of state with a large family, had set up a funding page online. They had posted pictures of the house they were buying, and were asking for money to help with moving costs. Two things blew up the contract right then–not knowing the language of lending, the buyer was asking for money to pay for the “closing costs” and the “deposit”. They meant the deposit on the moving trucks, but the seller found this on social media and was not only upset about the photo his house being used for online panhandling, but concerned about the buyer’s ability to get the financing.

The buyer had the funds to close, but the online appeal for closing costs and the deposit was enough for the lender to deny the loan.

Seller’s Advantage is a cash home buyer from Los Angeles homes and Las Vegas houses that eliminates the middlemen and the drama. We’ll give you a quote for your house, and have the sale closed within a couple of weeks just look at our Seller’s Advantage reviews. We pay cash, so we move quickly and easily through the process. Contact us for more details on the Seller’s Advantage.

If you’re thinking about selling your house, your realtor has probably given you a list of repairs you need to make before you put it on the market. The fact is, most of want to  sell our Los Angeles houses that, quite frankly, we wouldn’t buy–the roof leaks a little but you know where to put the bucket; the electrical panel isn’t quite amped up enough to run the vacuum cleaner with all the lights on–so when you get ready to make the repairs to sell your house, it’s shocking what an electrician costs. If you need to have your wiring inspected, plan to pay around $200 for a licensed electrician to come out and look at your entire network. You will get a detailed report of the repairs your electrical needs, which for a home 20-50 years old can range from a couple of hundred dollars to several thousand. Some will credit that back to you if you hire them to do the repairs to get you up to code.

A roof inspection will set you back between $75-$500, depending on the size of the house and the kind of roof. The inspector will need to crawl around on the roof and in the attic, especially if you do have a leak. Water is sneaky and does not travel in a straight line or on a reasonable schedule; you might find a leak weeks later at the other end of the house. If the leak has caused real damage and not just a cosmetic need for paint, you’ll have to tear out the drywall and joists or rafters to repair that–another expense from a contractor who has to do that work.

Termites are another headache for homeowners–if you have termite damage, no matter how old, you’ll need to have it repaired for a buyer to even consider your home. If you have an active infestation, an exterminator will have to come over and treat your home to get rid of them, costing an average of $10 per liner foot to treat (so if your home is 2000 SF, that’s about 180 LF, so $1800).

There is a better way to spend your money–let Seller’s Advantage take the repairs off your hands because we can help you to sell my house fast for cash. With nationwide coverage and years of buying homes quickly and as-is. Contact us and we can give you a no-cost, no obligation estimate of your home’s value online and in as little as 48 hours and just read our Sellers Advantage reviews. And we can have cash in your hand while you’re still waiting for the electrician to show up.

Selling your Las Vegas home for cash on the traditional market can be a full-time job. There is constantly something that needs attention, and if you’re not doing it yourself then you’re paying someone else to do it for you. If you aren’t, then you may be in for a very, very long listing. There are a lot of hassles that come with selling your home, here are 3 that can have a huge impact on how long your house is lost in listing limbo.

Upkeep
Regardless of the type of home you’re selling, there is going to be some amount of upkeep involved. Buyers want to visit houses that look move-in ready. That means, when you’re on the market you need to keep the lawn mowed and the property in good repair. If your house has a pest problem, this can mean a lot of work. Signs of an active pest infestation, no matter how small, will run off even the most interested buyer. A vacant house also has a chance of attracting larger pests and there is no easy way to explain away a nest of squatters living in your vacant listing. Keeping the lawn mowed, the sidewalks shoveled, the traps empty and the staging set can be a significant investment of your time and money.

Staging
A dash of red here – some throw pillows there. If you’re lucky, your realtor will take care of it for you. For a fee, of course. Staging is an important element in getting your home sold on the traditional market. Buyers like to dream, and the love to dream big. Having fresh, seasonal staging can be key to attracting buyers. Unfortunately, someone needs to set the stage, and someone has to pay for it too. That’s time and money invested into attracting buyers. Unfortunately, if your house isn’t in the best shape staging may work against it, leading to the “lipstick on a pig” effect. Filling a house in need of repairs with expensive decorations can cause uncomfortable discord for buyers. Sellers need to put careful consideration into the decor they use to make sure it is attractive to the right buyers for their area and market.

Meetings
Selling a home requires a lot of interpersonal skills. Not only will you be meeting with your realtor, expect to be meeting with other realtors and prospective buyers too. Selling a house on the traditional market requires a lot of finagling and time. There will be plenty to meet about, and even more paperwork to sign. There is never a dull moment when you’re selling a house.
Selling a home is an investment. Hopefully, the time and money you invest into getting your home sold will pay off in the end. However, keep your expectations realistic. Even selling Los Angeles California houses in great condition can take months to sell, those in less than ideal condition can take years. Luckily, the traditional market isn’t your only option.  Read our SellersAdvantage.com reviews

Contact Seller’s Advantage online or call us at 1-800-208-3243 to get a no-cost, no-obligation quote on your home. We buy homes fast for cash in all conditions and can give you a cash offer in as little as 24 hours.