10 Things to do before listing your home

 To help make the selling process easier for you, it makes sense to have your home inspected before listing it.  It may sound like a hassle but it could save you a lot of money and stress early on.  The inspection will pinpoint red flags and areas that have potential problems.  It also gives you the opportunity to address those issues before listing your home.  Having your home already inspected ultimately also gives the prospective buyers the comfort and confidence that the seller actually cared about their home in the first place.  Be sure to share this information with prospective buyers by supplying a copy of the home inspection.  It is perfectly okay to choose not to have your home inspected before listing.  If you take this route, just be sure to do your own pre-listing home inspection to keep things significantly less nerve-racking and not terribly costly before the buyer’s home inspector comes through.

Here are 10 areas to look at/fix up before listing your home.

1.  Fix any deteriorated paint jobs.  Touch up any dings on the walls or woodwork, scrape and paint any flaking areas.

2.  For furnaces over 10 years old; pay to have it serviced and cleaned.  Then display the inspection papers (store them in a Ziploc bag) by taping to furnace.

3.  Make sure all toilets are flushed.  Nothing worse than having a seldom used toilet not functioning properly.

4.  Run water down sinks and bathtub drains.  All drains need to flow steadily.  No slow drains!

5.  Check for leaks under sinks and in vanities.  Tighten up joints if necessary.

6.  Check out the condition of the roof.  You want things to look normal: no missing shingles.

7.  Clean out the gutters.  They need to be free of debris for good drainage.

8.  Open and close all windows.  Check for springs working properly so windows don’t slam down. Make sure all the locks work and windows close tightly.

9.  Test any appliances like the dishwasher that you are leaving behind.  You want them working properly. Make sure all burners/oven are working on your stove.

10.  Test the auto reverse on the garage door.  Make sure the safety mechanism works.

For more information about Home Inspectors or how to prepare to list your home, call or email me anytime.  Bill’s Email  | Phone 978.273.3227

Fed Leaves Interest Rates Unchanged… And…

A divided Federal Reserve held the line on interest rates Wednesday and indicated formally that no cuts are coming in 2019. The decision came amid divisions over what is ahead and still leaves open the possibility that policy loosening could happen before the end of the year depending on how conditions unfold.

The central bank predicts one or two rate cuts in its set of economic predictions, but not until 2020. Despite cautious wording in the post-meeting statement Wednesday, markets are still betting the Fed cuts, as soon as July.

These statements and what has been going on in the Whitehouse has caused the Bond and Treasury markets to rally hitting 2 year lows.  As a result, mortgage rates are hitting new lows everyday.  We are seeing the 30 year fixed rate at 3.75% with 0 points.  A rate we have not seen since 2017!

The U.S. central bank voted Wednesday to maintain its benchmark interest rate in a range of 2.25 percent and 2.5 percent, a move that many anticipated despite growing calls for the Fed to cut. But eight out of 17 officials penciled in rate reductions by the end of this year, which would be the first such adjustment since the economy plummeted into the depths of the Great Recession.

Language in Fed Chair Powell’s dictates the markets

The committee changed language from its May statement to indicate that economic activity is “rising at a moderate rate,” a downgrade from “solid.”

In their baseline scenario, FOMC members said they still expect “sustained expansion of economic activity” and a move toward 2% inflation but realize that “uncertainties about this outlook have increased.”

“In light of these uncertainties and muted inflation pressures, the Committee will closely monitor the implications of incoming information for the economic outlook and will act as appropriate to sustain the expansion, with a strong labor market and inflation near its symmetric 2 percent objective,” the statement said. The “act as appropriate to sustain the expansion” language mirrors a statement from Powell in early June.

These may seem very subtle to most, but the slight change of “Moderate” to “Solid” speaks volumes to Wall Street. Wall Street is betting on future rate cuts and the markets are reacting positively!

Mortgage Rates Continue to Drop!

With the recent news of the Feds today, mortgage rates continue the rally.  The 30 year fixed rate with 0 points 3.75% based on a 740 credit score on a single family home with 25% equity. For more details about rates and terms, call or email me anytime!

Bill Nickerson NMLS #4194 | Bill’s Email | 978-.273.3227

Before Putting Your Home on the Market

• Documents you will need
  • Deed
  • If you have right of ways, deed restrictions or easements get the documentation that clearly spells out the restrictions of the property.
  • Know if you are in a flood plain – FEMA’s website can be helpful.
  • Go to the Town Hall:
    • Field card at the assessor’s office
    • Get your most recent  paid tax bill
    • A plot plan
    • Title V report if it has been complete and the pumping schedule
    • Talk to the engineering department get a sense of any upcoming projects that may be done around the home.
    • Building department will have a list of all permits pulled and renovations done to the home including electrical, plumbing and addition upgrades
  • If you are in a condo
    • Condo financials to include the budget,  the last three months condo association meeting minutes and if they have it a list of current and future project that are going to be done to the properties
    • Condo Rules and Regulations
    • Master Deed and Master Insurance.
    • Verify there are no pending lawsuits with association
    • Know the owner occupancy rate of your complex
  • Home List
    • Create a list of renovations and updates that have been done to the property
    • Get utility bills for the last 12 months: Electric, oil, gas, propane, plowing, landscaping…
    • Write a letter to potential buyers of what you love about your home, neighborhood and town.

For more information about selling your home, feel free to contact me anytime.  I can be reached at 978-273-3227 or email be here: Bill’s Email

Bill Nickerson | NMLS #4194 | www.billnickerson.com | 978-273-3227 | bill@billnickerson.com

Mortgage Rates continue to drop… But Why?

Mortgage rates are improving every day, the treasury markets are having the biggest really since 2008!?  Why??  Actions by President Trump and the Tarrifs that are being implemented.  Fed funds futures contracts extended their rally and are now indicating more than half a percentage point of interest-rate cuts this year by the U.S. central bank.

The yield on two-year Treasuries is headed for the biggest two-day decline since January 2008 after China extended retaliatory tariffs to cover more than two-thirds of imports from the U.S, with Beijing also warning students about the risk of studying in America. Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase & Co. slashed its targets for U.S. yields on concern that the trade war with will crimp economic growth and force the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.

While the effective fed funds rate is at 2.39%, the rate implied for the end of 2019 by the January futures contract dropped 15 basis points on Friday to 1.855%. Central bank shifts are often done in increments of 25 basis points, and current pricing implies two cuts of that size by the end of 2019.

The shift comes amid a worldwide rally in bonds after U.S. President Donald Trump announced his plan to levy tariffs on imports from Mexico, adding further fuel to concerns about global trade tensions. Strategists at several U.S. primary dealers have also changed their forecasts to predict cuts this year from the Federal Reserve.

“Even if a deal is quickly reached with Mexico, which seems plausible, the damage to business confidence could be lasting, with consequences that might still require a Fed response,’’ JPMorgan Chase & Co. chief U.S. economist Michael Feroli said in a note to clients on Friday.

This information was provided by Bloomberg.com