WASHINGTON — 聽 Home sales rose聽 nationwide during聽the past year.
Prices are on the rise聽and聽money is cheap. The Federal Reserve suggested on Jan. 28, 2015 that rates,聽, are 聽unlikely to rise聽in the near future.聽The real estate market is considered attractive to both buyers聽and sellers.
To make the process of selling a little easier, Consumer Reports offers some聽home seller聽“”
Recommendations based on surveys of聽303 real estate professionals brokering聽nearly聽90 percent of residential U.S. sales聽include:
- Get professional pictures of the home’s interior/exterior.
- Consider hiring a professional organizer to eliminate clutter.
- Eliminate household odors but not with intense air fresheners.
- Spruce up exterior with landscaping even as simple as potted plants.
- Update kitchen with paint and new appliances but not a full renovation.
- Update bathroom with new floor and tile caulking and water efficient toilet.
- 聽Paint rooms only in high traffic areas such as the kitchen, bathroom and busy hallways.
Only 16 percent of the real estate professionals surveyed by Consumer Reports considered聽interior paint a high priority for things needing to be in perfect shape.
People shopping聽for homes can save time by 听辩耻颈肠办濒测:
- 聽Carpenter ants leave sawdust along baseboards.
- 聽Spongy floors suggest water damage from leaky pipes.
- 聽Termites often shed wings along windowsills, walls and exterior entry points.
Home prices in the聽Washington聽area are rising more slowly than the national average but as ofcompared to last year.
Jennifer Nycz-Conner of the Washington Business Journal contributed to this report.
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