Closing time. The end of the road. The last hurrah — and hurrahs are in order.

If you’re here, then you’ve found a buyer, negotiated home repairs, and are ready to move out — and on. But before you can make this sale official (and get paid!), you still have a few items to cross off your list.

Here, we’ve laid out everything you need to know to have a successful settlement.

Closing Is the Final Step

Closing, or “settlement,” is when both parties sign the final ownership and insurance paperwork, and the buyer becomes the legal owner of the home.

Typically, closing day takes place about four to six weeks after you signed a purchase and sale agreement. During this window, the buyer’s purchasing funds are held in escrow until all contingencies, like the home inspection contingency and appraisal contingency, are met.

Your agent will be able to answer questions and offer support through closing. Here’s what to expect from the process, start to finish.

Before You Close, You’ll Have a Final Walk-Through

Most sales contracts give the buyer one last chance to do a walk-through of the home within 24 hours of settlement. This is their chance to check that the property is in good condition, and to make sure the agreed-upon repairs were completed.

In most cases, no problems arise at this stage of the transaction. (If something is amiss, your agent can walk you through it.) The final walk-through mostly gives buyers peace of mind knowing that you, the seller, have adhered to the conditions of the sales contract and home inspection-related repairs.

Related Topic: Sell a Home: Step-by-Step

Follow These Steps to Prepare for the Final Walk-Through

To help ensure that the walk-through goes smoothly, take these six steps ahead of time to prepare:

Step #1: Clean house. Your home should be spotless for the final walk-through. Assuming the buyer is taking ownership on closing day, you should be fully moved out at this point. But moving can be messy. After purging, packing, and moving, you may want to do one more deep cleaning.

Step #2: Leave owner’s manuals and warranties. Make the buyer’s life easier by providing all manuals and warranties you have for home appliances. Print physical copies and put these documents in one place for the new owner. If you have receipts from contractors for repairs, leave them with the manuals.

Step #3: Provide a vendor list. Give the buyer contact information for home contractors or maintenance companies that you’ve used in the past. These vendors are familiar with your home, and the new owner will appreciate having a list of servicers they can trust will take good care of their new home.

Step #4: Check for forgotten items. Do one more check throughout the home to make sure you’re not leaving anything behind. One exception: You may want to leave unused or leftover paint cans in the colors currently in use within the home — but confirm with the buyer first.

Step #5: Turn off water shut-off valves. The last thing you want before closing is a flood. With the buyer’s permission, turn off your house’s main shutoff valve 24 hours before closing.

Step #6: Lock up. Until settlement is complete, you’re legally responsible for the home — meaning you’d be liable if there’s a break-in before closing. So, the day before settlement make sure to close window coverings and lock the entry doors. If a house looks un-lived in, it’s a welcome sign to burglars. It’s a good idea to leave a porch light on, or to set an interior light to turn on and off with a timer.

If the final walk-through reveals an issue with the house, don’t panic. The standard protocol is for the buyer’s agent to immediately alert the listing agent that there’s a problem. Then, both parties work together to solve it. Typically, either the closing gets delayed or there’s additional negotiation, such as monetary deduction of the sales price. In other words: There are options, and your agent can help you through this.

Up Next: The “Closing Disclosure”

Let’s assume the final walk-through is smooth sailing. (Woo-hoo!) What happens next?

You’ll get info about your closing costs from the title company.

Meanwhile, the buyer’s mortgage lender must provide the buyer with a Closing Disclosure, or CD, three business days before settlement. This is a formal statement of the buyer’s final loan terms and closing costs. As the loan borrower, the buyer is entitled to a three-day review period to see if there are any significant discrepancies between their CD and Loan Estimate (LE) — a document buyers receive when they apply for a loan. The LE outlines the approximate fees the buyer would need to pay.

In most cases, there are no major differences between the CD and LE. However, if certain closing costs differ by 10% or more between the estimate and the disclosure, the buyer’s loan has to go back to the mortgage lender so that cost differences can be reviewed. If that happens, closing is usually delayed until the issue is resolved.

Expect to See These People at the Closing

The closing typically takes place at the title company, attorney’s office, or the buyer’s or seller’s agent’s real estate office. (Unless you live in a state that allows for electronic closings — eClosings — with remote notaries. In that case, the involved parties can opt to sign documents digitally.)

The list of legally mandated Your Presence Isn’t RequiredIn conventional closings, sellers may be able to skip the proceedings. Instead, your attorney may act as your rep and you might pre-sign transfer documents.attendees will depend on your state, but usually you’ll be joined by:

• Your agent
• The buyer
• The buyer’s agent
• A title company representative
• The loan officer
• Any real estate attorneys involved with the transaction

Remember to Budget for Closing Costs

Closing costs can vary widely by location, but you’ll generally pay closing costs of 5% to 10% of the home’s sales price. So, on a $300,000 home, you can expect to pay anywhere from $15,000 to $30,000 in closing costs. In most cases, these costs are deducted from your proceeds at closing.

Closing costs for sellers typically include:

• The commission for the listing agent and buyer’s agent
• Transfer taxes or recording fees
• Loan payoff costs
• Unpaid homeowner association dues
• Homeowner association dues included up to the settlement date
• Prorated property taxes
• Escrow, title, or attorney fees

Be Sure to Bring These Things to Closing

At the closing you should have:

• A government-issued photo ID
• A copy of the ratified sales contract
• House keys, garage remotes, mailbox keys, gate keys, and any pool keys
• A cashier’s check, or proof of wire transfer, if your closing costs are not being deducted from the sales price. (Yes, it’s OK to use a cashier’s check — especially if you don’t want to deal with the hassle of a wire transfer, which can take time to clear. With a cashier’s check, you’re guaranteed the money you need for settlement will be there at closing.)

Don’t Forget to Dot These I’s and Cross These T’s

Before you rush off to pick out paint samples for your new place, remember to do these two steps that are often overlooked by sellers:

Transfer utilities. Don’t want to pay for the new owner’s utility bills? Coordinate with the buyer so that utilities — including not only gas and electric but also water and cable — are transferred to the buyer on Perfect TimingOnce you know the title has officially transferred, then cancel your homeowners insurance. You don’t want to be without coverage (what if a pipe bursts?!) until the deal is legally finito.closing day.

Change your address. You obviously want your mail to be sent to your new home. Setting up a forwarding address will also ensure that you can be reached if there are any post-closing matters. You can file a change of address with the U.S. Postal Service here.

Finally: Celebrate!

At last, your home is officially sold. Congratulations! Give yourself a pat on the back — and then start settling into your new phase of life.

There are several local lenders offering up to $5000 in grant monies for home buyers – both first-time and current homeowners looking to purchase another home.  Please call us at 513-451-4800 or visit us via this website.

The Secrets of Successful Spring Lawn Seeding

Mar 6, 2012 Garden Weasel Lawn & Landscape, Seasonal Ideas 

Since my buddy Punxsutawney Phil told usyard, lawn, seed, reseeding, there’d be six more weeks of winter, you have a bit more planning time to make THIS the year your lawn looks its best.

Start out by getting rid of the thatch using a good multi-purpose rake. Take your time and enjoy yourself. After all, you’ve been cooped up inside – so breathe in some fresh air and work a bit. Once the lawn is thatched and raked, you’ll see all the thin and bare spots. Don’t worry, we all have ’em!

Loosen up the soil in the bare spots by about an inch or so. Gee, I wonder what soil-cultivating tool you might want to use? Garden Weasel can help you there!

garden weasel, original garden weasel, cultivation, seed, seeding, gardening tool, garden cultivator

With the soil pulverized in the bare spots, sprinkle the right amount of good quality fertilizer. Your local lawn and garden retailer can help you determine what’s best for your area and type of lawn. Then, rake it level.

If you have bare spots that were beaten down from heavy traffic, don’t be afraid to loosen that soil up as much as six inches deep. Adding some peat moss or gypsum can keep it loose after seeding.retailer can help you determine what’s best for your area and type of lawn. Then, rake it level.

After your soil is nice and loose and the ground is as level as possible, it’s time to lay down some top-quality seed. Use a seed mix that works best for your location. For example, some seed works well in shade, while others are made for sunny spots. Again, make friends with your lawn and garden retailer for questions about your lawn.

To test if your soil is ready, here’s a tip: Pick up a handful of soil and make it into a ball. If it can form a solid ball, it’s still too wet. If the ball crumbles away, it’s ready for seeding. Buy the best seed you can afford. High quality grass seed is almost always weed free and tested for germination rate and overall performance.

Another key: Seed your mostgrass seed, lawn seed, lawn reseeding, yardwork, spring seeding troublesome bare spots by hand. And do it sparingly – only about six seeds per square inch will survive. Any more than that is a waste of seed and money.

After the seed is down, spray with a light mist of water. Your new grass will get off to a faster start if you cover the reseeded areas with polyethylene plastic. This will keep the moisture in the soil and eliminates the need for constant sprinkling. You can secure the edges of the plastic sheet with stakes, or just use small rocks.

Keep an eye out and be sure to remove the polyethylene when the first seedlings appear. This is key. The plastic is great for the seeds until they germinate – but then they can kill the seedlings unless you remove it. Keep the soil moist by spraying it with a light mist two or three times a day until the grass is about an inch high. Keep watering the area at least once a week until it is about three inches tall.

The downside of spring seeding? You can’t put down a pre-emergent to fight crabgrass. You’ll also have other weeds to deal with that first season. When summer comes, you can put down fertilizer to get rid of broadleaf weeds. Don’t use a post-emergent crabgrass killer, because your new grass will still be tender.

Hold off on mowing your new lawn until it has grown to about four inches tall. Lawns sown in spring may need additional seeding during the next growing season. But that’s a discussion for fall.

Good luck on having a great looking lawn!

Source:  NAR Article – The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – What it Means for Homeowners and Real Estate Professionals

Tax Rate Reductions

• The new law provides generally lower tax rates for all individual tax filers. While this does not mean that every American will pay lower taxes under these changes, many will. The total size of the tax cut from the rate reductions equals more than $1.2 trillion over ten years.
• The tax rate schedule retains seven brackets with slightly lower marginal rates of 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%.
• The final bill retains the current-law maximum rates on net capital gains (generally, 15% maximum rate but 20% for those in the highest tax bracket; 25% rate on “recapture” of depreciation from real property).

Tax Brackets for Ordinary Income Under Current Law and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (2018 Tax Year) Single Filer

Tax Brackets for Ordinary Income Under Current Law and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (2018 Tax Year) Married Filing Jointly

Exclusion of Gain on Sale of a Principal Residence

• The final bill retains current law. A significant victory in the final bill that NAR achieved.
• The Senate-passed bill would have changed the amount of time a homeowner must live in their home to qualify for the capital gains exclusion from 2 out of the past 5 years to 5 out of the past 8 years. The House bill would have made this same change as well as phased out the exclusion for taxpayers with incomes above $250,000 single/$500,000 married.

Mortgage Interest Deduction

• The final bill reduces the limit on deductible mortgage debt to $750,000 for new loans taken out after 12/14/17. Current loans of up to $1 million are grandfathered and are not subject to the new $750,000 cap. Neither limit is indexed for inflation.
• Homeowners may refinance mortgage debts existing on 12/14/17 up to $1 million and still deduct the interest, so long as the new loan does not exceed the amount of the mortgage being refinanced.
• The final bill repeals the deduction for interest paid on home equity debt through 12/31/25. Interest is still deductible on home equity loans (or second mortgages) if the proceeds are used to substantially improve the residence.
• Interest remains deductible on second homes, but subject to the $1 million / $750,000 limits.
• The House-passed bill would have capped the mortgage interest limit at $500,000 and eliminated the deduction for second homes.

Deduction for State and Local Taxes

• The final bill allows an itemized deduction of up to $10,000 for the total of state and local property taxes and income or sales taxes. This $10,000 limit applies for both single and married filers and is not indexed for inflation.
• The final bill also specifically precludes the deduction of 2018 state and local income taxes prepaid in 2017.
• When House and Senate bills were first introduced, the deduction for state and local taxes would have been completely eliminated. The House and Senate passed bills would have allowed property taxes to be deducted up to $10,000. The final bill, while less beneficial than current law, represents a significant improvement over the original proposals.

Standard Deduction

• The final bill provides a standard deduction of $12,000 for single individuals and $24,000 for joint returns. The new standard deduction is indexed for inflation.
• By doubling the standard deduction, Congress has greatly reduced the value of the mortgage interest and property tax deductions as tax incentives for homeownership. Congressional estimates indicate that only 5-8% of filers will now be eligible to claim these deductions by itemizing, meaning there will be no tax differential between renting and owning for more than 90% of taxpayers.

Repeal of Personal Exemptions

• Under the prior law, tax filers could deduct $4,150 in 2018 for the filer and his or her spouse, if any, and for each dependent. These exemptions have been repealed in the new law.
• This change alone greatly mitigates (and in some cases entirely eliminates) the positive aspects of the higher standard deduction.

To illustrate how the above-listed changes can affect the tax incentives of owning a home for a first-time buyer and a middle-income family of five, please see these examples:

Example 1: Single Buyer

Example 2: Middle-Income Family of Five

Mortgage Credit Certificates (MCCs)

• The final bill retains current law.
• The House-passed legislation would have repealed MCCs.

Deduction for Medical Expenses

• The final bill retains the deduction for medical expenses (including decreasing the 10% floor to 7.5% floor for 2018).
• The House bill would have eliminated the deduction for medical expenses.

Child Credit

• The final bill increases the child tax credit to $2,000 from $1,000 and keeps the age limit at 16 and younger. The income phase-out to claim the child credit was increased significantly from ($55,000 single/$110,000 married) under current law to $500,000 for all filers in the final bill.

Student Loan Interest Deduction

• The final bill retains current law, allowing deductibility of student loan debt up to $2,500, subject to income phase-outs.
• The House bill would have eliminated the deduction for interest on student loans.

Deduction for Casualty Losses

• The final bill provides a deduction only if a loss is attributable to a presidentially-declared disaster.
• The House bill would have eliminated the deduction for casualty losses with limited exceptions.

Moving Expenses

• The final bill repeals moving expense deduction and exclusion, except for members of the Armed Forces.

> Home & Design > Feature

Staging for a Cozy, Minimalist Look

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Staging for a Cozy, Minimalist Look

Real estate agents often have to work with either barren rooms or sloppy, overstuffed spaces. But what’s truly attracting the most buyers right now is a deft balance of tidy austerity and a comfortable, lived-in feel.

April 2017 | By Barbara Ballinger

While decluttering a listing before putting it on the market will help sellers keep their homes cleaner and get a head start on packing, this practice also helps the product that’s for sale shine through more clearly. “Staging isn’t about decorating, but putting a room and its architecture in the best light,” says Chicago-area designer and stager Paula Winter.

Watch for these signs that you’re tipping the balance too far in one direction.

Too intimate:

Yellow; rich, dark colors; and textured or faux Tuscan-painted walls

Elaborate window treatments

Family photos

Floral or oversized patterns

Every wall covered with art

Too contrived:

Orchids or other fussy plants

A set table

Matching furniture sets

Nearly empty shelves and storage

Cookies baking in an oven during the open house

But stagers also caution against stripping too much away, which can make a space feel stark and uninviting. The happy medium is instead a modern, minimalist look that permits buyers to imagine how their furnishings may fit in spatially while exuding warmth from some carefully added accessories.

Staging, once mostly for vacant homes or high-priced listings, is now more widely used. Meridith Baer, who stages more than 140 properties a month through her eponymous California firm, says the practice can help increase the sales price and decrease the listing time for homes. The Real Estate Staging Association pegs the average time on the market for homes sold after staging at 21 days, an estimated 90 percent less time than unstaged properties.

Bear in mind that different generations have slightly different design tastes and tolerance for clutter or spareness, as do buyers in different geographic markets and price points. “Many in the greater Los Angeles area have been asking for a more minimal look, but in Orange County and Northern California, high-end properties still reflect a rich layering that shows a well-lived, well-traveled life,” Baer says. Here are five recommendations to strike the right balance.

1. Set the stage. It’s called staging for a reason. The idea is to set the mood in the same way that a theatrical backdrop does. Think of how to use furnishings and accessories to tell a story about how a buyer may live there. You want the listing to look modern and gender-neutral to show a home’s bones, not to remind buyers of an antiseptic hospital or laboratory, says Winter. Certified stager Susan Batka of Aerie Interiors in suburban Atlanta suggests adding a few textured pillows, a rug, and maybe a large piece of modern, colorful artwork to give the space the necessary warmth so it looks alive but isn’t overwhelming or too personalized.

2. Declutter. This is still the number one mantra for stagers. “The key to the desired Zen feel is to pick interesting but fewer decorative items and keep upholstered pieces clean and lean,” Baer says. She describes the goal as leaving “some breathing room. Not every wall space needs art and not every surface needs accessories.” It can be difficult to decide what to keep, but one good rule is to retain only the accessories that play up architectural features and strengths of the listing. Items that draw attention to built-in bookshelves or fireplace mantels are especially helpful. For example, Winter removes half the books on a shelf and arranges the remaining ones with turned-out spines or groups them by colors that work well with the room. She’ll winnow down collectibles on a shelf or coffee table to three key items rather than removing everything.

3. Heed the size and shape of the room. You can use staging to highlight a room’s distinct features. If it has volume due to high ceilings, Baer will use a few larger-scaled furnishings. If it’s long and narrow, she generally fashions two seating groups, turning a rectangle into two squares. That way buyers can imagine a comfortable space where visitors can sit and converse intimately.

4. Retain functionality within today’s style guidelines. Because space is highly valued, making the best use of all square footage remains a priority. Show this in listings by following the principles of cozy minimalism throughout a home. For example, in a master bedroom where buyers are looking to gain a sleep sanctuary, whittle down the furnishings to only the essential items of a comfortable bed, nightstands, and good lighting. The cozy factor can come in the form of blankets, pillows, a soft rug underfoot, and a soothing palette, says Batka. To outfit a spare room or a large landing, you might stage a workspace with a clean, modern desk and comfy upholstered chair.

For more help, consider Home Staging: The Power That Sells Real Estate: 15 Home Staging Experts Share Industry Secrets (OTB Publishing, 2016). If homeowners don’t have au courant items, you can consider renting furnishings; some stagers keep large collections in a warehouse or storage facility. If you decide to hire a stager, know that some might charge an hourly fee, while others may charge anywhere from one-half to three-quarters of 1 percent of a home’s listing price, which is how Refined Interior Staging Solutions’ Helen Bartlett works.

5. Remember inexpensive tweaks. Good staging isn’t about grand gestures, large furnishings, or scads of accessories. Minor fixes can help what’s already there stand out without cluttering the space. Replace fixtures with bulbs of the same wattage and color, and hang clothing on similar hangers for a more uniform feel, says Jennifer Ames, a salesperson with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Chicago. “It gives buyers a good feeling as they walk through, that the sellers have cleaned and organized their homes,” she says. But in keeping with the cozy factor, avoid overwrought perfection. “Make anything you do look authentic, rather than contrived like putting out place settings at a table,” says Helen Bartlett, a RESA certified stager with Refined Interior Staging Solutions in Fairway, Kan. “Nobody lives that way.”