Smoke & CO Inspection Guideline
When you sell your home, you are required to have a smoke and carbon monoxide detector inspection conducted by your local fire department. Here is a great guideline for you to reference:
http://www.mass.gov/eopss/docs/dfs/osfm/pubed/flyers/conumersguidesd-co2016-booklet.pdf
After a successful inspection, you will be issued a Certificate of Compliance. Be sure to bring the original certificate to your attorney or real estate agent as this original certificate will be required for your closing.
Mortgage Contacts
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STEP 1 to your home search is getting your mortgage pre-approval.
There are many choices when it comes to choosing a bank and mortgage officer. We at Elmore Realty Services have compiled a short, alphabetical list of those we can suggest you contact while researching your mortgage options:
- Addison Danna – Prestige Home Mortgage – 774-200-6312
- Emily DeGray – Residential Mortgage Services – 508-417-7719
- Filipe Ferreira – Westfield Bank – 413-207-7426
- Bill Rolland – Inland Home Mortgage – 508-272-5832
Please note that this is such a small list and there are endless mortgage and bank options available to you. Local banks, large national banks, private lenders, the list of options available to you goes on and on. Please feel free to investigate, contact, and use any mortgage officer and bank that you are most comfortable with as well as that which offers the best program for you personally.
What is key, is that you are taking the first and most important step in purchasing a new home. Until you have a solid pre-qualification, you cannot confidently search for your new home and certainly you cannot make an offer. But rest assured, you are now on track. You are a few steps away from a solid pre-qualification and then we can really make some progress on your new home search!
Before you call take a moment to gather some important information which will be key to expediting the pre-approval process:
- last two pay stubs
- last years W2
- last 2 years of tax returns (if you work for yourself this will be a must – otherwise you may not need this)
- list of monthly debts such as car payments, credit cards, etc. (include company name, account number and monthly payment as well as number of payments remaining on long term items such as car payments)
- Personal information (social security numbers, current and previous addresses, current and previous employer information, and other personal information will be needed for the completion of your mortgage pre-qualification application so it is good to ensure you have this information at the ready)
For more information, please do not hesitate to contact us at Elmore Realty Services.
- Jennifer Elmore: owner, broker, licensed construction supervisor – 413-563-7129
- Kim Walker: managing/lead sales agent, waterfront expert – 413-297-3061
- Kim Gaboury: sales agent, assistant to both buyers and sellers – 508-344-6767
- Jess Chaffee: sales agent, new construction specialist – 774-200-0600
Home Inspectors
Elmore Realty Services is always asked for recommendations of home inspectors, so we have compiled the following list of inspectors who we have used in the past as well as those who have been used by clients and fellow real estate professionals – these are in alphabetical order and we have included a link to access all licensed home inspectors since we are not recommending any one inspector, just giving you a list of those we are familiar with:
- Charlene Bozney Home Inspector: 774-249-0916
- Adam Camosse Home Inspector: 508-335-1307
- Michael’s Home Inspections, Michael Gleason: 508-886-0020
- Poole Home Inspections, Alan Poole: 508-872-0505
For a full list of licensed home inspectors, click here: http://license.reg.state.ma.us/loca/locaType.asp?action=search&profession=Home_Inspector&how=map
Also reference the Home Inspectors Facts for Consumers at: http://www.mass.gov/ocabr/licensee/dpl-boards/hi/home-inspectors-facts-for-consumers-sheet.html
Please understand that Elmore Realty Services is not recommending any particular home inspector or testing organization/facility. Any and all decisions related to home inspections including but not limited to the type of testing, the companies/inspectors used, and the decisions made as a result of the testing are solely yours. Elmore Realty Services is held harmless for these decisions and determinations.
Please also understand that many tests are available including but not limited to the following:
- General Home
- Plumbing
- Electrical
- Water Quality
- Water Quantity
- Insect (pest, termite, etc.)
- Mold
- Lead
- Radon
- Asbestos
You have the option to perform any of these tests as well as any other tests that you feel appropriate, understanding that you are typically responsible for all costs associated with any elected testing unless otherwise negotiated between the parties involved in a transaction (ie: buyer and seller negotiations).
You are responsible for all scheduling, coordination with agents, owners, and other parties involved. We are happy to assist with this scheduling coordination however the decision of tests, inspectors, and related details we leave to you. We require that you communicate all testing information with us in order to ensure that home access is properly arranged and that testing is completed within the inspection period as specified in the agreements associated with the home purchase contract.
We are Elmore Realty Services realize the importance of the information obtained through these inspections and therefore we are happy to assist, however we leave all decisions to you with Elmore Realty held harmless for activities related to the inspection process.
Selling Your House: Prep List
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You’ve decided to sell your house…now what? Just because millions of homes are sold every year in the US alone, doesn’t mean you are born knowing how to do it right. So we are here to help you with our:
“Selling Your House: Prep List”
- Consult a professional opinion: The first step in preparing your house is to obtain a CMA, Comparative Market Analysis, from a local real estate professional. If you don’t already have one, ask friends and family who have recently bought or sold a house in your town or immediate surrounding area. A CMA will provide you with the information needed to determine your target sale price. Put this into a spreadsheet to determine your projected profit. This will then help you determine a budget for your preparations. (Note: if you are located in the Holland, Brimfield, Sturbridge, MA area, contact Kim Walker of Elmore Realty Services — she is an amazing asset you will be glad you have at work for you: https://www.facebook.com/ElmoreRealty).
- Prepare yourself: Letting go of the personal attachment to your home is not always easy. However, if you have already made the decision to sell, then you are already on your way to making this someone else’s house. Say goodbye to your home and say hello to the house that you are marketing to sell to someone else…and hello to your new future.
- Prepare the house: This involves the multiple areas listed below. You can tackle these areas either individually or together. Some people take a task and go through the entire house focusing on that task – then the next task… Others take a room and go through the multiple tasks in that room – then the next room… However you choose to tackle the list, remember that with each step you are that much closer to your new future. With each step take this opportunity to make the most of what you pack – this is a perfect time to decide what stays and what goes (either donated, gifted, or trashed). A good rule of thumb is, if you haven’t used it for over a year you probably don’t need to take it with you.
- Take the “your” out of “your house”: De-personalizing a house may seem heartless, but its not about your feelings anymore (refer to step 2 above), its about making this a house that potential buyers can see themselves in. Buyers can’t see themselves in the house if it is full of images and personal items of yours. Remove pictures, heirlooms, and other items that are all about you.
- Minimize the clutter: De-cluttering is imperative to avoid distracting buyers. It allows buyers to see the space rather than the things. Ensure floors, walls, and flat surfaces contain only the items which make the room look like it popped from a magazine. Remove family portraits and photo walls, clear off countertops, pack up collectables, knickknacks, and other clutter from book and display cases – the key here is “less is more”. Only the bare necessity items are needed for staging, everything else can be put away, packed, donated, gifted, or thrown away (time to decide what is really worthy of the effort of moving it).
- Organize and organize more. Time to bring the Martha Stuart out and organize everything from top to bottom. This may sound like a lot of unnecessary work, but quite the opposite. Think about the message you are sending buyers. If the buyer finds your spice rack alphabetized and your clothes closet organized by type and color, imagine what the buyer is thinking about your overall maintenance of the house. So take the time and go through every cabinet, drawer, closet, etc… needs your attention. You are going to have to pack it all eventually so might as well go through it now, pack the extras that you want to keep but don’t need now, throw away or donate what you don’t need, and organize everything else that you need to keep out for active daily use. If it’s summer, go ahead and pack the winter sweaters – your closets will look larger if they are not packed chuck full. Consider the furniture you keep out as well. Like closets, rooms look larger with less in them. If necessary, rent a storage unit for storing the extra furniture and packed boxes.
- If it doesn’t stay – remove it now. If you have any special items which you are excluding from the sale, remove them now. Appliances, special light fixtures, etc… Once someone sees it, they want it. So don’t risk the loss of a sale and remove the exclusions now.
- Clean and new looking. Now that everything is de-personalized, minimized, and organized, its now time to clean and tidy it all up. Clean windows inside and out. Scrub floors, appliances, cabinets, and ensure all surfaces are clean. This is also the time to fix anything that’s been put off long enough. Dripping faucets, cracked drywall, that loose tile…now is the time. A fresh coat of paint does wonders for making things look new (interior and exterior items included). Most of today’s buyers will get a home inspection, so ensure that everything is up to date on maintenance and in good working order. If necessary bring in a professional to have items fixed. Most of today’s buyers hire a professional home inspector so chances are, if it is not working properly, the buyer will ask for it to be fixed anyway so you might as well do it now.
- Check the curb appeal. Don’t forget about the outside. Weed, install fresh plants (rumor has it that yellow evokes buying), and load up the mulch. Keep the lawn cut and hedges trimmed. The first impression a buyer gets of your home is on the outside, so make it a good one right from the time they pull in the driveway.
- Perform a final walkthrough. Now that you have finished all your hard work, go out to the street and walk onto your property as a buyer. Walk into the house and into each room and take note of how things look from a buyers perspective. Make any final finishing touches needed.
- Call your real estate agent. Now it is time to call the real estate agent back to list your house for sale. Imagine how amazing the pictures are going to look to potential buyers! Showings are going to be even more amazing with all the work you have done!
Elmore Realty’s blog is open for reading and sharing
Jenna and Kim are always the go-to-girls for everything real estate. People are always asking us for advise on buying, selling, designing, remodeling…anything related to real estate. So rather than keep this to our small circle, we have decided to start this blog where we will post answers to the questions we receive, advise we would like to share, projects for you to enjoy…again, anything related to real estate…and other pieces of our life that we hope will continue to interest and inform you on a regular basis.
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