Joseph S Coen

Joseph S Coen As a devoted real estate professional I will make every effort to ensure your experience is as smooth and enjoyable as possible.

11/03/2021

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10/12/2015

DON'T FIGHT THE HOME INSPECTION-

Question: We are selling our house and have just received an offer to purchase. The offer contains a contingency for the buyer to obtain a home inspection report.
The buyer is asking for a general inspection contingency, but our real estate broker is advising us to use the specific inspection contingency. Can you explain the difference and give us some assistance?

Answer: In my opinion, it is imperative for a homebuyer to obtain a home inspection after the contract for sale is signed by all parties. Buyers often purchase real estate based on emotions rather than facts, and a good home inspection is important to satisfy the purchaser that the property is substantially in sound condition.

A buyer should always include in a sales contract a contingency to the effect that the contract is contingent on the purchaser obtaining, at purchaser's expense, a satisfactory home inspection within three or five business days after the real estate contract is ratified.

Read the Full Story Here! - http://realtytimes.com/consumeradvice/sellersadvice1/item/37711-20150825-dont-fight-the-home-inspection

10/08/2015

6 IMPERATIVE MISTAKES TO AVOID WHEN DECLUTTERING YOUR HOME-

If you're getting ready to move or sell your home, clutter is your worst enemy. It makes packing a nightmare, and finding the one item you need could take an extra 15 minutes to more than an hour. Decluttering is a great way to get rid of the things you don't need before moving or preparing your house for a walkthrough. But you need to avoid some of the common mistakes that come with this seemingly daunting job. Here are some of the roadblocks you could run into and how to handle them:

#1 Laziness or procrastination.
If you don't feel like decluttering your house will achieve significant results or make your house feel cleaner, then you're not going to do it effectively. At the same time, if you drag your feet, it may take weeks to get the job done. Have a set goal in mind and stick to it when starting this project, especially if you plan to do the entire house. If you need someone to help or keep you on track, you can hire a home organizer to set a schedule and make the process more manageable.

#2 Tackling too much at once.
You can't organize the entire house in a day. It's simply not doable. And it will sound far too overwhelming from the start, deterring you from ever finishing. Spend just a few hours each day decluttering, tackling one room at a time. If that's too much to do, start with one closet or a few drawers and work your way up. Remember, you will always have a bigger mess before you have something more manageable. If you make a mess of your entire house, you may never regain the energy or desire to go back to the project.

Read the Full Story Here! - http://realtytimes.com/consumeradvice/sellersadvice1/item/37749-20150826-6-imperative-mistakes-to-avoid-when-decluttering-your-home

10/05/2015

WHAT 12 QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE HOME PURCHASE-

If you bought a house with no maintenance issues big or small, let me know. That would be one for the record books. In reality, most homeowners find a problem, quirk, shortcoming, whatever, within the first couple of months of buying their new home. These problems are usually never asked or thought of.

1. Has There Ever Been a Busted Pipe?
A broken pipe isn’t rare; in fact, water damage caused by a frozen or burst pipe is a leading cause of homeowner’s insurance claims, at around 22% of all home insurance losses, according to the Insurance Information Institute. What bursts? Typically exposed water pipes in unheated basements and crawl spaces, along with exterior faucets. There are usually tell- tell signs when a pipe bursts, but with a little bit of paint and know how, those signs can disappear.

2. How Old is the Roof?
Knowing the approximate age will give you a good idea of how soon you’ll face — and need to budget for — repairs or replacement. A new roof is no small matter: It could cost you in the 10 to 20 thousand range depending on material, labor and size of your roof.

3. Any Infestations of Termites, Carpenter Ants, or Other Pests?
This should be disclosed by the previous owner at time of sale. But even if the owner dealt with a past infestation — and can offer proof, such as a receipt for pest control — that doesn’t mean the little buggers have been totally eliminated.

Read the Full Story Here! - http://acadiana.realtytimes.com/advicefromtheexpert1/item/37685-what-questions-to-ask-before-home-purchase

10/01/2015

6 MISTAKES TO AVOID WHEN SELLING A HOUSE-

1. DON’T SELL BEFORE THE HOUSE IS READY
That is a common seller mistake that many homeowners commit that has always cost them of attractive sale deals. You should always ensure that your home is available for sale before you start advertising it to potential buyers. Making your home ready for sale entails ensuring that all the minor repairs are taken care of, the house is clean and that you have staged it properly. If you cannot afford to pay an expert to do it for you, you can do most of the preparations on your own. Forgetting to do these small repairs may lower your home value or even prevent you from making a sale at all. The importance of doing this is that, if a buyer notices that you have neglected minor repairs like a faulty door k**b or a creaking window, they might wonder what other major repairs have not been addressed in the home.

2. DON’T OVER IMPROVE
Another mistake that you should steer away from is over-improving your home. When you are making your home ready for sale, you might be tempted to over-improve it in a bid to make it look more attractive to buyers. However, experts advise that you should do it in moderation so as to avoid scaring customers especially if the house is situated in an area where there are many other houses for sale. That is because the other houses in the surrounding might just be moderately enhanced, which will make your stand out. Therefore, buyers will prefer to buy the other houses thinking that they will cost less than yours. It is also a universal rule in the real estate circles that buyers seek to buy an affordable home in a classy neighbourhood.

Read the Full Story Here! - http://theballengroup.realtytimes.com/advicefromagents1/item/37706-6-mistakes-to-avoid-when-selling-a-house

09/28/2015

THE BENEFITS OF OWNING YOUR OWN HOME-

Aside from the non-tangible benefits of owning a house such as pride and security, there are a lot of financial benefits when it comes to owning your own home, and some of these financial benefits will be very useful when tax season draws near.
So what are these benefits?

It builds wealth over time
Our parents and their parents before them always believed that owning a house was one of the best financial investments possible, but with the recent housing bubble situation, not a whole lot of people believed in it anymore. So the new generation has to be slowly convinced that owning a home is indeed something that is beneficial – providing that you buy a home that you can afford.

Capital Gain Exclusion
If you have lived in your house for two of the past five years, you can be exempted up to $250,000 for an individual and $500,000 for a married couple of profit from capital gains. The better news is you don’t need to buy a replacement home or move up. There is no age restriction and the over 55 rule doesn’t apply. You can exclude from the above thresholds every 24 months. What does this mean? This means that you could sell every two years if you want, and pocket your profit (subject of course to limitation), free from taxation. Ka ching!

Read The Full Story Here! - http://kennethjohnson.realtytimes.com/advicefromagents1/item/37594-the-benefits-of-owning-your-own-home

09/24/2015

WHY HIRING A REALTOR SAVES YOU TIME, MONEY AND STRESS-

It would seem that home buyers and home sellers alike have, at one time or another, felt as though they may be able to tackle the process of purchasing or selling their home without the assistance of the realtor. The main purpose behind this is to save on the fee associated with employing a realtor, but in the end, these valiant efforts end in ruin as more time is taken, more costs is incurred, and more stress is involved.

Why Hiring a Realtor Saves You Time
Time is perhaps our most precious asset amidst today’s busy schedules, hectic lifestyles, and overtaxed workloads. So taking away from your limited free time by painstakingly searching through listing after listing of properties, followed by setting up viewings, does not a happy human make.
Alternately, you and your realtor can collectively come up with a list of primary desires you are looking for in a home, and have him or her spearhead your search, narrowing down your options to a fine science of specifically selected homes within your realm of expectations.

Why Hiring a Realtor Saves You Money
Time is money, so we already have a savings on that front with the aforementioned efforts. Aside from that, and perhaps even more importantly, a realtor has the knowledge necessary to understand fair market pricing, as well as the skills to negotiate on price (down for buying, up for selling), the ability recommend brokers or lending institutions that harness the best rates, and the know-how to manage your paperwork without errors or oversights that you might fall prey to without such extensive knowledge, adding to your error margins and cost within such errors.

Read the Full Story Here! - http://johndale.realtytimes.com/advicefromagents1/item/37558-why-hiring-a-realtor-saves-you-time-money-and-stress

09/21/2015

HOW TO INCORPORATE YOUR TRAVELS INTO YOUR DECOR WITHOUT CREATING A JUNGLE-

If you're a wanderer, you probably have a number of items you've brought back from your travels. A trinket here, a rare antique there, a couple thousands of photographs thrown in, and pretty soon you have quite a collection. The question is how to use them. Display them wrong, and you can create a mess instead of a masterpiece. Follow these tips to best show off your wares.

Create a photo gallery
Nothing brings back the special moments like photos taken on a jaunt around the world or pieces of art you find along the way.

Keep it classy
Whenever possible, buy authentic items to display at home, not touristy replicas or tacky souvenirs. And when deciding how to showcase the items, err on judicious side. Vacation displays can quickly go awry if they don't meet the design standard you've already established for your home.

Read the Full Story Here! - http://realtytimes.com/consumeradvice/homeownersadvice1/item/37491-20150817-how-to-incorporate-your-travels-into-your-decor-without-creating-a-jungle

09/17/2015

7 WAYS TO USE THE HOTTEST MATERIAL AROUND: THE HUMBLE CONCRETE BLOCK-

When it comes to cheap chic, wood pallets have been having their day, being transformed into everything from patio furniture to wall coverings. But now it's time for a new super affordable material to shine, and it is! Behold the humble concrete block, and all the cool things you can do with it."Why are cinder blocks so versatile? Perhaps it's the fact that their form is simple, clean-lined and modern," said Decoist. "And their color is a tone of gray that goes with everything. Not to mention, many of these blocks have openings that are perfect for displaying plants and incorporating other materials, such as wooden beams." Concrete blocks, or cinder blocks as they're also known, can be used indoors and out, on their own or in collaboration with other materials, painted or naked, and only cost a buck and change apiece. All it takes is a little imagination, and some upper body strength to carry them to and from the car. Here are a few ideas to get you started. 1. Bed frame Place a layer of concrete blocks under a mattress and you've got a great industrial look for just a few dollars. Paint them whatever color you want or leave them bare, and you can even use the cubby openings for storage. 2. Coffee table A couple of blocks and a wood top—try an old door you pick up at an antique store or garage sale—and you've got a standout table, like this one featured on Remodelista. "Legendary designer and antiques dealer Axel Vervoordt created an informal coffee table with concrete blocks and a slab of wood in this Belgian interior. Read the Full Story Here! - http://realtytimes.com/consumeradvice/homeownersadvice1/item/37490-20150817-7-ways-to-use-the-hottest-material-around-the-humble-concrete-block

09/14/2015

BUILDING PERMITS DROP 5.7% IN MARCH, BUT IT’S ALL GOOD-

The number of newly issued building permits in March shrank by 5.7% from February, raising the question of whether new construction will fill the housing inventory void this year—but experts said there’s no reason to panic.

According to the U.S. Commerce Department, homebuilders were granted a seasonally adjusted 1,039,000 permits in March, down from 1,102,000 in February. Permits are a leading indicator of the health of the new-construction industry. Homebuilders are not building speculative housing—they are waiting for a signed contract and hefty earnest money deposit before applying for a building permit to then start construction.

Monthly declines aside, permits are up 2.9% from March 2014 to March 2015, according to the report.

Read the Full Story Here! - http://www.realtor.com/news/data-report-new-construction-permits-from-commerce-department/

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