Deciding to sell your home can be one of the most stressful times in a homeowners life, especially when not handled correctly. Dealing with the nuances of preparing, not only your home, but yourself for a major upheaval is a major task, which can be delegated and managed prior to the moment you put your house up for sale.  So, instead of panicking, remain calm and trust that there are very basic things to prepare yourself that not only inspire your property to appear at it’s maximum potential, but also prepare your life for obvious modifications you’ll be making in the future.

Strengthen Curbside Appeal

The initial thing a potential buyer will encounter is the curbside appearance of your home and because of this you’ll want to wow them right away.  Take the time to carefully groom the front yard, cleaning up any bushes and shrubs, making sure the lawn is perfectly manicured and even give your house a fresh coat of paint.  Obviously, the most important thing to take into consideration is carefully observing the natural state of your home as though you were seeing it for the first time.   By keeping this in mind, you can stage a welcoming and inviting first impression for perspective future owners of your home.

Schedule An Inspection

This might seem like something you wouldn’t need to worry about until much later down the line in the process of selling your home, but knowing any potential problems ahead of time gives you a chance to deal with them.  Not only will you be able to make any necessary repairs, but it will also provide you with a list of any problems that a potential buyer might incur.  In doing this, it helps you to be prepared early on for the negotiation process, knowledge is power and knowing any and all issues related to your property gives you a competitive edge!

Clear Out The Clutter

When you eventually move, you’re going to have to take all the stuff you’ve accumulated over the years with you.   By going through the things that you own, you not only have a chance to shed yourself of unnecessary items but it also gives you a chance to see what you do have.  Carefully arranging the pieces you’ve chosen to keep  will offer potential buyers a broader idea of what the house would look like with their stuff in it.  Just remember, in this case less is more.  The process of staging will also help you kick off the cleaning purge that has to happen.  Always be mindful that potential buyers are very turned-off by clutter.  In a worse case scenario, hire a cleaning crew to make sure that your place has reached it’s perfect potential.

Taking the steps to restructure your life in preparation for selling your home can seem like a daunting task, but prioritizing and starting the process early can prevent hiccups along the way.  You know why your home is special and can highlight these things by starting the process early, and thereby lowering the overall level of chaos typically associated with selling your home.

The Rancho Santa Fe Garden Club is meeting on Wednesday, May 30th at 5:30 p.m. for a special Annual Meeting at the Clubhouse. This meeting is critical to the election of directors and officers for the 2012-2013 fiscal year which begins on June 1st. A review of past operations and current finances will be presented, as well. If you live in Rancho Santa Fe and want to make a difference in your community, consider volunteering to serve in the Rancho Santa Fe Garden Club. An active community organization, the Rancho Santa Fe Garden Club hosts monthly speakers and events and provides support for residents who want to garden at their Rancho Santa Fe homes.

Upcoming club events include Great Decisions, Pot Luck Bridge, Mah Jong, Senior Gleaners, Dames at Sea North Coast Rep Theater, Rancho Days, Petals and Prose, and much more. Volunteers can help with field trips, hospitality, mailings, programs, publicity, photography, and in many other areas, so bring any talents and experience you possess and join in with like-minded individuals at the Rancho Santa Fe Garden Club. Attend the upcoming meeting to find out how you can participate or click here or call 858.756.1554 to learn more.

Zillow’s real estate market reports for the first quarter were released recently; the information reveals that the national value of homes has reached its largest monthly profit in almost six years. The market reports also confirm that 19 of the 30 thriving metropolitan areas that Zillow covers have already hit their lowest point financially, or will do so by the conclusion of 2012. This is hopeful news for those who are seriously considering purchasing a home for the first time, or those who have been renting for years and want to become homeowners again.

For instance, the ZHVI, or Zillow Home Value Index increased 0.5% from February to March. This was the largest increase since May of 2006, which was before home values were at their peak. The increase is also pretty significant, as it only occurred over a month’s time, and could be an indication of the favorable growth that is predicted for the housing market. Those in the real estate market will also be happy to know that Zillow anticipates that some areas will experience major gains in home value during the next 12 months.

For instance, in the Phoenix metro, the Zillow Home Value Forecast projects a profit of about 6.5% from March 2012, to March of the following year (2013). In the metropolitan area of Miami, home values will likely increase 5.6%. This is also good news for people who are planning to sell their homes in the near future. Due to the current favorable financial trends, individuals can put their homes up for sale and expect to get several offers from people who have been waiting for the right “monetary” time to become homeowners.

As a consumer, what exactly does this mean for you? Zillow’s Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries explains. “For people who have been waiting to time their home purchases close to the market bottom, it’s time to start shopping,” he says. While this is hopeful news, the current financial climate should also prompt potential home purchasers to make their decisions quickly, before the market changes again.

Zillow doesn’t anticipate seeing national home values steadily increasing to a rate of 0.5% every month, but it’s still safe for the consumer to assume that the rates won’t get much lower in the majority of U.S. housing markets. The Zillow Home Value Forecast projects that a national bottom line in home values will be in effect by this year’s fourth quarter.

An opportunity to serve on Armed Forces Day, May 19th is available to children and adults who live in Rancho Santa Fe through Kids Korps. The organization will be hosting a Military Family Appreciation Care Package Assembly Party from 2 to 4 p.m. at the La Colonia Community Center, located at 715 Valley Ave, in Solana Beach. For $5 per care package, community members, including children over five years old, can participate in a unique chance to give back. One of the special projects created that day will include stuffing new teddy bears for children of deployed military personnel, and is sure to make a memory for your child to cherish even after they return to their Rancho Santa home.

To register, please visit click here. Families will be assembling care packages, stuffing bears, and writing letters and special messages of encouragement, as well as creating American flag pins and a ribbon-based American flag for display at Camp Pendleton. Along with their service, volunteers can learn about Captain Robert Regedanz’ missions to Afghanistan and a Family Readiness Officer will share stories from the lives of Camp Pendelton families.

Tom Gonzales is an internet millionaire that built his large Lake Tahoe estate based on where he would put all of his toys. Tom has nearly 400 cars in his valuable collection with some of the most unique storage compartments ever.

So Where Do All of the Cars Go?

He came up with the brilliant idea of building a spacious, underground parking area that has enough room to fit all of his extensive car collection and his plethora of motorcycles.The coolest part about the this underground parking lot is the way that the vehicles get there. Tom had a custom built aircraft elevator installed to lower his cars to the garage. If someone didn’t tell you, you wouldn’t even recognize the elevator as it’s decorated with actual plants, trees, rocks and other shrubbery. Pretty awesome right?

The Carriage House is what Tom likes to call his three bedroom home which unlike the garage is above ground. This is only one home included in this massive 4 home estate which is going on the market for $50,000,000. Tom is not opposed to selling the 4 homes separately and the asking price for the Carriage House is about $9,000,000.

The entire estate goes by the name of the Sierra Star and plenty of beautiful scenery near Lake Tahoe. This lake is known nationwide as one of the most alluring landscapes.

The Sierra Star in Detail

This country property is well known for it’s snow and is home to many preeminent ski resorts. The entire estate covers over 4 acres of land with over 300 feet of lake front to enjoy. If you like life in the outdoors, you would love this property and the many amenities it has to offer. With two piers, a beach bungalow, a waterfall, and over 300 feet of lake front property, what more could you ask for.

This massive estate was once where the entire family would gather but after the family downsized, Tom hasn’t has much use for all of this land.

The Business Behind it all

Commerce One was a once an eCommerce software company that was founded by Tom Gonzalez and his son. The company was dissolved and claimed bankruptcy in 2004 and now Tom is active in land development.

Tom is willing to sell all of the properties separately if the estate is not purchased in whole. The main house which has 7 bedrooms has an asking price of roughly $15,000,000, the 5 bedroom home has an asking price of about $9,000,000, and the land along the lake’s shore is going for nearly $10,000,000.

If you’re in the market for a beautiful luxury estate and have about $50,000,000 to spare, this lavish country abode may be worth the investment.

For a video of this amazing property Click Here.

Former NBA star of the San Antonio Spurs, Bruce Bowen is selling his amazing 13,500 sq ft property located in San Antonio for $4 Million.  The home has 9 bedrooms and 9 baths, and there are plenty of things to do in the spacious Mediterranean-style home.  The home also has 2 kitchens, an elevator, separate guest home, tennis courts and spa.  There is also an 8-car garage for all the sports cars you will want.

Bowen retired from the NBA in 2009 and is selling the home for a smaller residence, although location is not known at this time.  The home is expected to sell close to the asking price because of its amenities and location.   Many former NBA stars and owners have purchased elaborate estates in Texas.  The Owner of the NBA’s Orlando Magic is also reportedly selling an expensive $25 Million in Florida estate as well.

Contrary to popular belief, the housing market has really began to surge nationwide. Local newspapers throughout major cities have also noticed and reported the increase in the market. The percentage of real estate listings that are selling at or higher than the asking bid has grown more than ever over the last few years.

Despite this recent incline in the housing market, there are many that are still holding out for their “big deal”. Then there are those who’ve been forced to leave their homes due to foreclosure and have been working hard to become homeowners again.

Although there is an incline in the percentage of homes being sold, there are some common similarities shared between homes that are receiving multiple bids which you can follow to receive the same results.

Make sure the home is stages and ready to go

When you’re preparing your home for a showing to potential buyers, it should be cleaned from top to bottom and presentable. Make sure that the decorations complement the selling points of the home and that you attempt to make your home look like an excerpt from your favorite decor store. One common rule of thumb is to keep the home looking and smelling like a model home that no one lives in. Think about the competition in the market and what you can do to set your home apart from the others for sale.

Just think about how long your competitors have been preparing for a showing and much cleaning or preparation that you’d expect to be done to a house you were viewing with intentions to purchase. There are even services that specialize in cleaning and staging homes for viewings from potential buyers. Put some thought into the benefits these services may provide when contemplating staging the home yourself.

Competitive Rates attract Viewers!

When looking to list a home that receives multiple listings, keep in mind that competitive pricing may be one of the most important aspects. You’d be surprised to know that there are some homeowners list their homes for lower amounts than they’re actually worth in order to stand out from the masses. To some this may seem like you’re selling yourself short but in actuality you are on the road to increasing the amount of potential buyers who come to visit your property.

Value speaks for itself which is why much more people are likely to react to your listing if you are willing to offer rates that provide value to the buyers. The real estate market is a numbers game just like many other markets which means that the more potential buyers you get to view the home, the more likely you are to find a true buyer.

Keep your Home Accessible for Showings

If you were in the market for a home and you were continuously running into scheduling complications, how many times would try and reschedule until you found another home to see?

Making your home easily accessible by keeping your schedule open or scheduling specific times for showings will help you to attain multiple bids on your listings. Make sure that you are keeping up with phone calls, messages, and scheduling meetings in order to reach as many potential buyers as you can.

There is still competition in the real estate market which is why you should take the necessary steps to make sure that you receive multiple offers. By making sure that the home is extremely tidy and ready to present, offering competitive rates, and making yourself readily available for showings, you’re bound to receive multiple offers on your home.

It’s no secret that the global real estate markets didn’t do exactly well last year. However, this shouldn’t prevent you from looking for good deals in the world market today, because despite the mere .5 percent price increase in 2011 and fears of asset bubbles bursting into oblivion, there are still properties around the world that are not greatly affected by the economic crisis.

Here’s a trivia for you: What happens when you rank the highest average growth in housing prices from 2006-2011? Obviously, you get a lot of data about the best countries with the highest growth in real estate. Those with the most lucrative housing markets include the following:

Europe

Switzerland

Switzerland’s property prices have been performing well in the past five years, with a 27.5 percent five year price growth. The country has very low interest rates that helps stifle the franc, which consequently ignited a real estate boom in the country.

Knight Frank, who leads a real estate consultancy, has surveyed the most expensive places to live in Switzerland: Geneva, St. Moritz, and Gstaad, with prime properties (Geneva) reaching almost $32,000 in the fourth quarter of 2011. Its price per square foot costs $3,000.

Norway

Norway not only ranks as the second wealthiest country in the world in monetary value — it also boasts of good properties in the market as well.

Norway’s economic outlook stands adamantly stoic and unpeturbed amidst the barrage of its European neighbors with struggling economies. This is primarily due to its oil reserves and low interest rates, which has encouraged its citizens to borrow money to buy properties. Another strong motivator is the 28 percent tax deduction on interest payments when purchasing a home.

North America, South America, and the Middle East

Canada

Canada has been experiencing a high rise in apartment construction, with existing home sales rising to around 9 percent in February. Many speculators are targeting the property markets in Toronto and Vancouver, which is Canada’s most “pricey” housing markets.

Today, the average price of a house in Vancouver stands at around $734,000, which is high compared to the national average of 358,000.

Colombia

Once coined by BusinessWeek as “the most extreme emerging market on Earth” in 2007, Colombia has enjoyed a fast economic expansion rate with a growth of around 6 percent in 2011. This has led to a surge in house buying, especially from the middle class population.

Colombia has also attracted a lot of foreign investments, which further strengthens the housing market. In 2011, the property prices shot to 3.2 percent, with home sales reaching 19 percent in the first half of last year.

Israel

Israel enjoys the highest standard of living in the Middle East, and is considered one of the most advanced countries in Southwest Asia when it comes to economic and industrial development.

It also holds the spot as the third most lucrative housing market in the world, with house prices increasing to more than 21 percent in 2010.

Asia

China

China is the world’s second largest economy and the worlds’ largest exporter of goods. It’s also considered the number one country with the most lucrative housing markets today. A typical house in Shanghai and Beijing has increased by over 110 percent in the past five years alone, with Shanghai’s costs around $19,000 per square meter in 2011, and in Beijing, around $17,000.

The strong rise in real estate has led the government to control the surge of its housing prices. Multiple properties are now prohibited, and interest rates are raised. They have succeeded in lowering the prices, and despite the prices of houses still quite high, it is expected that the average rate will fall between 10 percent to 20 percent in 2012.

Singapore

Considered one of the four Asian Tigers, Singapore has one of the most pricey real estate markets in Southeast Asia today. Low interest rates and rapid immigration has increased the demand for houses.

Singapore currently has a huge foreign population, with foreigners taking up more than 1/3 of Singapore’s five million demographics. Foreign buyers of real estate are high, with mainland Chinese making up the largest group of home buyers. Its current average property price in the city is $25,600 per square meter, which is the third most expensive city to rent high-end properties in Asia (next to Tokyo and Hong Kong).

Taiwan

Often called the “Taiwan Miracle”, Taiwan’s rapid urbanization has made its metropolitan center (Taipei) overcrowded these days.

The housing prices in Taiwan have risen more than 30 percent between 2006 to 2011, although it went down to 4.1 percent in 2011. This decline can be attributed to the “luxury tax” restrictions that the government enforced last year. Also, there is a ten percent tax that is levied on any investment property that is sold within two years. This increases to 15 percent if the property is purchased within one year.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong has one of the most expensive properties in the world, ranking fourth in the world’s most expensive property rates. Today, the average price of its prime houses is around $48,000 per square meter.

There is a surge of mainland buyers in Hong Kong’s housing market in recent years. A main factor can be the increasing wealth of mainland Chinese and the property restrictions made in China’s housing market. It is estimated that three in ten deals in its luxury property markets mostly come from the Chinese.

This surge has led the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to become stricter with foreign buying, requiring buyer with principal incomes not in Hong Kong to pay an additional ten percent  down payment.

The global real estate market is still a lucrative place to invest in – if you know where to look. Use the knowledge that you’ve learned here as a starting point, and make sure that you gather more information about the country you want to invest your money into. In the end, your knowledge will become an important vehicle that will help you reach your goals.

Many experts have long predicted that a new wave of foreclosures would occur when banks were permitted to proceed with foreclosures in 2012.  Many foreclosures had been stalled due to various legal challenges that questioned whether banks had property filed legal paperwork required to foreclose on real estate.  Since reaching agreement with the U.S. Government and various states, banks have proceeded to foreclose on many homes, however statistics show otherwise.

According to the Wall Street Journal, new foreclosure filings were down over 30% compared to the same period last year.  Delinquent mortgages are down over 10% from last year.  Is it the end of foreclosures? Probably not, but more banks and homeowners are working out creative solutions to avoid foreclosure.  The Wall Street Journal reports much of the change in activity is due to the $25 Billion mortgage servicing settlement the feds reached with banks in February.  The settlement requires that $17 Billion be used to keep homeowners in their homes, including $10 Billion to write down loan balances.

While lenders continue to sort through their portfolios of non-performing mortgages, many delinquent homeowners are finding that banks are anxious to work out solutions that include short sales, loan modifications and forbearance, as well as mortgage balance write-downs.   The new settlement is expected to allow banks to work out solutions that do not involve foreclosure.  The resulting effect on the real estate market remains uncertain, but most certainly it will mean that foreclosures will “drip” onto the market, rather than come in a big wave.  The result should be a continued stabilization of real estate values.  Most realtors are predicting a slight gain in most real estate markets in 2012.