Appraising the Situation

What Is An Appraisal

When buying a home, you don't want to pay more than the home is worth. Your real estate agent can do a comparative market analysis (CMA) on it to determine the approximate market value. And just like you don't want to pay more than the house is worth, the bank doesn't want to loan more on it than it's worth.

The Appraisal

In comes the appraisal. It is ordered by the lender and they bring in their own people. The appraiser is licensed by the state and, like a CMA, uses recently sold properties to determine if the house is worth at least what the loan amount is for. And, like a home inspector, this person will look at the condition of the home. Adjustments are made to the house's value based on the condition.

Can I Order My Own Appraisal

Yes, and it will cost several hundred dollars. However, the bank probably will not take it. They want a disinterested third party, not someone with a stake. They have their own appraisers and will more than likely ignore yours to do their own. Save your moeny for that new carpet you're wanting to put in the living room.

What If the House Doesn't Appraise?

The buyer and seller will need to renegotiate the price. The buyer can put more money down to get the loan amount down to the appraised value. Or, if the contract was written with the right clause, the buyer can walk but may have to forfeit the earnest deposit.

Know Your Numbers

An appraisal shouldn't be a surprise. If you and your Realtor have done your homework, you'll know the approximate market value. If the appraisal comes in low, it won't be by very much. You can protest the valuation from the appraiser with solid numbers.

Add Some Curb Appeal

You Never Looked So Good

Curb appeal is an incredibly important part of selling a home. It demonstrates care and attention to detail. You can have the best home on the market but if the outside looks ratty, most buyers will pass it on by. Even if you're not selling, these tips can help you have the best looking house on the block. Here are some things you can do to help the outside appearance of your home.

1. Replace old hardware.   Look at things like the lock, the light, house numbers, etc. Make sure they work together and the finish looks right. Brass for older homes, brushed nickel for newer ones.
2. Dress up the front door.   Give it some color to make it pop. Clean up the handle and around it. Make sure no dirty spots are on it.
3. Make a grand entrance.   Add molding to the front entry to set it apart from the rest of the house.
4. Makeover the mailbox.   Paint or stain it to match the house and trim. Build a structure around it to set it apart.
5. Install outdoor lighting.   Use lights to accent the house and provide a little more evening security.
6. Create a garden.   Buy some ready-made planters or create your own. Use it to set off the front entry.
7. Renew planter beds.   Prune the plants, take out the weeds, add new mulch. Do all those things you've been meaning to do to make it look better.
8. Create a new planter bed.   Look at locatinos like the front corners of the yard, along the driveway and immediately in front of the house. Mix up the plant sizes and colors and line it with stones or precast concrete.
9. Install window boxes.   Paint the boxes to match your house's trim and choose plants with complementary colors.
10. Add arbors or fence panels.   Get arbors, short sections of fence and garden gates. Paint them to match the trim on the house.
11. Add outdoor pieces.   Look for items like bird baths, wind chimes and water fountains.
12. Add shutters or accent trim.  
13. Replace gutters and down spouts.   If your gutters have seen better days, replace them. Make sure the drainage is at least three feet away from the foundation. Clean the gutters, too, while you're up there.
14. Tile your door step.   Tile or paint a design that contrasts with the front floor or stoop.
15. Spiff up the driveway.   Get rid of the weeds, fill the cracks and give it a good power wash. Consider lining it with stones or pavers.
16. Build a walk way.   You can color the concrete you have and edge it with stones, or rip it up and lay down pavers.
17. Upgrade the railings.   Look for good wood or metal components and make sure they match your home's color and design.
18. Renew the paint, siding and trim.   Consider new paint, siding or trim. Maybe replace them with some colorful options.
19. Add stone veneer.   Use it to accent columns and concrete foundations. You can look at natural stone or manufactured stone.

You can find the original article from Better Homes and Gardens here.

Sand in the City

Sand in the City 2012

Combining 375 tons of sand, 20 corporate and community teams, professional sand sculptors, interactive Kid Zone, live entertainment and much more, Sand in the City is a perfect way to spend part of your weekend.

Why All the Excitement About Sand?

Sand in the City is a fundraiser for Nebraska Children’s Home Society, which provides safe and loving care to children of all ages through statewide pregnancy, parenting, adoption, foster care, community and neighborhood based services and early childhood programs.

Schedule

Sand in the City takes place Friday, June 1st through Sunday, June 3rd. Although it starts on Friday, the exhibit doesn’t open late Friday. The sculptors will be building Friday and judging takes place late Friday afternoon. Winners will be announced at 4:30 Friday and then the public is welcome to tour.

Where To Find It

Sand in the City will be held in the CenturyLink Center’s Lot G, 455 North 10th Street, Omaha. You can see a map here. Although the event is free but you may have to pay for parking in a nearby lot if you can’t find some street parking. Donations are welcome.

Last Year’s Winners

1st Place - Millard Drywall Service
2nd Place - Kiewit Engineering Co.
3rd Place - Kiewit Underground District
Rookie Team of the Year - Baird Holm LLP
Team Designer of the Year - Jon Kathol from the Westside High School Theater team
People's Choice Award - Lund Company

Learn More

They’re also providing some live entertainment and other activities. You can learn more and even vote online for your favorite sand sculpting team. Just go to Sand in the City’s page!

Tasting Omaha

Taste of Omaha 2012

Omaha has tons of restaurants and if you’ve ever wanted to get a good idea of what’s available, you should check out Taste of Omaha. You not only see the vendors, you get to taste the food. And you get to listen to some awesome music while you do it, too.

How Does It Work?

The festival itself is free. If you want to taste the food, though, you will need to buy tickets. You take the tickets to the vendors and redeem them for food. They will encourage you to eat as much or as little as you like – but save room because there’s always the next booth down. It isn’t just main courses; it’s desserts, wines, ice cream and even a beer tent.

It Isn’t Just Food

While food is the focus, it goes great with music. And they have it on multiple stages. The music is just as diverse as the food with acts doing classic rock, country, Polish, Crotaian, Irish, salsa and more. The music is free, too. There is plenty for the kids to do with face painting, balloons, rides, magic acts and more.

Where To Find It

Taste of Omaha is held at the Lewis and Clark Landing in Heartland of America Park, downtown. It’s an easily accessible and very pretty area.

Bank of America Is Offering Relocation Assistance

Bank of America Wants to Help You Move

Well, not everyone. Just those people who are underwater on their mortgages and who are candidates for a short sale. The bank has to approve the short sale, the sale must begin by the end of 2012 and it has to close by September 26, 2013.

How Much?

Bank of America will pay between $2,500 and $30,000 to help home owners move. Just how much will depend on the loan balance, the value of the home and other considerations known only to the bank.

Why Would They Do This?

Banks have typically favored foreclosures over short sales but have come to realize they lose less money through short sales. Foreclosures are in rougher shape, are empty by the time the bank gets them and sell for less than short sales. The short sale houses usually still have the homewoners in them to keep up the exterior, make repairs and care for the house until it is sold.

Bank of America Short Sales

If you have a Bank of America loan and are considering a short sale, you can consult their short sale page. You can also contact us and we will help guide you with the short sale process and answer any questions you have.

Bank of America's announcement can be found here. The original article can be found here and CBS News covered it here.

Conservation Easements

Easements usually allow one party access to another party's land. For example, a homeowner has a house that cannot be reached from the street except by going through another person's property. An easement is created so that the landlocked owner can access his property.

Conservation Easements

In the case of a conservation easement, a landowner grants the land to a federal entity or non-profit. The easement is recorded in public records and "runs with the land". That means it transfers with the property whenever it is sold or leased

Why Grant a Conservation Easement?

A land donor could grant the easement for habitat conservation or preservation of a forest or farm land.

What Are the Benefits?

Land donors continue to own the land and receive federal tax credits if the easement is perpetual -- i.e., forever. State tax credits can apply as well. You will need to look it up for your specific state. It also does not grant access to the land to anyone, including the agency holding the easement. The benefits to the government are that it keeps the property in private hands and usually raises the value of properties around it.

What's the Catch?

An easement generally reduces the value of the land. That's why the tax credits were put in place. The easement also runs with the land so it's always there. It limits the use of the land and the government must use eminent domain to take the land and do away with the easement.

Final Thoughts

If you would like to learn more about conservation easements, you can look at the Wikipedia article. Here is another article about conservation easements.

Downtown Living Omaha

Downtown Living Tour

The Downtown Living Tour showcases homes available for sale in downtown Omaha. It focuses on developments in River Front, the Old Market and Midtown.

Riverfront's Tower II Is On the Tour This Weekend

Riverfront's Tower II is now open for tours. You can tour today from 11 to 4 and tomorrow from 12 to 4. And especially for tomorrow, a 2,000 square foot home available on the 9th floor of Tower I will be on display.

Getting Around

You can pick up a trolley at any one of the stops and ride for just $1. Click here for a map and details on all of the locations available.

You can see the release about this weekend's tour here. Downtown Omaha Living's page is here.

Contact us if you'd like to see any of the places. We'd love to help you find your next home!