The Mcdevitt Group LLC

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12/31/2018

Happy heathly
and prosperous New year to you all

08/12/2018

moving checklist

The following checklist is pertinent to domestic moves only. Moving abroad requires an entirely different set of tasks. Feel free to adjust the timelines according to how busy your life is. You may need to complete some of the tasks earlier.

8 to 10 Weeks before the Move:
Make travel plans. If you’ll be flying to the new city, make airline reservations and reserve a rental car. If you’ll be driving, map out your route and make hotel reservations, if necessary.
Obtain a written appraisal of antiques and other valuables that the movers will be taking to the new home.
Begin the process of interviewing movers or reserve the truck if you’ll be doing it yourself.
Time to get boxes and whittle down the contents of each room – donate, sell and giveaway.
Take donated items to your favorite charity.
Advertise the free items you leave curbside.
Plan and hold a garage sale.
Begin saving newspaper to use when packing.
Send out invitations to your going-away party.
One Month before the Move:
Purchase boxes, tape and bubble wrap. Look into renting pads and dollies.
Plan meals with the aim of using perishable food before you move.
Pack seldom-used items and number each box, on all sides and on the top. On a piece of paper or a spreadsheet on your computer, keep track of each box’s contents. When you move into the new house you’ll know which boxes go in which room. Use this same procedure when you pack the rest of your belongings.
Submit a change of address with the post office and change your voter registration information.
Ask your family doctor, dentist and veterinarian for copies of your family’s and pets’ records and for a referral to similar professionals in your new town.
Call the local utility companies, including your Internet service provider, to have service discontinued on your chosen date.
Call monthly service people, such as gardener, home security, pool maintenance and newspaper delivery to advise them of the cutoff date for their services.
Schedule the date to begin services at your new address with the companies in your new city. Have everything turned on a day or two before your arrival to ensure you have power, heat and air conditioning when you move in.
Two to Three Weeks before the Move:
Clean out and pack items in storage sheds and the garage. Gather up tools you’ll need to disassemble beds and other furniture and place them somewhere they won’t accidentally be packed.
Take the car in for service. This is especially important if you’ll be driving it a long distance to get to the new home.
Contract with a cleaning crew if you’ve decided to use one for either house or both.
Contact schools to request that the children’s records be sent to the new school district.
Confirm pickup and delivery dates with the mover or your truck reservation.
Call your homeowner’s insurance company to ensure the transition from the old home to the new. Auto insurers, your accountant, attorney and the bank should also be apprised of your new address.
Purchase a small safe or lockbox. Load it with important papers, jewelry, the contents of your bank safe deposit box, the mover’s contract and prescription medications. This box will be kept with you at all times during the move, so don’t let the movers take it with your other belongings.
Collect your pet accessories and determine if you’ll need to purchase anything for the move. This includes a crate, leash, collar, and portable food and water containers.
Begin packing boxes. Set aside one room, or designate another area of the home where you will place your “Do Not Pack” items. This area is for items that the movers aren’t taking with them.
One Week before the Move

Confirm your reservation with the cleaning crew.
Drain the gas and oil from your gardening equipment and barbecue grill.
Drain the waterbed and garden hoses.
Finish packing boxes.
Pack a box of blankets and pillows. Keep this box with you in case the movers don’t arrive at the new house as scheduled.
The Day before the Move
Pack suitcases. Include enough clothing for at least the first three days at the new house.
Pack the essentials box, mentioned above.
Unplug electronics and tape the cords to each component.
Disassemble furniture.
Moving Day

Lock your valuables in the small safe or lockbox and place it in your carry-on bag if you’ll be flying or in the trunk of your car if you’re driving.

Verify that the movers are the ones you contracted to hire and that they have the correct address for delivery. Verify delivery time. Get the driver’s name and cell phone number and ensure that he has yours.
If you are driving, give a friend or family member a copy of your itinerary and agree that you’ll check in at pre-determined intervals.
Plan to arrive at the new house before the movers.
After everything is loaded onto the truck, tour the house one more time, looking for anything you may have missed. Is the house clean and free of trash? Check all closets, drawers, and cupboards for any items you may have missed when you packed.

07/03/2018

Tips on the modern day nursery
If you hope to begin your family in your new home, or even in your current home, you’ll no doubt cast an eye toward which room will serve as a nursery. I thought it might be fun to take a look at how other couples are designing and decorating theirs.
No More Pastels
“Gone are the pink-or-blue color palettes,” Erica Rivera writes in the Star Tribune. “Newborns are increasingly coming home to rooms with gray color schemes.” Sure, it sounds kind of drab, but you need to see it in action. Navy blue walls are also popular (yes, even for girls), set off by pops of color in the accessories.
Bye-Bye Matching Furniture
Say goodbye to “matchy-matchy furniture sets,” says Rivera. Whereas the standard nursery contains a changing table, crib, dresser and rocking chair, today’s parents choose more multi-functional pieces. These include dressers long enough to act as a changing table and swivel chairs instead of rockers.
Even the basic crib has been updated. Cleaner lines and convertibility are the order of the day.
Keep it Green
Newborns and infants are much more susceptible to the effects of toxic compounds than older children and adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Keep in mind that your infant will eventually be crawling on the floor and playing and exploring near the walls.
Use low VOC (volatile organic compound) paint on the walls in your new home. Other commonly found toxicants in the home include formaldehyde emitted by building materials and styrene and 4-phenylcyclohexane from new synthetic carpets.
Carpets deserve a special mention since “off-gassing” can occur for up to five years after installation. Experts recommend that you leave a window open for the first 72 hours after the carpet is installed and use a fan to ventilate the gasses outdoors.
Your safest alternative, however, is to eschew carpet and go with tile, hardwood or laminate floors and use area rugs.

06/28/2018

selling your home
The two most important jobs of the seller during the marketing period are to keep the home clean and to be as accommodating as possible to buyer's agents who request a showing. Sounds pretty easy, right? Not if you have a full-time job, a family and you like to enjoy at least a modicum of leisure time.
Although you may find it inconvenient to show the home during the time you usually eat dinner, this may be the most convenient time for buyers. Showings don't take that long, so try to accommodate all requests from buyer's agents. You never know which buyers are the ones who will fall head-over-heels for your home.
It's also a good idea to leave the home during the showing. This allows the potential buyer to relax and take his or her time to view the home. With you hanging around he or she won’t be as likely to open closets and cupboards to get an idea of their roominess. The buyer won’t be able to voice opinions to his or her agent. The presence of the homeowner during a showing is distracting and that is the last thing you want from a prospective buyer.
Never leave sensitive financial information where a potential buyer can see it. This includes in drawers or on kitchen counters. Identity theft is a very real danger when strangers are traipsing through your home. If you store such data on your computer, remove it from the home. At the very least, unplug it and cover it, making it more time consuming for a thief to access it.
Finally, be mindful of your valuables during the period the home is on the market. Lock them up or remove them to a safe deposit box. Although most folks are honest, there's always an exception and leaving valuables lying around may just be too tempting for that person.
This is especially true for prescription medications, weapons and that spare key you keep in the kitchen drawer. Remove them from the home or lock them securely away.

06/21/2018

The danger of over-improving your home
Our listing clients often ask us which home improvements provide the most bang for the buck when it comes time to sell. We always remind them that the market value of a home – what it will sell for to a willing buyer – is in large part determined by the sales prices of similar homes in the neighborhood, and surrounding neighborhoods.
Professional appraisers use the principles of regression and progression when considering the value of homes. The value of a large home (or one with major improvements), located in a neighborhood full of smaller, unimproved homes, will be dragged down by the smaller homes using the principle of regression. Conversely, a small home located near lots of larger homes will see its value increase, when the principle of progression is used.
The principle of regression is important to keep in mind when considering improving a home to ready it for the market. If you improve the home to where it becomes the best home on the block your return on investment for those projects may be subsumed by the loss of value.
A good first step is to get clear on the home’s current market value and we’re happy to help you there, at no charge. While compiling the market analysis we’ll learn what nearby homes are selling for, which is valuable information when you’re thinking about various renovations you’d like to make.
Now you know the starting value, before adding improvements. Remember, when determining which improvements to make, in the end, the home will only sell for the maximum sales price of similar area homes.
The next step is to figure out which improvement projects will realize the largest return on your investment, without putting you over the neighborhood’s threshold. The addition of an attic bedroom, for instance, will net you a 77.2 percent return on investment (the national average), according to Remodeling Magazine’s annual Cost vs. Value Report. If that return is higher than the market will bear, it’s an improvement you don’t want to take on.
Since kitchens sell homes, a minor kitchen remodel may be worth the 79.3 percent ROI, but skip the major remodel with its 67.8 percent ROI unless you’re selling a luxury home. In other words, don’t create a million dollar kitchen in a $300,000 home.
Choose your improvement projects carefully, get several bids for the work, know the highest potential sales price you’ll realize and you’ll avoid the danger of over-improving the house.

06/14/2018

Buyer Beware
We’ve all heard it, whether it pertains to investing in the stock market, buying a car or a house: “Caveat emptor,” or “Let the buyer beware.”
Houses have problems, even newly built houses. The problem is that many of these problems can’t be seen and are therefore not obvious to even the professional home inspector. Some of the larger problems, however, leave clues, so let’s take a look at some of these red flags.
Plumbing System Red Flags
Low water pressure could be a sign of a problem as simple as a water softener requiring service, or as complicated as a leak somewhere in the plumbing lines. If the low pressure only occurs when the hot water is on, it may be an indication of a problem with the water heater.
Use the tip of your toes to press on the floor around the toilet. If it feels soft and squishy, the toilet may be leaking. In a two-story home, check the ceiling below the bathroom for water stains – a sign that the shower may have sprung a leak.
Electrical System Red Flags
Older homes are notoriously troubled with electrical problems. Outdated wiring is common and is an expensive fix. Flick all the switches in the home to ensure they’re operating. Feel the outside of electrical outlets ― if they feel warm, the wiring may be old.
Is the Floor Waving a Red Flag?
While sloped floors are common and perhaps even charming in historic homes, in a modern home they may be either a sign of normal settling or a symptom of foundation problems.
“For homes on a slab foundation, crawl space, or basement, wavy and uneven flooring should be a red flag to the buyer,” caution the experts at Brackett Foundation Repair in Durham, North Carolina.
Expect to pay from $2,100 to over $13,000 for foundation repairs, say the folks with Centex Foundation Repair in Central Texas. “. . . so far this year our average price of repairs has been $5,646.65,” they claim.
Red flags need not kill a real estate deal, but they should let you know that something isn’t right and needs inspection by a professional. Before making the hefty investment in the purchase of any home, spend the money necessary to remedy your discomfort over any warning signs.

06/09/2018

Moving Houses are like the clothes in your children’s wardrobe – before you know it, they’re too small. Now outgrowing a house doesn’t happen as quickly or as often as Junior goes through shoes, but if you’re planning a family, that house you live in now will feel awfully tight down the road. This is when you may start thinking about moving up.
While the need to upsize to a larger house is one thing, there are other aspects to the move-up that need to be considered.
Larger Homes Cost More
Sure, larger homes are more expensive than smaller ones but that factor alone shouldn’t dissuade you from pursuing more space.
The equity in your current home, if you have it, will go a long way in cutting down the cost of the new, larger home. If you don’t have a lot of equity you’ll need to sit down with your accountant or a calculator and your budget to figure out how you’ll pay for the new home.
As you do this, consider that the home’s price won’t be the only thing that costs more. Consider the following:
Larger homes cost more to heat and cool so you may have higher utility bills. Get around this by purchasing a newer, more energy-efficient home.
With more space to maintain, expect both your interior and exterior maintenance costs to increase. Look for a home that’s been well-maintained to cut down the chances you’ll face expensive repairs in the near future.
The higher the price of the home, the more you’ll pay for property taxes.
Homes that cost more are more expensive to insure.
Credit Considerations
For many Americans, our credit scores are something we only think about when we need to borrow money. Maintaining a good score is challenging but necessary; after all, your score determines how much money the lender will consider loaning and how much that money will cost.
While you’re perusing your credit, do a quick calculation of your debt-to-income ratio (DTI). Add up all of your monthly debt payments, divide the sum by your monthly gross income and multiply the result by 100.
If your DTI is more than 36 percent you’ll need to either pay off some of the debt or bring in more money to raise the “income” portion of the equation.
Taking the upsizing process a step at a time will help alleviate some of the stress involved in moving up. Ensuring you can comfortably make the new house payment and the increased utility, insurance and taxes makes the rest of the process a breeze. You may just find, in fact, that movin’ on up is of the best decisions you’ve ever made.

06/04/2018

How to get a great deal as a buyer Things you’ll typically hear and read about during a buyer’s real estate market include low home prices, large inventories of available homes and little competition from other buyers. While homeowners naturally want to get top dollar for their homes regardless of market conditions, buyers’ markets present an opportunity for those hoping to jump into home ownership an amazing opportunity to find a good deal.
In a buyer’s market, sellers are typically more motivated to negotiate. This puts you, as a buyer, in the driver's seat. Negotiating points include not only the obvious, the sales price, but other items as well. We’ve picked out three parts of the purchase process that present the most savings for buyers.
1. Bargains Lurking in the Purchase Agreement
When you write an offer to purchase, ask for everything. Even if you don't want their furniture and appliances ask for them. Ask for the drapes, the barbecue, everything you can think of to put the sellers in overload and divert their attention away from the low price you are offering.
Once the bartering begins all of their focus will be on trying to hang on to their backyard furniture, not that you have offered considerably less for the house than what they are asking. Now you are in a position to compromise.
So, go ahead and give up the furniture and the drapes; you didn't want all those items anyway. Keep your eye on what it is that you do want ― your price. In the end, if you persist, you should get that price and maybe that backyard furniture as well.
One more point about what to include in the purchase offer: make sure you don't give the sellers too much time to think about your bid. A 24-hour acceptance requirement is quite common and a strategic step in your position as a bargain hunter. Not only does this request create a sense of urgency for the sellers, but it cuts down the chances of another bargain hunter making a better offer.
2. The Home Inspection ― Your Ticket to a Deal
Although the sellers, by law, must disclose the problems in the home that they know about, there may be items lurking beneath their awareness. Just proceed with the assumption that if there are visible and known issues with the house there are most likely others that are not obvious. Therefore, unless you are a licensed General Contractor, you should always get a home inspection.
With the hard copy of the inspection in-hand, and depending on the extent of repairs needed, this is your chance to negotiate a further price reduction. You will need to obtain estimates for the repairs from local licensed contractors. You then have rational support for your requests to the sellers.
Walk away if the owners are unwilling to work with you. It is entirely within your rights under the purchase agreement to do so. Most sellers, however, realize that the repairs will need to be done if they hope to make a sale to anyone, so they are likely to entertain your new bid.
If the cost of needed repairs is beyond the sellers' current budget, you might suggest a cash-back at the close of escrow incentive. That way, the homeowner doesn't have to pay out-of-pocket for work and you will have cash-on-hand to have the repairs performed on your schedule.
3. Eliminate Your Closing Costs
In a buyer's market, innovative negotiating is just one of the tools in your chest. Negotiating closing costs may be your last resort, especially when dealing with a particularly difficult and unrealistic seller.
Yes, some will balk at being asked to pay your closing costs. Others will increase the selling price of the house to absorb the costs. There is a danger in this, however. Any addition to the price may cause a problem with the appraisal. At that point, it is back to the negotiating table for buyer and seller.
On a final note, the sale of one's home is an emotional event. There are ways to present the suggested negotiations while still appealing to the sellers' emotions. If your low-ball approach is due to your financial position, have your agent share that with the homeowners. Let them know how terribly much you want the house and make them care about you enough to want to help you. An aw-shucks personality will take you a lot closer to your goal than a brusque, no-holds-barred aggressive one.

06/03/2018

Close quickly on your home .com
There is any number of reasons that real estate consumers seek a quick close – from the need for speed to start a new job in a new city to the need to beat a lease’s expiration.
Today, the nationwide average closing time on a home purchase is 48 days, according to Ellie Mae’s Origination Insight Report (this number fluctuates monthly). If you need to close quicker than that, pay heed to the following tips.
1. Pay cash for the home
When you pay cash for a home you do away with the loan contingency in the purchase agreement, thereby substantially reducing the time it takes to close on a home.
Although many cash buyers hire their own appraiser to determine if the home is truly worth what they’ve agreed to pay for it, since there isn’t a lender involved, the appraisal – something that tends to slow down the process -- isn’t mandatory.
A “clean” cash purchase – one with few contract contingencies – can close in as few as seven to 10 days.
2. If you need a loan, see a lender before house hunting
If you’ll be using a loan to purchase the home, get the approval process out of the way before even looking at homes. Since the loan process takes up the most time in a typical purchase, the further you are into the loan process, the quicker you can close.
For a quick close, ask for a full loan approval instead of a pre-approval. This way, if the underwriter asks for additional supporting documents you can take your time supplying them, without worrying about holding up the transaction.
3. Don’t purchase a distressed property
If you’re looking for a quick close you need to keep the transaction lean and mean. The fewer people involved, the quicker it will go.
Distressed homes – foreclosures and short sales – are notoriously slow in closing. This is mainly because of the additional people that are involved in the transaction. From the lender’s facilitator to its loss mitigation department – with a lender as the seller, every aspect of the transaction takes longer.
4. Submit a clean purchase agreement
Experienced real estate agents know how to submit an offer that, if accepted by the seller, will advance quickly to closing. This means doing away with anything that is time-consuming.
Ensure that the title report is ordered immediately. Liens or other clouds on the home’s chain of title take time to investigate and remove. If the title report is ordered as soon as the transaction opens you’ll have time to deal with any problems that may come up without slowing the process.
Speak with your agent about other aspects of the contract that can be tweaked to get a quick close.

06/01/2018

Nobody really knows who starts myths, whether of the classic Greek variety or the modern real estate type. While the former is harmless enough, common real estate misconceptions may be dangerous – especially to your pocketbook.
Like a game of telephone, facts become lost in the translation and misinformation conflates with fact. It’s time for a little myth busting.
1. I’ll make a Lowball Offer so we can Negotiate
While it’s true that the buyer is typically in the driver’s seat during a slow market, he still shouldn’t exceed the speed limit, run stop signs or insult sellers. And that is the risk you take by offering an absurdly low price on a home.
Homes are full of emotional attachments for most owners. Offering a rock-bottom price may be offensive to the seller who takes pride in the home. Even if the seller counters the offer, giving you a chance to come in higher, the damage may already be done. The seller doesn’t like you, and the transaction, if there is one, may be tainted.
What happens if you determine the house needs some repairs? After dragging the homeowner’s price down and offending him in the process, it’s doubtful he’ll be amenable to making repairs unless absolutely necessary.
Figuring out how much to offer on a house involves walking a fine line between insultingly bargain-basement offers and maintaining the possibility of future negotiations.
2. I’ll buy when the Market hits the Bottom
Trying to time the real estate market is an exercise in futility, yet daily I hear homebuyers say they want to wait to purchase until prices are at rock bottom.
Unless you have a crystal ball, how will you know when the market hits bottom? Even the experts are only able to offer educated guesses as to when a market has reached its lowest level.
Consider this: the only way you will know that the market has reached the bottom is when it starts to go back up. By then, it’s too late and you’ve missed the best buying opportunity.
3. I need to wait until I have 20 Percent to Put Down (NOT TRUE TRY 1%)
We can probably blame the media for this myth. For years now we’ve been hearing about how the mortgage debacle that got the housing market into such a pickle has resulted in more stringent lending standards. While that is certainly true, the facts have been greatly exaggerated.
Sure, it’s preferable to have a large down payment – you won’t be required to purchase private mortgage insurance and you’ll get a better interest rate on your loan – but folks are still buying homes without one. Veteran’s Administration and USDA loans still require no down payment for qualified borrowers, and others have as low as 1 or 3% down payment even no verification of income loans
From large national real estate sites giving out bogus home values to myths you’ll pick up from friends and family, the real estate process is riddled with misconceptions. Rely on your real estate agent for the facts and buying a home will be much easier.

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