MERDAD HALAVI

TOP 10 TIPS TO SUCCESSFUL HOME STAGING! Preparing your house for selling can be a daunting and overwhelming task whether you have lived in your home a few years or many. The longer you have lived in your home the more things you will have acquired. The intent of this Top 10 Tips for Successful Home Staging is to help you save TIME, MONEY and ENERGY. In preparing your house for selling you need to take a step back and have the mind set that this is no longer your home but your investment for your future. You want your home to have broad buyer appeal to your target market. Following these 10 Tips for Successful Home Staging will help you sell your house sooner and possibly for more money than if you did not prepare it for selling! Remember most people want to move into their new home without having to make updates to it. 1. Curb Appeal  Stand back and view your home as if you were seeing it for the first time. This is the ‘first impression’ stage. Depending on ...

In 2018, taxes will look very different. The corporate tax rate is falling, federal income tax brackets are moving, and there are big changes to your ability to itemize deductions, including mortgage interest and state and local taxes (SALT). This has led to a flurry of end-of-year activity, particularly in places most affected by SALT deductions. For instance, the governor of New York took emergency action last week to allow state residents to prepay property taxes in 2017. There are four days left in 2017. Is there anything you should be doing before midnight on December 31? Here, financial planners offer advice: Prepay your taxes if you can. “Consider prepaying the property taxes for tax year 2018 in 2017 if your local tax authority will allow it,” says Wade Chessman, a financial planner in Dallas. “This will be especially true for people who itemize today but won’t be able to because of the higher standard deduction going to 2018, and also could be helpful for people...

The Texas Education Agency released their first set of ‘A-F’ accountability rankings for school districts and campuses this week. There has been lots of news coverage on the topic, and if you really want to dig in and more deeply understand the rankings you can check out this analysis that the education non-profit I work for created. There was significant criticism of the proposed rankings before they were released, as many people suspected that the A-F rankings would be simply based on standardized test performance. Lots of research has been done that indicates that too often standardized tests are a better predictor of household income than of the quality of classroom instruction. Which is why many in education prefer to see an emphasis on student growth instead of just proficiency, and why people freaked out when our current Secretary of Education didn’t seem to understand the difference. So when the A-F rankings came out, I started looking up elementary school campu...

Ready to sell your home and move on? Cody can help! Century 21 agents have the expertise and resources you need to help you sell your home quickly and successfully. It all begins long before you open your home to showings. You need to see your home like a prospective buyer. To do that, you need to look at both the inside and outside with a fresh perspective. If you follow these simple steps, you will be helping to set the stage for a property that shows great to potential buyers. Tips for Selling Your Home Here we offer simple steps to help you set the stage for a property that shows great to potential buyers such as: Let go of clutter Quick property fixes and TLC Atmosphere Property Curb Appeal Letting Go Of Clutter When prospective buyers walk through your home, they tend to imagine it as if it were their own. You can help them envision their dream space by presenting a clean, clutter-free environment. Here's How... Bring a friend...

  Despite prospects of higher mortgage rates, housing market should continue to improve Home buyers waiting on a return to lower mortgage rates before buying are probably out of luck, a top housing economist told local home builders and Realtors Tuesday. Lawrence Yun, the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, sad home borrowing rates are headed higher as the Federal Reserve Bank tightens its monetary policy, inflation edges higher and government deficits worsen. "Some consumers may be thinking that because mortgage rates are higher than they were a year ago, maybe I should just wait until rates fall down again," Yun said during a luncheon speech to the Greater Chattanooga Realtors and the Home Builders Association of Chattanooga. "Well, they will be waiting forever." The top economist for America's biggest real estate association said he expects 30-year mortgage rates will likely rise to about 5 percent, up from ...

Getting the price right is another critical step in the marketing of your home. Pricing right at the beginning, results in ·         Higher offers ·         Less inconvenience ·         A more timely sale Buyers are looking for maximum value;  What determines value? ·         Market conditions ·         Location ·         Size ·         Amenities ·         Condition Ultimately, the market determines value. My role as your Century 21 real estate agent is to:           Show you a range of prices being paid for similar homes in your area.             Together with you, es...

We have a mutual objective To sell your home ·        At the highest possible price ·        In the shortest amount of time ·        With the most favorable terms We will be working together as a team to get your home sold. Our mutual cooperation and communication will ensure we are successful in meeting this goal. Selling your home We need to expose your home to all qualified buyers looking for a home in your neighborhood and price range. How do buyers search for homes?             They look themselves             They have their friends look for them             They employ the services of a real estate agent Where do they eventually find the home they end up purchasing? ...