5 Tips to Make Your Cozy Home Feel Larger

If you have a cozy home, you know that it doesn’t take much to start to feel cramped. Living in a comfortable environment is important. And when you are looking to sell your home, a spacious feeling home becomes even more important! Buyers want to picture themselves in your home, and the last thing you want them thinking is that your home is too small for them. Do you love  your “cozy” home but want to make it feel less, well, cozy? This post is for you! Here are 5 ways to make your small house feel larger:

Less Furniture
Less is more when it comes to furniture. Choose several larger pieces over a bunch of smaller ones to make your space feel bigger and less cluttered. If you are in the process of selling, a good option could be to take some non essential furniture and place it in storage to free up some space. Think about moving out accent chairs, side tables, or coffee tables if the main living spaces feel tight.

Declutter

Speaking of clutter, declutter, declutter, declutter! Nothing kills a space like too many knick-knacks. Clear table tops and reduce items on shelves and bookcases. Open space = open feeling. Every. Single. Time. A staging professional can help you decide which items to leave for decor and which items to go ahead and pack up.

Paint Choices

Choose light paint colors. Use whites, grays, creams, and yellows on your walls, doors, and trim because of their ability to reflect light and brighten a room. If you are looking for an easy improvement that makes a big impact, freshening up the paint to a light neutral color is usually a good option!

Add Mirrors

Just like light paint colors, mirrors are magic at reflecting light. When planning your wall decor, make sure to use mirrors to expand a room’s feel.

Natural Light

When possible, ditch the window coverings. Open windows or ones with sheer coverings welcome natural light and expand your space to the outdoors. Prior to showings, open your blinds and curtains and let in as much light in as possible. Make sure all of your light bulbs are changed out and turn on any lamps that you have. An easy update to improve your natural light would be to replace your solid front door to one that has a few windows.

Have you mastered small home living? Share your best tip in the comments below with fellow “cozy home" owners!

5 Secrets When Selling Your Home

There is a lot of advice out there when it comes to selling your home. Most people probably start by asking themselves, “What do I need to do to sell my home?” Through the years, we’ve learned a few tricks to help sellers maximize their profit when selling their homes. It's pretty simple. It’s all about working with an agent that can advise you on the current state of the Oklahoma City market, staying calm under pressure, and using these five “secrets”:

Set the right price and do NOT overprice.

Overpricing is probably the single worst thing you can do! Less potential buyers see your listing when it’s new if it’s out of their price range. The buyers and their agents that do see your home will likely choose to spend their limited time and energy on other similar homes that are priced competitively. A competitive asking price will give more buyers the confidence to come see your home, fall in love and hopefully submit a strong offer! High quality photos and videography are everything.

In this area, most buyers will start their home search by looking up “house for sale in Oklahoma City.” Almost all buyers will see pictures of your home online before they see it in person. Professional photography will highlight the best features of your home! Buyers will decide if they want to see your home in person based on the pictures they see online. You want your home to make the very best first impressions! 

Declutter and depersonalize as much as possible.

When you are looking to buy a house, you are looking for somewhere you can picture yourself living. Decluttering will make your home appear more spacious and show off all of the possible storage space. Depersonalizing the home will make it easier for your  potential buyers to picture themselves living there. Neutral decor is best! If you have questions, you can always have a professional home stager come and give you some pointers! 

Spruce up your curb appeal for a great first impression.There’s never a second chance to make a great first impression! You want buyers to pull up to your house and get excited! Clean flower beds, a mowed yard, swept porch, and trimmed bushes will go a long way towards first impressions! A home that appears well maintained from the outside will give the buyer the confidence to assume the rest of the home is well maintained too.

Use strategic timing when you list your home on the MLS. We want to keep the days on market low!

Each market may have their own “best days” to list a home. In the Oklahoma City market, we like to list homes towards the end of the week. This allows plenty of time for weekend showings and open houses! We also try to not list on a holiday or during bad weather.  

Have you sold a house before? If so, did you use some of the tricks?

Let me know how I can help you reach your real estate goals this summer—that's why I'm here!

Looking to Buy BRRR Property?

If you have been in the real estate investing space for any amount of time, you’ve probably heard about BRRR investing. We are lucky that the Oklahoma City market still has solid options for buyers that would like to put in some work and capture a some equity on their investments. Is it easy? No! But it can definitely be done!

So what is a BRRR property? In a nutshell, it’s a distressed property that you buy, renovate, rent out and then refinance to capture that new equity.

Think of it like a flip, except in the end instead of selling the property you keep it and rent it out.

Here are a few common questions we get about the BRRR process:

• Can I work with a Realtor or real estate agent with a BRRR deal?

  Yes! We can help with all aspects of your BRRR transaction from bringing you the deal, helping with sales/rental comps, coordinating inspections/closings and referring you to fantastic contractors and property managers.

• How do I know what work will need to be done?

  We recommend having a professional home inspector complete an inspection prior to closing. They will give you an idea of any significant issues that will need to be addressed. We can work with you and your contractor to help you make renovation decisions to maximize your return.

• Can you refer me to a contractor or banker?
  Absolutely! We have contractor recommendations that specialize in investment properties. We also have multiple banks and mortgage brokers that have fantastic options for investors on both the purchase and the refinance side of things.

• Do you have a hard money lender or bank that will lend on the purchase?

  Of course! There are several local banks and hard money lenders that can loan based on appraised value or after repair value rather than traditional 20% down payment options that are common for investment properties.
  
  I’m in! What do I need to do to get more information on these types of deals?
  Comment on this post or email us at ax.cassi.justiz@gmail.com

Real Estate Affirmations for Buying or Selling Your Home

Buying or selling a home can be stressful. There are some things that you can control, and other things that will be completely out of your hands. One thing that you have total control over is choosing the right agent to work with. Your real estate agent will there beside you for every step of your home buying or selling process.

When things start to get stressful, here are a few affirmations to get you through the home buying or selling process.

Screenshot these and save them to your phone. You’ll want to revisit them daily throughout your real estate journey to remind yourself that everything will work out.

Which of these affirmations will you be using the most?

Affirmations for Home Buyers and Sellers

Affirmations for Home Sellers

I cannot control the outcome of this real estate journey. I can control getting my home ready, hiring professionals & preparing my family for the changes that may lie ahead

My home will sell. It may not be the minute, hour, or day I want it to, but it will sell. I am working with a team of professionals who are 100% qualified to sell my home.

I will lean into this process, ask questions, and fully show up for myself and my family. I will follow my intuition and trust that everything will unfold exactly as it should.

Affirmations for Home Buyers

I cannot control the outcome of this real estate journey, but I can position myself for success by getting my budget in order, securing a pre-approval letter, and thinking about what's important to me in my next home.

The market may be chaotic, but I can choose to stay calm. I will stay grounded as I move through each step of this process

I am grateful that I am at a place in my life where I can purchase a place to live and call my own. No matter what happens, I will be thankful for this opportunity.