DENVER'S LIFESTYLE AGENT

Work Hard. Play Hard. #303Life

The Perfect Home Time Savers and Hacks List

by

Real Estate Tips 3 Time-Saving Hacks I Wish I Knew About When I First Moved In

Now that you purchased Your Perfect Home, it’s time to make it your very own and a reflection of who you are. We’re moving from the vision of discovering what your perfect home looks like to actually living there. Yay!

Right now you could be excited to have a housewarming party with all your friends or having your extended family visit and see what you’ve purchased. It can be anything! But how do you make that happen in the shortest period of time between work and life? Here’s how.

It Starts with Time

The most ideal scenario is having plenty of time to set up your perfect home exactly the way you want it. Taking time off work or creating specific time blocks to focus on your home is step #1. Begin by sizing up the amount of work to be done and create a timeline for completion in the weeks leading up to closing.

Time the one asset none of us are ever gonna get more of gary vee quote travis hightower

For simplicity purposes let’s assume you bought a home that needs little to no repairs and the only handy work is interior decorating and customizing the home to fit you. So we aren’t talking about a 3-month schedule or managing multiple contractors. That’s an entirely different conversation!

Move-In Priorities

I’m not going to lie… moving is stressful! Help minimize stress by focusing on these top priorities on move-in day. Setting these up quickly will make everything else much easier.

  1. The bedroom where you sleep and wake up.
  2. The bathroom where you start and end your day.
  3. The kitchen where you snack and refuel.

Master Bedroom

There’s something about having everything you love about your comfortable bed in place when it’s time for rest. Plus waking up to see your master bedroom set up gets you primed for the day. It’s the first things you see when you wake up! Having it organized will give you sense of accomplishment and pride when you open your eyes.

Who has thrown just their comforter on top of the mattress because he’s totally spent after a long day of moving? 🙋‍♂️ I have. SMH.

Master Bathroom

The same is true about your master bathroom. Taking the time to set this up will allow you to end your day with a quick shower before bedtime without sifting through boxes for a towel or toothbrush.

Just like your bed, having your bathroom organized gets you into the flow from the time you wake up. It allows you to quickly tackle what’s ahead instead of problem-solving which box has what at 6 am.

Kitchen

Remember how much time it took to carefully wrap your kitchen glasses, plates, etc? This space will take time to get set. However, this space is vital in keeping you going when taking on full days of moving or having a space to unplug and connect to your significant other after a long day at the office.

Knowing where things are located makes getting a glass of water or whipping up a healthy meal easy. If you enjoy cooking, eating food on the go gets tiresome and isn’t the best fuel for a long move-in days.

For me, I love being able to take a short break for an almond butter sandwich or starting my morning with a huge veggie omelet and coffee. Getting your kitchen set up early eliminates the eating out cycle and won’t require you to leave when it’s time to eat. Or worse….waiting until you’re starved to eat!

Activity Batching Explained

The best way to explain batching is to think about doing your laundry. Most people wash their clothes after waiting for enough to run a large load, then sorting everything by color or material and washing everything at once. Versus wearing 1 outfit and then washing it every day. Make sense?

Batching Priorities

  1. Setting up, scheduling, and meeting utility companies
  2. Trips to the hardware store – Home Depot, Lowe’s, & Ace
  3. Shopping for home decor and/or furniture. IKEA, etc.
Real Estate Meme Batch Please Travis Hightower Colorado Agent

Utility Companies

When setting up, new service utility companies only require a call to transfer service into your name. While internet, satellite, and TV providers will need to meet you in person. Just an FYI, in Colorado the title company will transfer water and service on your behalf.

When making these calls set aside 1-2 hours to call in your initial services. Literally go down your list of providers and schedule all of them and if you do this ahead of closing you can schedule your services on your move-in day. Another option is to choose 1 specific day where you’re available the entire day to meet various service technicians during their timeblocks.

Keep in mind, companies like Xfinity will give you a half day window for installation and it’s no fun spreading this out over the course of a week with multiple companies. With a little planning, you can batch schedule your appointments and have services complete over 1 day vs 1 week.

Hardware Store

Have you ever been in the middle of a project and needed something to complete it? It happens all the time and that’s why batching trips to the hardware store will save you a ton of time. However, this takes patience and discipline as you move from project to project.

Let’s say you’re hanging curtain rods and realize you need drywall anchors to do it right. Instead of dropping everything to drive to the hardware store, put that project on hold and start making a list of what you’re missing. Why? Because when you move to the next project, like installing a ceiling fan or light fixture, you might be missing electrical tape or wire nuts. Right?

Batching trips to the hardware store at the beginning or end of the day will avoid peak shopping times and/or traffic around the city. Getting the times on your list will be faster and easier, especially since Home Depot opens at 6 am and closes at 10 pm. I’m sure you get my point here.

Home Decor & Furniture

It goes without saying, you want to set up your perfect home to see what you’re missing before shopping for new things. This means your entire home and not just room by room. Once you have an idea of what you need it’s easy to batch things like delivery, set-up, and even “pick & pack” service.

Similar to the Perfect Home Process, creating clarity for what you need will eliminate having to return something you don’t want or spending more time than you need wandering around stores.

For example, one of the biggest shopping hacks I know is offered through IKEA. They will literally pick anything in the store for $40 and deliver it to your home for $60. No matter how many items you request for $100, it will be delivered to your home.

Service Contractors

In 2019 almost anything can be contracted out. From car rides to cleaning, you can have tasks done for you quickly and efficiently. The sky is the limit right!?!

This can be your lifestyle or something you do temporarily. Using these services allows you to focus on getting your new home 100%. And saved time will reduce stress during the first few weeks of your move-in and initial set up. Here are the services I recommend using:

  1. Grocery Delivery Service
  2. House Cleaning Service
  3. Laundry Wash and Fold Service

Grocery Delivery

This has been an absolute game changer and similar to Amazon, you can do it all from home. I don’t ever have to leave my house and fall victim to any 10 for $10 gummy bears that sounded amazing while at the grocery store.

To save time is to lengthen life quote travis hightower colorado real estate

My favorite is InstaCart because I shop from my iPad while walking around my house to see what I need. It saves the drive and shopping time because they deliver from Costco, Sams Club, Whole Foods, Sprouts, King Soopers, Safeway, Restaurant Depot, and a handful of others. Plus you don’t have to have a Sam’s and Costco membership either!

For example, I can order toilet paper, paper towels, shaving cream, and coffee from Costco and my groceries for the week from Whole Foods. Then everything arrives in 1-2 hours. It’s so easy and must have when you’re trying to move in, unpack, set-up, and eat healthy.

Cleaning Service

This is pretty self-explanatory when you’re spending a lot of time getting your house organized.

It’s something that  you can certainly do but it’s gonna take you like 2 – 3 hours to really clean up in most cases, right? So to have a good cleaning service come out to take care of it, totally on point.

And for me personally, I’ve been availing the service of the same cleaner for myself. She handles my Airbnbs and it’s pot-on every time. She never lets me down and and does an amazing job. I’m happy to refer her to you if you’d like.

Laundry Service

This is wash and fold. They come pick it up and bring it back a few days later folded up, all ready to go.

Again, you have to consider time vs cost. If you have a lot of comforters, towels, sheets or a lot of laundry that needs to be done and you’re just looking to save time, this is a great way to do that.

I have another provider that helps me out with my laundry in Airbnb. She charges me $25 a bag full of towels and other stuff. She takes it home, washes it, fold it, and brings it back.

Real Estate Infographic about Moving In Fast by Travis Hightower Colorado Realtor

Next Week…

Now that you’re finally settled in your perfect home, it’s time to help others find theirs! Next week, I’m going to talk about the lifeblood of my real estate business which is personal referrals. I’ll share how it looks like when you refer to me and the best ways to connect me with the people in your life.

Top 3 Contingencies for Buyers Under Contract

by

I want to first take a moment to acknowledge the work you have put into discovering what the perfect home looks like for you and committing to this process. Discovering what moves you when it comes to real estate is exciting but not always easy!

Your reward is being able to walk into the perfect home for you, knowing it’s the one, and going for it with 100% clarity.

Now that you’ve won the deal and are under contract, what’s next?

Buyer Contingencies

Not to bore you too much, I’ll quickly explain the contract to buy and sell real estate. It’s essentially the legal instrument used to buy and sell real estate and outlines the duties of both parties within the agreement.

This agreement has milestones that must be met leading up to closing, which are dictated by dates and deadlines that must be met or it becomes null and void.

These dates and deadlines generally will provide you a way out of the contract. Meaning you, as the buyer, is able cancel the contract for a specific reason and get a full earnest money refund.

A Realtor is not a salesperson they'e a matchmaker and wedding planner real estate agent quote travis hightower colorado

In this week’s blog post, I will cover the Top 3 Buyer Contingencies when purchasing a home with a mortgage. Here they are in the order they occur:

#1 Inspection Contingency

The 1st major milestone is the home inspection. During this part of the process, we’re checking on the condition of the house. We’re making sure it’s going to be what you expect it to be. That you’re not going to be walking into a bunch of repairs and expenses that you didn’t anticipate.

This occurs within the first 7-10 days from contract. If we have had a great tempo and cadence with them in putting the deal together, I might shoot this to a 3-5 day timeline to get the inspections done. And then we start negotiating the items that come up that we want to resolve.

It’s a fast deadline so all parties can go their separate ways if the home has major defects that cannot be resolved.

The Common Inspections You Will Perform as the Buyer:

  • Limited visual general home inspection.
  • Sewer line inspection with video camera.
  • Radon test in the basement or crawl space.

When inspection items come up, you have several options to resolve them. All within prescribed dates and deadlines outlined within the contract.

Travis Hightower 100% Committed to the Process Real Estate Agent

The 2 Outcomes You May Seek After Inspection:

  • Inspection Objection – a written description of any unsatisfactory condition that Buyer requires Seller to correct. This could range from cleaning and servicing the furnace to replacing the sewer line.
  • Termination – meaning the Buyer wishes to terminate the contract due to any unsatisfactory condition. This typically occurs if a major defect exists like foundation issues.

If an Inspection Objection has been delivered to the Seller, you and all parties will negotiate to resolve those items keeping the contract in place. If a resolution is not complete within the deadline, the contract will be terminated. This deadline is known as Inspection Resolution.

The outcomes you must get into agreement with other parties in an Inspection Resolution:

  • Seller agrees to correct all or some inspection items before closing.
  • Buyer to withdraw the Inspection Objection, buying the home as-is.
  • Buyer to terminate if Seller’s Inspection Resolution is unacceptable.

These are the nuts and bolts of the inspection contingency. Negotiating these deadlines can be straightforward on homes with few items but very complex on homes that have laundry list of repairs.

#2 Appraisal Contingency

The 2nd major milestone is the appraisal. This one has fewer moving parts compared to inspection. It occurs within 14-28 days from contract. On a standard 30 day close, the appraisal deadlines occur around day 21. Most lenders will order the appraisal on your behalf after the inspection contingency has passed.

The 3 Main Appraisal Deadlines You Must Meet:

  • Appraisal Deadline – the date the appraisal must be 100% complete and delivered to the lender and buyer for review.
  • Objection Deadline– the date you would object to the appraised value of the home if below the purchase price.
  • Resolution Deadline – the date both you and Seller must agree to complete the sale at the lower price (appraised value) or terminate.

These deadlines are fairly cut and dry. If the appraised value is less than the purchase price, we’re going to have to deal with that via an objection. The seller is going to have to work with us on reducing the price to appraised value or the contract will terminate.

Funny Real Estate Meme Drake Travis Hightower

In some cases, a seller will order another appraisal to challenge the lower value if all parties agree to do so.

If an appraisal comes in higher than the purchase price this does not change the purchase contract. The agreed-upon price will not increase.

#3 Loan Termination

The 3rd major milestone is the loan review. This deadline is designed to protect you against predatory lending. Meaning you may cancel for any reason as it relates to the loan.

From Section 5.2 of the Purchase Agreement:

“this contract is conditional upon Buyer determining, in Buyer’s sole subjective discretion, whether the New Loan is satisfactory to Buyer, including its availability, payments, interest rate, terms, conditions and cost.”

Once the final loan review is complete it’s smooth sailing until closing! That’s the final deadline all parties must actually meet, sign the closing documents with a notary, and transfer ownership of the home.

Dates Change

As I write this blog post, I want you to know that things change. If dates and deadlines need to be extended it’s OK! All parties can amend the dates and deadlines of the purchase contract at any time.

For example, imagine an inspection uncovering items that require a contractor to bid the repairs. If the bids take longer than the Inspection Resolution deadline, all parties can agree to extend and allow the bids to come in.

What are the usual buyer contingencies in a contract to sell or buy real estate Infographic

Next Week…

Closings are generally full of smiles, hugs, and gifts. If you haven’t experienced one try it sometime! 🎉🤗 Let’s wrap up this month and talk about Owning Your Perfect Home. I’ll be covering my top time savers and home ownership hacks to get you moved in quickly with less stress. See you then!