How to buy and sell a house at the same time!

AOL Real Estate posted a great article about how to buy a sell a house at the same time.  It had lots of great information, but my favorite part was about knowing your numbers.  Click on the link to read the whole thing, but here is a recap!

1.  Prepare to be stressed!

• Buying a home is stressful.  Selling a home is stressful.  Prepare yourself to be stressed and that will help in the long run!

2.  Meet with your agent early!

• Even if you are months from selling or buying a home, it's good to meet with your agent early so you know what you should expect to sell your house for.  Lots of times, sellers think their home is worth less (or more) than it's worth and an agent can give you the right market value and can also let you know what improvements need to be made before you list your home.  Also, the value of your home can affect the value of the home you can afford when you buy!

3.  Learn the market where you want to purchase.

• After knowing what your current home is worth, you need to know how much you can afford when you go to buy!  What's on your wish list?  How long will it take to find exactly what you want?  Is the area you want to buy, more competitive than where you live now?  If you are moving to a different area, your listing agent might not be your buying agent so you might need to find a different one in that area.  

4.  Know your numbers.

• Many people can not afford to buy a home before they sell their current one, so it's important to know that upfront.  
• Buying in a competitive market?  Negotiate a contingency that you must sell your home first!
• Selling in a competitive market?  Negotiate rent back or a longer escrow to give you more time to find the right home
• Selling in a slow market and buying in a competitive market?  Need the sales proceeds in order to do the purchase?  Consider the option of selling your home first and then moving into a rental for temporary housing.  This might lesson your stress.  

Louisiana made another list!

Who knew that Louisiana was a great place to retire!  I can't say I'm surprised, but this morning KATC posted a link on facebook from Bankrate.com saying that Louisiana ranks No. 2 in the 10 Best States for Retirement!

Here is the write up:

"Besides jazz and beignets, Louisiana offers retirees an excellent combination of low taxes (the Tax Foundation ranks it as the fourth lowest in the nation) and balmy weather. Louisiana has a 30-year average temperature -- that includes both winter lows and summer highs -- of 66.7 degrees. That's higher than every other state except Hawaii and Florida. It also has better-than-average access to medical care and a relatively low cost of living. One major knock on Louisiana, however, is a crime rate that's among the highest in the nation. The FBI says there are 4,244 property and violent crimes per 100,000 people in Louisiana."

Then I googled, "Lafayette, LA retirement," and I found an article on Forbes.com, and Lafayette, LA was listed as one of the "Best Places for a Working Retirement in 2013!"  Here is their write up:

"The capital of Cajun culture has a lot going for it besides tasty food. This includes a 3.7% unemployment rate, a cost of living 12% below the national average, and a typical home price of $150,000, 19% below the U.S. average of $186,000. The state's tax climate is good and so is the local air quality."

Sneaky Way to Organize Junk!

When you are selling your home and showing it to buyers, you have to keep it clean!  If your like me, you have junk drawers or bins that are unorganized and overflowing.  I clean them out, every once in a while, and find things that I've looked for for months!  The nest.com wrote an article about nifty ways to hide the clutter, but still keep it organized.  Check out the article, but this was one of my favorites!

HGTV's May 2013 Color of the Month

It's the 1st of May, so that means it's time for a new color of the month at HGTV!  I like to know these things to help keep me up to date on the "in" colors and this month surely didn't disappoint.

Here's the article, but I'll give the run down.

They couldn't decide between Whisper Gray or Orange-Red Poppy and suggested both colors look great together as you can see in this picture:

Picture from HGTV (and didn't disappoint! I love the look.)

In the end, they chose whipser gray.  Grays are so hot right now, so I think they made the right choice. It is a great color that goes with any brighter color and can be modern or traditional.   Who knows... maybe Orange-Red Poppy will be next, but for now, here are some examples of whisper gray from HGTV's pinterest boards.