You’ve likely heard of a mortgage, but are you familiar with something called a “promissory note?” When you take out a home loan, not only will you need to sign a mortgage, you will also need to sign a document known as a promissory note. The question is, what exactly is this? Isn’t it really the same thing as a mortgage?

What is a Promissory Note?

There is a difference between a promissory note and a mortgage. Essentially, a promissory note is a legal document that you must you sign that serves as your written promise to pay your lender back the loan that is extended to you to help you fund your home purchase. They’re standard documents and are typical components of the overall mortgage process.

These documents include a variety of important information, including:

• Your name
• Your lender’s name
• Property address
• Loan amount
• Terms of repayment
• Interest rate (fixed or adjustable)
• Prepayment penalty (if there is one)
• Late charge penalty
• Term

You want to make sure that you’re not stuck with a mortgage that you are not comfortable with, which is why it’s critical for you to take the time to go through the promissory note to ensure everything is as it should be. It’s important that you’re clear about what the promissory note is, and the components that it covers.

The Difference Between a Promissory Note and a Mortgage

It’s easy to see why borrowers would confuse these two documents, considering the fact that some of the same data are included in both, such as the loan amount due and the date of the note. However, other items like the exact interest rate and the amount you are required to pay each month aren’t detailed on your mortgage. Instead, the mortgage contains information including the following:

• Your name
• Property address
• Legal description of the property

While it’s not uncommon to confuse these two documents, it’s important that this distinction is made. After all, you’re making a written promise to repay the loan amount in full at the agreed-upon interest rate, so you need to be entirely certain that you are comfortable with the terms outlined. This is NOT what the mortgage document is – instead, it’s the promissory note that is your promise to make good on your loan.

The mortgage is the actual contract that comes into play if you default on your mortgage. This contract mortgage basically stipulates that your property will serve as collateral if you default on your mortgage. If you come up short on your mortgage payments, your lender can repossess your home and sell it as a foreclosure (after appropriate notice is given) in order to get back the money lost on the loan that was extended to you.

The two documents also differ in their life span. While the promissory note is held by your lender until you’ve fully paid off your home loan, the mortgage stays with the county records for good. After your mortgage is paid off in full, the promissory note will be marked as such and given back to you.

The Bottom Line

Simply put, the promissory note is the document that includes your written promise that you will pay back the mortgage, while the mortgage is the document that outlines what happens if you fail to keep your promise. Be sure that you’re clear on what you’re signing, and ask your real estate professional or mortgage specialist to help you understand both documents before you pen your autograph on them.

When it comes to interior decorating and home staging, it all comes down to who you’re trying to impress: yourself (the current homeowner) or the buyer (the future homeowner). When you’ve got your home on the market for sale, you need to create a space that speaks to the tastes, needs, and wants of prospective buyers that will be looking at it.

Essentially, you want to create a lifestyle for buyers and help them visualize themselves living in the home and building an emotional connection to it. The way the home is staged might not necessarily be appealing to you and your tastes, but it’s really not about you: it’s about the buyer.

This is the fundamental difference between home staging and interior decorating. You might find it odd to revamp your home in such a way that doesn’t meet your tastes, but the sooner you understand the difference between these two realms, the more successful you will be at selling your home. 

Everyone wants a home that’s esthetically attractive, functional, organized, and comfortable. This is exactly how you want buyers to feel about your home when they walk in, and is essentially what will help them make that critical connection.

Decorating is All About the Homeowner

The goal of an interior decorating job is to create an ideal space that the current homeowner – you – feels comfortable in. It’s about bringing in colors, materials, and finishes that you find appealing.

Decorating also has to do with determining exactly how each family member uses the rooms in the home, and how they actually live in the space every day. An interior can be completely transformed into an amazing space that you would probably see in a magazine, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s functional for you or your family. Any efforts to stylishly decorate are essentially wasted if the result is an impractical space.

Even if the interior is functional and decorated in a very sophisticated manner, it’s important to ensure that you are comfortable with living with the new space, instead of feeling like you’re living in a home that’s not yours.

Professional interior decorators will take the time to listen to your tastes, needs, and lifestyle, and will work around these critical factors to come up with a space you can be proud to call yours.

Home Staging: Decorating a Home For the Market

You might have an affinity for shag carpeting or bright-colored walls, but you’ll likely find it tough to successfully market such decor to the general pool of buyers out there. Certain quirky tastes are better left for the home you plan to move into. If your home is going to hit the market soon, you’d be a lot better off decorating your home in a way that will attract as many buyers as possible.

As such, a neutral palette is generally best. You would be more likely to find more people who would rather see beige on the walls instead of fuchsia. Remember – it’s about the buyers, so the sooner you put your own personal tastes aside, the better. If you don’t, your home will basically be appealing only to a small proportion of buyers who might actually like your particular style. Home staging is about modifying and depersonalizing a space, which is the opposite of what decorating is all about.

Generally speaking, using neutral colors on walls and surfaces – such as beige, white, or grey – are best. But ensuring that your home is not specific to any particular taste doesn’t mean that your home has to be bland and lack any color. Instead, it should still involve some level of style and excitement. You still want to impress potential buyers and prompt them to remember your home after they’ve seen others. Just try to keep any bold color schemes minimized and simple while being supported by a neutral palette.

By the same token, depersonalizing your home is another step that should be taken if you want to help prospective buyers see the home as their own. It will be a lot more difficult for them to picture themselves living there if your home is covered in family photos, political posters, and religious artifacts. You might be very proud of your personal collections, but their presence will only stand in the way of helping buyers visualize the home as their own.

Having an understanding of the target buyer and what they’re looking for will make the home staging process a lot easier. The goal of home staging is to determine what would be considered the most appealing to the area’s targeted home buyer to warrant a quick sale for top dollar. 

The Bottom Line

When staging your home to sell, you need to think the way a home buyer in your neighborhood would think rather than focus on what you might like. If the buyers in your area are young professionals with a penchant for sleek style, then stage your home accordingly. The closer you’re able to style your home according to what home buyers expect, the higher the odds of you finding a buyer sooner, and attracting a handsome offer.

Not every space in your home is counted towards the overall square footage. From an appraisal perspective, there are certain areas that are ignored when calculating the overall size of the home. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) offers a standard for appraisers to measure single-family homes.

Whether you’re buying or selling, it’s important to understand how the square footage of a home is determined and which spaces in a home are not counted.

What is Included?

Before we go into what is not included in a home’s square footage, it’s helpful to understand what is. Basically, the square footage of a home is based on all interior spaces that are heated and/or cooled. This includes bedrooms, bathrooms, the kitchen, living rooms, closets, entryways, and utility rooms. Any additions to the home will also be included, as long as they have been constructed with an equal finish to the original structure and have a comparable heating and cooling system installed.

What is Not Included?

While the above-mentioned spaces are included in the measurement of a home’s square footage, the following are not.

Attics

These spaces are not included in the calculation of a home’s size, unless they are finished and conform to the original finishes and systems of the rest of the home. You can’t just throw in an area rug and plug in a fan and call it an additional living space.

More specifically, at least half of the finished square footage of the attic needs to be at least 7 feet where the ceiling slopes. Any finished areas less than 5 feet aren’t included in the home’s finished area.

Screened-In Porches

Enclosed porches are great for extending the living space of a home, and can certainly add a great deal of value to a property. However, they don’t contribute to the home’s square footage. The only way that an appraiser will count this space is if the quality of its construction closely matches that of the main residence, is equipped with a relevant HVAC system, and is considered suitable for year-round occupancy.

Garages

Whether you use your garage to park your vehicle, as storage space, or as a work area, it isn’t including in the overall size of your home. The only time it will be counted is if it has been completely converted into a living space that’s totally finished and has the appropriate systems installed.

What about apartment spaces over the garage? Maybe you have an adult child still living at home or in-laws that have moved in, and want to give them their own private, separate living quarters. However, this space may not be given full consideration in an appraisal – even if it’s finished – unless the appropriate access has been given to it.

Sheds

Just like your garage, your shed won’t be calculated in your home’s overall square footage. In essence, any detached living spaces on your property are excluded unless they meet the criteria for a year-round living space.

Unfinished Areas

Even if a space is part of your home’s overall structure, it won’t be included if it is unfinished and therefore not suitable for year-round occupancy. This applies regardless of what level the area happens to be on.

The Bottom Line

If you’re listing your home for sale, you’ll want to give full credit to the size of your home on your listing. However, you need to be honest and accurate about this number before advertising it. If you’re buying a home, you’ll want to know exactly how much square footage you’re paying for. An appraisal will typically be done if you’re taking out a mortgage, which will provide you with insight on the exact square footage of the home you’re buying.

Either way, understanding how a home’s square footage is calculated and what’s included and not included is important during the buying and selling process.

Living in the suburbs offers plenty of benefits to homeowners, including more space, newer home features, and access to family-friendly amenities. But there are also some downsides, including the fact that many of the homes in these communities look almost identical to each other inside and out.

How can you combat this “cookie cutter” syndrome and make your home stand out? Here are some tips to make your home more unique.

1. Paint the Front Door

Painting your front door in a bold, stand-out color is a fabulous way to make a big statement and differentiate your home from the others on the block with little money and effort. While you’re at it, consider painting your garage door too. If your budget permits, consider changing the door altogether to get maximum impact on the exterior of your home.

2. Add Shutters to Your Windows

Exterior window shutters are fast and easy to install, and can quickly add curb appeal while setting your home apart from the others. Install shutters in a vibrant color that’s in stark contrast to the exterior walls of your home for maximum visual effect.

3. Bring Your Landscaping to Life With Flowers, Shrubs, and Stonework

Perhaps the best way to make the exterior of your home truly unique is with lush landscaping. Beautifying your outdoor greenery can make a significant impact and improvement to your home’s outdoor space. Even if your home is exactly the same as all the others in your neighborhood, a stand-out landscaping job chock full of trees, bushes, plants, ornamental grass, stone walkways, and in-ground lighting can make it look as if your home was custom made just for you.

4. Flank Your Ceilings With Faux Wood Beams

Wood beams aren’t features that you would typically see in subdivision homes, which makes them the perfect addition to help differentiate your place from your neighbors’. While you can always use solid wood, you can make the job a whole lot easier (and cheaper) by opting for faux wood instead. They look completely authentic and make a huge difference to your home’s ceilings, and the entire interior as a whole. 

5. Add a Stone Accent Wall

Create visual interest and texture on a particular wall in your home by covering it in the stone of your choice. While this might sound like a tough, complex job, it doesn’t have to be thanks to modern materials available that mimic the look of real stone, but with a fraction of the effort required.

Some types of manufactured stone are mounted on sheets, stacked on the wall, and fastened with a flange, while others involve adding building paper and a couple of coats of mortar to secure the stonework. Either way, it’s a relatively simple process to bring an accent wall to life and put you one step further away from the dreaded “cookie cutter” syndrome.

6. Paint Your Kitchen Cabinets

If you don’t want to get rid of all that builder-grade cabinetry, you can still completely change the look of it with a sanding and staining/painting job. If you don’t mind the grain of the wood, stain will work quite well. On the other hand, if the grain is something you’d like completely eliminated from your cabinetry, then paint is the way to go.  These days, kitchens come in all different types of bold colors, so don’t be afraid to try something out-of-the-box.

7. Change Up the Light Fixtures

If you walk into your neighbor’s house soon after the subdivision goes up, you’ll quickly notice that their light fixtures (among other things) are a spitting image of yours. Luckily, you don’t have to stick with these light fixtures, and can swap them for models of your choice. It’s amazing what a difference light fixtures can make to an interior. From chandeliers, to pendant lamps, to wall sconces and beyond, the lighting in your home can often be an underestimated feature, yet packs a big punch.

8. Install Crown Molding

Newer homes may have modern finishes, but they often lack the character that comes with the details of older homes. Crown molding, in particular, is one architectural feature that you can add at the junction of your walls and ceilings to help merge modern with classic characteristics in your home.

9. Spruce Up Your Walls With Wainscoting and Trimming

If your walls are covered in plain painted drywall, you can bring a dramatic element to this surface with some wainscoting or trimming. Flat-turned-sculpted walls bring an elegant and sophisticated ‘old-world’ charm to an interior space, and can even give you the opportunity to cover up any existing scuff marks or scratches!

The Bottom Line

Your home may have the same design, layout, and finishes as your neighbors, but there are plenty of features that you can add to it to make it look like truly unique. Give any one (or all!) of these suggestions a try and transform the status of your home from “cookie cutter” to “one-of-a-kind”!