There are obviously plenty of questions that you should ask sellers before you even put in an offer on a home. This will help ensure that you’re making a sound buying decision. After all, this is a huge investment that should only be done with due diligence.

But there’s a whole new set of questions that you should be asking your seller after the deal is sealed and you’re given the keys to your new abode. Having the answers to these questions will help ensure a seamless transition into your new home.

1. Are there any issues with the home?

Sellers are obligated by law to disclose known issues with a property, but it doesn’t hurt to ask your own set of questions. Have any major systems broken down in the past? How has the place been maintained? Has there ever been any damage from natural disasters, like fires or earthquakes? Has there ever been a grow-op on the property?

Ideally, you’ll get honest, detailed answers to these types of questions. This question and answer session will give you the opportunity to have any quirks pointed out that might cause some inconvenience or may even be unsafe, such as sticky doors, electric outlets in weird places, or a loose handrail. Ask the seller if there is anything that you should know or expect going forward before you even get the keys to the house.

2. Have there been any improvements made on the home?

As mentioned above, sellers need to provide a disclosure about any issues regarding the property they’re selling, and that includes any improvements that have been made in the past. Even if a problem was fixed, it’s still important to know that the issue did occur and how it was rectified.

Obtaining a disclosure statement from the seller is extremely helpful, but don’t just take it at face value. Use that written statement as an opportunity to ask more questions about any improvements made or other issues that might not be on paper. Perhaps the seller may think of something that they forgot to include in the disclosure statement, and asking more questions may trigger their memory.

3. Where is the main water shut-off, circuit box … ?

There are plenty of important components of a home that you will want to locate before the seller is off the hook. It’s critical for you to find out where these essential elements are, which can save you a ton of hassle.

For starters, you’ll want to know where the main water shutoff valve is, which would be helpful to know should a plumbing pipe burst at any time. You’ll also want to ask the seller where other things are located, such as the circuit box, sump pump, and gas shutoff valve.

And don’t forget to ask if the smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector work (all homes should ideally come with these critical alarms already installed. Be sure to test them right after moving in, and if there are none present, your first item on the agenda is to have them installed right away.

4. What’s the neighborhood like?

While this is probably a question you’ll want to have an answer to before agreeing to purchase the home, you can ask for more detail once the deal is sealed. What are the neighbors like? Are there any local eateries or food markets that are recommended? What’s the nearest dog park? If you approach the seller in a light and conversational manner, you can get a ton of useful information about the neighborhood – both good and bad.

5. Will you be leaving anything behind?

It would be nice to know if the seller will be leaving anything behind before they go on their way. Some of these things you might find helpful, while others will just cause you more work.

For instance, you may be interested in keeping some of the furniture in the home if it suits your tastes, is in good condition, and fits well within the space. This can actually save you a bunch of money in new furniture expenditures. The sellers might even be willing to leave behind some plants and artwork that you may have fallen in love with.

On the other hand, some sellers may take off without having dealt with the removal of any junk and debris. That will leave you with the hassle of removing it yourself or paying a junk removal service to tackle it for you. Of course, your real estate agent will probably be able to bill the seller for the removal of any debris on the home, but this would just be an unnecessary nuisance.

6. When is garbage/recycling day?

Rather than waiting to see when the neighbors put their trash and recycling out at the end of their driveways, it would be helpful for you to know when garbage day is so you can be prepared for the next pick up.

The Bottom Line

It’ll take a little bit of time to get used to your new home, but gathering some key pieces of information will help you settle in a lot faster. Before cutting ties with the seller, make sure you’ve had the opportunity to have the above questions answered first.

The majority of residential real estate contracts typically come with a contingency that allows the buyer to have the home inspected by a professional before the deal is sealed. Buyers usually pay for this service themselves, while sellers simply allow them to book a few hours to inspect the home from top to bottom. So, if the buyer is arranging – and paying for – a home inspection, why should you as a seller pay to have your own pre-inspection done?

There are many reasons, including speeding up the transaction. Here are just some of the advantages of having a pre-inspection conducted on your home before you list it.

Build Confidence in the Buyer

Imagine being the buyer of a home and knowing that it’s already been inspected. You would have a little bit more confidence in the property and the transaction as a whole, wouldn’t you?

A pre-listing inspection tells buyers about all the behind-the-scenes details lurking within your home. Nobody wants to put in an offer on a property that has hidden problems. If there is anything in your home that requires fixing, any repairs that you make can be highlighted in the listing description and can even boost the asking price. With an inspection, you can prove that your home is in good condition and is worth every penny of your asking price.

Even if you don’t make the repairs, at least disclosing the issues builds your credibility as a seller and helps boost buyers’ confidence that much more.

Highlight Your Home’s Listing

A home inspection report that’s drafted up before your home is even listed makes for an awesome marketing tool because it helps you showcase your home’s best features. You can take this opportunity to make specific upgrades to your home and highlight them in your listing description, which buyers will notice. 

Buyers like to see that improvements have been made on a home, as it provides the peace of mind knowing that the home is properly maintained. Such reassurance can help to move the transaction along.

Identify Issues That Need Attention

Minor problems are one thing, but major problems are quite another. Having the opportunity to uncover any significant issues before listing will give you some time to repair them, which is not only a big benefit for the buyer, but it’s also advantageous to you too.

Instead of paying for the buyer’s contractor to get the work done quickly, you’ll be able to make these repairs on your own schedule and budget. Without a pre-listing inspection, you won’t be able to identify any issues until the final inspection before escrow closes, which can waste time and derail your sale.

Help Determine the Right Listing Price

Coming up with the right listing price is critical. If you fail to list appropriately, you risk your home sitting on the market for longer than necessary, and may end up with a stale listing. But it can be a challenge to price your home properly when you’re not fully aware of the state that it’s in.

Having a pre-listing inspection done can help you adjust the asking price accordingly, whether you make the repairs or choose not to. If there’s nothing to be done according to your inspection, you can realistically list higher.

Lower the Odds of Renegotiation

Your buyer will likely want to conduct a home inspection after offer acceptance, but if their inspection uncovers any major problems with your home, you can bet that you’ll be back to the negotiation table. This time, you could be asked to lower the price of your home, pay for the repairs, or even make the repairs yourself before they take possession.

It can be agitating to have a deal fall apart after it seemed to be on course to close. While renegotiation can still result in a closed deal, it can also go the other way. A pre-listing inspection can help you prevent this scenario from occurring.

Save Money

Buyers often over-estimate how much certain repairs can cost. You may be able to save some money by having the work done ahead of time with a contractor that you choose yourself. This could literally mean the difference of a few thousand dollars.

The Bottom Line

While it’s certainly not mandatory to conduct a pre-inspection on your home before listing it for sale, it can certainly help ensure a more streamlined process. Selling real estate will inevitably come with a certain amount of uncertainty and stress, but you can greatly reduce and even eliminate these negative factors by including a pre-inspection on your property as part of your selling process.

If you’re planning to sell your home some time soon, knowing its current market value is extremely important in order to price your home right. Of course, many sellers tend to believe that their homes are worth a lot more than what they really are. But it’s not wise to establish a listing price based solely on what you might think your property is worth.

Sound research and due diligence are required to come up with a price that accurately reflects the current market and what buyers would be open to spending for a property.

But while market value is certainly a critical component to consider, there’s also a thing called “assessed value,” which is not necessarily the same thing.

So, what’s the difference between ‘market value’ and ‘assessed value’?

Market Value

Essentially, market value is the price that a certain property would most likely be able to command in a specific market at any given time. It’s basically the price that a property would be able to sell for within a reasonable period of time, and one that a qualified buyer in the area would be willing to pay for a home.

In order to figure out exactly what a home’s market value is, several factors need to be considered, including its location, exterior and interior condition, lot size, house size, number and size of rooms, age of major systems and appliances, and so forth. Usually, these traits are compared to that of similar homes in the area that have recently sold, which are referred to as “comparables.” Real estate professionals use the market value of a home to determine a fair asking price.

Assessed Value

The assessed value of a property is based on a percentage of its appraised value, and is used to establish how much will be owed to the local government in property taxes. The local assessment office sends out assessors to determine the value of properties within a specific area.

More often than not, the assessed value of a property is lower than its market value. In fact, about 60% of properties across the U.S. are assessed at a higher value than their current market value, according to the National Tax Payers Union.

The assessed value of a property is not necessarily what a home will sell for; instead, the market value of a home is what will usually determine its listing price and roughly what it will sell for.

Tax assessors aren’t required to match the actual market value by adjusting property assessments every year. For this reason, there’s usually a big gap between what a home can realistically sell for and what it’s worth according to the municipal tax office.

An actual appraisal conducted by a professional home appraiser will give you a much better indication of what your home is worth according to current market conditions compared to what’s on paper as per your annual tax assessment. Recent comparable sales of similar homes in your neighborhood that appraisers – as well as real estate agents – use as part of their appraisal will give you a much clearer indication of what you can realistically list your home for.

The Bottom Line

When it comes to selling your home, you’ll really want to know what its market value is as opposed to its assessed value. While the assessed value is important as it pertains to how much you pay in property taxes every year, the market value will tell you what you should list your home for in order to increase the odds of a successful transaction.

It’s the market value that will guide you to selecting the right price that will attract qualified buyers looking in your area. Before you list your home, get some advice from your real estate agent who will do the research necessary to provide you with an accurate and objective assessment of the value of your home based on its traits as well as recent sales in the surrounding neighborhood.

The odds of your most fragile belongings suffering damage during a big move are pretty high if the necessary precautions aren’t taken into consideration. It’s vital that you take the time to properly package and label your delicate items in order to make sure that they arrive to their final destination in one piece.

The best thing you can do while packing is take your time. When you’re strapped for time and have to rush to get everything packed away and ready to be moved, that’s when problems arise. Instead, plan ahead and give yourself plenty of time to properly pack up your delicates while keeping the following tips in mind.

1. Gather Up Your Arsenal of Packing Materials

Packing delicates is not exactly like packing your average product. You need specific types of packing material that will ensure that your fragile goods are adequately wrapped and kept safe from damage.

One of the most important steps for safely packing very delicate items is gathering the appropriate packing supplies. Last Sunday’s newspaper and the box that your toaster came in won’t cut it. When it comes to packing easily-breakable items for a big move, you’ll need the following supplies:

• Sturdy cardboard boxes – The type of cardboard boxes that you need should be very thick and strong so that the weight of your items isn’t too much for them to withstand;

• Bubble wrap – Nothing beats the amount of protection that bubble wrap can provide, so be sure to stock up on a few rolls;

• Packing paper – You’ll need plenty of packing paper to stuff in between items to make sure they stay put and don’t move around the their boxes. And you can forget about printed newspaper – this stuff will just leave marks all over your items;

• Packing tape – The higher the quality, the better, as strong packing tape will ensure your delicates won’t fall through the bottom of the boxes.

2. Make Sure the Moving Boxes Are Sturdy Enough to Handle the Weight

Preparing the boxes that you’ll be using is a crucial step, and is probably just as important as wrapping your fragile items. You want them to be strong enough to hold the weight of your goods while also providing some cushioning at the same time.

To make sure the moving boxes are fully capable of handling these potentially heavy loads, look closely at them to make sure there is no structural damage. Tape up all openings of the boxes – especially on the bottom – to give them some extra strength. Line the bottom of the boxes with crumpled packing paper to help eliminate any vibrations or impact that could damage your items.

3. Wrap and Pack Each Type of Item Appropriately

Not every type of delicate item should be packed the same way:

Plates – Each plate should be individually wrapped in bubble wrap and then packed vertically, the way vinyl records are stacked. Storing them in this manner can help cut back on the risk of breakage during the move. Take things a step further and add a sheet of pliable cardboard or foam between each plate and on the top and bottom of your box, again stacking them vertically.

Glasses – Wrap each glass with packing paper, making sure to tuck some of it inside as well. Considering how delicate these items are, it’s recommended to pack them in small boxes in order keep the weight to a minimum. You can layer the glasses on top of each other, but just make sure to place the heavier glasses at the bottom and not layer too much. Divide each layer with a sheet of cardboard or foam.

Glass and ceramic accessories – If you’ve got vases, bowls, or other fine glass and ceramic goods, use small boxes. Wrap each item in packing paper and fill in the middle with crumpled packing paper. Then, wrap the entire item in bubble wrap. The bottom of the box should be lined with thick padding, such as towels or linens, to absorb shock.

Mirrors, picture frames, and other large items – Before you wrap and pack large glass items like these, wrap painter’s tape around the width and length to form a “+”, which will help absorb any shocks that could possibly crack the glass. Place foam protectors on each corner, then wrap them in bubble wrap secured with tape.

4. Prevent Movement of Your Delicates Within Their Boxes

After you’ve wrapped and packed your delicates into their appropriate boxes, fill up every tiny space with crumpled packing paper. This will help to prevent any shifting of your delicates while they’re being hauled to your new home. You can even use socks, towels, scrap pieces of bubble wrap, or anything else small enough that will be able to keep your goods in place so you find them in the same condition you left them in.

5. Clearly Label Your Boxes

This might sound like a no-brainer, but it’s amazing how easily you can forget such a seemingly simple task. Not only should you label the boxes “FRAGILE” on at least two sides of the boxes, you should also indicate which side is up. In addition, specify which items are in the boxes and what room they belong in to make unpacking a lot easier.

The Bottom Line

It goes without saying that once all of your delicate belongings have been packed up in their respective boxes, you need to take extra care when moving them. Watch every step you make, don’t rush, set the boxes down slowly and gently, and use ropes or straps to secure them in the back of your moving truck or trailer. If you’re driving the truck yourself, proceed cautiously. Practicing vigilance is the best way to pack and move your fragile items when transporting them to your new home.