Tips for Carillon Lakes Community Homes for Sale First-Time Sellers

Tips for Carillon Lakes Community Homes for Sale First-Time Sellers

There has been a shift in the real estate market. However, whether it’s good or bad for buyers or sellers can only be determined by a comprehensive analysis of your local market. As a first-time seller of CarillonLakes community homes for sale, how would you know what to do first? Get a report, clean the house, or just share photos of the home online? Here are some tips to help you out:

Hire a home inspector. These professionals can help you determine any problems that your current home might have such as leaky roofs, plumbing issues, rust or termites, and more. Once you know what these problems are, it’s easier to address and prioritize getting all these fixed. Hire a handyman for help, too.

Partner with a trusted Carillon Lakescommunity Realtor®. Your agent is your ticket to a stress-free home sale. They will work with and for you. Your Realtor® can provide you the comprehensive market analysis you need as well as explain to you all the data you need to understand to determine when to put your home up for sale. It’s also from these reports that you can know just how much to price your home.

Stage an open house. Clear the space and make the home move-in ready. This means that everything that has to be fixed has already been taken cared of and the home is at its most pristine condition. Buyers want to see themselves living in the home so help them paint that picture by staging the home appropriately.

Know how much the closing expenses are. Some home sellers get surprised by just how much the brokerage fees are. Learn all you can about these fees and budget this in your home sale. Apart from the brokerage fees, sellers also need to consider the costs of abstract re-dating, instrument survey, transfer taxes, and more.

It’s never easy putting up your home for sale but by following these simple tips, you’ll definitely get that best price offer soon. Find even more home selling tips by visiting http://www.LakelandFloridaLiving.com.

Call me, Petra Norris, at (863) 619-6918 or send me an email at petra@petranorris.com if you’re looking for a Lakeland Florida real estate agent with superior local knowledge, experience, professionalism, integrity, and personal service to help you sell or buy Carillon Lakes community homes for sale.

Petra Norris, REALTOR®…

Going The Extra Mile For You!

Common Things Not Covered by a Carillon Lakes Community Homes Insurance

Common Things Not Covered by a Carillon Lakes Community Homes Insurance

Imagine sleeping soundly at your Carillon Lakes community home, confident about your home insurance policy when suddenly, heavy rains come crashing down and water builds up in your area, flooding your basement and garage. You wake up in the morning to find structural damage so you call your policy provider. However, they will tell you that damages because of flooding is not covered in your homeowner’s insurance and you have to pay for the repairs yourself.

Does this scenario sound familiar?

You can never be too confident about your home insurance policy. No matter how fully loaded or extensive it is, there might still be gaps in the coverage and you have to be very diligent in checking these out. For example:

Mold. Whenever there’s water damage, there is mold. Mold spores embed themselves deep in your drywall and air ducts, making it harder to determine where these are. If you find yourself suddenly having molds in your home for sale in Carillon Lakes community, make sure that you have the means to pay for the removal yourself. Molds are usually not covered by a standard homeowners’ insurance unless it comes with the house when you first bought it.

War, nuclear hazard, and terrorism. While we all don’t wish for these to happen to your home, we can never tell. Damages from these kinds of situation are not covered by insurance policies but some do provide coverage for damages from vandalism, riots, and civil unrest.

Termites. Both a health hazard and a home hazard, termites can cause about $5 million of damages yearly. These damages are not covered by your typical home insurance policy. However, there are some pest removal services who offer termite coverage. Simply ask your Carillon Lakes community homes REALTOR® for any leads on trusted pest control services in your area.

Sewer backups. Much like flood damage, the dangers caused by sewer backups are not covered by your policy. Most of America’s sewer systems are now more than 100 years old and can easily experience the usual effects of wear and tear. When a sewage backs up into your home, it can cause damage to your electrical systems, furniture, walls, and floors. Consider an additional premium of about $50 a year for sewer backup coverage in your insurance policy.

Don’t wait until it’s too late. Update your insurance policies today. Learn more about different tips for homeowners in Carillon Lakes community by visiting http://www.LakelandFloridaLiving.com.

Call me, Petra Norris, at (863) 619-6918 or send me an email at petra@petranorris.com if you’re looking for a Lakeland Florida real estate agent with superior local knowledge, experience, professionalism, integrity, and personal service to help you sell or buy Carillon Lakes community homes for sale.

Petra Norris, REALTOR®…

Going The Extra Mile For You!

Best Kid-Friendly Halloween Movies for a Fun Family Night at Home

Best Kid-Friendly Halloween Movies for a Fun Family Night at Home

Popcorn? Check. Candy and chocolates? Check. Soft and comfortable seating? Check. Movies for a Halloween movie marathon? Uhh.. if you don’t have a list yet, here’s something to help. Check out these kid-friendly films for a fun Halloween family night at your Carillon Lakes community home:

ParaNorman (2012)

Zombies, mayhem, and destruction combined with a teenage boy who can talk to the dead and who lives in a town where an evil witch was once executed. This stop-motion animated film is one that will surely give you both the creeps and loads of laughs, too.

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Introduce the man with scissors for hands to your kids. Directed by Tim Burton, this Halloween classic is a close retelling of the Beauty and the Beast, with an isolated “monster”, a beautiful girl, a mansion, and angry townspeople at the end of the film.

Harry Potter (all movies)
You have witches, wizards, goblin, wands, and lots of dark magic to go around. The entire Harry Potter series is a movie series that’s appropriate for a Halloween night at your home in Carillon Lakes community. Although you might want to have a separate movie night just for these 7 films alone.

Casper (1995)

The beloved friendly ghost from the cartoon series comes alive in this heartwarming tale of friendship and love. It’s a ghost meets girl kind of story and the ending will definitely get you all teared up.

Ghostbusters (1984)

While we’re all waiting for the remake of this film, get your kids to watch the original Ghostbusters as they try to fight the evil spirits trying to take over the town.

Monsters, Inc. and Monsters University (2001, 2013)
Follow the tale of two lovable monsters - Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan - as they scare children to get the needed energy to power up their town. Watch the second film and learn even more about how these two closet-dwelling monsters rose from the top in the university life.

Halloweentown (1998)

Before your kids start dreaming of Carillon Lakes community as a fun Halloween town come Hallow’s eve, share this classic Disney movie with them. Don’t be surprised if they check whether you’re a witch or a wizard after the show, though!

Enjoy the fun decor Halloween season and have fun watching kid-friendly movies with just the right amount of scare and fun. Line these movies up for a fun night in with the whole family. For ideas and Halloween party events in Carillon Lakes community, visit http://www.LakelandFloridaLiving.com.

Call me, Petra Norris, at (863) 619-6918 or send me an email at petra@petranorris.com if you’re looking for a Lakeland Florida real estate agent with superior local knowledge, experience, professionalism, integrity, and personal service to help you sell or buy Carillon Lakes community homes for sale.

Petra Norris, REALTOR®…

Going The Extra Mile For You!

5 Tips to Organize Your Carillon Lakes Community Home Walk-In Closet

5 Tips to Organize Your Carillon Lakes Community Home Walk-In Closet

Do you ever find yourself always running late in the morning because you can’t find any outfit to wear for the day? If you find most of your clothes either strewn on the floor and your shoes stored haphazardly under the shelves of the walk-in closet of your Carillon Lakes community home, it’s time to start putting your closet on a diet.

Just like how most diets start, one needs to plan out carefully on how to start purging your closet. Make an assessment about what items in your closet take up the most space. Are you able to allot time from your busy schedule to work on this closet cleaning project? Determine these things first before you go on a clothes purge.

When the date and time has come for your scheduled decluttering, make sure to focus on the task at hand and tune everything out. Make sure you’ve already eaten something so you won’t have to stop mid-task just to grab lunch at any nearby restaurant in Carillon Lakes community and then get completely tired to finish the task. Leave your phone in the living room or your home office. Put up a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door. Whatever you need to do to focus, do it.

Now that you’re ready to start, begin with taking everything out of your closet - the shoes, the clothes, and all the accessories. Sort them into different piles: Keep, Throw/Donate, Maybe. Items under “Keep” are those that you regularly use such as your slacks, suits or work dresses, pajamas, casual shorts, a few shirts, your go-to heels or brogues, and more. Items under “Throw/Donate” are those that you haven’t used for the past 3 months because they either don’t fit anymore or have a tear or stain. Make sure to repair any holes or tears if you’ll be donating the clothes to a shelter. Items under “Maybe” are the ones you have a hard time deciding on. Place the maybe items in a box and store them for 3 months - if you still haven’t used any of these items by then, it’s time for them to move into the Throw/Donate pile.

Once you have decided which items will head back to the walk-in closet of your house in Carillon Lakes community, it’s time to visualize how to organize the space. Search the web for closet inspiration. Do you want to store items by color, by style, or by type? If you’ve decided just how to organize the space and find out that you don’t have enough to put all the “Keep” items back in, continue to sort the remaining items. Don’t simply stuff them all in. If you can’t find space for the remaining items then they might not really belong there anyway.

Keep all surfaces clean and tidy. Don’t let surfaces such as tabletops or the floor or an empty chair be a loading deck for any clothing item.

Resolve to stick by the decluttering you’ve made in your walk-in closet and let go of the “out of sight, out of mind” mindset. Always make sure to put things back the way they were stored whenever you take something out. Doing this everyday  ensures that you have an organized walk-in closet that won’t keep you from getting to work on time every morning.

Visit http://www.LakelandFloridaLiving.com for more tips and sneaky clutter-cutter tricks for savvy homeowners.

Call me, Petra Norris, at (863) 619-6918 or send me an email at petra@petranorris.com if you’re looking for a Lakeland Florida real estate agent with superior local knowledge, experience, professionalism, integrity, and personal service to help you sell or buy Carillon Lakes community homes for sale.

Petra Norris, REALTOR®…

Going The Extra Mile For You!

5 DIY Projects for Every Room in Your Carillon Lakes Community Home

5 DIY Projects for Every Room in Your Carillon Lakes Community Home

Redecorating your house in Carillon Lakes community may be expensive considering the cost of hiring an interior designer and the materials needed for a great makeover. Fortunately, there are a lot of ideas and projects you can do on your own without spending too much. One good thing about DIY projects is that you can create and design something personal while having fun. Check out these 5 DIY projects you can try:

Living room:

Arrange picture frames to make a personalized clock. If you have picture frames and you are not sure how to organize them, try hanging them on your wall in such a way that they resemble the numbers of a clock then use the hands and machine of your old clock and place it on the center. It is a creative way to display those photos of you and your family.

Fireplace area:

Design candle holders. There a lot of candle holders sold from stores and they are just too plain. One thing you can do is to decorate it with things you can easily find at home, like twigs. All you have to do is cut it into pieces, just a little longer than the height of your candle holders. Then attach it around the glass with the use of a glue gun. The twigs' uneven structure will allow some light to pass once the candle inside have been lit up.

Laundry room:

Give your laundry basket a new look by using colorful ropes. You can easily attach different colors of ropes around plastic laundry baskets using a glue gun. Mix and match the colors of the rope according to your preference.

Bathroom:
Mason jars can help you reduce the clutter on your bathroom sink. Simply clamp up some mason jars horizontally on a piece of wood then anchor it to your bathroom wall, near the sink. Before listing your home forsale in Carillon Lakes community, you might want to try this artistic and very useful project.

Bedroom:
Some potential buyers of Carillon Lakes community homes for sale are sometimes looking for something special in a house. Add some uniqueness into your bedroom by mounting your mirror into wooden frames. After that, you can paint the wood frame with different designs you want.

There’s no need to spend so much money just to give your home a fresh newlook. Enjoy making these DIY projects with family and friends. For more helpful decorating tips on a budget, visit http://www.LakelandFloridaLiving.com.

Call me, Petra Norris, at (863) 619-6918 or send me an email at petra@petranorris.com if you’re looking for a Lakeland Florida real estate agent with superior local knowledge, experience, professionalism, integrity, and personal service to help you sell or buy Carillon Lakes community homes for sale.

Petra Norris, REALTOR®…

Going The Extra Mile For You!