If you are considering selling your home in the next few months now is the time to get started on some home improvements so that you can get your house ready to put on the market! Below are a few ways you can get started on home improvements both inside and out.

• A fresh coat of paint inside your home is a great way to improve the way your home looks and get it ready to put on the market.   Try to keep a neutral theme if you can when painting because you want others to be able to see themselves living in your home and not the other way around. You will likely be amazed at just how much difference a fresh coat of paint will make to your home.
• Panting your front door a color that pops is a great way to get awesome curb appeal. Many folks will love your home simply because it has a red door and it stands out above all the others in the neighborhood. Use a pop of color on your front door to your advantage when trying to sell your home!
• Pressure washing your home is a great way to make it shine if your home is vinyl siding. You may have lived in your house so long that you forgot what color your siding actually is until you pressure wash it. This is another way to have great curb appeal when you put your house on the market.
• If your house has columns at the front it may be a good time to replace them or at least give them a fresh coat of paint. Over the years columns tend to expand and crack and make the house look older than it actually is. Give your home a facelift by taking care of issues like these before you put it on the market.
• Refinishing your hardwoods is another way to make your home look its best. You can do this yourself or you may want to choose to hire someone to do it for you. Either way, refinishing your hardwoods is a great home improvement idea!

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently. You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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You may think that it might be impossible to sell your home while you and your children are living in it, especially if you have a lot of small children. Selling your home doesn’t have to be a major headache as there are many tips and tricks to get the job done even with the little ones running around making messes everywhere. Let’s take a look at a few tips on how to sell your home despite the “little people”.

1. A good idea to get your kids involved in the process of selling your home is to get them to take care of any clutter they may see around the house. It doesn’t necessarily have to be clutter they created, just any kind of mess that may be lying around will do. Kids love to feel helpful and what better way to help them feel helpful than to get them to help. If you have older kids you can perhaps motivate them with a bit of cash to get the job done correctly.
2. You and your kids need to make a plan for when someone comes to tour your home so that you can all get out of the house together and have something fun to do. When you have a last minute showing you and your children will easily remember that plan and head out together to wherever you have already decided upon. A good place to go if it is summertime or springtime is the local park; if it’s cold the library might be a good option.
3. Have your children be in charge of packing their own rooms away for the future move. They can easily pick through their toys and pick out the ones they don’t play with as often and go ahead and pack them away in boxes. This is also cool to do because once you finally make the big move it will feel like Christmas to them when they open the boxes filled with toys they had forgotten they had.

Whatever you do, try to make the packing and moving as low key as you possibly can, for your sake as well as your children’s. Kids can sense when you are upset or stressed about something and then they can upset and stressed. Do your part to make the transition of selling your home as smooth as possible.

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently. You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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Things To Do Orlando:  Orlando Chili Cook Off

A day for chili-lovers, this annual event has become a tradition for the local community offering delicious samples of chili from chefs from around the country, live musical entertainment, a massive kids zone and the World Chili Eating Challenge. With this year’s expected attendance to be over 20,000, the Orlando Chili Cook-Off has grown into one of Orlando’s premier food events with attendees tasting nearly 100,000 samples of chili.

WHEN:  Saturday, February 6, 2016 @ 12pm-6pm
WHERE:  Orlando’s Festival Park
COST:  $15-$20

Visit the Event Website for more details.

Information courtesy of Orlando Real Estate Expert Teri Isner and the Orlando Avenue Top Team.

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website. Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale. You deserve professional real estate service!

You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently. You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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Fannie Mae recently released their “What do consumers know about the Mortgage Qualification Criteria?” Study. The study revealed that Americans are misinformed about what is required to qualify for a mortgage when purchasing a home. Here are three takeaways:

• 59% of Americans either don’t know (54%) or are misinformed (5%) about what FICO score is necessary
• 86% of Americans either don’t know (59%) or are misinformed (25%) about what an appropriate Back End Debt-to-Income (DTI) ratios is
• 76% of Americans either don’t know (40%) or are misinformed (36%) about the minimum down payment required

To help correct these misunderstandings, let’s take a look at the latest Ellie Mae Origination Insight Report, which focuses on recently closed (approved) loans.

FICO SCORES

BACK END DTI

DOWN PAYMENTS

Bottom Line

Whether buying your first home or moving up to your dream home, knowing your options will definitely make the mortgage process easier. Your dream home may already be within your reach.

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently. You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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Things To Do Orlando:  A Celebration of Harry Potter

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal’s Islands of Adventure is gearing up for a celebration of films, complete with Q&A sessions with cast members and filmmakers, a wand masterclass hosted by Warner Bros. Studio Tour London and a Harry Potter film tribute. Join them for access to special demonstrations and a chance to get autographs!

WHEN:  January 29-31, 2016
WHERE:  Universal Studios Florida®
COST:  Included in regular park admission

Visit the Event Website for more details.

Information courtesy of Orlando Real Estate Expert Teri Isner and the Orlando Avenue Top Team.

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website. Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale. You deserve professional real estate service!

You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently. You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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Things To Do Orlando:  Real Music Concert Series at Busch Gardens

The Real Music Series kicks off on January 4 and runs through March 5.
NEW! This year, Busch Gardens is extending concerts into Saturdays! This means more moving and grooving to incredible live music spanning from the 1950s to today. Concerts are held at 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. (subject to change)

The Real Music Series is FREE with park admission. Show tickets are required and can be picked up from the following locations:

• For the 11:30 a.m. performance, tickets are available in the Moroccan Village Plaza (front gate)
• For ALL performances, tickets are available at the tent outside of the Stanleyville Theater

WHEN:  Saturday, January 23, 2016 @ 11:30am-3:30pm
WHERE:  Busch Gardens Tampa
COST:  FREE with park admission

Visit the Event Website for more details.

Information courtesy of Orlando Real Estate Expert Teri Isner and the Orlando Avenue Top Team.

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website. Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale. You deserve professional real estate service!

You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently. You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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HomeVestors and Local Market Monitor have issued a list of top 10 cities for real estate investment for the fourth quarter of 2015. See the press release on this below…

HomeVestors, the We Buy Ugly Houses^® people, and Local Market Monitor, the premier real estate forecasting solution, have published the Best Markets Top Ten List for Real Estate Investing in the last quarter of 2015. The data is ranked based on cities with increased job opportunities in the past year. The overall national average increase was 1.9 percent.

Grand Rapids, Michigan topped the Best Markets Top Ten List, with Orlando, Florida coming in second. Texas cities remain strong, with San Antonio third, Dallas fourth and Austin fifth.

“Due to a shortage of home construction since the recession, local housing markets with a strong economy will experience more demand than supply in the next few years,” said Ingo Winzer, president and founder of Local Market Monitor. “This will create higher priced homes and rising rents.”

“In 2015, prices in all of the top ten housing markets have increased by at least six percent,” said David Hicks, HomeVestors co-president. “Prices will continue to rise, which is one of the reasons HomeVestors, the We Buy Ugly Houses^® people, continues to become an excellent option for independent investors.”

The remainder of the list includes Portland, Oregon sixth; Seattle, Washington seventh; Charlotte, North Carolina eighth; Salt Lake City, Utah ninth; and Fort Lauderdale, Florida tenth. While housing prices continue to increase, cities such as Portland and Seattle present an opportunity for investors because of their increase in income due to the expansion of high-value industries.

The fourth-quarter 2015 Best Markets Top 10 List for Real Estate Investing includes:

1. Grand Rapids, Michigan
2. Orlando, Florida
3. San Antonio, Texas
4. Dallas, Texas
5. Austin, Texas
6. Portland, Oregon
7. Seattle, Washington
8. Charlotte, North Carolina
9. Salt Lake City, Utah
10. Fort Lauderdale, Florida

About the Quarterly Data:

The data identifies markets that will be good rental markets and where home prices are likely to rise at an increased rate over the next few years. Criteria include markets where:

• the population has been growing at above-average rates (four percent or better) with growth coming from people moving there in search of jobs;
• the current rate of job growth of two percent or better; and
• there is low unemployment, so that new jobs will be filled by people who move there, not by unemployed people who are already there.

Markets are excluded that:

• Have a small population because they do not have stable economies.

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently. You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

Get Orlando Daily News delivered to your inbox! Subscribe here!