Community Connection
Dream Guard…Consumer basics for financial management
By Jack Riley
market. Issues brought up during the buyer’s
inspection can delay or even kill your sale.
“The Things we do for Dreams” has been Know the real condition of your property so
the Fifth Third advertising theme line for over you can price it properly.
a year now. The phrase translates to the
image many people have about their finances.
2. Be up-front with buyers. Be proactive. If
In these uncertain
there are items in obvious need of repair, con-
economic times
sider pricing out the cost of repair and sharing
holding on to our
that information with potential buyers.
dreams is more 3. Find the best real estate agent for your
difficult than ever. home. One positive for sellers in a slow hous-
Fifth Third has ing market is that there are more good agents
created Dream willing to compete for your business. Do your
Guard to help due diligence and find the one that specializes
consumers make in your neighborhood and understands your
smart decisions about how they manage situation.
their finances. Regardless of the economic
4. Consider offering a home warranty. A
landscape, we at Fifth Third are committed to
systems and appliances warranty may pro-
being a trusted advisor for our customers and
vide you with an advantage when marketing
Dream Guard is one way to provide straight
your home by providing buyers with greater
talk on sensitive issues about relevant finan-
confidence in their purchase.
cial topics. The newest tip sheets from Dream
Guard have just been released.
5. Check out the competition. Take a look
at the comparable listings in your area and
Selling Your Home in a attend area open houses if possible. Doing so
Buyer’s Market
can give you ideas for staging your home and
making your listing more attractive to buyers.
In an ideal world, we buy low and sell high.
6. Consider high-return, do-it-yourself proj- airfare, hotel and car rentals may discover can often find significantly discounted airfares
However, many homeowners don’t have the
ects. Replacing carpeting with wood floors or lower prices than they anticipated. when flying on holidays like Thanksgiving,
luxury of waiting for the housing market to re-
upgrading your kitchen countertop or cabinets
bound and must sell now. When the market is
For the savviest of travelers there are still
Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve.
can be done in a weekend and may pay for
down, sellers need to work even harder. For-
savings to be had. 5. Purchase packages. While you may
themselves and then some at sale time.
tunately, there are things you can do to help
1. Search airline sites individually. More
have luck dealing directly with the airline,
maximize the return on your biggest invest-
7. Write a listing that gets noticed. Stud-
and more airlines are now offering “private”
hotel, etc., you may find it cheaper to bundle
ment.
ies have found that listings including brand
sales and reserving their best fares for their
them rather than purchasing each individually.
names when describing appliances are more
1. Consider having your home profes-
own sites. By only searching popular travel
Because travel providers don’t have to show
effective than generic wording.
sionally inspected
package and discount Web sites, you might
the cost of individual services when bundling
before you put
8. Keep your home warm and well lit. In miss out on some deals.
on sites, they often offer deeper discounts.
it on the
the winter, buyers are more attracted to warm,
2. Check alternate airports. The cost
6. Check hotel rates by night. Rates change
bright homes. Turn up your thermostat and
savings of flying to and from a nearby, less
from night to night and it’s best to look at them
consider replacing dim bulbs for higher watt-
popular airport might be enough to offset the
individually rather than settling on one rate for
age ones during a showing.
extra time and added ground transportation
a multi-night stay. Shopping around and even
9. Price your home right. Today’s expenses.
a willingness to switch hotels during a trip can
buyers are extremely savvy and
lead to big savings.
have many resources to re-
7. Be flexible on the size of your rental car.
search and understand the
Because of supply and demand, you might be
true value of homes in your
able to find a full-size car for the same price or
area. Work with your agent
even less than an economy-size model.
to negotiate and discourage
lowball offers by pricing your
Shop different agencies and different car
home according to today’s
types to find the best deal.
market versus what you wish
8. When purchasing travel with a credit
it was worth.
card, use one that earns rewards. Booking
10. Freshen up your listing.
hotels and car rental companies that also offer
Don’t let the photos of your
frequent-flier miles or other travel rewards can
listing show that your home
lead to significant savings.
has been on the market for
9. Pack light. More and more carriers are
a while. Make sure exterior
charging fees for even the first checked bag.
photos are current and reflect
When traveling with a family, those fees can
the time of year in which the 3. Combine two separate fares rather
quickly add up. If traveling over the holidays,
home is being sold. than buying one fare. If a trip from Chicago to
consider shipping gifts to your destination as it
Tampa requires a stopover, it’s worth check-
could cost you less than the baggage fee and
Ten Ways to
ing to see if one round-trip ticket from Chicago
you won’t have to worry about airport screen-
Save on Travel
to the stopover city and a separate round-
ing delays.
trip ticket from that city to Tampa is less than
Even in today’s economy, it is booking the trip together as one flight.
10. Look to buy tickets on Saturdays. Some
still possible to save on travel. Trav-
of the lowest fares often appear on Saturday
elers who explore multiple options in
4. Fly on a holiday. There is less demand
mornings.
for travel on a holiday. Because of that, you
8 The Michigan FrontPage • July 10, 2009
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