Sellers and Buyers in Real Estate: Upgrade America!

It’s very common when you buy real estate, you are going to see some things in the home that no longer work, or just simply outdated. Of course, your one year home warranty would take care of the functional defects in a home.Keep in mind, when you buy real estate as a resale, chances are you will spend a significant amount of money the first two years you occupy your home. Usually, you would spend anywhere between $5K to $25K in the first two years after your escrow date to transform your home to a like new product. You could get an updated kitchen, bathroom, and the floors and walls would be upgraded to today’s standards in interior decor. Plus, the furnace is outdated, or broken, and needs replaced. Arizona law now required every home to have a replacement of at lease a 13 seer furnace.

The catch of all the spending for these repairs is that financing is needed. There is an Upgrade America program that is provided by various local lenders. Upgrade America will allow you to upgrade and customize your home to your satisfaction as long it meets all the guidelines under their program, local ordinances and state laws. Your value will increase, and you’ll save money on monthly energy bills by financing these repairs. Of course, the most critical thing is improve the appraised value of the home.

Why is a higher appraisal critical? For one, you get a return on investment of these upgrades if you sell your home. Two, if the buyer is getting a loan to buy the home and it did not appraise due to the lack of upgrades, they either walk away or come with the cash difference. This is extremely critical for the seller to upgrade and for the buyer to not deal with any of the hastles and fears of having the deal to fall through or come with the extra cash. These are all overall wins for all parties.

Here’s how the Process Works:

1. Offer the “as is” value on the property.2. A Certified Upgrade America approved contractor would submit you a bid.

3. The bid would be submitted to a consultant for the write up and review.

4. The consultant would submit the estimates to the appraiser so he or she will form an opinion of “Subject to Completion” value. The appraiser would use the Cost and the Sales Comparison Approach to form an opinion, which Sales Comparison is most reliable.

The rest is history. My goal is to get you connected to one of the best lenders, contractors, and titles to make every process as easy as 1, 2, 3! Contact me at (480) 788-9212 for assistance.

James W. Plummer III (Jim), Scottsdale

About the author

Jim Plummer

Greetings! As an introduction, my professional eXperience in real estate began in 1993, as residential real estate appraiser. I have worked as an appraiser with various clients in the banking industry. My appraisal background included appraising vacant land, single family, multi-family homes and condominiums. I have shifted from the appraisal business to selling real estate, and have joined the team with eXp Realty! My goals are to provide both sellers and buyers well balanced services based on my analytical skills and eXperiences from the appraisal field. My eXperience will allow me to provide clients in depth and reliable analysis, when it comes to selling and buying a home. That is what each client will eXpect from me as the market eXpert in this approach. During my spare time, I enjoy networking, outdoor recreation, watching sports, and keeping active with various groups in “the valley”! I am currently a board member of the Young Buckeyes of Phoenix. I assist this club in organizing social sporting activities. Also, I have participated in serving various charities including, Operation Buckeye, Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research, Food Drive benefiting the Vista del Camino Community Center Scottsdale, and Toys for Tots - US Marine Corps. I look forward to meeting you and to serve your real estate needs in the near future! -Jim Plummer