Today’s tip of the day is from my 10 Low Cost Indoor Real Estate Fixes guide and focuses on ways you can improve your bottom line by paying attention to what’s beneath your feet. For additional guides please visit my Illinois Real Estate website.

1. Look Down, Look DownThis is an important factor for many buyers – what type of flooring you have and most importantly, what its condition is. I’ve literally seen buyers walk away from a home simply because the carpet was overly dirty. You can prevent negative appearance or outright rejection by making sure your floors look their best. If you have carpets, rent a steam cleaner for the weekend and put it to use. They are rather inexpensive and can really rejuvenate carpets, especially older carpets. If you have laminate or hardwood, use a floor cleaner and when it dries, a no-slip floor polish. Make sure you do this in advance of any showings or open houses – you don’t want the house to smell like the cleaning isle of your grocery store.

The City of Aurora, also called the “City of Lights” is giving homeowners 60 days to remove holiday decorations or face escalating fines - starting at $50 for the first act of non-compliance. Voted into existence in early 2006, the ordinance has drawn ire from both local and national media. The supposed reason: to improve community appearance and preserve Aurora Real Estate values. It isn’t clear when the 60 days actually run out - 60 days after Christmas Day or 60 days after New Years? Of course this isn’t the only ingenious method the city has come up with to make money off of its residents. This past summer, Aurora again enacted lawn watering restrictions. This, in and of itself is a great thing - however, they neglected to post any signs about it. In the past, signs were posted in each neighborhood spelling out the restrictions and when it was permissible to water. This year - no signs. You know, I love following the rules, but I also love knowing what those rules are so I can follow them. So, to you, citizens of Aurora, make sure your decorations are down before Friday, February 23rd or you might enjoy a visit from your friendly local Ordinance Enforcement official.

2006 was the year of the slowdown in many real estate markets throughout the country. In fact, December median sales prices for my local market posted a return to January 2005 levels. But perhaps this figure isn’t completely bad. For years, buyers have been willing to purchase a home with no or little money down - counting on home value appreciation that would allow them to refinance in a few years to get rid of PMI.

As the market slowed in 2006 to negative appreciation, perhaps some of the drop in median sales price represents a “wake up” to buyers who otherwise might have been willing to purchase more home with riskier financing. With the number of foreclosures and bankruptcies on the rise and expected to continue grow in the next few years, many financial experts feel Americans are too thinly stretched. The biggest culprit: often their homes. A big house and a fancy car are part of the American Dream for many people. But it can be exactly those two things that cause the dream to turn into a nightmare. Nationally, 34.9% of homeowners were considered “house poor” in 2005 - paying mortgage payments that exceed 30% of their monthly incomes.

But when the real estate party ended in late 2005, it may have signaled a change in the wind for high-risk mortgages. Buyers can no longer count on steady appreciation to take care of PMI or to provide a nice lump of equity if the payments become too difficult to bear. This might be just the circumstance many buyers need to become more financially responsible.

What do you think? Will the downturn in the market serve as a wakeup that will help push buyers away from high-risk mortgages and homes they can’t afford?

Just finished looking at the figures for December and things were looking fairly bad for detached single-family homes in Aurora. The good news is, the number of homes on the market dropped significantly (1,304 - 1,127) and number of homes sold rose (130 - 134). However, sales data shows a $21,250 drop in median home sales figures for the month of December - the lowest its been since January of 2005.

Attached single-family homes did much better in December - actually posting a median increase in sales figures from $170,875 to $175,000. Likewise, inventory also dropped but the number of sales flattened slightly as well - going from 68 in November to 64 last month.

For more information about Aurora Real Estate Market Trends - visit my website to download the graphs and raw data.

Technorati Profile

I have just syndicated my blog on a few other catalogues and lenses. Here are the links if you want to check them out:

http://www.squidoo.com/aurorarealestate/

http://feeds.feedburner.com/aurorarealestatenews

http://www.feedcat.net/feed/23063/fox-valley-real-estate-news/

As the weather in Aurora, Illinois is very mild and looks to remain so for the next few days, tomorrow I’m going to be taking down our outdoor Christmas decorations. For those who are selling aurora real estate, now is the time to do the same. There is nothing that screams “I don’t care about my home” more clearly than Christmas decorations up until Easter. So, if you have time over the next few days, do the same. It will help keep your home from looking like a holiday hangover.