House Pass tax break worth up to $7,500 for first-time home buyers who purchase between April 9 of this year and July 1, 2009.

An attractive home is always easier to sell. That's not a surprise to anyone, and although most sellers put a lot of work into fixing up the interior of the home, they can seem to be blind to the appearance of the exterior. Appearance is always very important when it comes to real estate. You can compare this with the packaging of a sentimental gift -- it sometimes is the case that the packaging makes as big an impression as the gift itself.

Real estate agents advise sellers to carefully evaluate how the package comes across, outside as well as inside. The outside is vital because it is what the buyer sees first, and as they say "There is no second chance to make a first impression." This would determine whether or not they would want to look at your house. For this reason, at least some minimal landscaping improvement would be advantageous before selling a home, as this will help you attract attention giving the home some curb appeal. Curb appeal means it looks good to someone looking from the street. If you fail that step, it hardly even matters what your asking price is or how good the rec room looks.

Landscaping Secrets

There is no lack of choices of things you can do on the landscaping aspect to improve the appeal of the home. If you are preparing to go on the market, however, you have something that is inexpensive, but which is quick and impressive. These suggestions can get you headed on the right path.

The yard should be inviting. In addition to just a regular trim of the lawn, create a special touch with flowering plants of the season. Make a border on at least one side, or all around. Flowers are always an attractive touch. If it is too much for you to plant a flowerbed, you might try adding a few potted plants.

A nice fence is an asset. It is surprising how much a nice looking fence can add to the looks of the outside of a home. In places where high fences are the norm (more often in the back yard), they are often neglected and gradually become ugly. Making them attractive by fixing up old sections or camouflaging the damage by putting in greenery is a good use of your resources. Where a small decorative fence is used for looks, the same is true and it is easier to use attractive components such as a board fence painted to match the trim on the home, split log rails, or stones. You could get synthetic materials which are less expensive but no less impressive to highlight the front yard. You will need to judge what kind of fence you think would look most attractive -- but you don't need to use up a lot of energy deciding. Keep it simple.  Another way of getting a nice fenced look is by using hedge plants which would look as impressive as a built fence, if not more.

Clean up. If you could do nothing else outside, you could simply clean up the yards. You would need to pay attention to the driveway, gutters, and downspouts. Cleanliness in and of itself has a great effect on the perceived value to a buyer.

These things we have mentioned are not expensive, except that they can be costly to you if you don't get them done and you miss a sale because your home does not attract a buyer. That is costly. Going a little beyond these basic suggestions, you could also clean or paint the siding and outside woodwork on both the house and the garage, repair any problems with the windows, adjust and polish or replace the doorknobs and the window latches. Everything should look new and inviting. This will not only increase the value of your property, but also help it to sell fast.

Information furnished by Automated Homefinder, the Longmont real estate experts of Colorado.

RISMEDIA, June 24, 2008-Consumers are apparently optimistic about the future of the national real estate economy, according to a new survey conducted by Housing Predictor. Nearly 1 out of 2 polled say they believe the national real estate economy will improve within the next two years.

The online survey serves to show that despite the turmoil in the nation’s real estate markets, triggered by the credit crisis most believe conditions will improve in a short time span. Only 28% of all respondents said they believe it will take five years or longer for credit market conditions to improve the housing market.

An unprecedented epidemic of foreclosures has led to lower home prices in the over-whelming majority of the country. As many as 1 out of 3 homes in some especially hard hit areas listed for sale are foreclosures, damaging communities and housing values.

A majority of economists recently surveyed say the nation is either in a recession or at least close to experiencing one. Rising gasoline prices have triggered the highest food inflation the country has experienced since 1992, which was during the last major real estate recession.

Congress is dealing with a series of proposals to assist some homeowners threatened with foreclosure. But more than 3 million homeowners are now behind on their mortgage payments and are threatened with foreclosure. A Housing Predictor survey in March found that the over-whelming majority of respondents believe Congress will fail in its attempts to solve the national real estate crisis. Foreclosures are forecast to increase to total more than 5.6 million units through 2011.

Some 25% polled said they believe things would improve in a year or less. Housing Predictor regularly surveys consumers on real estate related issues, and provides more than 250 local housing market forecasts in all 50 U.S. states. The data on which forecasts are issued are independently gathered by researchers from thousands of sources throughout the nation. Markets are constantly monitored by researchers to keep visitors up to date on changing market conditions.

For more information, visit http://www.housingpredictor.com.

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