You’ve probably heard of interior design expert Jillian Harris and real estate guru Todd Talbot. On their current show, Jillian and Todd are “rivals.” While Jillian is the yin that tries to get people to stay in their home and make it better with remodeling and décor improvements, Todd is the yang who whispers “sell.”
The duo were in Dallas over the weekend to celebrate Capital One’s newly launched and digitally re-imagined home loans experience. The digital experience allows homebuyers or homeowners to pre-qualify for a home loan in minutes from any web-enabled device, in the privacy of their own home (maybe even in pajamas)! You can also apply for a mortgage or home equity loan online and digitally track your progress from application to closing. Best of all, you can receive personal service from a dedicated loan officer when you need it.
I was lucky enough to play the role of moderator alongside Jillian and Todd at an intimate gathering of bloggers on Friday at the Fairmont, and then moderate a conversation with them up at the Stonebriar Centre Saturday afternoon – inside a cool pop-up house that Capital One set up to demo its new, online, easy-peasy loan experience.
After the event at Stonebriar, I even got to play tour guide and had the chance to show Jillian and Todd some of the most beautiful homes in Dallas. I mean, they were so amazed with Dallas real estate that I didn’t even have to ask! On Friday morning at the blogger roundtable, they told me how they had driven through “this area called Highland Park” the night before and could not believe the light displays or the amazing homes. So after the Open House event, we went to look at a home in the Park Cities and Museum Tower. We had fun. Nicest folks ever.
I wanted to share some of the cool tips that emerged from all of my conversations with Jillian and Todd and insights that I gleaned from my time with them —
Remodeling / Design
- Quick, cheap built-in looking cabinets: Jillian says you can buy ready-made cabinets at a big box store and then TRIM the cabinets’ top and bottom so they look built-in.
- Minimize your home: Only purchase items that are functional. If things aren’t functional, get rid of them.
- Outdoors areas are so important: Bring furniture outside (this includes lighting and throws, pillows and settees).
Staging/Preparing for Selling
- Avoid de-personalization of the home: Sometimes a home looks too impersonal when you take away all family photos — leave some behind!
- A few days before a showing, open all windows and doors and air the house completely: Of course, this works in Vancouver, not so much in Dallas in July, August and September (but perhaps at night!).
- Home sweet home aroma: Bake before a showing – cookies are great, but don’t get overzealous on the scents.
- Clean & declutter: Jillian says you cannot clean, scrub and de-clutter your house enough when you sell. Light neutral paint is best, as are fresh pillows and flowers. Conversely, when you look at homes, know that savvy sellers have done just that.
- Keep the garage a pretty place to come into: At Stonebriar, we talked about how Dallas is a driving city and we pull into garages almost every night. What a downer it is to pull into a messy garage and trip over stuff. Jillian says she and her partner take one Saturday every three months and majorly clean their garage – tossing out old stuff and hosing down the floor.
Home Buying
- Keep the emotion out of buying a house: Todd couldn’t reiterate this enough. Be cool, calm, and take your time. This is a major investment and money commitment.
- If you lose the bidding war: Can you consider remodeling your existing home? The best places for punch when you remodel are kitchens and bathrooms. That said, kitchen remodels can be expensive, so do not undertake one unless you can afford to do it well.
- It’s all online, baby: You start your home search online for real estate, why should the home loans process be any different? With the new Capital One Home Loans experience, you can start your mortgage application process online, too – you can even get pre-qualified on your smart phone!
Though the market here in Dallas is competitive and many people continue to be frustrated with the normal home loans process, Capital One is here to take the headache out of home buying and renovating. Capital One is truly putting the entire home loans process back in the hands of the homebuyers – where it belongs.
Thank you Capital One Home Loans for sponsoring this post. To learn more about how Capital One Home Loans tools can help simplify your home-buying process, visit CapitalOneSmartHomeLoans.com.
