BROADCASTS.com

b'With Terry Story, 27-year veteran Real Estate Agent with Coldwell Banker in Boca Raton, FL
Words matter when you\'re selling your home. Using the right words and phrases will make a difference in how long your home is on the market and what the sales price will be.
Terry Story, our resident real estate expert, tells us that Core Logic researched this idea and listed the impact certain words had on the process.

* Fenced in backyard: This conveys a place of privacy and security for children and pets, and so is viewed as a positive.
* Open concept, natural light, open kitchen: These words are used to describe a sense of space which appeals to most home seekers
* Gourmet kitchen, ceramic tile, granite counter tops: Gourmet kitchen may imply that the price of the house is too high to compensate for the owners having put in an expensive kitchen\\u2014also too few people even cook today. Interestingly, both ceramic tile and granite are now passe\\u2014the new magic word is quartz. So all negatives here.
* Golf course lot: The negative here is that it often implies a country club community requiring membership fees.

For Terry\\u2019s \\u201cAsk A Real Estate Pro\\u201d segment, we were asked the question:
"We bought a home two years ago with an FHA loan and an interest rate of 4 1/2%.\\xa0 As part of our monthly mortgage, we\'re paying mortgage insurance. I\'ve been receiving offers in the mail to refinance at a better interest rate to lower our payments.\\xa0 Is this something that we should do?"
Terry\\u2019s answer: \\u201cIf you put down less than 20%, this insurance protects the lender from you going into default or foreclosure. It runs about $150 a month. So if you can put down 20%, you\\u2019ll save in the long run.\\u201d
Regarding refinancing, if you plan on moving in 2 or 3 years, you do not want to refinance. If you have close to 80% equity in this house, \\u201cthen it would be wise to go ahead and convert to a conventional loan.\\xa0 By doing so, you\'re going to probably save closer to $250 a month based on the average loan amount at 3 1/2%, plus the savings of that mortgage insurance that you\'re no longer having to pay.\\xa0 Keep in mind, to refinance, it\'s not free.\\xa0 There are costs associated with that.\\u201d
Another question posed to Terry concerned condo rules which were being ignored by multiple owners. \\u201cBy ignoring the rules for a long period of time, the association has lost the rights to enforce them.\\xa0 The board would need to call a meeting, properly pass a new resolution, and then inform the owners that all the new violations will be addressed.\\u201d'