Everyone wants to sell their home fast when they list. There are some things you can do to prepare your home for that listing that are inexpensive and easy to do. You can hire someone to come in and "stage" your home or you can take some tips from the professionals on TV. If you want, go to Designed To Sell and see what Lisa LaPorta tells the viewer about easy steps to get ready to sell your home.
And, if you don't want to see what they say, take some of my wife's advice. It has always worked well for us.
1. You're moving anyway, so get that stuff packed up and out of sight
2. Make sure your house is clean...really clean.
3. Replace outdated kitchen and bathroom cabinet hardware
4. Go to your local Lowe's or Home Depot and get some updated light fixtures (make
sure you have an electrician do the hard parts)
5. Replace old worn out faucets in the kitchen and bath (plumber required)
6. Eliminate pet odors (you may have to get a professional cleaning service involved)
7. Put away your personal pictures - let the folks seeing your home see their stuff in their
mind's eye, not yours
8. If you have beautiful hardwood floors, take up the throw rugs
9. Go around the outside of your house and eliminate all cobwebs from porches and decks
10. Pressure wash the decks to give them that clean new feel.
11. Paint everything a neutral color - make the buyer feel they could move right in and not
have to do a lot of changes and painting
12. Replace all burned out light bulbs - make sure they all work.
13. Open the drapes and pull up the blinds, but only if the windows are clean. Make sure
they sparkle. (Martha Stewart says to use a few drops of dish detergent in warm water,
wash off window with a wet sponge and use a squeegee to remove the water). Wipe
the squeegee off between swipes.
14. Call us for a free comparative market analysis for your home. Email
You know, HGTV has so many interesting shows to help you either list your home or find the right home. Recently, they had a show on the 25 biggest mistakes people make when either trying to buy or sell a home. You should take their test for fun, just to see how you would do. Click here to take the test.
If you want to see a list of the 25 biggest mistakes, just click here.
The important thing to remember is that your home, whether you are buying or selling is one of the biggest investment decisions you will make during your life. So, be wise about it, not emotional. We will be happy to help you make either decision - buying or selling.
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Here are some other tips from the professionals who have been at this a lot longer than we have: (My comments in Red)
1. Recognize that housing markets are local.
Home prices are like the weather -- very different in different areas. In many markets, home prices have actually gone up from last year, says Dick Gaylord, president of the National Association of Realtors. In addition, demand will change depending on the price range and even the neighborhood. What you need to know: What's the demand for a house like yours in your area? "You have to look at what's being sold and at what price," says Poorvu. "That's important." Look at comparables for similar houses. Study prices and sales for one year ago, six months ago, three months ago and current numbers, says Gaylord. What are the trends? Are prices going up or down -- and by how much? How many days are homes staying on the market? If they are on the market longer, how much of that could be seasonal? In many areas, spring and summer are the busy seasons. Pay special attention to "the delta between the list price and the sales price," says Ron Phipps, broker with Phipps Realty in Warwick, R.I. That is, look for a meaningful relationship between list price and sales price. Perhaps most homes are selling for 5 percent less than the list price. "An agent who works the market will be in the best position" to find "the tipping point between nice, attractive and interesting -- and being sold," Phipps says. You want to find the point between, "Hey, that's interesting," and "It's too good to pass up." If you're not using a real estate agent, it's especially important to use the Internet, visit open houses in your area and study home sales in your Sunday paper, says Greg Healy, vice president of operations for ForSaleByOwner.com. But you also need to realize that the paperwork alone only tells part of the story. While sales and prices are public, many times seller concessions are not. In the Franklin area, most homes sell for between 92-95% of the asking price. Even that varies by area of town with some doing better than others.
What's your competition? Who are the buyers, and why are they shopping? Do you live in an area like Phoenix, "a growing market with people coming in," says Poorvu. Or are you living in an area that doesn't attract a lot of new residents, where many shoppers are "bottom fishers" who don't have to buy but are "looking to pick up a bargain," he says. Are you competing against a flood of new houses from builders eager to sell, or are you selling a newer home in an area where most of the housing stock is older? We have over 600 homes currently in the market and over 1,200 land listings. That is a lot of competition, no matter what price range you are in.
Don't ignore the elephant in the living room. When you interview real estate agents, ask about the market conditions for your area and price range. Specifically, ask about the "absorption rate" says Phipps. What that means: In the current conditions with the current inventory, how long would it take the market to absorb or sell, all the houses on the market? If the supply is much larger than the demand, ask potential agents how they would "price to offset that inventory," he says. This varies by price in our market. As a general rule, the less a home is priced, the quicker it sells. And, with over 650 homes on the market, and sales running about 41 homes per month selling. That means right now, we have almost 15 months of inventory (assuming no one else puts their home on the market). And we have almost 1,400 land listings now in our inventory.
Talk to a handful of agents. Get an appraisal from a certified professional appraiser. Look at your comparables. Taken together, that information will give you a pretty good idea of what your home is currently worth. The appraisal is the best tool you have. You can't go by the County Assessment, it varies all over the map. Some folks would love to sell their home for their assessed value and others would not even consider a price that low. The appraisal is a great tool to provide to would be buyers. You can even find out what happened to the comparables to the appraised properties.
Here's how it works: If prices in your area are dropping 1 percent each month, and you want to sell within the next three months, you take 3 percent off your price right off the bat, says Phipps. So if you were going to put your home on the market for $400,000, you set the price at roughly $388,000.
The standard commission around here seems to be hovering at 6-8%. That's great if you're a Realtor, but that seems a bit high. We do it for less with full service. And, if you ever think we are not doing our jobs, just let us know and we will tear up your contract. Or better yet, let us know what we are not doing so we can fix it. Just call me and I will work with you on this. It is tricky selling a home yourself, let a professional help you sell your most important asset.
If you want to get the best possible price for your home and the local market is tanking, "see if you can delay the sale," says Poorvu. Otherwise, in a lot of markets, sellers have "to be willing to accept a pretty good haircut over what they thought their home was worth last year," he says. The downside of waiting: The market could decline or your circumstances could change to the point that you might need to sell quickly. But for situations where the move is optional (or you might be able to rent the property until your local market improves), waiting is a solid option. Just because you've already planted that "for sale" sign doesn't mean you can't change your mind if you're not seeing the interest you anticipated. "If you know there are no sales or sales are decreasing, and you have the opportunity," taking it off the market is a decent solution, says Healy. "I think we're seeing a lot of that." This emphasizes the need to price it correctly to start. If it is priced right, it will sell. If greed comes into the picture, get a good, long book like War and Peace.
If you're selling one house and buying another, look at the market where you plan to move. Says Poorvu, "It might be that, with the housing there, it's a great time to buy." Franklin may have slowed down, but it has not died. The best way to get to know your competition, identify features that are popular and learn what turns buyers off is to check out other open houses. Plan on spending a few weekends touring other homes on the market to learn what other sellers are asking. Be sure to make note of the floor plan, condition, appearance, size of lot, location and other features. If you visit enough homes and pay close attention to the details (and what other “buyers” are saying), you’ll develop a good understanding of how different features affect pricing. And then you can apply what you’ve learned to the task of setting your price. But don’t forget to include in the equation what homes are actually selling for, not just simply what people are asking. And remember, if you’re serious about getting your home sold quickly, don’t be more expensive than your neighbor. Several markets in this country have lost substantial ground. It is not uncommon to hear of people selling their homes for less than they owe in some previously "hot" markets.
9. Know why you’re selling.
For most people, selling their home means cashing in their biggest asset. In other words, it must be handled with great care if you hope to protect—and capitalize on—your investment. This guide was written with one goal in mind: to give you the tools you need to maximize your profits, maintain control, and reduce the stress that comes with the home-selling process. The reason you look closely at why you want to sell is that your motivations play an important role in the process. They affect everything from setting a price to deciding how much time and money you’ll invest to getting your home ready for selling. For example, what’s more important to you: the money you walk away with, or the length of time your property is on the market? If your goal is a quick sale, that can dictate one kind of approach.
10. Once you know, keep it to yourself.
Your reasons will affect how you negotiate the sale of your home, but they shouldn’t be given as ammunition to the person who wants to buy it. For example, a prospective buyer who knows you must move quickly has you at their mercy in the negotiation process. When asked, simply say that your housing needs have changed. Your reasons are nobody’s business but your own. This is a small town and everyone seems to know everything about you.
11. Do your homework before setting a price.
A good Realtor is attuned to nuances in the market that may not be apparent from comparable sales and listings. Settling on an offering price shouldn’t be done lightly. Once you’ve set your price, you’ve told buyers the absolute maximum they have to pay for your home. The trick for the seller is to get a selling price as close to the offering price as possible. If you start out by pricing too high, you might not be taken seriously by prospective buyers and their agents. A price too low can result in selling for much less than you had hoped for. Setting your home’s sale price can be a fairly easy process. If you live in a subdivision comprised of homes with similar or identical floor plans, built in the same time period, then all you have to do is look at recent sales in the neighborhood to give you a good ballpark figure. But many people live in older neighborhoods that have changed quite a bit over the years. Every home in your neighborhood may be different in minor or substantial ways—the house next door may have added another bedroom, for example, or the one across the street might have been built recently to fill a vacant lot. As a neighborhood evolves over the years, you may find that there aren’t any homes that are truly comparable to your own. If you decide to sell your home on your own, the most common way to set a value is to look at homes that have sold in your neighborhood within the past six to 12 months, as well as those now on the market. That’s certainly how prospective buyers will assess the worth of your home. You can usually learn what homes have sold for in your neighborhood by making a quick trip to the County Courthouse or City Hall; home sale information is in the public records in most communities (but not all). If this sounds like a lot of work, you may decide to hire a Realtor®. Your Realtor® will do all the market research and provide you with comps showing where your home should be priced to best meet yourgoals—a fast sell maximum profit, etc. If you price your home too high, you are taking the risk that no one will look at it. The buyers in your true price range won't look (it's too expensive) and the buyer's you think you are targeting won't look either (it's not nice enough). Either way, you lose.
12. Know when to get an appraisal.
Sometimes you can use a good appraisal to your benefit in marketing your home. And if you get a VA or FHA appraisal, you can use it to let prospective buyers know that your home can be financed. However, an appraisal costs money. It also has a limited life. And you may not like the figure you hear. Most likely, your financial institution will require an appraisal to make sure it's worth what they are lending on your home.
13. Your tax assessment from the County means nothing - it varies all over the map.
Some people look to tax assessments to assign a value. The problem here is that assessments are based on a number of criteria unrelated to property values, so they often don’t necessarily reflect the true value of your home. Have you ever heard of two identical homes in the same neighborhood with dramatically different assessed values because one was purchased more recently than the other? Well, it happens quite often. We did an analysis of homes that sold in the Holly Springs area during 2007. The ratio of home sale price to assessment value ranged from 57% to over 149%.
14. Find a good Realtor.
The vast majority of folks that have sold a house themselves, wouldn’t do it again, according to research by the National Association of Realtors®. Sellers surveyed point to difficulties in setting a price, marketing handicaps and liability concerns among the primary reasons they would turn to a Realtor® next time. And selling a home yourself usually eats up more time and effort than you might initially expect. Once you understand how much work it will be to sell it yourself, talk to a Realtor® you trust even if you decide to strike out on your own. Many top professionals are more than willing to help do-it yourself sellers with the paperwork, contracts, etc. Plus you’ll have a relationship with an agent if problems do arise that require professional help. If you decide to work with a Realtor® , contact four or five—you probably met a few that you liked during your open house tour. Explain to each that you’re thinking about putting your home on the market and you’d like to meet to talk about pricing and marketing. By having this group “evaluation” done, you should end up with a fairly tight price range to help guide your decision. Any Realtor® who is substantially higher or lower than the group should be able to justify their estimate. Just as you should be concerned with too low of a price, beware of an agent who gives you the highest price—they may be trying to buy your listing. A good Realtor® knows the market and your neighborhood in particular. They will supply you with information on past sales, current listings, a marketing plan, something on their own background, and references from past clients. Take the time to carefully evaluate candidates on the basis of their experience, qualifications, enthusiasm, and personality. Most importantly, make sure you choose someone who is going to put in a lot of hard work on your behalf. We have over 200 Realtors in the Franklin area, but the number that are actually active is far less than that. Many have no listings and no sales.
15. Give yourself some room to negotiate the deal.
Make sure you leave yourself enough room in which to bargain. If what you ask for is unacceptable to the buyer, and their first offer is unacceptable to you, then you better make sure you have someplace to go that is acceptable to you. Start with the absolute minimum price you would accept, and then pick the price you’d get if the world were perfect. This gives you your range to keep in mind when working with your Realtor® to negotiate the sale. In setting your asking price, review your priorities. Do you want to maximize your profit or sell quickly? You’ll price high for the former and closer to market value if the latter is the case. Keep in mind that in this area, the homes sell for between 92% and 95% of the asking price. Figure that into your asking price.
16. Maximize your home's sales potential.
Each year, corporate North America spends billions of dollars on product and packaging design. The lesson here is that appearance is critical—and it would be foolish to ignore this when selling your home. You may not be able to change your home’s location or its floor plan, but you can do a lot to improve its appearance. And you should. The look and “feel” of your home generates a greater emotional response than any other factor. You may price your home to sell, but a prospective buyer reacts to what they see, hear, feel and smell. Remember, you only have one chance to make that important first impression. And, with so many homes on the market, the prospective buyer may never come back.
17. Clean like crazy - it pays!
Pick up, straighten, unclutter, scrub, scour, dust...well, you get the idea. If you’re living room feels crowded, take out every piece of furniture you can get away with. If your home still isn’t ready to appear in House Beautiful, then clean some more. Remember, you’re not just competing with other people’s homes. We recently had customers look at a home in great detail. They even searched under the sofa to see how clean the home was. How clean your home is indicates just how well you take care of everything.
18. Fix all thaat stuff you were going to fix someday.
The step that squeaks, the light switch that doesn’t work, the hairline crack in the bathroom mirror—they might be minor annoyances to you, but they can also be deal-killers. The problem is that you never know what will turn a buyer off. And even something minor that’s gone unattended can suggest that perhaps there are bigger, less visible problems present as well. Don't undertake any major home projects like a new room or porch. Just fix the stuff that needs fixing.
19. Remove "you" from your home - let them see themselves in the home, not you.
When you toured other people’s homes, you may have felt some discomfort. This probably occurred because you saw, heard or otherwise sensed something that made you feel as if you were intruding into someone’s life. The last thing you want others to feel in visiting your home is that same sense of discomfort. Avoid this by making your home as neutral as possible. Anything that interferes with a prospective buyers’ ability to see themselves living in your home must be eliminated. A few carefully chosen knickknacks and family portraits may add warmth and character to the home, too many are a distraction. Avoid unique or trendy color schemes—paint and carpet in neutral shades of white or beige. While personal items can detract, other small touches can help make your house a home to buyers. A well-placed vase of flowers, accent pieces of sculpture, potpourri in the bathroom—all can enhance the attractiveness of your home in a subtle, soft-spoken way. Try perusing any of the home magazines for tips. Get rid of all those pictures of the kids, the pets, your boat - all that stuff that is personal. Let them imagine themselves in your home.
20. Get rid of those smells.
Odd smells kill deals quickly. All traces of food, pet and smoking odors must be eliminated. Even when you’re sure they’re gone, don’t encourage prospective buyers to imagine things. If they know that you’re a smoker or that you have a dog, they’ll start smelling odors and seeing stains that may not even exist. Be safe—don’t leave any clues. We love dogs, but other people may not. Clean the home so they don't smell the pets. Watch for moldy area and mildew. Remember to clean like you have never cleaned before - it pays.
21. Disclose everything (use the NC Residential Property Disclosure Form).
Sellers proactively go above and beyond the laws to disclose all known defects to their buyers —in writing. If the buyer knows about a problem, he can’t come back with a lawsuit later on. We will provide the form for you to fill out when you list your home.
22. Don't get emotional.
The extent of most people’s experience in the art of negotiation begins and ends at their local auto dealership. And few of us have pleasant memories of haggling with car salesmen. But if you can just let go of the emotion you’ve invested in your home and approach negotiations in a detached, businesslike manner, you’ll find the process to be a lot less painful. In fact, you might even enjoy it—and you’ll definitely have an advantage over prospective buyers who get caught up in the emotion of the situation. We know it's your home and you have a lot of memories, but let them go and let the new buyers make their own memories.
23. Find out when the buyer wants to close the deal.
When a buyer would “like” to close is often when they need to close. Knowing this gives you his deadline for completing negotiations—again, an advantage in negotiations. If it's too far out, you may actually be hurting yourself. The market may have changed by then.
24. Don't sign a deal on your next house until you close the one on this one.
If circumstances conspire to force you into closing on your new home while you’re still making mortgage payments on the old one, you might end up turning yourself into a seller who is eager (or desperate) for the first deal that comes along. Unless you are debt free, this can add a lot to your stress level and also cause your bank account some stress.
25. Don't move out before you sell, unless you have to.
Studies have shown that it is more difficult to sell a home that is vacant—it looks forlorn, forgotten, simply not appealing. It could even cost you thousands. If you move, you’re also telling buyers that you have a new home and are probably motivated to sell. It's harder to sell a vacant home. You may want to leave some furniture in the home so people can visualize themselves in the home.
26. Don't give yourself a deadline for selling.
Forcing yourself to sell by a certain date adds unnecessary pressure and puts you at a serious disadvantage in negotiations.
27. Don't take a low offer personally, it's probably what you would have done.
The first offer is invariably well below what you both know the buyer will end up paying for your property. Don’t get angry or feel insulted; evaluate the offer objectively. Make sure it spells out the offering price, adequate earnest money, amount of down payment, mortgage amount, a closing date and any special requests. Now you have a point from which you can negotiate. If you feel an offer is inadequate, now would be a good time to make sure the buyer has been qualified to carry a mortgage of the size this deal would require (if you haven’t learned this already). Ask how they arrived at their figure, and then suggest their agent use comparables to establish what homes are going for in your neighborhood. Right now, we are in a buyer's market - they hold the advantage.
28. Don’t take a low ball offer seriously (put yourself in their shoes).
An unacceptably low offer should not be taken personally or seriously. Rather, it should be countered, even with the slightest of reductions in your asking price. This lets a buyer know that their first offer isn’t seen as a very serious one.
29. Make sure the contract is complete and that you understand it.
The best way to avoid problems is to make sure that all terms, costs and responsibilities are spelled out in the contract of sale. A contract should include the date it was made, the names of the parties involved in the transaction, the address of the property being sold, the purchase price, where deposit monies will be held, the date for loan approval, the date and place of closing, type of deed, any contingencies that remain to be settled, and whether there’s any personal property included (or not) in the sale, among other things. Become familiar with the Sample Offer to Purchase and Contract we provide. There is so much paperwork, the best thing to do is have your attorney be your eyes are ears on the contract.