5 Tips to Selling your Home
Selling your home? Chances are you will at some point. Perhaps you’ve outgrown your current property or you’re looking to make some money in an upward trending market. Whatever your situation, there are simple tips throughout the process to make the transaction a positive and successful experience.
Stage and De-clutter
Look through the eyes of the buyer, who appreciates a clean canvas in order to picture themselves
and their belongings in the home. Are your countertops full of mail? Are there toys strewn about the kids’ playroom? Perhaps your furniture layout could be refreshed. Organize. Tidy up closets and under cabinet areas. If this process feels overwhelming, hire a professional stager to do the dirty work for you. Homes which appear clutter-free and tastefully staged will appeal to a buyer when he or she imagines your home as their home.
Get a prelisting appraisal
If there are not a plentitude of common properties that have sold in a 90-day period (the window a Buyer’s appraiser will use to formulate values), consider ordering a pre-listing appraisal. You and your agent will want to know your home’s value before you throw out a list price; for two reasons. First, you’ll need to know what price the current market will support and whether you can actually afford to sell your home, after closing costs. Second, if a buyer is financing the purchase the lender will require an appraisal anyway. Why not be on the same page? This will help avoid frustration for both you and your buyer down the road and you defend your objective appraisal when it comes down to negotiating by having a professional appraisal in hand.
Upgrade
Consider doing some upgrades to make your home more marketable. Simple changes like paint or replacing old lighting are simple and affordable. A kitchen or bath upgrade (the two projects most buyers don’t want to tackle) will help your home sell quicker and for a higher price, especially if there are other upgraded homes for sale in the neighborhood.
Use a Real Estate Professional
Selling your home is a professional process. Some sellers focus on the money they might save by selling their home themselves. Statistics support the opposite. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports that only 1 of 4 FSBOs properties actually sell. This means 75 percent of FSBOs never receive an offer, accept an offer, or worse, have the deal fall apart. Further, the average FSBO sells for 32 percent less than the average home listed by a Realtor. So, consider the money you may be losing over the money you think you’ll save.
Be a Considerate seller
When your home does go under contract, inevitably there will be items for which a buyer may want concessions. Keep your eye on the end goal. Don’t become emotionally attached or frustrated with items the buyer may want addressed. You might love that 70’s shag carpet but be reasonable if a buyer wants a credit to replace it. The more you can put yourself in the shoes of the buyer, the easier and more rewarding the transaction will be.