You might have heard on the news or read a few articles saying gone are the days where sellers were at the mercy of buyers to sell their home. The market has changed and right now there isn’t enough inventory to satisfy the demand of the market in most parts of the country, but before you say great let’s shoot for the moon when we are selling our home. Sellers need to still be realistic when figuring out what to list their home for. When you are thinking about selling your home I would recommend doing the following when your taking advantage of a seller market.
Look at all the pluses and minus in your home and try to be as objective as possible? Are there big-ticket items that a future buyer will have to deal with like how is the age of the roof? How are the systems in the home like your water heater or boiler? If you’re in a condo are there any pending assessments in the building coming down the pike?
Big-ticket items if you can try to address them before putting them on the market or realize you might be offering something to a buyer when you have an offer. Not always but sometimes a big ticket item can cause a buyer to have second thoughts not always. If you can address items
Does your home look dated? You can bring a home decorator through or an agent and many of them can tell you if your home looks dated, and many times, if it does you, can fix that by adding some fresh paint. A lot of buyers don’t want to do much work when they move in so if you can update appliances, reface the cabinets if needed or just change lighting around all can give your home a fresh look and feeling
Get rid of clutter. Nothing confuses a buyer more than a home full of clutter. Make sure every room; every item has its place. If you’re not sure how to tackle this talk to a stager many of times they can help you. If you don’t know how to find a stager your agent should be able to find a great one for you.
Make the home feel warm is important don’t get rid of everything keep the photos around. A sterile home doesn’t always help. Just make sure the home is clean and every person who comes through can view the home and truly see him or her in the space.
Before you think of price its important to realize no two homes are alike, and just because the home down the street got a certain amount doesn’t mean yours will get the same or more. There are many factors that go into the price. Before you list attend open houses, watch what places have sold for and really think about the negatives in your home and pluses. To give you an example what I am talking about. Right as the market took a nose dive, my parents put their stunning Colonial farmhouse on the market in Connecticut the kitchen has been redone the bathrooms downstairs were redone, but the bathrooms upstairs in the master bath and guest bath had not be redone. The homes that they were competing with had redone bathrooms on top of kitchens redone and buyer after buyer who came through said I love the house when I first walk in, but once I went upstairs the seller lost me with not redoing the bathrooms. When my parents put their home on the market they thought every person who walked in would fall in love with their home like they did, but what they didn’t think about not every buyer wants to do work, and at the time every buyer in the market wanted to turn the key ready. Talk to your agent finds out what the profile of the average buyer is in the market in your price range. An agent should be able to tell you honestly. When do you look at homes that have sold with your agent ask the question did it sell for cash or was there a mortgage? Did the buyer do an inspection? All these are things an agent can find out. All these are factors that go in what a property sold. Also knowing how many offers the owner had is a good question to ask? Your agent might not get all the questions answered, but all are factors in selling a home. So just because down the street sold for X doesn’t mean yours will do the same. Just like people property is unique, and when thinking about something unique you cant always say the home next door sold for this and so mine should sell for more than that.
What are the factors that go into the price you might be thinking the size of the home, location, style, is there any work that needs to be done to the home? If you’re buying a condo are there any pending assessments a future buyer might be paying for? What floor unit is on? Is it a walk up or is there an elevator in the building? A walk up might command less than an elevator especially if we are talking a big walk up. Seller’s motivation might play a role if you have a seller that has to sell in a certain timeline they might take a lower offer then market. Financing. Did the buyer offer cash with a quick closing? Talking to your agent with an open mind is very important. Your agent wants to sell your home for the best purchase price. Sellers who have a number in mind might be right on the money but many times they are off and they find their home doesn’t sell like they expected. The worst is when a home gets listed for a high price and it sits on the market and eventually sees price adjustments and sells for what the agent told you it would sell for. The Real Estate Agent does this for a living and just like you; they are expert in their field for a reason. They see property every day. They see it come online and walk through a lot of different style homes every single day for their clients so remembering They see it come online and walk through a lot of different style homes every single day for their clients so remembering our hiring them for a reason they are an expert in their field and they should be heard if you really want to sell your home.
Picking the right agent is a huge part of if your home sells or not. If you’re picking an agent based on what they will collect for a commission that might not be the smartest move. Not all agencies are alike. Not all agents are alike. Ask an agent what type of marketing will they do for your property? Ask if there is any cost to you? Many agencies will advertise a property and pay for everything, but you should still ask. Are they part of a larger network of offices throughout the United States? Can they offer you worldwide coverage so your property could be viewable to a client in another country? What type of marketing do they have locally they can do? Don’t pick an agent who tells you can get this price, which also happens to be the highest price. Sometimes the highest price is right, but you really should think about price and marketing they will do to get a home sold. Sometimes an agent will say something you don’t want to hear, but many times it is the truth. You should pick an agent who is honest with you from the start and is motivated to get your home sold.
Have a plan where you plan to go once your home has sold. If you have to sell before you buy to make sure you start looking before or shortly after your home goes on the market. If you can also think of a plan B if your home sells and you can’t find a place to buy think and discuss the plan B option with your agent before you list. The worst thing that happens if you sell your home and expect the buyers to work with your timeline in finding a new place and playing the waiting game. Buyers will work with you to a point, but once dates are figured out you can’t always come back and say yeah we need to kill this deal since we are having a problem finding a place since every place we like we are outbid on. So have a plan A and plan B when you put your home on the market.
Tell your neighbors in the area your home is going on the market and whom you have it listed with, and make sure they have that agent contact information. Some owners are starting to post their home for sale on their Facebook page with their agent’s contact info. Other owners if they live in a condo are asking their agents to do an open house for just folks who live in the building for a half hour and then doing another open house for just the general public. The thought process is if you do a private open house for folks in the building or neighborhood they might know someone who wants to move into the home or if you have a homeowner that might make it hard to sell if you can get them in during the private open house you can manage whatever they say negatively about the home better. The neighbor is less likely to come to the public open house if they were invited privately to an open house. The agent can take care of both open houses, and this way you have double the advertising coverage word of mouth through your neighbors can be a very powerful thing if they love where they live or if they have a friend who has always admired the building.
Make sure you have all condo documents including any amendments to your listing agent before the property has its first open house or first showing. It will make your agent life easier, and in a seller, market offers might come in quickly and it’s better to be prepared
Selling a home can be stressful, and it’s important to realize you should have a team in place that works for you. Your agent wants to get you the highest price for you. They want a unit to sell. Not all agents are the same, and like property each agent is unique. They will have their one style of selling your home. They will each offer you different benefits for listing your home with them. Yes, the market is a seller market, but sellers should never just bank their home will sell. Sellers must realize and really recognize the buyer today does a lot of homework before they walk through your front door, and they will not put offers in on places that are not priced right. Sellers who fail to give credit to the buyer being educated on the market will find their homes will not sell as quickly as they would like. If you’re looking to list your home for sale or looking to buy a new place
please feel free to contact me.
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