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Sellers
Selling your home can be an exciting time - a time when you're transitioning to a new home, a new neighborhood, and perhaps a new city. We're here to make the process a smooth one. After all, marketing your home for a fast, lucrative sale is our specialty. From home signs, mailers, and Realtor® tours, to open houses, advertising, Web marketing, and word-of-mouth, I pledge my expertise, resources, and an unlimited supply of personal attention.
Selling in a Buyer's Market
Those days of putting a property on the market for an aggressive price, receiving multiple bids, getting more than you expected, and having a signed contract in place within days or weeks are over. In fact, local data suggests that the average amount of time it takes to sell in today's market is just over two months.
Before putting your home up for sale in this market, go through this checklist:
- Get your home inspected. This is something that buyers typically initiate after a sale is pending. To avoid any surprises, hire an inspector before your home is even on the market. We can recommend several stellar home inspectors with whom we have worked over the years.
- Curb appeal. A buyer's market is very competitive - that's why you want to be certain your home is visually appealing and in good repair. A few exterior considerations:
- New paint - Paint the whole house if it needs it, or just the trim shutters and door to freshen things up
- Clean entryway - Sweep, pressure-wash and polish as needed. Clean the windows and glass.
- Lush landscaping - New mulch, sharp edging, a healthy lawn and fresh flowers, potted or in the ground
- Set and understand your price. While you do not want to undervalue your home, many of today's sellers won't make as much as their neighbors who sold last year. And overpricing your house in order to leave "wiggle room" for negotiating is never a good idea. If you absolutely must gross a certain amount and find out that comparable properties aren't selling for that, you may have to reconsider the price or remain in your home until the market improves.
- Clear out the clutter. Remove excess items from the surfaces, throw out the junk and make your walk-in closet -walk-in accessible:
- Interior: Is the paint bright and clean? How about the carpeting? An investment in fresh paint and new carpeting or hardwood floors often pays for itself in a higher price and quicker sale.
- Atmosphere: Is it cheerful, warm? Open draperies, light the fireplace (in winter), turn lights on, put flowers on the table. Light those candles (if you know someone will be there) This all creates a warm feeling.
- Inner space: Does it feel spacious? Do the closets have lots of room? Keeping ornaments to a tasteful minimum and organizing closets helps the prospective buyers imagine themselves living there.
- Kitchen/Bathrooms: Are they inviting? Do they sparkle? Small things like fresh caulking can create an impression of cleanliness and care.
- The Works: Does everything work the way it is supposed to? Minor repairs to fix things like leaky faucets and loose doorknobs, electrical outlet covers will contribute to good feelings about your home. Pay attention to the small details.
- When showing your home a few things to remember:
- Best if you can be away so the prospective buyer doesn't feel uncomfortable intruding into your life.
- If you are there, keep conversation to a polite minimum, TV or music off and pets out of the way!
- Never discuss price, terms, possession and other contractual topics with the buyer; trust me to bring the negotiations to a favorable end.
- Expect the unexpected: Sometimes the right buyer appears at the wrong time. Please be flexible and take advantage of the potential opportunity for a sale by allowing your home to be shown on short notice.
- Relocation assistance. Are you moving for a job? If so, your employer may offer some resources for making your home sale easier. Contact your human resources department.
- Stay attuned to market conditions. Be aware of what is happening with prices and home sales in your neighborhood. I will provide you with a comparative market analysis of homes in your neighborhood with qualities similar to yours. With a little numbers crunching I will make you a very realistic price recommendation.
- Stay on top of mortgage and finance rates. See Calculators for help.