Why Do You Want to Sell?
Do you want to sell your home in order to move to a different neighborhood, school district, or to be closer to family or employment opportunities? Perhaps you’re leaving the area. Maybe you want a country setting or want to be closer to town. Or maybe you need more bedrooms or storage? You may even want to downsize. As experienced real estate agents, we counsel our clients to help you understand not only your underlying reasons for wanting to sell, but the implications of how selling might impact your life and finances in ways you might not have anticipated. When appropriate, we will suggest other options for you to consider that might help you better reach your financial, lifestyle and real estate goals.
When selling your home, there are no guarantees that a buyer will simply walk through the front door. There are steps that you need to take so that your property receives maximum exposure to attract a ready, willing and able buyer.
The appearance of your home, a buyer's first impression, and other considerations can also affect the sale of your home. Have you considered that home prices in your neighborhood and the value of your property are also factors used for pricing your home? In many cases you may have to bring your home to the buyer. Effective marketing will help ensure that your home is sold in a timely manner at the best price.
Below are some articles that you might find useful in the home selling process. Please feel free to click on one the links to read more.
Preparing Your Home
Disclosure and Inspection
Showing Your Home
PREPARING YOUR HOME
Presenting your home in its best light can add thousands of dollars to the market price!
Creating Curb Appeal
The value of curb appeal is in enticing drive-by buyers to want to come inside the home. The yard should at least be comparable to the neighborhood; the cost of a quick clean up by a landscape crew usually pays for itself through a faster sale near the asking price. Add a splash of color by planting annuals along the entryway. We will tell you if the exterior of the home needs any improvement.
Should You Make Repairs?
A quick coat of paint and other relatively affordable cosmetic upgrades might take years off a home’s appearance. A light neutral paint color has the broadest appeal and may also make rooms look larger. Will undertaking significant repairs prior to putting your home on the market generate the best return, or will selling your home “As Is” in it’s present condition? We can help with that decision.
Cleaning Up Your Property
Keep your property tidy, clean, well-lit and smelling good. We are able to see your home as a buyer will and can recommend how to show it in its best light. Often this requires removing memorabilia that you love but that others may see as clutter. Let buyers visualize their own belongings in the house. Turning on lights, even in the day time, makes your house appear more inviting, cheerful, and even spacious. A professional carpet cleaning can remove stains and odors that you may not notice but are immediately noticeable and often offensive to buyers who don’t smoke or own pets.
Staging
We may recommend staging so the home appeals to the widest audience. Do-it-yourself tips include putting out fresh flowers and baking fragrant cookies before an open house. Professional stagers may be called upon to rearrange or even refurnish the house with their own furniture inventory, particularly applicable for situations like vacant homes.
DISCLOSURE AND INSPECTION
Disclosure
One of your primary duties as a seller is to make a list of anything that should be disclosed to buyers. We are familiar with the legal environment surrounding disclosures and will prompt you to develop thorough disclosure documents that will serve both you and the buyer in creating a sound and satisfactory transaction.
Home Inspection
If you are putting your home up for sale, should you consider having your own building inspection? Should this be part of your "pre-sale home improvement" process?
The answer is "Yes."
Once a buyer makes an offer and you accept it, you have a contract. One of the most common conditions of that contract is, "offer contingent upon satisfactory inspection." The buyer is going to have a professional home inspector go through your house to make sure there are not any hidden problems.
The last thing that you want is to have your deal fall through because of an unknown problem uncovered by the buyer’s inspector. This is especially true if it is a minor problem and could easily have been repaired ahead of time -- if only you had known about it.
SHOWING YOUR HOME
Your house should always be available for show, even though it may occasionally be inconvenient for you. We will put a lock box in a convenient place to make it easy for other agents to show your home to homebuyers. Otherwise, agents will be limited to showing appointments around your schedule, which is an inconvenience. Most will just skip your home to show the house of someone else who is more cooperative.
Try Not to be Home
Homebuyers will feel like intruders if you are home when they visit, and they might not be as receptive toward viewing your home. Visit the local coffee house, yogurt shop, or take the kids to the local park. If you absolutely cannot leave, try to remain in an out of they way area of the house and do not move from room to room. Do not volunteer any information, but answer any questions the agent may ask.
Lighting
When you know someone is coming by to tour your home, turn on all the indoor and outdoor lights – even during the day. At night, a lit house gives a "homey" impression when viewed from the street. During the daytime, turning on the lights prevents harsh shadows from sunlight and it brightens up any dim areas. Your house looks more homey and cheerful with the lights on.
Fragrances
Do not use scented sprays to prepare for visitors. It is too obvious and many people find the smells of those sprays offensive, not to mention that some may be allergic. If you want to have a pleasant aroma in your house, have a potpourri pot or something natural. Or turn on a stove burner (or the oven) for a moment and put a drop of vanilla extract on it. It will smell like you have been cooking.
The Kitchen Trash
Especially if your kitchen trash can does not have a lid, make sure you empty it every time someone comes to look at your home – even if your trash can is kept under the kitchen sink. Remember that you want to send a positive image about every aspect of your home. Kitchen trash does not send a positive message. You may go through more plastic bags than usual, but it will be worth it.
Keep the House Tidy
Not everyone makes his or her bed every day, but when selling a home it is recommended that you develop the habit. Pick up papers, do not leave empty glasses in the family room, keep everything freshly dusted and vacuumed. Try your best to have it look like a model home – a home with furniture but nobody really lives there.