7-Step Guide to Selling a House Part 4

Market Your House for Maximum Exposure

Your REALTOR® should share a marketing plan with you, but the more you know about the process of selling your home the easier it is to support your REALTOR®’s efforts. Make your home sell fast with these tips.

Once you’ve made the commitment to sell your home, chosen a REALTOR® to represent you, and established a list price, it’s time to work with your REALTOR® to market your property so it sells as quickly as possible.

Your REALTOR® should share a marketing plan with you, but the more you know about the process of selling your home the easier it is to support your REALTOR®’s efforts.

Pre-Market Tips

The day your home goes on the market it should be in prime condition and priced right to attract the most potential buyers. While your REALTOR® can help you determine an appropriate price and can offer suggestions to make your home more appealing, your job is to put in the work to get your home pristine clean and to remove clutter and personalization.

Buyers want to see a home where they can visualize themselves living. If buyers see an overstuffed closet, they’ll assume the home lacks storage space; and if your kitchen counters are cluttered, they’ll think the space is too small.

Provide your REALTOR® with tips about what you love best about your home and community that can be incorporated into your marketing materials.

Your REALTOR® can advise you on what you need to repair before putting your home on the market. You can also visit other homes that are for sale, or even local model homes for ideas on ways to present your home to potential buyers.

What to Expect From Your REALTOR®

Many REALTOR®s have experience staging homes, or they can bring in a stager to rearrange your place. In addition, your REALTOR® should market your home in multiple ways:

• Research the market to identify potential buyers to target for direct mail.
• Reach out to other real estate brokers and agents who work with buyers in your price range.
• Take excellent photos or hire a professional photographer to showcase your home online with attractive pictures.
• List your home on the local Multiple Listing Service and make sure it receives maximum exposure on multiple websites.
• Take a video of your home or produce a virtual tour with numerous photos so your home can be viewed in-depth by buyers looking online.

Once buyers begin visiting your home or contacting your REALTOR®, your agent should respond as quickly as possible to keep the momentum going. Every visitor to your home or their agent should be contacted by your REALTOR® to get feedback on your home and to gauge their interest.

What Your REALTOR® Should Expect From You

While your REALTOR® does the heavy lifting when it comes to marketing, as a seller you need to support your REALTOR® in several ways:

• Keep your home as clean, neat and odor-free as possible while your home is on the market. This may mean that you have to give up cooking your favorite liver-and-onions dish and that you have to bribe your kids to make their beds and take out the trash every day.
• Make your home as available as possible to buyers, no matter how inconvenient it is for you and your family. Your home won’t sell if no one can see it.
• Leave the house when buyers are there, since studies have shown that buyers linger and look more carefully when the homeowners aren’t present.
• Lock up your pets or take them away when buyers are visiting, especially during an open housewhen multiple visitors are expected.
• Provide information to buyers about community amenities or neighborhood sports leagues so they can appreciate your home’s location.

If you and your REALTOR® develop a team approach to selling, you’ll benefit from a quicker and more pleasant real estate transaction.

7 Step Guide to Selling a House Part 3

Set the List Price of Your Home

Every reasonable owner wants the best possible price and terms for his or her home. Several factors, including market conditions and interest rates, will determine how much you can get for your home. The idea is to get the maximum price and the best terms during the window of time when your home is being marketed.

In other words, home selling is part science, part marketing, part negotiation and part art. Unlike math where 2 + 2 always equals 4, in real estate there is no certain conclusion. All transactions are different and, because of this, you should do as much as possible to prepare your home for sale and engage the REALTOR® you feel is best able to sell your home.

What Is Your Home Worth?

All homes have a price, sometimes more than one. There’s the price owners would like to get, the value buyers would like to offer, and a point of agreement which can result in a sale.

In considering home values, several factors are important:

§  The value of your home relates to local sale prices: The same home, located elsewhere, would likely have a different value.

§  Sale prices are a product of supply and demand: If you live in a community with an expanding job base, a growing population and a limited housing supply, it’s likely that prices will rise. However, it’s important to be realistic. If the local community is losing jobs and people are moving out, then you’ll likely have a buyer’s market.

§  Owner needs can impact sale values: If owner Smith “must” sell quickly, he will have less leverage in the marketplace. Buyers may think that Smith is willing to trade a quick closing for a lower price — and they may be right. If Smith has no incentive to sell quickly, he may have more marketplace strength.

§  Sale prices are not based on what owners “need”: When an owner says, “I must sell for $300,000 because I need $100,000 in cash to buy my next home,” buyers will quickly ask if $300,000 is a reasonable price for the property. If similar homes in the same community are selling for $250,000, the seller will not be successful.

§  Sale prices are NOT the whole deal: Which would you rather have: A sale price of $200,000, or a sale price of $205,000 with an agreement that you will make a “seller contribution” of $5,000 to offset the buyer’s closing costs, pay a $2,000 allowance for roof repairs, fund two mortgage points, re-paint the entire house and leave the washer and dryer?

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How Much Is Too Much?

Because all transactions are unique there is flexibility in the marketplace. The amount of flexibility depends on local conditions.

For example, suppose you’re selling a townhouse. Suppose also that there have been five recent sales of the model you own and that sale values have ranged between $200,000 and $210,000. You now have an idea of how your home might be priced. In a strong market you might be able to ask for $210,000 or a little more. If the market has slowed, $210,000 may be a reasonable asking price, but perhaps more than the final sale price.

Here’s another scenario. Imagine that you live in a community of Victorian-style homes, most of which were built in the 1920s. All the homes are different in terms of size, condition, modernization, style and features. In such a neighborhood, an average sale price is just a statistic without much practical meaning. On a single block one home may sell for $400,000 while another is priced at more than $1 million. The average price may be outrageously high for one home and staggeringly low for another.

Who Can Help?

Experienced REALTORS® are active in the local marketplace and can provide assistance with pricing, marketing, negotiation and closing.

Because experienced REALTORS® have handled many transactions, they’re familiar with the terms and conditions that went into individual sales, not just published sale prices which may not reflect various premiums, discounts and adjustments.

Realtor.com Team

 

7-Step Guide to Selling a House Part 2

Find a REALTOR®

 

In the maze of forms, financing, inspections, marketing, pricing and negotiating, it makes sense to work with professionals who know the community and much more. Those professionals are the local REALTORS® who serve your area.  

 Before placing a home on the market you should also identify REALTORS® in your community who can assist with the sale. Because realtor.com® is the largest real estate site online, it’s a perfect place to look when seeking realty services. Realtor.com® lists realty professionals nationwide, and you can find those active in your community through extensive directories and property listings.

Why Use a REALTOR®?

More than 2 million people nationwide have licenses to sell real estate, of which more than 1 million belong to the National Association of Realtors. Only N.A.R. members are entitled to use the term REALTOR®.

N.A.R. members must adhere to a strict code of ethics. By joining N.A.R., individuals have access to a wide range of classes, seminars and certification opportunities. Local REALTOR® groups are active in community matters, and individual members are routinely involved in PTAs and other neighborhood organizations.

In essence, local REALTORS® are community experts. They track real estate trends, share neighborhood concerns and participate in local matters. They’re good neighbors who are in the business of helping others buy and sell homes.

How Do You Choose a REALTOR®?

Whether you’re a first-time seller or someone who has sold many homes, there are several ways to find a local REALTOR®:

§  Use the “Find a REALTOR®” search engine on realtor.com® to find individuals who actively sell in your community.

§  Get recommendations from past sellers.

§  Search web sites such as Zillow, Trulia and Homes.com

§  Google sites such as Yelp and Stik

§  Get recommendations from friends and neighbors who bought or sold a home.

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In some cases, sellers elect to meet only with one REALTOR®, while other owners meet with several. Whatever your preference, there will be a number of questions you will want to ask, including:

§  What services do you offer?

§  What type of representation do you provide? There are various forms of representation in different states. Some brokers represent buyers, some represent sellers, some facilitate transactions as a neutral party, and in some cases different salespeople in a single firm may represent different parties within a transaction.

§  What experience do you have in my immediate area?

§  How long are homes in this neighborhood typically on the market? Be aware that because all homes are unique, some will sell faster than others. Several factors can impact the amount of time a home remains on the market, including changing interest rates and local economic trends.

§  How would you price my home? Ask about recent home sales and comparable properties currently on the market. If you speak with several REALTORS® and their price estimates differ, that’s OK, but be sure to ask how their price opinions were determined and why they think your home would sell for a given value.

§  How will you market my home? At listing presentations, brokers will provide a detailed summary of how they market homes, what marketing strategies have worked in the past and which marketing efforts may be effective for your home.

§  What is your fee? Brokerage fees are established in the marketplace and not set by law or regulation. Typically, brokers who list homes are compensated on a performance basis – that is, the broker is not paid unless the home sells under the terms and conditions that are acceptable to you.

§  What happens if another REALTOR® locates a purchaser? That is, who will that broker represent, and how will he or she be paid?

§  What disclosures should you receive? State rules require brokers to provide extensive agency disclosure information, usually at the first sit-down meeting with an owner or buyer.

§  How long do you want to list your home? A “listing” agreement is a contract that shows the broker’s obligations and outlines the terms under which your home is being made available for sale. The length of the agreement is a negotiable matter.

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What Should You Expect When Working With a REALTOR®?

Once your home is listed with a REALTOR®, he or she will immediately begin to market your home according to the most appropriate conventions for your community. Your REALTOR® should keep you informed as the marketing process unfolds and as expressions of interest are received. In time, the marketing plan may be modified to reflect buyer reactions and changes in the marketplace.

In real estate there are written offers and oral offers. Oral offers (“Would they take $225,000 for the home?”) are not acceptable because they generally cannot be enforced (“Gee, did I say $225,000? I was sure I said $215,000″). Written offers created by the REALTOR® with assistance from qualified attorneys address numerous issues, are consistent with local requirements, and provide the foundation for an actionable offer.

7-Step Guide to Selling a House Part 1

Prepare to Sell Your House

By: Realtor.com

Millions of existing homes are sold each year and, while each transaction is different, every owner wants the same thing: the best possible deal with the least amount of hassle and aggravation.

Home selling has become more complex than it used to be. New seller disclosure statements, longer and more mysterious form agreements, and a range of environmental concerns have all emerged in the past decade.

More importantly, the home selling process has changed. Buyer brokerage, the process in which REALTORS® represent home buyers, is now common nationwide and good buyer-brokers want the best for their clients.

The result is that, while hundreds of thousands of existing homes may be sold each week, the process is not as easy for sellers as it was five or 10 years ago. Surviving in today’s real estate world requires experience and training in such fields as real estate marketing, financing, negotiating and closing, the very expertise available from local REALTORS®.

Are You Ready?

The home-selling process typically starts several months before a property is made available for sale. It’s necessary to look at a home through the eyes of a prospective buyer and determine what needs to be cleaned, painted, repaired and tossed out.

Ask yourself: If you were buying this home, what would you want to see? The goal is to show a home that looks good, maximizes space and attracts as many buyers as possible.

While part of the “getting ready” phase relates to repairs, painting and other home improvements, it is also a good time to ask why you really want to sell. Selling a home is an important matter and you should have a good reason to sell, perhaps a job change to a new community or the need for more space. Your reason for selling can impact the negotiating process, so it’s important to discuss your needs and wants in private with the REALTOR® who lists your home.

When Should You Sell?

The marketplace in Florida tends to be active in Season (January - March) when seasonal renters are evaluating a potential purchase. Spring ( April- June) because parents want to enroll children in classes at the beginning of the school year (usually in August) and the Fall when potential Snowbirds are again thinking about how and where they will spend Season.

Generally speaking, markets tend to have some balance between buyers and sellers year-round. For example, a given community may have fewer buyers in late December, but it’s also likely to have fewer homes available for purchase. As a result, home prices tend to rise or fall due to general patterns of supply and demand, rather than the time of year.

Owners are encouraged to sell when the property is ready for sale, there is a need or desire to sell, and the services of a local REALTOR® have been retained.

How Do You Improve Your Home’s Value?

The general rule in real estate is that buyers seek the least expensive home in the best neighborhood they can afford. This means you want to put on the market a home that fits with the neighborhood but is not over-improved. For example, if most homes in your neighborhood have three bedrooms, two baths and 2,500 square feet of finished space, a property with five bedrooms, more baths and far more space would likely be priced much higher and would be more difficult to sell.

Improvements should be made so that the property shows well, reflects community preferences and does not involve capital investments, the cost of which cannot be recovered from the sale.

Cosmetic improvements, paint, wallpaper, landscaping, etc., help a home show better and often are good investments. Mechanical repairs that ensure all systems and appliances are in good working condition are required to get a top price.

Ideally, you want to be sure your property is competitive with other homes available in the community. REALTORS®, who see numerous homes, can provide suggestions that are consistent with your marketplace.