Home Seller Tips

Location aside, price and condition are the two most important factors in selling a home, even in a down market. The first step is to price your home correctly. Use comparative sales information from your agent to objectively evaluate your home’s worth. Second, go through the house and repair any obvious cosmetic defects that could deter a buyer. In a down market, you may have to consider lowering your price and/or making a major repair, such as replacing the roof, in order to lure a buyer. Also, make sure that your home is getting the exposure it deserves through open houses, broker open houses, advertising, good signage and a listing on the local multiple listing service and other online listings providers.

Because many buyers prefer to move in the spring or summer, the market starts to heat up as early as February. Families with children are eager to buy so they can move before the new school year begins. The market can slow down in late summer before picking up again briefly in the fall. November and December have traditionally been slow months, although some astute buyers look for bargains during this period. All this being said, every season or year the market can change unexpectedly!

Even in a down market, real estate experts say that price and condition are the two most important factors in selling a home. If you are selling in a slow market, your first step would be to go through the house and see if there are cosmetic defects that you missed and can be repaired. Secondly, you need to make sure that the home is getting the exposure it deserves through open houses, broker open houses, advertising, good signage, and listings on the local multiple listing service (MLS) and on the Internet. Your third step is to consider a price reduction. Another option is to pull your house off the market and wait for the market to improve. If you do not have enough equity in the house you could discuss a short sale or a deed-in-lieu-of- foreclosure with your lender. A short sale is when the seller finds a buyer for a price that is below the mortgage amount and negotiates the difference with the lender. In a deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure situation, the lender agrees to take the house back without instituting foreclosure proceedings. These are more radical options. Your simplest, and in many cases most effective option is to lower the price.

It’s very important to price your home according to current market conditions. Because the real estate market is continually changing, and market fluctuations have an effect on property values, it’s imperative to select your list price based on the most recent comparable sales in your neighborhood. A comparative market analysis provides the background data upon which to base your list-price decision. When you prepare to sell and are interviewing agents, study each agent’s comparable sales report (the data should be three to five months old depending on inventory). If all agents agree on a price range for your home, go with the consensus. Watch out for an agent whose opinion of value is considerably higher than the others. How do you prepare a house to sell?

Doing whatever you can to put the house’s best face forward is important to get top dollar or sell as quickly as possible. Short of spending a lot of money, here are several ideas for making your home show better:
* Curb appeal is important! Sweep the sidewalk, mow the lawn, prune the bushes, weed the garden and clean debris from the yard.
* Clean the windows (both inside and out) and make sure the paint is not chipped or flaking.
* Clean and de-clutter all rooms, furnishings, floors and walls. It’s especially important that the bathroom and kitchen are spotless.
* Make sure the basic appliances and fixtures work.
* Make sure the house smells good.
* Put fresh flowers in the house.