Selling your house faster and for top dollar
Why do homes on the market have to look so great? Because sales sagged dramatically in 2009, and time on market for homes is about 120 days, with many sitting stagnant for 160 days or more.
Government rebates for first time home buyers proved to prop up sagging sales in the latter half of 2009, it was short-lived and while it moved some inventory, the housing market still proved soft. 2010 will see a new and improved version of the government rebate offer applying to ALL homeowners. That should definitely kick start the housing market, at least until the rebates end.
That means the real estate industry will be hot and heavy for the first half, with lots of buyers and hopefully, some higher prices. The one hold up will be jobs. To qualify for rebates and a mortgage, a job will be essential.
Another drawback for both buyers and sellers is that mortgage rates are likely to be rising this year. As the year progresses so too will those mortgage rates with an expected end of year rate reaching the troubling 6 percent. So, if you're planning on either selling or buying, sooner is better than later for 2010.
If you're selling, you want to get your property sold as quickly as possible. That means having the property ready to sell with it priced right, from day 1 on the market.
The market's excess inventory - and its excessive competition - means the old methods of selling no longer apply. House sellers are discovering they need to update their methods if they hope to get an offer. Today, real estate is in a "buyer's market." Buyers are in the drivers seat and sellers have to do everything possible to attract qualified buyers.
"Because today's buyers have much more to choose from in the way of inventory, any home for sale must make a positive first impression," said National Association of Realtors® President Charles McMillan, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas-Fort Worth. "As a trusted source for real estate information, Realtors® understand what attracts and motivates their buyer clients, which is why the results of this year's 'Cost vs. Value' report underscores the importance of curb appeal in the buyer's eye."
Tips to help you sell your house faster
If you’ve ever talked with a real estate agent, you’ll notice that if you’re looking to buy a property, they refer to it as your new home. If you’re trying to sell your property, the same agent refers to it as the house.
A home is where you live and raise your family. A house is just a structure.
You can never sell your home—that is where you live. If you’re not living under one roof, then you’re living under another roof. Your home is really a state of mind. Once you decide to sell your property and move on, that building is no longer your home. Not thinking of the house as your home helps remove your emotional ties to the property and allows you to make rational decisions in the pre-selling and the selling phase.
When your house is viewed by strangers during the selling process, they don't really care about you or your life-style. In fact, the less they know about you (from your house and the furnishings) the better the selling process moves along.
I once consulted with a woman about selling her house. We did an initial walk through. Needless to say, it was shocking. She had 100s of stuffed rabbits all over the house. When I laid it on the line for her in as polite a way as possible that she needed to remove the rabbits, she went ballistic. She told me these were part of her and she wasn't going to hide them. She just couldn't! She wasn't willing to separate her personality from the home. She felt that people that she didn't know, had never met before, should view these stuffed rabbits as part of her and her house.
The point is that you have to pull yourself out of your house. Remove your personality and do so with enthusiasm. People won't think anything negative about you or the way you keep house if it's clean, and fits their needs. So with that said, lets move on.
Major steps for selling your house
Prepare the house for selling. This process can take weeks, months, or even a year in advance of it going on the market. Hopefully, you'll have the time to do this. The less prep time you have, the fewer things you'll accomplish. One thing you can not do is procrastinate. Get things done, even if it's a little at a time.
Selling a house is usually done 1 to 1. You have 1 house owner and 1 home buyer. Thus the name of this web site. The selling process of course involves exposing your house for sale to as many potential buyers as possible, but what you are really doing is looking for that 1 buyer who absolutely loves your house and can reasonably afford to buy your house.
That means getting your house in top shape so that when that 1 buyer comes along, they WILL love it immediately. Do this first and they won't have to imagine what they need to do to your house to love it. Here are the basics you need:
Remove the clutter:That means renting a storage locker nearby. Place as much of the extra furniture you've accumulated over the years as possible. Pack up all of the knickknacks, vacation mementos, antiques, hobby items, extra clothes and shoes. Empty out your closets everything except what you'll need to wear over the next few weeks. Label the boxes carefully.
Hire a home inspector: For about $200 - $300 you can get a written report on the condition of your home by a trained professional. Most real estate contracts are contingent upon a home inspection. When you get to contract time, you don't want any surprises when the prospects have their home inspector coming in and finding anything that could spoil the deal.
Select a real estate agent: Interview several agents from different companies that work in your neighborhood. Avoid agents suggesting your property is significantly worth more than what you have researched. It's unlikely this super agent will get that price. Meanwhile, you've lost valuable time trying to sell it at this higher price and your property becomes what is known as "shop worn" meaning that it's been on the market too long. This translates into there being something wrong with the house. Not good. Better to set the price at a reasonable level and sell soon instead of much later and having to drop the price.
FSBO: If you decide to sell your house yourself, then you have develop a marketing plan. That means developing a plan for advertising your house in as many cost-effective ways as possible; setting up a way of handling prospects; and having a plan for closing the sale.
Open House: some agents prefer open houses and others do not. I personally think they're good for most situations. The secret is advance preparation. Create some magic. This article highlights some important steps in how to prepare for an open house and how to conduct an open house.
Set a fair price: This is where your real estate agent can really help out. An agent should provide comparable home sales in your neighborhood over the past year. In this comparison look for homes of similar size, bedrooms, lot size, and quality. Walk by these homes and compare them with your property. Of course, you won't see the inside unless you visited them earlier during an open house. Then adjust your asking price accordingly. One tip: visit as many open houses in your neighborhood as you can so you'll know more about what others are doing. Look at comparable's within a 1/4 - 1/2 mile radius of your house.
Fix up minor repairs: Begin by making a list of every room in the house (top to bottom) of things needing fixed or repaired. Prioritize these items. Following the home inspection, you'll have a good idea of the major areas that need to be fixed before listing your house for sale. Start with the major items, and then work down the list. These items need to be repaired BEFORE listing unless you're prepared to greatly reduce your asking price.
Stage the property: Just before the first open house you want to stage the property. You may want to hire a professional to help with this. The basic idea is to create small vignettes by arranging the sparse furniture that you have left after removing most of the excess into comfortable seating patterns that encourage people to sit down and hold a conversation. Very few accessories are required for this.
Photograph the property: once the property has been staged to your liking, photograph it thoroughly. Use these photographs on the house fact sheet. Some realtors provide this service, but if you're handy with camera and some basic graphics software, do it yourself. These fact sheets are for visitors during open houses. You'll also use these photographs to show your property on a web site devoted to showing real estate properties for sale.
