Are Ready to Sell?

Selling your home can be emotional and often stressful. Preparation is the key to streamlining the process. Who knows, you might even have fun.

Know Your Objective.
Obviously, to sell your ho e. But it's a little more complicated than that. Maybe you need financial relief, maybe you need a bigger home, maybe you need to get cash to pay hospital bills. When you get down to setting a price and negotiating the contract, it will be important to have this settled in your mind. Things can get sidetracked by unimportant details that may keep you from your real objective.

Be Realistic.
The Real Estate Market can be fickle. It may take longer than you want. You may not get the price you want. People may tell you things about your home you don't want to hear. You may have to make some compromises. This guide should help you be better prepared, not only with paperwork, but emotionally.

Setting the price

What can be more important that the selling price? Too low and it will cut into your profit. It may even make folks wonder why it's so low. Too high and buyers will move on to the next house. After all, we all want to get the most house we can afford. Well, we probably want more than we can afford, but that's another topic. Think about these things:

• Location, Location Location. Right? You can change a lot of things about a home, but not the neighborhood or the traffic or the schools.
• What does your house have to offer? Does it compare with other homes in the neighborhood? If a buyer can find a house in nicer condition with more amenities for the same price… Need I say more?

The average price per square foot for homes in your neighborhood isn't the only consideration for setting the price. Factor that in with the condition of the home, square footage, location, schools, lot size, how it compares with other homes in close proximity and you'll have what you need to set the price.

Working with a Realtor® on this will likely save you a lot money and time. Realtors® have access to the tools and know-how to correctly price your home for the current market conditions. Working with a Realtor® also gets your home listed on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and exposes it to millions of potential buyers on the popular Realtor.com web site among many others. If you are looking to sell, contact me and for a free, no obligation assessment.

Let's talk about making your home shine!

Some buyers can look past your clutter, pictures of your family, your taste in decor, the smell of your pet. Realistically, most can't. Let's talk about ways to make those prospects feel like they can back up the truck and move in.

• Find a neutral style. Neutral doesn't have to be boring. It should offer a good base for whatever style the potential buyer may want to add. A fresh coat of paint is always a good place to start.
• Clean. Then find more places to clean. Make it sparkle and smell like Mr. Clean lives there.
• Remove your personality. That includes your pictures, books. Less is more!
• Create an atmosphere. Fresh air in the spring and a fire in the winter. Use your imagination.
• Let the sunshine in! Open the blinds or curtains (unless the view is undesirable). Turn on all the lights. Find creative ways to light up dark spaces. Remember, you want it to shine.
• Bring the outdoors in. Flowers are a nice touch, especially if they smell nice. House plants are nice, but only if they are real.
• We can't forget the first impression. Clean up the flower beds, mow and trim the entire yard. Find ways to make walking up to the front door an inviting experience. Then, keep it that way until it's sold.

OK. Let the games begin.

Negotiating the deal

Now that you've made the buyers want YOUR house, what do we do with all those offers? The goal is for both parties to walk away happy. That's not always easy. In fact, I'd say it's an art. This is where we will see things come to a screeching halt or end in a party.

1. Understand the process. The key is to find the place where the buyer and the seller are both comfortable. Until that is accomplished there will be times of possible discomfort. Set your mind to find the happy place and don't get sidetracked with emotions. Not all offers end in a contact. We will keep working at it until we reach our goal.
2. Consider both positions. There may be requests you don't think are reasonable. Who knows what's going through the mind of the person considering making an investment in your home. This is a big decision for both sides. Both parties have to consider if it's worth giving on certain points to make the deal.

Home Inspection

Most buyers will want a home inspection. What should you expect? There will be a thorough visual inspection of the entire property. This can take up to a few hours and include such things as:

roof chimney foundation doors and windows exterior (siding, gutters, trim, etc.)

electrical plumbing appliances heat and air systems

The buyer may be concerned about things discovered in the inspection. They may not. In some cases, the price may need to be reduced to account for issues. Depending on the financial institution involved, there may be certain guidelines that will have to be met. Neither the buyer or seller is required to be present during the inspection, but it's a good idea to be there. The inspector will create a detailed report with all findings. You may be able to explain things in question.

Ah. Finally to the Closing.

Get your pen ready! There are a quite few documents involved in transferring the property.

The closing is where it all comes together. It’s important to make sure all the details are correct before the day of closing. Generally you should have your own closing agent handle your portion of the closing since it’s their job to look out for your best interests. Your Agent should look things over also.

Prior to closing you should review the Settlement Statement or commonly called HUD-1. Occasionally there will be separate settlement statements for the buyer and seller so you may only see your portion of it. Of course, working with a Realtor® makes all this much easier. It’s the Realtors® job to manage the details for you.

Hmm. Now that you've sold your house, do you need to move on to the Buyer' Section? Either way, our Moving Guide may help.