Steps For Selling Your Home In Today's Market!
Gone are the "good old days" when all that was needed to sell a house was to stick the sign in the yard and then wait for the offers to come rolling in! In today's real estate market, there are lots of homes for the buyers to choose from and you are competing with those homes for the buyers! Today you are competing with short sales, foreclosures, estate sales, relocation listings as well as the seller who just wants to upsize or downsize their home! So how do you get your home sold today? PRICE & CONDITION! The video above gives some great tips for putting your home into a showable condition!
Below, you will find the steps to selling your home today! Today it does take more than just putting the sign in the ground in order to get your home sold!
A) Get your home ready to sell ---
(1) Take the emotion out of the equation! Begin to think of your home as a house! It will now be a marketable commodity! You want the buyer to see your house as their potential home, not your current home!
(2) De-Personalize Your Home! You want buyers to see their new home and focus on what your home has to offer, not your personal pictures or your kids trophies! Pack all of these up before putting your home on the market!
(3) Remove the Clutter! You may not think of your things as clutter, but if you have a lot of it, someone else may think of it as clutter! Pack up everything you don't need or use and rent a storage place! Buyers need to visualize how their furniture will fit into your home! This way you will save yourself some packing when you do get the contract!
(4) Do Interior & Exterior Repairs! Walk around your home outside as well as through the house inside. Using post-it notes, mark all those areas that need to have some sort of repair-does the siding need repairs/painting? does the door need freshening up? are there drips at the faucets that should be repaired? Put yourself in the eyes of the buyers and do all those little repairs you have been putting off for some time!
(B) Pricing Your Home To Sell ---
(1) Interview Realtors! Find out, not only what their marketing strategy & qualifications are to sell your home, but also how they have arrived at the suggested list price!
(2) Look at the Market Analysis! The CMA is prepared by looking at your current competition, what is under contract, what homes were listed & did not sell, and the homes which sold that are most comparable to yours. But the Market Analysis should include much more than that - it should include what the trends are that are impacting your home, any adjustments up and down for differences in the home, any economic issues that may impact your home's ability to sell!
(3) Is Commission Negotiable? All commissions are negotiable; however, if a Realtor is willing to drop their commission, my next question would be: how well will that Realtor fight for my price and terms once we receive an offer on the house! You should never choose a Realtor based solely on how much commission they will charge to you! However, you should choose a Realtor that will give you the best value!
(C) The Listing Agent & Marketing Your Home ---
(1) Multiple Listing Service! Will your home be listed in the Multiple Listing Service for your area? Make sure that there are multiple photos, your unique features highlighted, room sizes, correct directions & anything else that will help to make your home an outstanding value in the eyes of your potential buyer! Remember, this information will get emailed to all your potential buyers as soon as it is entered into MLS!
(2) Signage! Signage is most important. In the Richmond area, most of the jurisdictions no longer will allow directional signs! So it is very important that when the potential buyer sees your home in MLS and follows the directions to your home, that the signage there will allow them to get as much information as they can so they will want to get into your home!
(3) Brochures! Full color brochures are a seller's second opportunity to sell the home to a buyer who has looked at many many homes that day! It is also an opportunity to direct the buyer to the website that holds your virtual tour on it so that they can take a second look at the home! Finally, it is an opportunity to answer any questions the buyer may have so that they can make a decision sooner rather than later!
(4) Internet! Today there is a 500% chance that your home will be seen on the internet and sold as a result of internet exposure vs. print advertising! Over 80% of the home buyers start their home search online! They will spend 2-3 weeks looking on their own before contacting a REALTOR! Today, 88% of those buyers purchase a home they have seen online. Because of these statistics, it is very important that the REALTOR you hire should have a strong internet presence!
(5) Open Houses! Many sellers have chosen not to hold open houses, while others want open houses done! It is true that rarely is a house sold directly as a result of the buyer coming to the open house! However, many times, buyers will come by because their agent had emailed the listing to them and they had not yet gotten around to coming to the house! Or a neighbor may come by and see the house and may know someone who would be perfect for your home! So open houses may be a way to help sell your home!
(D) Showing Your Home To Home Buyers ---
(1) Convenience & Availability! You always want to make it as easy as possible for the Buyer's Agent to be able to show your home! Always keep your home neat & tidy and ready for showings at a moment's notice! Allow your REALTOR to put a lockbox on your house! Don't request onerous showing requests! Remember, if a potential buyer cannot see your home today, they may find another one to purchase!
(2) Why You Shouldn't Be Home! When buyers come to visit your home, they want to be able to talk freely about your house - both good & bad! They will want to open closets and drawers and look inside! They don't want to feel uncomfortable doing this! So when a showing is scheduled, make sure you are not there, even if it means taking a walk or two around the block!
(3) Lighting, Fragrances & Pet Odors! Buyers are very sensitive to the odors of a house! If you are a smoker, have a pet, or have strong cooking odors in the house, these may be a concern to the buyer! Don't burn the fragrant candles in order to mask the odors - invest the time & money to make your home odor free! And when the showing happens, make sure you put all lights on in the house, even in the middle of the day! It will help to show your home to it's best!
(4) Keeping the House Tidy & Neat! It is always nice to have lots of notice for showings, but in reality, an agent may get a buyer who will call them up at noon and request to see your house in an hour or two! If you leave for work each day, do a quick walk through your home to make sure that when you leave it is in it's best show condition!
I hope that you have found these hints helpful when deciding to put your home on the market! And if you would like any additional information, feel free to contact me!