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Understand why you are selling your home. Your
motivation to sell is the determining factor for how you will approach the
sale of your home. It will affect everything from what you set your asking
price at to how much time, money and effort you are willing to invest in order
to prepare your home for sale.
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Keep the reasons for selling your home to
yourself. By keeping this information personal and private, you will not give
the buyer negotiating leverage. If you are asked why you have decided to
sell, simply respond that your housing needs have changed.
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Before setting a price, consult with a good
listing agent. As a seller, you will want to get a selling price as close to
the list price as possible. If you start out by pricing too high, you run the
risk of not being taken seriously by buyers and having your house sit on the
market for a long time. If you price the home too low, you could be costing
yourself thousands of dollars.
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Do some home shopping for yourself. The best
way to learn about your competition is to review a competitive market analysis
with a good listing agent. Take note not only of the listing prices, but the
prices that other comparable homes are actually selling at.
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Get an appraisal. A good appraisal can be a
huge benefit in marketing your home. Getting an appraisal is a good way to
let prospective buyers know that your home can be financed. A word of
caution: an appraisal is not a guarantee that your house will sell for that
price, and you also may not like the appraisal value you are quoted.
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Understand what tax assessments mean. Some
people think that tax assessments are a way of evaluating a home. The
difficulty here is that the assessments are based on a number of criteria that
may not be related to property values, so they may not necessarily reflect
your home’s true value.
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Find a good real estate agent. Upwards of three
quarters of all home sellers say they would not work again with the agent who
listed their home. Usually this is a result of poor marketing and
communication on the part of the agent. Take the time to locate the agent who
is going to best represent your needs during the transaction.
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Ensure that you have room to negotiate. Before
settling on an asking price, make sure you leave yourself enough room to
bargain. Remember, a buyer is more likely to make a full-priced offer on a
home that is priced right before making a low offer on a home that is priced
too high.
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Make the appearance of your home count.
Appearance is so critical that you would be unwise to ignore this fact when
selling your home. The look and feel of a home will generate greater
emotional response from prospective buyers, more so than any other factor.
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Invite the honest opinions of others. The
biggest mistake you can make is to rely solely on your own judgment. Don’t be
shy about seeking the opinions of others. You must be objective about your
home’s strong and weak points. Work with a real estate agent who will give
you honest and unbiased opinions about what should be done to make your home
more marketable.
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Clean everything, no matter how seemingly
insignificant it may seem. Potential buyers are looking for excuses not to
buy your home, and it would be a shame that they went another direction
because of a tiny chip in a bathroom counter or some dirty dishes in the
kitchen sink.
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Allow potential buyers to visualize themselves
in your home. The last thing you want prospective buyers to think when
viewing your home is that they may be intruding in someone else’s life. Avoid
clutter such as too many knickknacks, clothing lying around, or dirty dishes
in the sink. Decorate in neutral colors like white or beige and place a few
carefully chosen items to add some warmth or character.
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Get rid of all offensive odors. Odd smells like
traces of food, pets, or cigarette smoke can kill a sale quickly. If
potential buyers see a dog or notice you smoking a cigarette or cigar, they’ll
start seeing stains or smelling odors, even if they aren’t there. Don’t leave
any clues.
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Disclose everything. Smart sellers are
proactive in disclosing all known defects to their buyers in writing. This
will reduce liability and prevent costly lawsuits later on.
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The more buyer prospects, the better. Work
closely with your real estate agent to maximize your marketing. Having
several potential buyers can only drive the price of a home up.
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Keep your emotions in check during showings and
negotiations. Let go of the emotion you have invested in your home. Use a
businesslike manner and be detached. This will give you an edge over someone
who remains emotionally attached to the property.
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Learn why your buyer is motivated to buy. The
better you know your buyer, the more leverage you have to negotiate. As a
rule, buyers are looking to purchase the best affordable property for the
least amount of money. If you know the buyer needs to move in quickly, this
can help you get a better price.
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Find out what the buyer can really afford. Work
with buyers who are pre-approved for a home loan so you know exactly how much
they are going to finance and how much will be spent as a down payment.
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Find out when the buyer would like to close.
Knowledge of a buyer’s deadline for completing negotiations again creates an
advantage for you to get the most possible money.
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Never sign a contract on your next home until
you sell your current one. Beware of closing on your new home while you’re
still making mortgage payments on your current one. You may find yourself
stuck with two mortgage payments.
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Moving out before you sell can also put you at a
disadvantage. Empty homes can give the feel of being abandoned or neglected.
Buyers who know you already have another home may feel they have an advantage
to negotiate a lower price.
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Deadlines create a serious disadvantage. Don’t
try to sell by a certain date. This adds unnecessary pressure to sell and can
cost you thousands of dollars off the asking price.
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Don’t take a low offer personally. Invariably
the initial offer is below both what you were expecting and what they buyer is
actually willing to pay. Don’t get upset. Evaluate the offer objectively.
This is merely a starting point for negotiations.
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Turn that low offer around. You can counter a
low offer with one that is just under your original asking price. This lets
the buyer know that you don’t take their first offer seriously, but at the
same time are going to be flexible.
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Find out if the buyer is qualified. If you feel
that an offer is too low, find out if the buyer is qualified to carry a loan
equal to your asking price.
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Be sure the contract is complete. To avoid
problems, see to it that all terms, costs and responsibilities are spelled out
in the contract of sale. Include everything. Leave nothing out. This will
eliminate complications later on.
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Resist the temptation to deviate from the
contract. Do not risk the collapse of the sale because of a single, seemingly
insignificant deviation from the agreed-upon contract.
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