Goodness knows its a tough time to sell a home if you have no equity in it...
come to think of it, its tough to sell if you HAVE equity. Who wants to lose money on the sale of something as personal as a home? If you are thinking of selling your home now, and it's not a distress sale (foreclosures or short sales) then here are a few tips to successfully selling your home.
come to think of it, its tough to sell if you HAVE equity. Who wants to lose money on the sale of something as personal as a home? If you are thinking of selling your home now, and it's not a distress sale (foreclosures or short sales) then here are a few tips to successfully selling your home.
Begin by knowing the market in your area. Either you need to know it, or the realtor you hire needs to know it. If you have an idea of what homes like yours are selling for, you're off to a great start. Studies show that a home priced right is more likely to sell quickly and for more money than an overpriced home. By the time there's a price reduction 30 - 60 days later, your home will be old news, and questions will arise from buyers and Realtors as to why the home still hasn't sold. In other words, what's wrong with it!
Know that you will be competing 1st with foreclosures and short sales. It's a buyer's market and buyers are looking for a deal. But be aware that deals come with strings. Almost all foreclosuresare sold as is, some with extensive repairs, your home is going to appeal to a buyer that may not want to fix anything, so think from a buyer's standpoint and compare your sale to the foreclosures in your area. If they're mostly fixer uppers, you may want to market your homes as a "move in ready " home with a warranty.....and that's of course when you get your home to move-in ready status!
Get your home in tip-top showing shape. Seems obvious, but you'd be amazed at the amount of sellers trying to sell their home without getting it ready for a sale. The biggest advice? Get rid of the stuff, AKA junk! Garage filled with ....stuff? Rent a storage space and get it out of there, trust me, it'll make your garage look bigger. Same goes for all the closets. Female buyers are going to want a large closet, make yours look that way. Get all your seasonal stuff out of there, if you're selling in the summer time, get all your winter coats and boots out. Clear out the 1001 comforters out of the linen closet that you'll never use in the next few weeks and months, keep it minimal. The rule should be: if you're not using it in the next 30 days, store it outside of the home. Need to know how to stage your home? Visit an active subdivision model home. Check out their closets, you'll never see the closets bursting with clothes, or the rooms bursting with furniture. If you don't use a dresser except to store sweaters and it's summer, store the dresser and it's contents elsewhere. Free the rooms and house of clutter, it really makes a difference.
Use the Internet. It's the number 1 spot buyers go to when looking for homes, even if they're working with a realtor. Create a twitter account for your house, create a postlets account at postlets.com to create a web page for your home, it's free. Utilize as many web links as possible, and use lots of pictures. If you're not savvy, and you have kids, get them to do it. If you're working with a realtor, make sure they advertise on the web as well, and we're not just talking about thier MLS system and realtor.com. The best agents utilize the web to the max.
Know in advance your breaking point. Buyers are going to low ball you. Its a fact in this market. Don't take it personal. Make sure you know all costs involved in the sale and then you can wiggle around from there. If you're selling a home for $250,000 and you owe $205,000 and a buyer offers $220,000, give them that price if you can negotiate closing costs and other things. The price is king for some buyers, and they most likely will sacrifice other things to keep the purchase price low, and bragging rights to their friends. They're submitting an offer because they like something about your house, but don't be fooled, there are other favorite homes they have on a list and if they can't get yours at the price they want, they'll move on. Yours just happens to sit at the top of thier list when they submit the offer.
These tips are just starting points to help you compete in this tough market. The first point before all this is do you really need to sell right now? If your answer is yes, then follow through and attack with determination, and bring plenty of patience. You will need it.
Find help to sell your home, hire an agent. Find one by visiting our site at http://www.chratlanta.com/
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