Sell
Sell
So you are thinking of selling you home. This is great. But where to start? There are two camps of people, those who think they can put a sign on the front lawn and people would rush to buy their home, and those who think they will just hire an agent and the sale will magically happen. Both are in for a rude awakening. Houses do not sell themselves and agents cannot do magic. There is a lot that has to be done before a house is ready for sale, and more to do if you want your house to sell fast. Preparation and ground work is the necessary part of the process. Remember that your house has two distinct values for you. The first is the emotional value, which comes from experiences that you have had living in the house, work that you have done in it, and how you have taken care of it. And then there is a business value, which is the value of the property without the emotions attached to it. Most people cannot separate the two. Chances are that you have a price in mind. Where that price comes from is unknown, but comes from the pride that you have in your home and want to see that pride recognized. If you contact a real estate agent, they will offer to do a free market analysis for you. This analysis is based on the market. This means that they will look in your immediate area, hopefully finding similar or comparable homes, and give you a list of what has sold in the last 6 months, and based on those, how much your property could sell. It is almost always guaranteed that the two values do not match. Sellers usually think of a much higher number than the market is willing to pay. Your select agent will initially give you their thought from the market analysis. If you are open to their value, then things could go forward smoothly. If not, and you insist on higher price, then they might gently advise you against it, but eventually will go with it, in order to get your business. The difference between the two values is one will result in a fast sale, and the other will not. If the seller is motivated and wants to sell, they will in time realize that they price was off and will agree to drop the price step by step. At some point the price will reach what the market is willing to pay, and the house will sell. The question is how long to wait, and how much aggravation is the seller willing to take. How much is my home worth? This is a tough question to answer. But there are some basics that you can keep in mind. You paid for your house when you purchased it. So, that is a good starting point. Since you bought the house, has the economy changed? Has the real estate market changed up or down? External conditions have major effect of the current value of a property. The other factor is internal to the property. Since you purchased the house, what have you done to the house to increase its value? There are a lot things that are normal maintenance and upkeep. They do not add to the value of the house. For example, if you have painted the rooms 10 times since you have been in the house, that does not add to the value of the house. But if you have removed carpeting and added hardwood floors, don’t professionally, that adds value. Adding square footage always adds value, but not every addition has the same value. If you have added 400 sf of 3 season porch, that adds value, but not as much as 400 sf of kitchen. Regardless, added square footage is something that you can expect to see an increased value from. Tally up all the changes that you have done to the property that adds value. This includes internal renovation, upgrades to kitchen and bathroom, roof replacement or update, exterior siding, heating and cooling system replacements, appliances, and major covering upgrades such as flooring. Work with your agent to figure out the value of the changes and how to account for them in the price of your property. What does the surrounding market look like today? Look at the neighborhood and see what the other houses look like and how much they are worth. If you have the most expensive house in the neighborhood, you will have a hard time selling it. On the other hand, if you have the least expensive, you can probably sell it fast and at a premium. Everything in the middle will be price in relation to the others, considering total square footage, features, and age. Remember that houses that are on the market do not affect the valuation of your home. Houses that have sold do. Obviously if a house is still on the market, it has no buyer yet. So their price is irrelevant in assessing value of your home. Always look for houses that have sold in the last 6 months. Those are good indication of what your house will sell. How fast have homes in my area closed recently? As you are looking at the houses in the neighborhood that have sold, consider how long they have been on the market before they sold. A house that has sold in a few weeks gives you a better understanding of the market, than a house that took 9 months to sell. Is my house ready to go on the market? OK. Once you have settled on a price, you have to then decide if your house is ready to go on the market. If you are one of those few people who keep their home in pristine condition, always organized, and always clean and free of clutter, then wonderful. You are ready to go. But if you are like the rest of us, you have some cleaning to do, and some de-cluttering. This is the first thing that every agent will tell you. Clean everything that you had not cleaned before, and remove all excess goods and furniture from the living spaces. You want the house to show spacious and attractive. Too much furniture and stuff might be good for you, but does not show well to a potential buyer. They have to see themselves in the house and with a lot of stuff hanging around they will not be able to. Remove all you can from the walls; putty the holes left behind and put a coat of paint on. This is cheap, easy and adds a lot to the house. If you are fond of colors and have your house painted in exotic colors. Remove them. Paint everything in neutral colors and keep them bright and happy. If you have carpets, hire a professional carpet cleaning company to come a shampoo and clean the carpets. If you have hardwood floors, make sure they do not have scratches, and if they do, have them sanded and refinished. Replace all broken and cracked fixtures. Make sure bathrooms and kitchen are in showroom condition. Oven is clean and the stove top is free of oil and grease. All of this takes a little investment of time and money, but makes a huge difference in the eyes of the potential buyers. Remember they are looking for a house to move in to, and not a project to start. The more the house is in move-in condition, the more willing are the buyers to jump on it. If you are selling in the spring, summer and fall, make sure the yard is well maintained, grass mowed, and the walkways are clean and free of dirt and puddles. If it is winter, then make sure the snow is cleared out of the way of potential visitors. The first impression is very important. If the front door is dirty paint it. If garage doors make noise when opening, grease them. You want everything to look perfect. Buyers look at many properties. Your job is to make sure your house stands out. Until you have done these, do not put the house on the market. You do not want to lose any potential buyer for small and manageable problems. A buyer that passes on your house, will never come back! How to find an agent? Start your search for a good agent. The question is what makes an agent good? There is more to selling a home than getting the listing and putting it in MLS. A good agent will work with you to do the preliminary assessment of value, prepare the house for showing, have an extensive marketing plan, and have a strategy for selling the property. Many agents do a lot of work to get the listing, but when they get the listing, they move on to the next property, waiting for others to find buyers. You want someone who is engaged and focused on your property, and will remain actively involved, continuously marketing and soliciting buyers for your property. Some sellers look for the most active agents in their market. They want to hire an agent that has 100s of houses to sell. Well if they are active, they can sell my house fast. This is not necessarily true. An agent that has many houses, has multiple masters to serve. So pays attention to the most important one, or at best equally divides her/his time and attention to all, which results to not much. On the other hand, you may want to hire someone that has a few listings, thinking that they have time and would work hard for you. This could be true or not. The question is why they have a few listings? Is it that they are new? Or are not active? Or they do not want many? Or they are focused? It could be many of these. So in essence, you have to spend the time, talk to them. Interview a few. And then listen to your guts and pick one. Don’t let them try to impress you by the capabilities and size of their firm. The firm does not bring you anything. It is the agent that does most of the work. The firm is just a name and brand that brings some recognition to you. But does not sell your home. It is the effort of the agent and their individual ingenuity that counts. Remember that a good agent not only will find you a buyer, but will negotiate with them to get you the best price. Agents do this all the time and are experienced at negotiation. Use them the best you can and listen to them. They have your best interest in mind. Your incentives are aligned. From my experience and the experience of most of agents I know, potential sellers make decisions not based on the agent and services they provide, but based on how much they have to pay them. You would not believe how many meetings I have walked in to, prepared to discuss plans and strategy, just to find myself discussing the fees and negotiating on my commission. The fact of the matter is the you cannot escape paying commission for the services that realtors provide. Nothing is for free. So deciding to go with an agent that charges 0.5% less, but gives you lousy service is better, or getting an agent that spends a lot of money on advertising that sells your house fast and at higher price, and gets a fair commission for their effort? Have a detailed plan and stay engaged Once you have selected an agent, be involved. Have a communication plan between you and your agent. Make sure to tell them what you want, and hold them to it. The plan should give you information about the level of activity, and feedback from the market. It should tell you how hard the agent is working for you, and what feedback is the market giving you on your property. Listen to the market Once the property is on the market, activities will start. The first 21 days of the market are the most crucial. All the buyers that are actively looking will rush to see your property. They will provide feedback on what is good and what is not. If the price is right or not. Listen to the market and work with your agent to make necessary adjustments. If there are details that potential buyer complain about, fix them to the extend you can, so the next person does not have those as excuse. If the property does not sell, then price is the issue. Adjust the price until you get a buyer. Most people get fixated on the price compared to what they had paid for the house. Put this aside. Unless you are selling and getting out of the market, the price of the property compare to what you had paid, does not matter. Since you are going to buy another property, you are just changing seats. So if you sell low, you will buy low, and if you sell high, you will have to buy high. It will all be a wash. If you are selling to retire and not buy a real estate any more, then pay more attention to the selling price and wait it out. I am happy to discuss your specific situation and strategize on the best course of action that fits your situation.
847-791-1264
Afrouz.Kameli@BairdWarner.Com
Sell
Sell
So you are thinking of selling you home. This is great. But where to start? There are two camps of people, those who think they can put a sign on the front lawn and people would rush to buy their home, and those who think they will just hire an agent and the sale will magically happen. Both are in for a rude awakening. Houses do not sell themselves and agents cannot do magic. There is a lot that has to be done before a house is ready for sale, and more to do if you want your house to sell fast. Preparation and ground work is the necessary part of the process. Remember that your house has two distinct values for you. The first is the emotional value, which comes from experiences that you have had living in the house, work that you have done in it, and how you have taken care of it. And then there is a business value, which is the value of the property without the emotions attached to it. Most people cannot separate the two. Chances are that you have a price in mind. Where that price comes from is unknown, but comes from the pride that you have in your home and want to see that pride recognized. If you contact a real estate agent, they will offer to do a free market analysis for you. This analysis is based on the market. This means that they will look in your immediate area, hopefully finding similar or comparable homes, and give you a list of what has sold in the last 6 months, and based on those, how much your property could sell. It is almost always guaranteed that the two values do not match. Sellers usually think of a much higher number than the market is willing to pay. Your select agent will initially give you their thought from the market analysis. If you are open to their value, then things could go forward smoothly. If not, and you insist on higher price, then they might gently advise you against it, but eventually will go with it, in order to get your business. The difference between the two values is one will result in a fast sale, and the other will not. If the seller is motivated and wants to sell, they will in time realize that they price was off and will agree to drop the price step by step. At some point the price will reach what the market is willing to pay, and the house will sell. The question is how long to wait, and how much aggravation is the seller willing to take. How much is my home worth? This is a tough question to answer. But there are some basics that you can keep in mind. You paid for your house when you purchased it. So, that is a good starting point. Since you bought the house, has the economy changed? Has the real estate market changed up or down? External conditions have major effect of the current value of a property. The other factor is internal to the property. Since you purchased the house, what have you done to the house to increase its value? There are a lot things that are normal maintenance and upkeep. They do not add to the value of the house. For example, if you have painted the rooms 10 times since you have been in the house, that does not add to the value of the house. But if you have removed carpeting and added hardwood floors, don’t professionally, that adds value. Adding square footage always adds value, but not every addition has the same value. If you have added 400 sf of 3 season porch, that adds value, but not as much as 400 sf of kitchen. Regardless, added square footage is something that you can expect to see an increased value from. Tally up all the changes that you have done to the property that adds value. This includes internal renovation, upgrades to kitchen and bathroom, roof replacement or update, exterior siding, heating and cooling system replacements, appliances, and major covering upgrades such as flooring. Work with your agent to figure out the value of the changes and how to account for them in the price of your property. What does the surrounding market look like today? Look at the neighborhood and see what the other houses look like and how much they are worth. If you have the most expensive house in the neighborhood, you will have a hard time selling it. On the other hand, if you have the least expensive, you can probably sell it fast and at a premium. Everything in the middle will be price in relation to the others, considering total square footage, features, and age. Remember that houses that are on the market do not affect the valuation of your home. Houses that have sold do. Obviously if a house is still on the market, it has no buyer yet. So their price is irrelevant in assessing value of your home. Always look for houses that have sold in the last 6 months. Those are good indication of what your house will sell. How fast have homes in my area closed recently? As you are looking at the houses in the neighborhood that have sold, consider how long they have been on the market before they sold. A house that has sold in a few weeks gives you a better understanding of the market, than a house that took 9 months to sell. Is my house ready to go on the market? OK. Once you have settled on a price, you have to then decide if your house is ready to go on the market. If you are one of those few people who keep their home in pristine condition, always organized, and always clean and free of clutter, then wonderful. You are ready to go. But if you are like the rest of us, you have some cleaning to do, and some de-cluttering. This is the first thing that every agent will tell you. Clean everything that you had not cleaned before, and remove all excess goods and furniture from the living spaces. You want the house to show spacious and attractive. Too much furniture and stuff might be good for you, but does not show well to a potential buyer. They have to see themselves in the house and with a lot of stuff hanging around they will not be able to. Remove all you can from the walls; putty the holes left behind and put a coat of paint on. This is cheap, easy and adds a lot to the house. If you are fond of colors and have your house painted in exotic colors. Remove them. Paint everything in neutral colors and keep them bright and happy. If you have carpets, hire a professional carpet cleaning company to come a shampoo and clean the carpets. If you have hardwood floors, make sure they do not have scratches, and if they do, have them sanded and refinished. Replace all broken and cracked fixtures. Make sure bathrooms and kitchen are in showroom condition. Oven is clean and the stove top is free of oil and grease. All of this takes a little investment of time and money, but makes a huge difference in the eyes of the potential buyers. Remember they are looking for a house to move in to, and not a project to start. The more the house is in move-in condition, the more willing are the buyers to jump on it. If you are selling in the spring, summer and fall, make sure the yard is well maintained, grass mowed, and the walkways are clean and free of dirt and puddles. If it is winter, then make sure the snow is cleared out of the way of potential visitors. The first impression is very important. If the front door is dirty paint it. If garage doors make noise when opening, grease them. You want everything to look perfect. Buyers look at many properties. Your job is to make sure your house stands out. Until you have done these, do not put the house on the market. You do not want to lose any potential buyer for small and manageable problems. A buyer that passes on your house, will never come back! How to find an agent? Start your search for a good agent. The question is what makes an agent good? There is more to selling a home than getting the listing and putting it in MLS. A good agent will work with you to do the preliminary assessment of value, prepare the house for showing, have an extensive marketing plan, and have a strategy for selling the property. Many agents do a lot of work to get the listing, but when they get the listing, they move on to the next property, waiting for others to find buyers. You want someone who is engaged and focused on your property, and will remain actively involved, continuously marketing and soliciting buyers for your property. Some sellers look for the most active agents in their market. They want to hire an agent that has 100s of houses to sell. Well if they are active, they can sell my house fast. This is not necessarily true. An agent that has many houses, has multiple masters to serve. So pays attention to the most important one, or at best equally divides her/his time and attention to all, which results to not much. On the other hand, you may want to hire someone that has a few listings, thinking that they have time and would work hard for you. This could be true or not. The question is why they have a few listings? Is it that they are new? Or are not active? Or they do not want many? Or they are focused? It could be many of these. So in essence, you have to spend the time, talk to them. Interview a few. And then listen to your guts and pick one. Don’t let them try to impress you by the capabilities and size of their firm. The firm does not bring you anything. It is the agent that does most of the work. The firm is just a name and brand that brings some recognition to you. But does not sell your home. It is the effort of the agent and their individual ingenuity that counts. Remember that a good agent not only will find you a buyer, but will negotiate with them to get you the best price. Agents do this all the time and are experienced at negotiation. Use them the best you can and listen to them. They have your best interest in mind. Your incentives are aligned. From my experience and the experience of most of agents I know, potential sellers make decisions not based on the agent and services they provide, but based on how much they have to pay them. You would not believe how many meetings I have walked in to, prepared to discuss plans and strategy, just to find myself discussing the fees and negotiating on my commission. The fact of the matter is the you cannot escape paying commission for the services that realtors provide. Nothing is for free. So deciding to go with an agent that charges 0.5% less, but gives you lousy service is better, or getting an agent that spends a lot of money on advertising that sells your house fast and at higher price, and gets a fair commission for their effort? Have a detailed plan and stay engaged Once you have selected an agent, be involved. Have a communication plan between you and your agent. Make sure to tell them what you want, and hold them to it. The plan should give you information about the level of activity, and feedback from the market. It should tell you how hard the agent is working for you, and what feedback is the market giving you on your property. Listen to the market Once the property is on the market, activities will start. The first 21 days of the market are the most crucial. All the buyers that are actively looking will rush to see your property. They will provide feedback on what is good and what is not. If the price is right or not. Listen to the market and work with your agent to make necessary adjustments. If there are details that potential buyer complain about, fix them to the extend you can, so the next person does not have those as excuse. If the property does not sell, then price is the issue. Adjust the price until you get a buyer. Most people get fixated on the price compared to what they had paid for the house. Put this aside. Unless you are selling and getting out of the market, the price of the property compare to what you had paid, does not matter. Since you are going to buy another property, you are just changing seats. So if you sell low, you will buy low, and if you sell high, you will have to buy high. It will all be a wash. If you are selling to retire and not buy a real estate any more, then pay more attention to the selling price and wait it out. I am happy to discuss your specific situation and strategize on the best course of action that fits your situation.
847-791-1264
Afrouz.Kameli@BairdWarner.Com
