Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Getting Your Home Sold

1. The First Offer is Always the Best Offer; “If you get an offer in today’s market, attempt to make the best of it and live with it if you can, because there usually isn’t another one waiting. In today's market multiple offers are few and far apart.

2. Be Realistic About Price; Most homes go onto the market over priced. Buyers are not going to pay for an overpriced house. Overpricing a home reduces your showings and with fewer showings you get fewer offers. Your going to end up reducing the price eventually, reduce it before listing to insure lots of attention from the get go.

3. Listen to the Experts; You're paying a Real Estate agent for their advice, don't disregard it. They know and understand the market of today.

4. Beware of Getting Stale; The longer a house is on the market, the less attractive it appears. By listing the home and then reducing the price isn't going to fool anyone. You have to price it right.

5. Go For the HGTV look; First time home buyers expect the moon and the stars. You have to make some updates and clean up and de-clutter. Remove excessive family pictures, remove overstuffed furniture, set the kitchen table, paint the walls with something with some color. Let the light in.

6. Understand Buyer's Fear; Sellers are under the impression that buyers are being greedy, But in reality buyers are afraid. Afraid they're going to buy a house with the possibility that the home will loose value and they won't be able to sell it. By properly pricing the property better than the neighboring competition it becomes very attractive to them.

7.Buyers are not going to Renovate; Of course there are plenty of do it yourselvers who enjoy painting, laying tile, building a deck, installing some new fixtures. But most just want to move in, unpack and relax.Fixer-uppers attract limited offers because people just don’t have the time and those that do expect a reasonably priced fixer upper.

8. Play on Your Home’s Pluses; Private Yard, Large Deck, Side Entry Garage, Finished Lower Level, Main Level Master. Highlighting those pluses will make the home much more attractive to a buyer.

Frank J. Helderle

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