Preparing Your Home for Market

Selling your home is getting more and more competitive every day. There are many ways to rule your home in and out with the use of the internet. You want to be sure that you are in!

Clean Sells, Every time

Outside and in, your home needs to be immaculate to get the best possible price. Trim the trees, mulch the flower beds, clean and put a fresh coat of paint on the front porch or stoop. Add a "Welcome" mat and fresh pot of flowers and you can maximize your curb appeal. Buyers will spend several minutes outside your door while the agent opens the lock box this is the first impression of you home.

You will want to clear the clutter inside your home. Leave a minimal amount of personal decor and memorabilia on display. You want your visitors to look at the attributes of your home, not the family in the photos. Consider professional cleaning services for your home, carpets and windows. Home Staging is available in most market places and will help you get the best offer for your home.

Springtime is Sale/Purchase Time

Everything looks better in the spring! Trees and flowers bloom, the grass is fresh and attractive. It is best to be ready to catch spring market and sell quickly. Traditionally the spring market is considered a "Sellers Market".

Cozy and Bright

Warm colors bring a sense of calm to a home. When you walk from room to room there should be a clear path and a clear connection between the rooms. Going from one type of flooring to another can break up the flow of your home. Your may want to consult a professional home staging service to help with such issues. Open the shade and the curtains. This will best showcase the hard work you have put in to get your home "market ready".

Are we Ready to Go on the Market?

Get a second opinion. Once you have trimmed the yard, scrubbed your bathrooms and polished your floors, have a friend or your Realtor walk through and get an honest opinion of the presentation of your home. If they pick up and odor, be sure to deal with it, if there is wallpaper that is outdated, remove it. Your first 30 days are the most important days that you have on the market and you don't want to use them to learn that you need to make changes in the presentation of your home.

Open Your Wallet

No one likes to hear this but it may cost a little bit of money to prepare your home to get the best sale price. If your carpet in your home is outdated, replacement may cost your a few thousand dollars. A buyer will take as much as triple the amount of the cost of the carpet off of an offer to compensate for the needed improvement. It is not that they are greedy, it is that they don't realize the actual cost. Worse yet, they may go down the street and buy the property with the new carpet already in it. Be sure that you are putting your very best foot forward.

Your First Showing is Online!

Photos of your home are going to be broadcast all over the internet. Some sites will pick up all of the photos that your Realtor has taken, some will just take a select few. The more professional quality photos that are available for your home, the more showings are going to be scheduled. Ask your Realtor if you can see the online presentation of another listing that they currently have or that the have had in the recent past.

Are you a Lister or a Seller

There is a huge difference. Your agent will provide you with comparable properties for your home. You will want to know the current "Active" properties and the recently "Sold" properties. Your property pricing needs to reflect the current real estate market in your area. Your price should never be based on the amount that you need to "net", that actually has nothing to do with the market value of your home. You may want to visit some of the properties in your market at open house to get an idea of what the competing properties are and how they are priced. You never want to be the most expensive home in the market, and you don't want to be the lowest. Remember that time on the market is a function of price. The more accurate your price, the faster the home will sell. With these things in mind, you will be a seller!

Negotiating the Sale

The closer you follow the above steps, the less negotiating you will have to do! Be flexible and remember that the most important thing to you is the net sale price that you receive from your home. Provide your Realtor with an accurate payoff and ask that they present the offers they receive with a net sales sheet for your to review. This will take the contract and all of it's add-ons and bring them to a bottom line. Face it, you don't really mind paying the closing costs for a buyer if they will consider paying full price for your home. Keep an open mind and stay negotiable.