Sellers Guide

One of the most important decisions you will make while selling your home is which real estate agent you will work with. The right person will make other aspects of your home sale go much more smoothly. You want someone who knows your neighborhood and has in-depth knowledge of how to sell a home and how to sell your type of house, whether it’s a single-family house, a condo or a townhouse. Be prepared to interview multiple agents until you find the right person to work with you. Don’t settle for the first person you meet or someone you already know unless you feel confident they can provide the level of service you need.

The time spent before listing your home can make the process go faster and with fewer bumps along the way. You don’t want to be in a hurry to put your home on the market before you’re ready or you’ll end up sitting and waiting for it to sell for weeks or even months.

Relying on your real estate agent’s knowledge and experience to sell a home will help you make the right decisions. Also, ask others who have successfully sold their home for advice. Don’t forget to pay attention to what not to do as well as what you should be doing. The following PowerPoint presentation will help you get ahead of the competition.

Not all upgrades will have the same impact on the value of your home or the interest of the buyer. If you have some money you want to put towards updating your property, think like a buyer instead of what you want.

The best areas to make any improvements are in the kitchens and bathrooms. Even small changes can increase buyer interest, such as lighting fixtures and hardware. Adding storage and buying new appliances also appeal to buyers.

It’s important not to overspend in one area, leaving other spaces looking neglected and worn. Instead, look at the overall impression of your home through a buyer’s eyes. A coat of paint on the walls of every room or at least the living room and master bedroom will improve your home’s image.

An upgrade that adds a lot of value if you have the funds is to finish out an unfinished space. When you add square footage, you almost always increase the selling price of the property. Even if you can’t finish out the area, you can add storage shelves to make the space more functional.

Talk with your real estate agent if you’re not sure which upgrades are most important and will have the biggest impact on your home and neighborhood.

It’s every seller’s dream – to receive an offer on their home. The question many sellers ask themselves is if they should accept the first offer they receive. Of course, that depends on several factors, but here are a few guidelines.

First, weigh the quality of the offer on its own. If it features conditions you aren’t comfortable with or the price is too low, you won’t want to accept it outright. Your other option is to either reject it or negotiate with a counteroffer. If you are too far apart on terms from the buyer, even a counteroffer probably won’t save this one.

Second, you must think about how quickly after listing your property the offer came in. If you just put your property on the market and you have an offer, there is a good chance you’ll get another one. While you can’t delay responding to the first offer until you have a second offer, you can take a day or two to see if you have more interest. You can also look at the offer more critically to see if it lives up to what you expect.

If your home has been sitting on the market for several weeks or months, you must decide whether you will take what is likely to be your only offer or remove the house from the market and wait for things to change. If the price doesn’t work for you because it doesn’t pay off your mortgage or give you enough for a new home, you won’t have much choice. If it just doesn’t meet what you thought your home was worth, you may have to adjust your expectations to meet reality.

Even though this is your first time selling a home and seeing offers, your agent has been down this road many times. They can advise you based on the market, your property, and your expectations. You make the final decision based on what’s best for you, but you should always consider their advice.

Even though you are working with an agent to sell your home, it’s a good idea to do your promotion. After all, no one knows your home or neighborhood better than you. Here are three things to focus on when trying to win buyers over.

1. The Neighborhood
Buyers are focused on location when they look at homes for sale. They may be considering the commute or other features when shopping for houses. While you can’t change the location, you can play up the benefits of where you live. Do you live in a great school district or within walking distance of a park? Maybe you’re within a five-minute walk of downtown. Let buyers know.

2. The Setting
If you love sitting on your back deck watching the quiet woods behind your home, invite buyers to enjoy it with you through video or photos. Take a picture of your tree-lined street or the row of elegant townhouses where you live.

3. Unique Features of Your Home
If your home is unique, don’t try to hide it. Buyers will see those aspects of the property when they tour, so you might as well acknowledge them. Instead, put a positive spin on them. If you have an unusual nook in your home that seems to serve no purpose, show how you made use of the space – or even how you wished you’d decorated it. Play up the character of your home and convince buyers of the potential.

Use your years spent in this home and the neighborhood to market your home to the next buyer. You’ll not only increase the potential for selling fast, but you’ll find someone who will love it as much as you do.

Once the day finally comes that you receive an offer on your property, you are ready to move out and move on. It may seem like you’ll never get to closing and that your job is mostly done. However, you should be proactive to ensure the contract doesn’t fall through and that everything is completed on time.

One of the first steps after an offer is accepted is the home inspection. You’ll have to wait to hear from the buyer on how it went, but you’ll have to respond to any requests they have for repairs. You may not need to comply with their requests, but you will need to decide how to handle things. It’s important to distinguish between special requests from a specific buyer and repairs that will be necessary before you can sell to anyone.

The next major step is when the lender requests an appraisal. This will determine if the house has as much value as the selling price. In a good economy when home prices are rising, this isn’t generally a problem if you listed your house correctly. When the housing market is struggling, it may be a fine line between what you must have out of your home and how much it is really worth.

The title company will also have to make sure you have a clear title to your home. While this shouldn’t be a problem, you’d be surprised at how often a small issue comes up. They are usually resolved quite easily, but many sellers get nervous when they hear of any possible delays.

You must stay updated on how the process is going for your home. Talk to your agent and make sure they are staying in touch with the buyer’s agent and lender. You don’t want to find out at the last minute that the home you thought was sold needs to be relisted.