Are you thinking of selling your home? Well, the time to start
planning for it is NOW!
One of the biggest mistakes a homeowner can make when he or she
is thinking about selling their home is failing to plan for the
sale in advance. There really is more to selling a home than
putting a sign in the yard and waiting for a contract. If your
plan, for example, is to list your home for sale in May or June,
then you need to be laying the ground work to prepare your home
for sale in January or February.THINGS TO
THINK ABOUT:
- Does your home need repair work or improvements that could
turn off potential buyers?
When you are about to sell a home, it’s tempting to ignore
needed repairs and tell yourself, “it’ll be the next guys
problem.” However that rain damaged basement, leaky roof, or
worn out 1970’s shag carpeting might be the deciding factor that
keeps dozens of buyers from making an offer. The end result is a
“next guy” may never transpire and your home ends up setting on
the market unsold for months until you finally make the needed
repairs.
Generally when this happens, you still end up with the cost of
the repair work that you were hoping to pass on, but get a lower
sales price because the property was “stigmatized” by not
selling within the first few months. At the same time, you also
have to keep paying the mortgage(s) until the home sells and
have the expense or work of maintaining the property- mowing the
lawn, cleaning the home, etc.
- Are there improvements that could be made to your home that
would increase the value beyond the cost of the improvements and
help it sell faster?
If you could spend $2,000 on your home and earn an additional
$10,000 wouldn’t you want to do it? Things don’t have to be
broken or worn out to negatively impact your home’s value or
your ability to sell it. It’s amazing, but sometimes $500 in
landscaping or a quick touch-up on the outside paint can
increase buyer traffic from 2 people a week touring your home to
20 people a week. A few updates inside can mean the difference
between a full-price contract the week you list your home and a
discounted contract several months later.
More important, your home may have “hidden value”. An unfinished
area that could be turned into an additional bedroom or
bathroom, for example, could increase your property value by
15-20% or more depending on the market.
- Is your home cluttered, cramped, or crowded with furniture and
other “stuff” you’ve collected over the years? Do you have rooms
not being used for their original purpose? Is your home
decorated with a “distinct” taste?
Your home is your home. Making your home unique to you with all
of your personal touches is one of the rights you get with
homeownership. When you want to sell your home, however, it’s
another story. Basically, you are trying to get other people to
visualize what the home would look like if they made THEIR
personal touches. Unfortunately, the walls of family photos or
rooms of antique furniture, the blue paint, pink carpeting, or
floral wallpaper you dearly love, or the pool table in the spare
bedroom might not only turn off prospective buyers with
different tastes, but prove to be a distraction that keeps
buyers from really seeing the home. Packing up distractions,
neutralizing décor, and moving out excessive furniture to make
your home seem larger before you list it can not only help you
get a quick sale, but can also help with the moving process.
Remember, you want buyers looking at the house, NOT your stuff.
(I’ve written more on this topic which I’ve published to my blog
at http://www.stlagent.com).
KNOWING WHAT NEEDS DONE:
One of the biggest problems that homeowners face is that they
are too attached to their home, and the stuff in it, to be
objective on how to get the home ready to sell. At the same
time, without a background in real estate you might not see the
improvements that could significantly increase your home’s value
or speed up the sale- like adding that extra bedroom or
remodeling a kitchen. That’s why you should contact your realtor
several months in advance and ask her/him to come by to give you
ideas on any repairs, improvements, or suggestions that might
help you in the sale of your property.
Why is it important to do a professional walkthrough with your
realtor several months in advance? If there is a project that
can significantly increase your home’s value, you may need time
to raise the money to start the work. It’s also not uncommon for
good handymen to be booked up months in advance- so you may need
time to schedule the project and get the work done before
listing your home. You don’t want prospective buyers walking
into a construction zone any more than you want your home sale
delayed several months because of construction.
That’s why now is the time to start the ball rolling if you are
beginning to think about selling your home. You can also use
this advance time to clear the property of junk or debris, do
some of the project work yourself, pack extra belongings, have a
garage sale, donate items, etc. Plus, doing the work in advance
will save you the stress of doing it all later- when you might
also be trying shop for a new home or pack and move.
About The Author
Darin "Sid" Cameron currently works for the STLagent Team of
Real Estate Consultants in St Louis, MO. He publishes The St
Louis Real Estate Blog on his website at: http://www.stlagent.com.
Mr. Cameron also moderates the St Louis Community Forum Message
Board at: http://www.stlagent.com/forum.
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