My New Blog

You will hear a lot of ideas from many different sources when you mention you are selling your home. So much so that you will forget what is really important to you. Selling their home for the most money possible in the shortest amount of time is the goal of 99% of my clients. I'd like to share with you the most important things to remember when selling your home.    

1) Be sure to have an exhaustive market analysis done on your home, by one or more of the leading Realtors in your area. (competition doesn't bother true professionals and they will raise the level of their service when they are competing for your business).

2) Follow their pricing recommendations. Don't increase the list price to test the market. It has been tested and the home value is correct. If your home is listed at market value you will get 60% of the Buyer prospects interested. If you overprice it by 10% you will lose 30% of those Buyers. 

3) Be sure to get a marketing plan from your Agent before they list your home. If they don't have a plan then they are probably just going to list your home and "hope" it sells. They are not right for you. Let the neighbor down the street hire them. You want to know that this home will be consistently marketed and that the Agent's proven marketing system will be at work for you. 

4) You selected a great Agent and priced your home in line with the market...two big steps towards the sale of your home! Now you must concentrate on the condition of your home. If your home is older and you're worried about potential repairs, then get a home inspection upfront. This will show you the trouble spots and give you time to repair them. I promise that repair items you fix will be cheaper than what the Buyer will want for the same repairs. I add Home Warranties to each of my listings. They give you coverage during the listing period and you don't pay for it until you close. If the buyer doesn't ask for a warranty, (highly unlikely), you don't pay for it either. I've had many seller's thank me when their water heater goes out prior to closing for adding this warranty.

5) Other ideas concerning the condition of your home:

• Paint...Paint...Paint!!! Touching up the walls and baseboards in most cases will do just fine. If you have bold colors throughout the home, you will want to neutralize the walls before any Buyer's walk through. A couple of hundred dollars spent here will bring you a quicker and better offer to purchase.
• Take everything out of your home that you don't need. De-cluttering your home is as important as any aspect in this process. If the buyer can't see it...they won't buy it! Open up cluttered rooms to make them more appealing. Consider a staging specialist if you or your agent need additional advice.

Keep your yard mowed, plant flowers, keep your front porch clean, lubricate any squeaking doors, keep your counters clean, fresh smells only in your home...NO SMOKING and clean up after your pets, blinds & window coverings open, repair squeaky floors, limit wall decorations, update your light and plumbing fixtures. Use the Disney philosophy on your home. From the time the Buyer walks up your drive to the time they leave...make everything as nice as you can. You'll never be able to achieve perfection, but it will limit the negatives the Buyer is looking for. 

6) Be flexible when showings are scheduled. Try to accommodate every showing...remember that there are probably dozens or more homes that the buyer could have selected to tour.

7) When you get an offer be sure to have your agent produce an estimate of all the expenses you will incur during the closing process, based on the offer submitted to you. If the offer is lower than you'd like, be patient. My philosophy is to keep them at the table and eventually it will work out. If you get miffed at their offer and fire back with an attitude...you will probably make the situation worse. Keep all ego's out of the negotiations and you will get it done. Know what your bottom line is and don't lose sight of your goal. Selling Your Home!   

Happy Selling,

Jeff Carroll    

I've been a Real Estate Broker for over 28 years now, and I'm very proud of my ability to research and predict a final sales price for my Seller's homes. I am flattered and appreciate the opportunity to share my professional talents with my future Seller's. By the time I get to their home I have already poured through the past 12 months of active, pended, sold, and even withdrawn homes that are similar to my Seller's home. This exhaustive study shows every aspect of the market and proves without a shadow of a doubt what the current value of their home is. I'm feeling good right about now. I know as I walk into their home that they will sell that home within 3-4 months, and the final sales price will be in the range of $225,000 to 230,000. They owe $100,000 and bought it 10 years ago, so they should be tickled with this information. 

Most of my client's are reasonable and trust my expertise. They are the ones who ultimately sell their home for it's highest possible price. I have had a few who took the other road. They don't buy into the fact that the market has changed, or they haven't updated their home like everyone around them, or there are 50 more homes like theirs selling for less money, etc... They don't care what the statistics say...they want $50,000 more for their home because ...that's what they want! Well it doesn't work that way. If you overprice a listing by 10% you lose 30% of prospective buyer's. Showings on an overpriced listing are few and far between.  Even if they found someone to buy their home for that price, it won't appraise. Without a full value appraisal the sale will probably fall through. The Buyer or Seller will have to make up the difference in value for the appraisal shortfall.  No buyer in their right mind will pay more than they have to for a house in today's market.  

The lesson to be learned here is "listen" to your Realtor, if they have valid reasoning and supportive documentation showing the true value of your home. Get a couple of opinions and compare the data they submit to you. Don't price your home based on neighbors opinions or your gut feeling. Opinions and feelings don't sell homes in today's competitive market.  You can't pad the price and hope you get more for your home. You'll just make the Buyer's decision to purchase the reasonably priced listing down the street an easier one.

Establish realistic goals for a happier and more successful home selling experience. Happy selling!

Jeff Carroll