Well, what’s it worth?
To get a quick idea of what buyers actually have been paying in the last six months, you go to the tab “Property Search” and click on “Sold Properties Search”. Then center the map on your property and select the area to find the comparable sold properties.
An appraiser will use a radius of one mile around your home to find his comps.
To get a proper value involves going first through your home, and then compare and analyze the differences with homes recently sold. I will be happy to do this for you.
Below you will find some good advice in preparing for the successful sale at a good price.
Whether you’re planning to sell your home in the next few months or just studying up for that day, there’s no time like now to prepare. If buying a house seems complicated, selling involves even more responsibilities and expenses.
Here are some common steps to selling your home:
1. Prepare your home for sale
2. Get your paperwork together
3. Price your home
4. Market your home
5. Prepare your home for showing
6. Respond to an offer
7. Complete the settlement
Prepare Your Home for Sale
Well before you’re ready to plant that “For Sale” sign in your front yard, there is work to be done to prepare your home for sale. Remember how keen your eye was to every small detail and defect in the houses you saw as a buyer? Now that door to your bedroom that never quite closed properly or that leaky faucet that you never got around to fixing will be seen by a potential buyer with that same keen eye.
Start making the obvious repairs today – even if you don’t plan to sell until a year from now. These repairs can cost money and take time. Plus fixing it now will allow you to enjoy the results before it’s time to move out.
If you plan on doing some improvements before the sale, the best place to start is where the buyers start: at your curb. Potential buyers base a large part of their decision on a property’s “curb appeal,” so make yours say something positive. That means a tidy front yard, a house with well-painted trim, a tidy driveway and a clear, welcoming entryway. If you have grass on your front yard you have to keep it looking good.
Inside, the biggest return on your investment continues to be improvements to the kitchen, followed closely by improvements to the master bedroom. If you’re making these improvements shortly before selling the house, consider painting and decorating the rooms in neutral colors, the most appealing choice to the greatest number of potential buyers.
Inside and outside, start reducing the clutter. When it comes time to show your home, less will mean more. Potential buyers don’t want to see how your closets overflow with clothes, how every room feels cramped with furniture, or how the yard is difficult to maneuver with that rusty swing set in the way. So downsize now; it not only will make the preparation for showing your home easier, it also will make packing for your move faster.
Get Your Paperwork Together
It will help me if I get some information at the time of listing your property.
- A list of recent improvments and repairs.
- Assessments or Easements: If there’s a tax assessment or easement on the property, documents stating such will have to be included in the purchase contract.
- You need to fill out the sellers disclosure form (Form 17)
- Utilities: Provide a record of the past 12 months’ utility bills.
You’ll want to make it clear now which items in the home you want to take with you – the heirloom chandelier in the dining room, the washer and dryer set you just bought last month – and which can stay behind as part of the home sale. Your real estate professional can help show you which items you should put away or replace before your house goes on the market.
Price Your Home
There are a number of factors that will affect the success of your home sale. They include: location of the home, interest rates, economic conditions, time of year, condition of the home, marketing the home, terms of the sale and accessibility to the home.
Some of these are not within you or your listing agent’s control – location of the home, interest rates, economic conditions. The other factors are items you should discuss with me to determine what would benefit the sale of this property most.
For example, marketing your property in more innovative ways, such as on an Internet site like this one may broaden the pool of potential buyers. If you can, waiting for a good time to sell your home – spring or fall, the most popularly home buying times – also may help it sell faster.
Pricing the home properly can make a huge difference in whether a house is snapped up within the first several weeks of listing or sits on the market for more than a year.
To price a home properly, I will have to study the local market, research comparable properties and consider current market conditions. This is where the “comparative marketing analysis” will come in handy as a place to start.
- Your competition: Are there many properties just like yours for sale in your area right now?
- Listing prices: What are other properties like yours listing for?
- Selling prices: What are other properties like yours sold for recently?
Based on these findings, and after making adjustments in values as very few houses are identical, I will give you a price or a narrow range of value which will sell your house. I will give my professional recommendation to help you decide on the listing price.
Prepare Your Home for Showing
You’ll be thrilled that you did the hard work of Step 1 (Prepare Your Home for Sale) now that there’s little time left to get your house ready for visitors.
Now is the time to put on the finishing touches, just like that quick housecleaning you do before company comes over for dinner.
Outside: Keep your lawn trimmed, the rose bushes pruned, the weeds tamed. Put away the garden hose and the tools. Make sure the bulbs in your home’s exterior lighting fixtures are all in working order. Be vigilant about removing flyers, handouts and newspapers left on your front doorstep or driveway.
Inside: Brighten the rooms by opening the drapes, turning on the lights, cleaning the windows. Clear the clutter on the kitchen counter, bathroom sink, coffee table and couches. Make all the beds. Clean all your bathroom and kitchen fixtures. Do a quick vacuuming of the entire house, being sure to catch any cobwebs in the corners along the ceiling. Finally, take out the garbage.
If you have pets, find a safe place to keep them during a house showing: in the garage, in the basement or at a friend’s house.
