Sell Your Home
Speak To An AgentSelling Advice
Your home is more than an architectural structure. Often, it’s an extension of who you are – your personality, style and values. That’s why selling it can be an emotional experience. But it can also be exciting and rewarding. This section provides some simple home selling tips that can help lead you to a successful, timely sale.
Once you’ve made up your mind to sell your home, you need to do your “homework” – and S&S Real Estate Service.com is a great place to start! Getting a signed contract is a great accomplishment, but that’s only half the journey. The typical home sale today involves more than 20 steps after the initial contract is accepted to complete the transaction.
A real estate professional can provide the experience and local knowledge to guide you through the entire process, and selling your home within the ideal time frame and at the most effective price point. As the representative of your best interests, your S&S Real Estate Service Agent has state-of-the-art marketing resources to showcase your home’s best assets, and help you determine what improvements will make the biggest difference.
Much of what needs to be done before the closing is the responsibility of appraisers, loan processors, attorneys, and inspectors. Your S&S Real Estate Service Agent’s role also includes coordinating those responsibilities, helping to ensure that others do their job promptly and correctly.
Many steps between contract ratification and closing involve the cooperation of both buyer and seller, and attentive real estate professionals on both sides of the transaction will troubleshoot and keep everyone on track.
1 Source: National Association of REALTORS®
Setting The Right Price
Setting the right price for your home is the most important decision you will make. Learn how to study market trends and set the optimal price for your home.
Setting the Right Price for Your Home
A key part of your marketing plan is setting the list price. Quite simply, if a home is priced too low, you miss out on potential profit. If a home is priced too high, qualified buyers will look elsewhere.
To determine the best asking price, review the prices of recently sold, comparable homes in the area; evaluate the competition, and study marketplace trends. S&S Real Estate Service Sales Professionals have ready access to this information, and can provide the big picture to help you determine the right asking price.
It is also helpful to discuss with your agent other terms and conditions that can be included in the sale of the home to make it more attractive to potential buyers. For example, an owner can offer to pay points or complete a major repair – such as a new roof – to make the deal more appealing to a qualified buyer.
Other factors to consider:
- Real estate is local. Your S&S Real Estate Service Agent can explain current market factors in your community, including what’s selling, what isn’t selling, and why. This information is critical to setting an optimal price and terms.
- If your house is located in a desirable area you will be able to get a higher price than you can for the same house in a less desirable area.
- If a house has amenities that are currently popular in the marketplace, it will bring a higher price. Your S&S Real Estate Service Agent can help identify top trends.
- A house that has been better maintained and “shows” better will always sell for more than one that has had deferred (neglected) maintenance and needs work.
- Buyers expect everything to work. It’s an important trust factor, and worth the time and expense to make basic repairs.
- Markets differ by location and time. When interest rates are low and the local job base is growing, it’s great to be a seller. But when times are slack and mortgage rates are rising, homes also sell. The trick is to be realistic, to get as much as market conditions will allow.
TIP: A formal written appraisal can be useful if your property is unique, or there hasn’t been much activity in your area recently. It’s also helpful when co-owners disagree about price, or there is any other circumstance that makes it difficult to put a market value on your home.
Showing Your Home
You want potential buyers to feel at home from the minute they walk up the driveway. Give them a canvas to fill. It’s showtime!
Start with a good cleaning, eliminate clutter, put away the knickknacks and add fresh coats of a neutral-colored paint to brighten rooms. Oh, and tidy up the yard. Your S&S Real Estate Service Agent can give you all sorts of tips to help boost your home’s curb appeal and impress potential buyers once they’re inside. Here are a few basics:
- If the weather permits, open the windows (if there is too much noise outside, close them). You want the temperature inside to be comfortable and to give the buyer more of a reason to linger, especially on hot or cold days!
- Light a fire in the fireplace, have chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven, or use lightly scented aromatherapy – such as lavender – to set the scene for a tranquil home.
- Open all the window coverings to let in light. If a particular window overlooks undesirable scenery or obstructed views, keep the blinds partially closed.
- Turn on every light in the house, including appliance lights and closet lights. Brighten dark rooms with few windows by placing spotlights on the floor behind furniture.
- Play soft background music.
Move your cars to an alternate location, and allow your real estate agent to conduct the tour: potential buyers usually feel more comfortable – and less pressured – when the owners are not present.
The Sale
Once you negotiate and settle on a price, the buyer arranges for financing and a home inspection. This section will help you with these important steps.
Negotiating the Deal
Successful real estate negotiation is more than a matter of luck, innate talent or charm. The following tips will help you to make a successful deal.
Seller Financing
Seller or owner financing is a technique in which the seller of a home takes on the role of a lender in a home sale. Find out more.
Home Inspection
A home inspection is a professional, objective visual examination of the physical structure and systems of a house, from the roof to the foundation. The following section provides information and tips about this critical pre-sale step.