Whatever your reason for selling your home (job transfer, downsizing, upsizing, upgrading, etc.), it is an emotional decision. Among the many things to be considered carefully are timing, pricing, preparation, and marketing.
· TIME the sale of your home. When you put your home on the market is almost as important as pricing your home. Many factors must be considered:
Do you need to sell your home in order to purchase another home? Do you need to time your move with school enrollment? Is timing an issue for you?
Are you being transferred? Are you waiting to find the right home to purchase before putting yours on the market?
An experienced Realtor® can help you ascertain the factors that will have the biggest impact on timing your home sale. This information can save you time, money and frustration – not to mention the possible inconvenience of moving twice.
· PRICE your home appropriately. Accurate pricing of your home is critical to achieving your goal of selling the house.
You must consider many variables when determining a fair asking price, such as your competition (homes currently for sale in your area), the age, condition, lot size, square feet, location, floor plan, and drive-up appeal of your home as well as the homes of your competition. You must also consider YOUR MOTIVATION for selling. A professional Realtor® is qualified to evaluate all of these factors and offer objective advice.
Most Realtors® will “run comps” for you to help you determine an asking price. This helps, but it is not sufficient. Be sure you are receiving a Comprehensive Market Evaluation before making your pricing decision.
TIP: DO NOT fall into the trap of initially listing your home at a significantly higher price than listed for comparable properties. This jeopardizes your ability to get the most for your home. THE LONGER YOUR HOME REMAINS ON THE MARKET THE MORE YOUR ASKING PRICE IS COMPROMISED. DO NOT underestimate this negative impact!
· PREPARE your home to sell.
In order to sell your home as SOON as possible for as MUCH money as possible, you will want to ensure that the home is clean, orderly and looks its best. Beyond this, there may be expenditures you can make that will net a better price, such as new carpet, new paint, a new roof, or a major needed repair item. A professional Realtor® will be able to determine whether additional expenditures would help the sale. Sometimes simply moving a large piece of furniture or cleaning the carpet is all that is needed.
TIP: Texas State law requires that sellers disclose everything they know about their property. There are several Seller’s Disclosure Forms that meet and/or exceed these legal requirements.
WARNING: Disclosure (or non-disclosure) of pertinent information about a home is a seller’s most vulnerable area for potential lawsuits.
· MARKET your home to qualified buyers. Serious qualified buyers will have a Realtor®. This is the only way a buyer can see all of the properties meeting their criteria and make an informed choice.
Realtors® primarily use the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) database to select appropriate properties to show to their buyer clients. Exposing your home (listing your home on the MLS) to all of those Realtors® and their potential buyers is critical! Only a Realtor® (a designated member of the National Association of Realtors® and the Texas Association of Realtors®) can do this for you. Once your home is listed on MLS it will be automatically uploaded to www.realtor.com (which has over 8 million unique users per month!) as well as all other participating Realtor® websites like this one.
Given today’s competitive market and the changes resulting from Internet information and marketing tools, selling a home requires even more expertise than in previous years. Realtors® must now combine traditional tools such as signs, advertising, and Open House with cutting edge technological tools like search engines, databases, banners and links. Maximum exposure of your home is the key to any marketing strategy.
If you have questions about the sale of your home or if you would like for us to prepare a FREE – No Obligation Comprehensive Market Evaluation for your home just ask!! We are here to serve you.