|
|
It's time to sell your Seal Beach house. You've been living along the Orange County coast in southern California for some time and you've likely accrued substantial equity in the home you're about to sell. Naturally, you would like to get maximum value for all the care you've taken of your beach property. We agree. To realize a fair return for all the effort and money you've invested in your house, follow these handy selling tips to help sell your house and get a good profit.
- Don't include your emotions in the deal.
- You are selling a house and are going to buy a new home. It is important not to encumber yourself with memories and other emotional attachments to your current residence because this will often cloud judgement on what needs to be done in order to help sell a property quickly and at fair market value.
- Make your house anonymous.
- You want home buyers to view your house for sale as their own home. When a homebuyer sees your personal items personalizing the house, it brands the house as your home and makes it more difficult for them to envision it as their own home. Put away family photos, sports trophies, collectible items, knick-knacks, and souvenirs. Put them in a box. Rent a storage area for a few months and put the box in the storage unit.
- Remove all clutter.
- This may be emotionally difficult for you to do because often, one person's treasure is someone else's junk. You have accumulated a lot of "stuff" over the years and probably have it arranged in a way that makes sense to you. For a moment, try to visualize the room as a new home buyer might see it. Understand that, in their mind, they will be "arranging" their own belongings in the room. Their ability to easily do this will help establish your home value to them - and make it easier for them to take that last big step of turning your house into their home.
- Get the house ready to sell.
- What we mean here is try as much as possible to give the impression that you're selling a new home to the home buyer. When new home buyers walk through a house, they touch, sniff and probe at those things they feel are part of their new home. This would include such items as bathroom and kitchen plumbing, wall switches, door knobs, windows and shutters, fireplace hardware and so on. Also, if carpeting is part of the house - they'll usually develop an opinion on that as well. Make sure everything is clean, shiny and functional. Faucets shouldn't drip and drip stains should be removed from the sink. Ditto for toilet lime and algae. Don't let any stains be visible on your carpeting - even if it's obviously time for replacement. Now, it's not necessary to remodel the house - but make it as attractive as possible. In other words, detail it like you would your car if you were selling it. If any expense is involved that can't be covered out of your paycheck or checking account - use your savings. Avoid running up your credit cards and any other credit lines. Don't forget, you'll be buying a new home too - and you want your credit to appear as strong and unencumbered as possible.
- Fix the exterior of your house.
- This is important because the outside of your house is the first thing your new home buyer is going to see. You want to make a good first impression so their attitude when walking into the house will be positive and upbeat. To get a feel for what needs to be done, walk across the street and look at your house as objectively as possible. Compare it with other houses on the block. This will give you a good perspective on what needs to be done. When you feel you are sufficiently enlightened - it's time to go to work.
- Be realistic when you set your price.
- Chances are you feel your home is worth more than recent comps suggest that it is. In spite of what amount of money you've invested in the property - you have to come to grips with the fact that there is a fairly tight range bracketing what home buyers are willing to pay for your house. That figure is based upon recent sales of similar homes in the area and the educated input of the selling agent who may be accompanying them. If you've done a major remodel or an add-on, that may be a legitimate factor in setting your price at the upper end or even above prevailing values. If you've recently carpeted, roofed and painted the house - you may be disappointed if you expect to get that $10,000 back on the sale. What these kind of investments will do, however, is insure that you house is shown in the most favorable light - and probably cause a qualified offer to be forthcoming more quickly.
- Two other items to watch out for when pricing your house. First, be aware of the agent who offers or supports a high asking price. That agent knows well what the value of your house is. He is simply attempting to buy your listing with an implied promise of a higher price. This is misleading and may be a good indicator of whether or not you want to do business with that agent. The second item to be cautious of is in overpricing your house to that initial rush of interest that always accompanies a new listing. If you've priced your house unrealistically - with the intention of dropping the price later if no sale occurs, you may have squandered that first (and best) opportunity for a quick sale. Later, when you lower your price, your house will be old news. Also, you'll be broadcasting the fact that nobody feels it is worth buying, so far. Seek your agent's guidance when determining an asking price for your house sale.
- Know your listing agent.
- It is likely that the agent that lists you house is not gong to be the agent that sells your house. That is because any good listing agent will immediately place your house in the multiple listing service for your area. The listing agent will also aggressively market your house to other agents - so you can get the benefit of many salespeople working for you to sell your home. Your listing agent may run ads about your house - but not for the reasons you'd expect. Ads generate calls from home buyers. Most of which aren't necessarily a good match for you house - even though they may have called in about your house initially. At any given moment, there are a large number of homebuyers in the local pool. By have all the agents aware of your listing because of your exposure in the multiple listing service (MLS) - you are exposed to each sales agent's pool of prospective home buyers. Make sure you know what your listing agent is going to do for you. Don't be afraid to ask for references either. Talk to other homeowners who have listed their home through this
|
|
