Moving? Up sizing or down sizing? Here are some of my tips…

Know your market and get all the information you can. How many homes have sold in your neighborhood or area in the last year? and at what price? Find out your pay off - not the loan balance. Pay offs are typically higher than the loan balance. Find out how many days on the market for the homes that have sold in the last year. Want to get this info quickly? Then contact a Realtor - they can get you this information quickly.

A few thoughts on working with a Realtor - Don’t use a Realtor just to get this information and then toss them. What if they have a buyer, or show the home later down the road? Just be up front, tell them you are thinking about selling and want to get some information to help make your decision. After all, you always want them to be up front with you. The Realtor can also give you lots of other good information and advice here such as:

1. Proceeds Estimate, which tells you - if you know your pay off - how much you will make after all of the closing costs
2. How the market is actually doing (people coming in or is market is slow this month?)

Limited service Real Estate Companies are exactly what they advertise for service (limited). They will put your home in the MLS, but they will not show it or set up appointments. They will put a sign in the yard with your number to call to set up showings. Some will do a Proceeds Estimate and give you market information, but they won’t pick up contracts, give you their opinion on the contract, or try to guide you through the transaction.

I know, but what about the commission if I hire an agent? All The statistics I have seen show that a seller represented by an agent sells their homes quicker and for more money than sellers who are not represented.

Do’s

• Interview agents, ask how many homes did you sell last year? how many in your homes price range? What are their marketing efforts? How many homes did they list in the last year? Remember in most area’s 20% of the agents sell 90% of the homes
• Set your price according to the market
• Get an outside opinion of your home. Your agent should be able to give you lots of tips on how the home looks to them
• Fix any items that you that you know need repairing
• If you are going to paint use neutral and bright colors
• Ask yourself and your outside opinion how your home looks from the curb. Curb appeal means everything towards initial expectations
• Keep landscaping up. (curb appeal)
• Clean garages and closets out so they are less cluttered
• Open curtains and blinds (brighten things up)
• Use subtle air fresheners
• Remember the more accessible your home is to be shown the more likely it is to sell
• Trust and listen to your agent, They want to sell your home and they do this everyday

Don’t s

• Be present during showings, This can lead to awkward questions from potential buyers and their agent. Or can bring emotions in to play which can hurt you in negotiations for the sale
• Have pets inside during showings
• Overprice thinking thats leaves room to negotiate down. This will cause buyers who don’t qualify at higher amounts not to even look at your home, when they actually could buy it for what you would take
• Keep private things in the open
• Talk to neighbors about the sale. It’s amazing what they will say to people looking at your home

Do add anything to list you think would be beneficial to others

As a seller it is important to understand the implications of using a counter offer in negotiations with your potential buyers. In a recent article on RealtyTimes.com a scenario is described where a seller is surprised to learn that a potential buyer has the right to withdraw their offer even after the sellers had signed written acceptance of the offer. This is because the buyers where turning down a counter offer, which was not subject to the same rules as the original offer.

There is an important lesson in this article that sellers should consider well an offer before they make a counteroffer.