How To Sell Your Home

Before you selling your home, it’s advisable to:

Determine what the trues costs of both selling your home and purchasing a new home will be. Most people make a decision before they count the costs.
Search the web and list areas where you know you will need input.
A professional home inspection will likely be required by someone who purchases your home. You could do a home inspection earlier, but you might be required to do a second inspection by the future owner. Why not have an experienced (construction) friend take a look and give you input. Then resolve the obvious problems before you ever put the home on the market.

Develop a check list of issues to think about before you decide to sell:

Is this the right time for you to sell? How will market conditions impact you i.e., local conditions, interest rates, national economic conditions, incentives available to purchasers, etc.
Look at all the cost of involved in selling and buying. Should you move or improve? Or should you move, buy a house that needs improvements and then make improvements. Be sure to think of your house as an investment–it is an investment, and maybe the most important investment of your life.
Choose a Buyer’s Agent who will look at the big picture – both the sale and the next purchase. Make sure you can work with the Buyer’s Agent and then work to get a package price that covers both transactions. Tap them for their knowledge about all facets of both the sale and future purchase.

Make minor improvements

Add cosmetic improvements that will help sell the home.
Most of us believe we know current decor trends, but we don’t. Consider paying a little to have interior design expert provide some design ideas. Small changes could add thousands to the value of your home.
Consider upgrading the landscaping, fix driveway cracks and generally sharpen the property. Curb appeal is essential.
Remove and store belongings that clutter up the house and make rooms appear smaller than they are.
Fresh paint, new carpet, and new plumbing fixtures may be needed. This will ensure the top price and will ease the sales process. They should dramatically reduce the number of showings needed to secure a sale.

Price your home

To set a realistic price, you might need help.
There are many online tools but realtors have tools you do not have access to. For example, a realtor can generally tell what a house has sold for in the past, at least in the last decade. They can see how many times it was listed unsuccessfully. They can perform a variety of searches, based on different criteria, for your market.
Realtor.com is a nice online resource.
Often Zillow.com can give you a price – the numbers are often conservative, but it is a place to start.
A Buyer’s Agent may be the key to accurately price your home.

Market your home

The more I do real estate the more I see the value of a good real estate agent.
Transactions have become complex and buyers general don’t trust “For Sale By Owner” situations. FSBO is a signal to many experienced investors that there a good deal in the offing, because the seller lacks the appropriate skill set.
Attorneys and title companies can help but often keep in mind that they normally lack the appropriate understanding of the local marketplace.

Close the sale

Regardless of how you sell your home you should end up at a title company for the closing.
Don’t try to close the sales while meeting only legal requirements: getting title insurance and making appropriate disclosures and filings are worth the extra work and is money well spent.

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