Pricing Your Home in a Fall(en) Market
It's not new news. Real estate markets everywhere have fallen. If you're trying to sell your home, or even thinking about putting your house on the market, pricing the home to sell quickly can be the trickiest part of all.
Our Money Editor, Stacy Johnson, has some advice on pricing your home to sell. This short video runs 1:37…
Trying to sell your home this fall? Thinking of buying a home now? Tell us what you think about the current market. We'd love to hear your comments. Use the "Comment" link below to sound off…
Selling Your House? Try Staging It
Staging a house can be the difference between its sitting or selling. Here are some findings and simple staging tips to help turn lookers into buyers at your next open house.
Studies have shown that staged homes sell quicker - sometimes up to 40% faster - than non-staged homes. Simply stated, staged homes sell faster for more money than those that aren't staged.
Three basic staging rules:
- Entice buyers to enter. If people don't like what they see on the outside, they may not come in. Doors are the one exception to the neutral-color rule. Rich colors say "welcome" and "come inside." Some suggestions: red, black, charcoal and chocolate brown.
- Curb appeal to sell a house. Curb appeal is 360 degrees around a house - and includes the neighbors and the neighborhood. Sellers should focus first on what they can control, especially landscaping outdoor spaces and lighting. Sadly, many sellers skip this obvious step and lose equity - and many prospective buyers - as a direct result.
- Clobber the clutter. Go room by room and purge. Get rid of anything personal.
Hiring a professional home stager has great benefits to any seller. The seller doesn't have to spend every night and weekend trying to get the house ready for people to see. The seller can continue with their normal routine and have one less thing to worry about.
Consider this simple rule of thumb, the investment in staging your home will always be less than the first price reduction on your home if you don't stage it and it just sits on the market.
Pricing Your Home to Sell
Pricing your home is one of the most important items when choosing to sell your home and doing this wrong can be a costly mistake. You have to consider more than just the price to do this properly. The condition of your home, average market time for your area, availability for showings and the competing homes can all play a big role in choosing the proper price.
To accurately determine the right price for your home you need to find current prices for comparable homes in your area, as well as find recent comparable sales in your area, and know the demand for housing in your area.
Here are some helpful steps to help you select the appropriate price when selling your home:
Step #1: Measure Your Home
Measure your home against similar homes in your area that have recently been sold or currently are for sale.
Step#2: Compare Features
Find what features either make your home stand out against the comparable homes or maybe appear not as attractive. Items such as square footage, number of bedrooms, number of garage spaces and lot size can make a big difference. Buyers will be comparing your home to these others, so it's a good idea to do so yourself.
Step#3: Cosmetic Fix-Up's
Determine what cosmetic fix-ups you can complete to make your home more appealing than the competition but without spending too much. You don't want to invest money you will not recoup when you sell your home. This will highly increase the marketability of your home.
When Pricing Remember:
The right price is usually within 5% of the market value. If you select a price that is too high the home will have little interest and few showings. If the price is too low there will be many buyers and you will miss out on potential profit.
Selling Your Home: Presentation is Everything
In today's more challenging real estate market, selling your home becomes even more of a challenge. With more and more homes on the market, how you present your home is key.
Uncluttered homes; spacious, clean and organized; bright and open is the desired look these days. Homebuyers are looking for a home to grow into not grow out of. So it is imperative that one make good use of the space they have in their home to prove to potential buyers that they can feel comfortable in your home, regardless of the square footage.
First, give a thorough inspection to the interior and exterior of your home, carefully going over every detail. If necessary, enlist the aid of a professional home inspector who can help you inspect your home, looking for any necessary repairs and maintenance issues. It is vital that you clear up any of these problems regarding the safety of your home before you even consider putting your home on the market for sale.
Presenting your home in a manner that will make buyers imagine living in your home is a step in the right direction to a quicker and more profitable sale.
If you want to know more about what you need to do to make your home more presentable to buyers, give us a call or drop us an email. We'll be happy to help in any way we can.
In today's market and the increased choices buyers have when shopping for a home, one of the most important factors you need to consider (other than price of course) when getting your home ready to sell is the condition of the home.
Condition reigns supreme over all else. Buyers have so many choices right now that anything that looks like it needs work can be enough to kill your chances of selling. People prefer move-in condition, so if your property isn’t, you probably need to do what it takes to make it that way. It's worth the money to remove old wallpaper, paint, replace carpet, and replace the roof if it’s almost at the end of its life. Offering an allowance doesn’t work in the market we're in now because buyers tend to overinflate the costs of these improvements, anticipating double or triple what it will actually cost you to just go ahead and do it now.
Plus, with the number of homes for sale, if yours is the one that needs to be painted, chances are it’s also the one that won’t sell.
There are exceptions, such as homes that need a complete overhaul, so it’s a good idea to discuss your home and your plans with a real estate agent before getting started.
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