Seller’s Tips – When Listed

Seller’s Tips When Your Home Is on the Market:

Here are the steps you can take to maximize your selling price and reduce selling time:

  • Maintaining cleanliness and decluttering.

Keeping your home in showcase condition during the marketing period is a lot of work but well worth the time and effort it takes to do it properly. Being ready at a moments notice ensures that you never miss a showing and the true potential of the home is clearly seen. Have a game plan to enlist the help of the whole family when you get a call to show the home. A clean and tidy house gives the perception that the unseen things have also been taken care of. If the house feels peaceful and orderly, prospective buyers will feel that if they lived there, their lives would be peaceful and orderly. Many sales have been lost simply because of an untidy presentation.

If you have not yet done a deep cleaning, it is not too late to do so.  Click here for a deep cleaning checklist.

  • Showing / Open house preparation.

Turn on lights, open blinds/curtains, play soft background music and make sure the home smells good.

Bake some cookies and leave out a plate for buyers.

In the winter turn on the fire place and make sure the walkways are clear.

Leave the home during showings. Buyers will feel awkward if owners are present and will not be able to relax and envision themselves living in the space. Also the buyer’s realtor may extract information that will put the sellers at a distinct disadvantage during negotiations.

Special time saving tool!! If you have children or work out of your home, ask us about our “Showing Beacon” which will alert you as soon as buyers have left your home.

  • Get pre-approved.

Get pre-approved so that when the home goes under contract you’re ready to put a contract on your new home.

 

  • When should you lower your price?

With so many homes on the market many will be eliminated on paper (MLS) even if they meet the buyer’s requirements, simply because they don’t stand out from the competition. If your home is competing with several other homes in the same price range but they all have finished basements and yours does not, then you have two options: finish the basement or lower the price. If the seller is getting a fair number of showings but no offers, it could mean that on paper it looks appealing but buyers don’t like what they see when they get there. If the objection is high tension wires or backing to a busy road, you will need to adjust the price. If the feedback reveals something that can be changed, then again you have two options, make the change or lower the price.

 

  • Stage the Home.

Home staging is a sophisticated marketing tool used by top realtors and their clients to help homes sell quickly and for top dollar. Staging creates a warm inviting atmosphere that helps potential buyers make an emotional connection with the space. Staging adds the WOW appeal that causes buyers to fall in love with a property. Click Here for a Home Staging Discount Coupon!

  • Make a list of new home requirements and research homes that meet those requirements.

The shopping experts encourage you to make a shopping list before you go into the grocery store to save time and money. It’s even more important to make a shopping list for amenities when purchasing a home. Take some time with the whole family to determine your reasons for moving and what you want in a new home. Write down your must haves and preferences in prioritized order. i.e. We need at least a 2 car garage, no less than 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. It must be at least 1500 square ft. with central air. Prefer attached garage but will settle for detached. Would like to back to open space.  A detailed Needs/Wants Checklist is available to help you – CLICK HERE.

Before putting your home on the market, make sure the home you want is in the price range you can afford and qualify for. Start your research by previewing available homes that meet your requirements.

IMPORTANT NOTE: At this stage, look but don’t visit or contact seller or their agent. If you stop in a new home development or FSBO, don’t give them your name: hand them your agent’s card. The purpose of this research is to make sure you have realistic expectations, not to find the home of your dreams. Moving ahead of the game without representation can cost you dearly in the long run.