When selling your home, what are some tips to make it more desirable to potential buyers?
June 15th, 2010 by admin
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8 Responses to “When selling your home, what are some tips to make it more desirable to potential buyers?”
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Paint everything some neutral color.
Get rid of personal items like pictures. You want buyers to picture themselves in your home. They don’t want to know who already lives there.
well u could repaint ur house
Clean our any clutter, a buyer doesn’t want walk into a house and see pictures of your sons graduation or piles of your dirty laundry. This distracts them from “picturing” themselves living there.
Neutral colors, turn on all the lights and open all the windows. Staging works great or minimize your items to make your rooms look bigger. Curb appeal is a must and a yankee candle in the back ground doesn’t hurt either..they have one that smells like baked goods.
Also make sure you fix all the little details that buyers might notice. Another thing that might help is if you have the funds is to make sure your house is updated, windows, roof etc..one less thing for the buyer to worry about and it doens’t hurt to get your home inspection ahead of time you know what needs to be fixed and can adjust your asking price if you can’t them corrected.
New carpet and fresh paint. : )
Declutter, depersonalize and clean.
Start packing by taking down personal photos, take the kids art off the fridge, put away the doll collection. Don’t set the table with your best china, place a nice centerpiece on the table. YOu want potential buyers to visualize the space with their items.
Nice music playing is OK (something between Metallica and Mozart, instrumentals are good), candles or pot pourri are nice, fresh flowers are lovely in staging a home.
Make it bright, warm and inviting.
Selling Your Home Yourself
If you are willing to learn how the selling process works and put some time into marketing your home, selling your own home can be a way to save thousands of dollars from broker commissions. Marketing can be putting an ad in the classified real estate section, developing a brochure/flyer for your open house, installing a sale sign on your property and advertising on the Internet. You might consider listing your home with a Broker who offers a low flat rate.
Then, after you find a buyer, writing a contract is an essential part of the process. The buyer can hire an attorney or be represented by a licensed agent to write an offer. Or, they can write their own contract. Once you receive the offer, you must be careful. The contract of sale is a legally binding contract. If not understood, seek competent legal advice.
Once the contract is signed, you must be aware of contingencies such as financing and home inspections. All of your options should be spelled out in the contract, including what happens when some contingency cannot be obtained or if repairs are required. Remember, time is of the essence.
Condition of Your Property
When selling your home, an appraiser is supposed to note any physical deficiencies in your home, and could rate the property below average for the neighborhood. If your property is rated below average in the appraisal, most lenders will not accept a property with at least an average rating, and may require you to make repairs prior to settlement. Most cosmetic repairs (unless HUD loan) will not be required, but other problems including worn roofing shingles, wet basements, non-working heating or air conditioning systems, plumbing or electrical problems, or some structural component of the dwelling may result in the lender turning down the loan for your buyer unless the repair is completed prior to settlement.
Even if you have a conventional purchase contract that says you are selling the property in “as is” condition, many investors who purchase these loans will not accept a home in this condition. So you have to make a decision. Either you make the repairs or negotiate with the buyer for them to make the repair. Or, if you are aware of some of these types of problems, you could do the repairs prior to listing your home. It would be very important to stipulate in your sales contract who is responsible for lender-required repairs.
Pricing Your Property for Sale
One of the most important financial decisions a homeowner can make is pricing your home for sale. Most sellers need to receive the highest possible price for their home. If the list price is not properly set, then you will either miss potential buyers because they might not even look at your property, or you will receive a lower price when in fact you could have received additional funds. By acquiring the highest price for your home, you may be able to purchase a more expensive house or if you are downsizing and need a smaller home, you may be able to live in a neighborhood that is more desirable.
There are three main ways to price your home to sell. First, you can go to your local courthouse or find an Internet site and search for properties that have recently sold. Second, your can list your home with a broker/agent that provides a market analysis. Third, have an appraisal completely by a professional appraiser.
Your home is special. It’s full of memories. However, this affection can cloud your view of its real market value, resulting in an unrealistic asking price. Unrealistic asking prices scare away buyers, extend listing time, and can leave you without a sale.