Selling your home…Your Pre-listing package
Even in a “sellers’ market,” the home seller must keep certain tips and possible pitfalls in mind to stay the course. Maybe you’re a first time home seller, maybe a seasoned seller, but even a veteran Realtor goes in with a plan based on practical home selling ideas.
If you look around your neighborhood you’ll notice most seasoned sellers list their property with a Realtor. Even in a “Sellers’ Market.” Pricing, predicting, presentation, promotion, problem solving, processing…peace of mind. It takes a professional.
One step at a time…we’ll make your property stand out in a crowd.
- HIRE A REALTOR. You won’t be sorry.
As a prospective seller, you might interview a number of real estate professionals in your market to determine your best “fit.” You are choosing your available point person, who is going to be with you beginning to end. Consider references, overall reputation, expertise, connections, community and global engagement. Be sure to discuss the hands-on management and services you expect. It’s important you participate in this groundwork, review the professional’s networks, her proposals for exposure and her/his marketing plan offered, and discuss the program best suited to your specific needs and goals.
And meanwhile, keep in mind one very basic key to success…Share with your agent all the things you love most about your home, details and insight you’d like her/him to share with consumers.
Then from that moment on, think of your property as a product instead of your home. This is the art of selling.
Don’t put your property on the market until you’re ready to sell. Then be educated to sell. Selling property properly means get professional, non-subjective advice, especially if it’s your home. If the owner isn’t ready to let go, buyers will know and the house will likely sit.
… And don’t “test” the market. You will fail.
- PRICE PROPERLY. Your key to success.
A seasoned Realtor can help you target the perfect pricing position for your property in any current marketplace. Pricing a property for the most successful sale is not just a science, based on what actual statistics tell you. It is is also an art, a perception that the professional Realtor develops over years of experience, added to the intimate study of your home real estate market, its histories and the relative sales climate at any given point in time.
There is often a spread between the original offering/list price and the price where the property actually sells… Alert!: the narrower this spread, the more successful your sale. Be sure to analyze, and disregard fabricated or manipulated data.
Time on the market must be factored into your pricing decision. It’s proven today, just as it was before we had computers and fax machines and cell phones, the longer a property sits, the lower the sales price.
Also a proven statistic, no matter how the market trends, up or down, the further your initial list price is above the actual market activity, the longer your house will sit. That’s the basis for the advice… in most markets, the best strategy to attract the most buyers is to price just a bit low. Take advantage of your agent’s insight and experience and you will lose nothing by determining the savvy pricing position… BEFORE you begin.
Today’s buyer has all manner of access to statistics and histories and trends, viable or not; and while of course, buyers seek to pay as little as possible, they essentially want a fair deal. When it comes to buying their first, or their fifth, home, they are largely willing to step up to the price that can be supported by professional and reasonable analysis of what the market will, or should bear. In other words, be prepared, and demand your agent be prepared to provide this in writing to a prospective buyer and/or his agent.
Here are some common mistakes sellers make in pricing their property:
- Pricing to what has not sold rather than what WAS sold.
When I was a new Realtor the saying went like this, “Price a little high, and a little low…” given a stable market, you can successfully price a little higher than what just sold, but also price it lower than what is currently offered for sale, i.e. the competition. Don’t worry that a neighbor might sell for more than you. If he is priced way higher, focus on your own goal. That competitor will not likely sell sooner, certainly not for more.
- Overvaluing the amenities.
What is important to one owner may not be important to another, or even preferred, such as granite countertops and high end fixtures and appliances. No two women like the same kitchen. Even a pool may be a drawback, perhaps for an out-of-town owner who doesn’t prefer the added maintenance and liability, or a family with an infant who are concerned about family safety.
- Reflecting improvements you’ve made dollar for dollar in the list price for your home.
Buyers may not appreciate the improvements you’ve made along the way as much as you did when you paid for them. It’s often difficult for a home seller to recognize when his cherished improvements and decor seem out-dated, even ill-advised, to the prospective buyer. In any event, we all know a car or a couch never brings the same price 5 minutes off the lot or the showroom floor. A buyer will not, cannot sincerely appreciate your personal clutter, nor even perhaps your financial investment. None of this will weigh so much as your clean, manicured, professional presentation.
- Pricing with your next home purchase needs in mind.
Buyers won’t care what you need to net for your next purchase.
- Pricing according to on line computer estimates, Zestimates, automated valuation models.
These sites are available everywhere, even on some agents’ websites (!), fun tools to “see where you are today”… But these are macro-level, at-a-glance, unwarrantable valuations which cannot be accurate enough or substantive enough to be dependable indicators of where a property is properly placed on the market. A good buyer, one who will pay the price, will seek professional guidance and expertise. You as a Seller, should, too.
What if an agent knocks on your door and suggests you list your home in a range of $368k to $432K, then adds he’s confident you have a 50% chance of selling it in that range…? That’s essentially what you get with an AVM.
Your agent should be prepared, in writing, to help you make an informed decision about pricing your property. Then your agent will do his or her best job to continuously counsel you and to ensure you’re not still sitting in your home six months later, along with the other Un-Solds. There are Un-Solds in any market.
- Ignoring feedback and traffic indicators.
Really look at the actual, not manipulated, listing to selling time ratios when you price your property. AND once you have listed your property on the active market, stay engaged. Listen to your agent, who should give you continuous feedback from other agents as well as personal showings. Listen to what the market is telling you. Watch the traffic patterns, on-site and on-line, keep up with what your neighboring competitors are doing, and find out what your prospective buyers bought instead of buying your property.
- PREPARE AND PRESENT THOUGHTFULLY….your property is your produce.
Again, think of this property as a product to sell, not your home. You won’t live there any more, someone else will. And the best odds of finding your buyer sooner rather than later is to de-personalize it, and show your buyer the palette (s)he can use to imagine himself living there, not you.
- Curb appeal…first impressions…this is the initial determination of what your home is like inside. Clean the yard, get rid of obstacles that detract from “manicured” in any way. Re-mulching, new grass, new plants can add color and appeal, perhaps add solar lighting along the walkway and potted greenery at the front door. Pressure wash drives, walkways, siding…paint and trim, clean soffits and gutters, check the roof….how does the front door welcome people, the front porch, the mailbox?……
Keep a realistic budget, don’t replace something unless it’s a major irreparable detraction, but little things add up. You’re providing a memorial snapshot, a first impression to set the tone of the interior showing, or to bring that buyer back to look inside.
2…Clean clean clean… Be especially sensitive to this now. Above all, this is the major feeling that will weigh in with prospective buyers. Not only clean, make it sparkling…which of course denotes attention to that sort of detail, and gives a prospective buyer peace of mind. You want the buyer to know you think well of your home, not just what you have in it. You want them to feel it is a healthy home. Proper cleaning can surpass the countertop upgrade you couldn’t afford, and it costs the seller virtually nothing beyond time and detergent and polish.
3…Repair/remodel. … Small improvements go a long way… details such as fresh trim at doors, baseboard, crown molding, cabinet handles, fresh paint (neutral shades only!…such as warm white), and get rid of the wall paper… Cleaning and making sure all fans and lighting fixtures are in working order is a big plus.
You can step up another level…to new or continuous (all rooms matching) flooring, new windows…all of these items can significantly brighten and improve the look of your home and help your home sell faster, thus for more. Attention to such items can also likely increase the return on dollar spent.
You might consider appliance upgrades, but initial attention should focus on major mechanical items, indicating your home is well maintained. This will likely win more points with a buyer.
Substantial interior upgrades such as bathrooms and kitchens, for the purpose of selling faster or for more, are ill-advised, not only for potential dollar return on your investment, but also for the time, not to mention unexpected hurdles, it will likely take to complete. And after all, second-guessing what your buyer will prefer is very risky…especially with kitchen and master bath arrangements.
- De-cluttering and staging…. You don’t need to have a huge budget to be staging savvy. Staging can mean professional, really upscale designers, or it can translate to de-cluttering, de-personalizing, and “styling” a house. Less is more. De-cluttering is top of the list…which may mean renting a pod or storeroom, removing a couple pieces of furniture from each room. Do this before you put your property up for sale. It will sell faster, for more.
It may take a trained “third” eye to transform a space to suit the latest trend in home buyer wants and needs, but often you and your friends and your agent can be the staging sages. Just use an objective eye and pin-point where attention is most warranted. Staging or “styling” a home can be as simple as neutralizing, reorganizing and redistributing some pieces you already own, with the idea of drawing attention away from what detracts…or screams… and putting focus on what is spatially positive and has general appeal. Perhaps you might create a focal point in a room with a piece of furniture that suggests how the buyer might use the room. But remember to give your prospects the space they need to visualize and to engage.
- GET THE WORD OUT…key in to professional marketing.
Proper pricing is crucial, but the price a buyer offers is driven by cleanliness, preparation, presentation (staging/styling)… and of course, bringing your public in. Traffic is generated by professional marketing and proper market exposure. Once your home is ready to go on the active market, your Realtor can assure your photography, your brochures/ flyers, are attractive, and your marketing material is thoughtful, relevant, informative, and demonstrates pride of ownership for a new owner. The expert marketing representative has not only the resources, but also the resourcefulness, the know-how, to focus attention aggressively while in good taste, with the most beneficial and effective results.
A savvy real estate agent is equipped to hook you into all manner of networks, local and global, to expansively and properly expose your property for sale. All of us who are MLS and PRO/Realtor members are syndicated on nearly a thousand on-line websites, and some of us are professionally linked through our individual certifications and designations so we are associated with countless other professional networks, to assure you enjoy maximum exposure for your product, both in your own backyard, and across the globe.
READY, SET, GO!