Preparing Your Home or Condo For Sale Part 1 of 8

Preparing Your Home or Condo For Sale 

Part 1 of 8

The key to selling your house or your condo is a "Great 1st impression". First impression Matters! You the seller have just a few moments to create a winning 1st impression. A home needs to be visually appealing to encourage a sale. Most buyers select there home based on emotion and then justify the decision with facts. Even in a market where homes are selling quickly and at asking price, it is so crucial to spruce up your home and prove it is worth every penny.  

Start with the outside, the 1st impression the buyer will have is the outside. I have been with many buyer who drive up and make a decision to keep driving right to the next property. 

If the buyer is walking up to the property saying ewwww that's there 1st impression walking through the door.  

         OUTSIDE
◊ Lawn mowed and trimmed
◊ Landscape shrubs/plants trimmed
◊ Sprinkler systems in order
◊ Sprinkler systems set for non showing hours
◊ Bulbs in exterior lighting all working
◊ Gutters clean of debris
◊ Deck rails, hand rails secure
◊ Exterior trim painted
◊ Exterior door handles polished
◊ Exterior door freshly painted or stained
◊ Weeds in yard fully removed
◊ Sidewalks neatly edged
◊ Clean grease or oil on driveway
◊ All fencing clean
◊ Replace doormat if worn
◊ Outside windows clean
◊ No obstruction on “For Sale” sign

If you like to know more about preparing your home for sale or would like a free, no obligation room-by-room review of a home your thinking about selling please give me a call or message me 
Linda Wieczorek 602.391.8246

Housing market diagnosis: Bipolar

The article, Housing market diagnosis: Bipolar, from CNNMoney.com, reports that bipolar is what comes to mind when diagnosing the post-home buyer tax credit market.

There are two separate forces pulling it in opposite directions, and experts aren't yet sure which path the market will take. On one hand, sales and prices are rising, indicating recovery. On the other hand, so are interest rates and repossessions, which most certainly do not. And then there are the millions of foreclosures that need to be sold but haven't yet been listed -- so-called shadow inventory -- that could derail a real recovery if they hit the market in floods.

The prognosis? Negative short term but turning positive by the end of 2010. One of market's biggest hurdles is getting beyond the lapse of the $8,000 home buyer tax credit. Thanks to the incentive, buyers scrambled to beat the April 30 deadline, pushing new home sales up nearly 30% in March. "In the months immediately following the expiration of the tax credit, we expect measurably lower sales," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors (NAR). But there is one factor that has experts really scared: homes that are ready to be sold but haven't been put on the market. Right now, there could be more than 4.5 million homes in "shadow inventory," according to a recent report by Barclays Capital. This so-called shadow inventory is a recent phenomenon. In the past, inventory was either tight or it wasn't. But now, with home prices so low and so many foreclosures on the market, both homeowners and banks have been waiting to put properties on the market. But as more sellers put their homes up for sale, supplies increase, which will depress prices again. Rinse and repeat ad infinitum.

Here is a link to the article

http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/17/real_estate/housing_market_direction/index.htm

Selling Smart

Having a tough time selling your home? Bummed in a buyer's market? Check out what you can do to help you get your home sold. You want the buyer to want to jump out of the car to look at your property!!!

1.Evaluate Your Situation
Do you really need to sell? If you love your neighborhood and just need more space, perhaps you can remodel and stay. Or if the market is slow and houses aren't selling, you may be better off waiting or renting your home out.

Whatever your reason, before you even put up the "For Sale" sign, crunch the numbers to see if it makes financial sense to sell your home. These steps will help you figure out whether you should sell or stay

2. Plan Your Selling Strategy
After you've crunched the numbers and decided now is the right time to sell, come up with a strategy to achieve the financial and personal goals. Pricing your home correctly is the most important step in this process and will affect your ability to sell quickly and smoothly, a real estate agent can help you get the correct comps for your neighborhood.

Do your research and be realistic. Know your competition (previously owned homes, new construction, foreclosures) and find ways to make your home stand out. Market your home strategically and effectively and consider offering incentives. Most cities are buyer's markets right now, so your strategy will mean the difference between stale and sold.

The approach you choose depends on your motivation, i.e., how fast you need to get rid of the home and how much money you want to get from the sale. Keep in mind that the longer your house is for sale, the more you'll have to spend.
Choosing the right agent can make or break your sale. First, familiarize yourself with the real estate industry's structure.

Most sellers work with real estate brokers -- real estate agents who are licensed to advertise property on the multiple listing service (MLS), a database that only real estate professionals can access. A seller's agent is called the listing agent.



3.Stage and Show the Home
You have a plan. Now it's time to execute. Prepare your home by cleaning and staging it so buyers can imagine themselves living there. In today's market, open houses and baking cookies are not enough to get buyers interested. Skip the gimmicks and tricks and focus on marketing your home effectively. Technology and the Internet have empowered buyers, so make them work for you too. A clean home will sell faster!!!

Whether a buyer finds out about your house through the MLS, newspaper classifieds, Web sites or word of mouth, your goal is to get them to see your home and make an offer.

*Give your home a fresh coat of paint.
*Replace old siding and roof shingles.
*Remove dated elements like awnings and old light fixtures.
*Sweep the entryway, porch and sidewalks daily. Add an attractive welcome mat.
*Mow and trim the lawn. Add colorful flowers. Invest in shrubbery and other plants that increase your home value.
*Clear the clutter and clean out the gutters and downspouts.
*Clean the windows from the inside and outside.

4.Close the DealYou've done all you can to prepare and show your home. Now you can sit back and watch the offers roll in, right? Not. Offers come in all forms -- from the dreaded lowball to the contingency crazy. The key is to not take the offers personally. They are not reflections of you or your home; they are business propositions.

Review every offer carefully, evaluate the buyer and negotiate terms so you can come to a deal. But a signed contract doesn't mean it's over. You have to pass the appraisal and inspections and negotiate more if needed. Once everyone is satisfied that their terms have been met, you can all sign the paperwork and celebrate.

If you are think of selling your home or know someone who would like to chat, just give me a jingle Linda 602-391-8246