Selling tips to help you sell faster, better and for more money

Landscaping counts

When you’re selling your house, you obviously want it to stand out. A reasonably easy and relatively inexpensive way to accomplish this may be to invest a little work in the landscaping and the yard. We’re not talking about a major horticultural overhaul, although studies show that such work does add value to the home. We’re talking about simply adding some color and making the outside of the house much more attractive and memorable. Strategically placed plants and flowers can really enhance your property’s appearance. Also, if it’s not overdone, a well-maintained yard and garden appear to require less maintenance than an unkempt or overgrown one. A visit to your local nursery will be of great help. There are lots of affordable options, and spending just a few dollars can really increase the visibility of your home. A small crop of annuals is an affordable way to add instant color, which naturally attract the eye. The staff at local nurseries is usually well-schooled in local soils and conditions and should be able to guide you in your purchase. Here’s something to remember—you can plant the flowers or plants in the ground, but if you do, it’s assumed that they’re going to convey to the buyer. If you use planters or pots, they can go with you to your new place. Keep in mind that sometimes less is more. Simply pruning bushes and cutting back overgrown trees can make a huge difference. If you’ve got some old shrubs, it may benefit you to remove them. Something about curb appeal that is often overlooked is that it’s not always about attracting attention—rather, sometimes it’s about diverting eyes from a less-desirable feature, like a chain link fence, or the area where you store your trash can. Shrubbery or climbing plants provide an easy way to minimize something unsightly that may otherwise cause buyers to hesitate. As a seller, you may have difficulty seeing your home through a buyer’s eyes. When you list your home, ask your agent to evaluate your property’s curb appeal. Your agent will have suggestions and advice to make your home more marketable.

Spend some time in your kitchen

The kitchen could be the most important room in a house. Maybe it’s the warmth and pleasant smells, maybe it’s because there’s always activity, or maybe it’s something else—whatever the case, many of our memories from our homes originate in the kitchen. Buyers are not ignorant to this fact. The kitchen can be of key importance in not only the amount of an offer, but maybe even getting an offer. It should go without saying, but before you put your home on the market but you really should make sure your kitchen is properly cleaned and de-cluttered. If you’ve lived in the house for more than a couple of years, you’ll probably find forgotten items in the depths of the cabinets. If so, donate, pack, store, or throw them away. Kitchen storage is precious and important to many buyers—you’ll hardly ever hear “there was just too much storage in that kitchen” from a house hunter. By getting rid of or storing all the stuff you don’t use, you’re clearing space and making the kitchen appears orderly and more capacious. Aside from clearing away all your old stuff, you should defrost and clean the refrigerator, take care of the stovetop and oven, and make sure your cabinets and the front of all appliances are sparkling. If you have an older home, sometimes elbow grease and industrial strength cleaners are not enough. Deterioration of the various parts of your kitchen is an immediate turnoff to buyers—they imagine themselves spending money on remodeling. Furthermore, if the house for sale down the street has a newly remodeled kitchen, you may have to keep up with those Joneses. The reality is that many buyers’ expectations have been raised in these days of ubiquitous fixer-upper, home improvement shows. The good news is that buyers will typically overestimate the cost of remodeling, especially in the kitchen. Your return on investment for kitchen remodels can be substantial, sometimes approaching or surpassing 100%. If you’re handy, or have some handy friends, you can recuperate more of your money by doing the job yourself. Be careful, though … sometimes it really does pay to hire a professional. Also, remember that while quality is important, you should not out-build your neighborhood—you’ll see less of a return on investment if you go too high-scale. Even a modest kitchen remodel can make your house stick out to a potential buyer, and many times is a big difference in the number of days your home is on the market. You may need to buy new appliances, fix the grout and tile, paint the cabinets, or replace the sink basin. Because of your emotional involvement, it may be difficult to assess your needs, so ask your agent if you have any questions. A little work in the kitchen can make a significant impression on a prospective buyer. If it shines and appear well-cared for or, better yet, has been remodeled, your house will stand out.

Protect yourself

While it’s certainly not common, there are reports of sellers’ possessions disappearing during a showing. When you list your house and are expecting potential buyers, it’s wise to take steps that protect your belongings and, more importantly, your privacy. Most people secure their diamonds, gold, and grandmother’s pearls, but even so, jewelry remains the most commonly stolen item from open houses or showings. Firearms and prescription medicine are the second and third most common items that disappear, both of which can cause problems for you. Evaluate your situation. Consider all the personal effects you have in your built-in drawers, closets, or bathroom cabinets. Think of it this way—if it’s not locked, a potential buyer may just open it for further examination. This is not just about possessions, though. There is sensitive information about you and your family in your house. Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States. The Federal Trade Commission’s identity theft Web site has reported that as many as 9 million Americans have their identity stolen each year. There are many ways a thief can get your information, but stealing mail is at the top of the list. Bills, insurance information, bank statements, blank checks, offers of credit, and other personal mail are all tools that a criminal can use to assume your identity. Ensure that none of these is left out in the open. In addition to mail, we all have other personal documents in our home, like birth certificates, passports, and social security cards. Place these papers in a safe, strong box, or locking file cabinet and turn the key—there’s nothing more pointless than keeping valuables in an unlocked safe! If you do notice that something’s been stolen or you think your sensitive documents may have been compromised during a showing, immediately contact the police, your insurance company, and other necessary parties, including your agent. A safety deposit box may be a good solution. The house of a trusted friend or relative may also be an option. If you go this route, contact your insurance company and see if your possessions will be covered when they’re not in your home. When your home is for sale, you should protect yourself and your possessions. Do yourself a favor and remove temptation.

Understanding the lingo - comps

So, you’re selling your home and every single agent you interviewed to list your home has mentioned “pulling comps”. Not wanting to appear uniformed, you just nodded your head and played along. So what is a comp? Simply put, a comp, short for comparable, is the primary set of data used in determining the value of your home. Comps give you data from all the recently sold property in your neighborhood. Some of the different data you see might be the age of the house, the square footage, and most importantly, price. Your agent may use these data to create a Comparative Market Analysis for you. In any real estate market, the more recent a comp, the more accurate it is. Obviously, the availability of recent comps depends on how active the market has been in your area. Generally speaking, the most significant comps are those that are closest to your address. This does not account for differences such as one house having a view of the lake, which will add value, or a home backing up to a railroad track, which will detract from the value. Price per square foot is a significant and well-tested method of comparison, although straight comparison can be deceiving. You can see a big discrepancy if, for instance one property has been neglected and another of exactly the same size, just two doors down, has been well cared for. Lot size is a factor as well. A 2,400 square foot house on a four-acre lot may sell for quite a bit more than an identical house on a .33-acre lot. Other factors may include nearby amenities, traffic concerns or access to a main road, landscaping and curb appeal, and the general condition of the exterior of the house—such as the driveway, roof, chimney, or fence. In the end, it comes down to what the buyer’s bank’s appraiser says the property is worth. That appraiser may use comps to generate his appraisal, but banks or lenders do not take comps into account when considering the amount to loan the buyer; they will only consider the appraisal. The point is this—there are many factors to sift through when evaluating comps. If you have questions, your agent should be able to decipher these data and explain the methods she used in pricing your home.

Fix it up

If you’re selling a house in a buyer’s market, you need every advantage to set your house apart. Taking care of small projects that have lingered on your to-do list may significantly reduce the days your house is on the market and even save you few thousand dollars when you negotiate the final price. Every home has quirks, but sometimes taking care of a few simple repairs makes a huge difference. If you’ve lived in a house for several years, you may have become accustomed to that kitchen cabinet that doesn’t quite close properly and the bathroom vanity that is slightly off-center. How about that patio door that only locks when lifted a certain way? You may be adept at manipulating the lock to engage, but an outsider may become frustrated and associate your house with a negative feeling. If you’re a do-it-yourself kind of person, find your motivation and take care of these projects. If you’re not so adept with tools, hire a handyman. While none of these problems will, by themselves, cause a buyer to walk, if he has a choice between two similar houses, he’ll most likely choose the one that requires the least amount of work. Once you’ve taken care of the small stuff, consider big projects, too. You probably don’t want to hear this, but if you know the house needs, say, a new roof, you should bite the bullet and get a new roof. It’s going to cost several thousand dollars, but remember that you’re in a buyer’s market. A new roof is a selling point. Most buyers will consider that a huge positive – it’s something they know will not cause problems for many years to come. If a potential buyer walks in and can immediately count seven or eight small projects, plus one big one, she may cross your home off the list – even if the house is priced fairly and the projects won’t take long. Fixing lots of little stuff may not cost you much, and knocking these projects off your list can be the difference between a house that sells and a house that sits. Your agent can discuss with you valuable advice about home repair and other tips to help your home sell faster when buyer’s have the upper hand.

Yes, a sign in your yard

Some sellers prefer not to put a for sale sign in the yard. Perhaps they don’t want nosy neighbors asking lots of questions, or they don’t want to attract attention from people who are “just looking,” or maybe they just don’t like the aesthetics of an advertisement sticking out of the ground. But think long and hard before you decide to forego a yard sign. This is no time to shy away from attention. The more people who know your home is for sale, the better. That includes neighbors, who can provide excellent word-of-mouth advertising. So if your agent suggests putting a yard sign in front of your home, your best bet is to heed that advice and let everyone know your house is on the market. Keep your options open.

What level of service?

When you decide to list your home with a real estate broker, you have many options. You will find large firms, small firms, and even solo practitioners. You can hire a brokerage that provides a large array of services or one that provides only a few. Whatever firm you hire, be aware that real estate brokers are require by law to provide clients with certain minimum services. A broker who represents a party—a buyer or seller or landlord—is required to inform that person “if the broker receives material information related to a transaction to list, buy, sell or lease the party’s real estate, including the receipt of an offer by the broker.” The broker is also required to answer a client’s questions and must present any offer to or from the party. These minimum-service requirements do not require brokers to offer “full service” or a large number of services. Beyond the bare minimum, every broker decides what to provide to clients. The law also does not dictate what a broker should or can charge. The amount and method of compensation is determined by each broker. When you interview a Urban Gate Realty Group agent to list your property, find out what services the agent offers as well as what and how you will pay for that service. And know that no matter what level of service you arrange, you have a right to expect the minimum services guaranteed to you by law.

Your home’s real value

Coming up with an asking price is one of the key decisions when selling your home. While there are many sources to help you derive your asking price, you should exercise some care. You can visit several Web sites that provide an estimate of your home’s value. Some of them may even be pretty accurate. Then again, they may be wildly wrong. The values on the Web site might rely on outdated information or may be unaware of property features that increase or decrease the value of a property. You can also find taxable values from most appraisal districts. Again, the numbers here could be close … or not. Checking out asking prices of other homes in the neighborhood can give you some helpful data, but you have to know if the home actually sold for that asking price, how the other property compares to yours in size and features, and even whether the other home is really located in the same neighborhood as far as real estate prices go. With so many uncertainties, how can you get a better handle on an asking price? A Urban Gate Realty Group agent can analyze market conditions, look at your home, talk to you about your goals and time line, and give you a good idea what your property might fetch. Those other sources may give you a good starting point. But if you want to maximize your profit on the sale of your home, no one understands real estate pricing like an agent with experience in your area.