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Selling Your Home in a Tough Market
- By Holly Barr
- Published 09/16/2008
- Real Estate Success
-
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Holly Barr
Holly Barr is a full time licensed realtor® specializing in residential real estate in the diverse neighborhoods of the Silicon Valley, including Almaden, Blossom Valley, Campbell, Cambrian, Cupertino, Mountain View, the Rose Garden, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Redwood City, Los Gatos and Willow Glen. She specializes in exceeding expectations
through tough negotiations, strong communication skills and managing the details. Holly's satisfied clients say she's a pro. Holly can be reached at 408-887-3225
or by email to holly@hollybarr.net.
Times are tough. Especially if you're trying to sell a property in this market. But there is good news. If you need to move, we've got the top five tips for selling your home in today’s market:
1) Curb appeal is a must! Get that grass greened up and trimmed (and keep it that way). Power wash the front and back. Tune up the paint with a fresh coat on the trim or a whole paint job (your Realtor(r) should have a good painter--mine typically costs between $1,700-$2,700). Get color into the front yard - say "come inside" with flowers! Trim big bushes and trees, you want to see the house. Bring the canopy of the trees up so you can see the house. Your goal is to get people to come up to the house and want to see more! Here is my article about how to have curb appeal. http://www.ehow.com/how_4484181_have-great-curb-appeal.html
2) Clear and clean. Clear out anything extra in your home. Pictures, books, games (yes, all that extra furniture that you are holding for your sister - time to give it back to her or store it off site). Less is more within reason. Then it is time to clean! Hire someone if you have to. The house has to sparkle. From the baseboards to the crown molding. Buyers will be looking closely at the details of your home and have a hard time picturing living there if they see pet hair on the floor, a messy refrigerator or bathroom (yes, buyers will sometimes even look in the fridge!).
3) Consider staging the house. Even if you only have one room that needs work or just need a few accessories. Talk with your Realtor and be open about changing your artwork, color schemes, or your bedding. When a home is staged it sells faster and for more money! I have seen buyers walk into a staged home and say things like, "I could live here" and "can they sell all the furniture with the house?". I have had a home that was vacant and sat on market for 3 months. When the seller let me stage it, that same house sold within 30 days!
4) Listen. Remember, your Realtor is there to SELL your house not to list it. You did your due diligence to find a good Realtor, so heed their advice if you want it sold.
5) Location, remodeling and ROI. If you are fortunate enough to have a family type neighborhood with kids playing and parents talking, block parties and good schools, nice houses with trees on the street (trees make a street feel much warmer and more inviting), you are much more likely to fetch a buyer faster and for slightly more money than what the last comp sold for. If you do not have the benefit of a great location, the only pulls you have are price and condition. Do all that you can to upgrade your home. You may have heard that you do not get all your money back when doing a remodel. That may be true, however, the speed of sale is another way to look at ROI. If your house has been upgraded, say, you put in some granite counters for $10K while you may not be advised to add $10K to the price, you will likely sell the house FASTER and that translates into one or five less mortgage payments!
Personally, my favorite room when looking at a home is any room that has something special and elegant to offer. I love an updated kitchen with something innovative like this espresso maker or some glass block side lights or hand made custom tiles in a bathroom. My most favorite is a romantic master suite with a walk in closet and a nice chandelier in above the tub! Something a bit outside the ordinary can add a lot of what I call, ‘wow value’.
1) Curb appeal is a must! Get that grass greened up and trimmed (and keep it that way). Power wash the front and back. Tune up the paint with a fresh coat on the trim or a whole paint job (your Realtor(r) should have a good painter--mine typically costs between $1,700-$2,700). Get color into the front yard - say "come inside" with flowers! Trim big bushes and trees, you want to see the house. Bring the canopy of the trees up so you can see the house. Your goal is to get people to come up to the house and want to see more! Here is my article about how to have curb appeal. http://www.ehow.com/how_4484181_have-great-curb-appeal.html
2) Clear and clean. Clear out anything extra in your home. Pictures, books, games (yes, all that extra furniture that you are holding for your sister - time to give it back to her or store it off site). Less is more within reason. Then it is time to clean! Hire someone if you have to. The house has to sparkle. From the baseboards to the crown molding. Buyers will be looking closely at the details of your home and have a hard time picturing living there if they see pet hair on the floor, a messy refrigerator or bathroom (yes, buyers will sometimes even look in the fridge!).
3) Consider staging the house. Even if you only have one room that needs work or just need a few accessories. Talk with your Realtor and be open about changing your artwork, color schemes, or your bedding. When a home is staged it sells faster and for more money! I have seen buyers walk into a staged home and say things like, "I could live here" and "can they sell all the furniture with the house?". I have had a home that was vacant and sat on market for 3 months. When the seller let me stage it, that same house sold within 30 days!
4) Listen. Remember, your Realtor is there to SELL your house not to list it. You did your due diligence to find a good Realtor, so heed their advice if you want it sold.
5) Location, remodeling and ROI. If you are fortunate enough to have a family type neighborhood with kids playing and parents talking, block parties and good schools, nice houses with trees on the street (trees make a street feel much warmer and more inviting), you are much more likely to fetch a buyer faster and for slightly more money than what the last comp sold for. If you do not have the benefit of a great location, the only pulls you have are price and condition. Do all that you can to upgrade your home. You may have heard that you do not get all your money back when doing a remodel. That may be true, however, the speed of sale is another way to look at ROI. If your house has been upgraded, say, you put in some granite counters for $10K while you may not be advised to add $10K to the price, you will likely sell the house FASTER and that translates into one or five less mortgage payments!
Personally, my favorite room when looking at a home is any room that has something special and elegant to offer. I love an updated kitchen with something innovative like this espresso maker or some glass block side lights or hand made custom tiles in a bathroom. My most favorite is a romantic master suite with a walk in closet and a nice chandelier in above the tub! Something a bit outside the ordinary can add a lot of what I call, ‘wow value’.
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2 Responses to "Selling Your Home in a Tough Market"
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said this on 18 Sep 2008 1:20:07 PM CST
What about getting Loans???
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Author/Admin)|
said this on 18 Sep 2008 3:41:00 PM CST
Loans are tricky! I will be putting together an article about what to be looking for on a loan. I recommend asking around for a company that did not get involved with the sub prime lending. Companies like Princeton Capitol and Absolute Mortgage are smaller yet strong.
Again, your realtor should have a great lender to refer you to. Best, Holly Barr |
