I’m not going to sugar coat it. Selling a home is hard work. I look at the process as a collaborative effort between myself and the seller. We need to work together in order to obtain the best possible results – selling the home for the highest possible price in the shortest amount of time.
The seller’s role will focus on preparing the house for sale and keeping the home ready-to-show and accessible. My role is to provide guidance on maintenance, repairs, staging, pricing and of course, marketing the home.
My favorite real estate adage is “I’ve never seen a house that price can’t fix.” This is so true, particularly in today’s market! I will provide a comprehensive market analysis and help educate you about competing homes and sales trends in your neighborhood. My goal is to always be realistic when pricing a home and to offer all available options to sellers. Sometimes an incentive for the buyer may help move the property quickly. Other times, we may need to work the price in order to get the buyer activity we need.
I’ll continue to provide you with updates about market trends and recent listing and sales data each month. I’ll contact you by email or phone at least once a week. Of course, you can call me or email me anytime you’d like!
Once we’ve come to an agreement on price, we need to focus on preparing the home for sale. In today’s market, buyers are predominantly using FHA financing to purchase homes. You may be wondering how that effects you as a seller. It has a major impact on your ability to sell your home. You must ensure that your home will qualify for FHA financing. You must be willing and able to make any necessary repairs or maintenance to the home to make it a viable candidate for FHA financing.
In general terms, this means that the major systems of the home must be in good working order and the home must be free of wood-destroying organisms or damage from wood-destroying organisms. If your home is newer, say less than 10 years old, or if it has been renovated in the last 10 years, you are probably in good shape. However, with older homes, even ones that have been renovated, there are sometimes issues that need to be addressed.
I recommend that sellers complete a pre-listing home inspection with an inspector certified by the American Society of Home Inspectors and a pre-listing wood-destroying organism inspection. The costs can vary from $300 and up for the home inspection and around $100 and up for the wood destroying organism inspection. I know that this sounds expensive, but spending this money up front can prevent a lot of stress and problems later in the home selling process.
Once the inspections are completed, the seller will need to address any repair items and have the work performed by licensed professionals. Be sure to keep any receipts and warranties for repairs performed. The buyer will want to see them as proof that the repairs were addressed.
The next step in preparing the home for sale is staging. The staging process can usually be accomplished with little or no expense by using items you already have. Many sellers struggle with this part of the process because this is when the reality of the move starts to set in and that can be a little emotional. The first step in staging is to de-clutter. It’s best to go room-by-room and address one area at a time. This is a great opportunity to start packing up some things and get a head start in preparing for the move. After de-cluttering, we focus on furniture arrangement and neutralizing the decor. I’ve done this dozens of times and will offer suggestions about what will work best for your home.
Once the pre-listing items are completed, the house is ready to go on the market. I’ll take professional-quality photos of the home to use in marketing materials, install the sign and lockbox and get to work spreading the word about your house. I’ll keep you informed about marketing efforts and feedback from showings along the way and continue to provide guidance and ideas to help attract a buyer for your home.
Once a buyer has been secured, I’ll coordinate efforts with the closing agent, buyer’s agent, appraiser and the buyer’s inspectors to ensure a successful closing and smooth move for you.
I want to be your realtor for life. Please call on me for all your real estate needs!
