In most towns it’s now a home buyer’s market. That means there are more homes listed for sale than there are qualified buyers.
But thanks mostly to lower mortgage interest rates, homes are selling. If you want to sell your home, how can you be sure it will sell within 90 days? Here are the key steps to take:
– Get your home into tip-top “red ribbon deal” condition. The majority of home buyers are lazy. They want to turn the key in the door of their dream home and move in. They don’t want to make repairs or do fix-up work the seller should have done.
This huge group of 98 percent of home buyers want what is called a “red ribbon deal” home in near-perfect condition.
However, if your home is not in excellent condition, it will appeal to the only 2 percent of prospective home owners who will buy a “fixer-upper.” And watch out for these buyers of fixer-upper homes. They buy only if they can get an incredible bargain price with attractive terms.
To make your home a “red ribbon deal,” give it a coat of paint inside and outside. If necessary, replace the tired, worn-out carpet with fresh, stain-resistent carpets in a neutral beige color which goes with any furniture.
If you have hardwood floors, have them cleaned and varnished to show their best. If your kitchen appliances are old, replace them with new top-of-the-line models and include them in the sales price. Kitchen appliances help sell houses.
More important, kitchens and bathrooms sell houses. Make yours especially attractive. However, don’t do extensive remodeling. Just clean and repair. Make your domicile look as close as possible to a model home.
Also pay special attention to the landscaping, especially the front yard which helps make a favorable first impression on prospects.
– Obtain all necessary and customary professional inspections. Before listing your home for sale, have all the routine professional inspections made. Depending on local custom, these may include termite inspection, energy audit and city building code inspection. Make any necessary repairs indicated by these inspections.
In addition, have a professional home inspection. This report will reassure prospective home buyers of your home’s condition, even if they want to hire their own inspector.
By completing these inspections early, you can take care of necessary and recommended repairs, thus removing potential buyer objections.
– Interview at least three successful realty agents. The most critical step in selling your home is selecting the best agent. Ask friends, business associates and neighbors for names of successful agents who sell homes in your neighborhood.
Three agents should be interviewed to cross-check their advice, especially about the asking price. If you interview only one agent, he or she might mislead you.
Even if you are thinking of selling your home alone without a professional agent, interview at least three agents. Because most do-it-yourself home sellers fail and eventually list with an agent, this will tell you which agent to select.
Incidentally, the primary reason agents succeed where “for sale by owners” fail is the local Multiple Listing Service. Thanks to the MLS, realty agents can show prospective home buyers hundreds of homes whereas a do-it-yourself seller has only one home to sell.
– During your interviews, ask each agent lots of questions. When interviewing the three (or more) agents you select, have a written list of questions. In addition, expect each agent to give you a written CMA (comparative market analysis) showing recent sales prices of comparable nearby homes and asking prices of similar neighborhood homes (your competition).
Questions to ask include: do you have any suggestions to improve the saleability of my home; what is your specific marketing plan for my home, such as advertising, open houses, printed brochures and information fact sheets for prospects; do you suggest using a lockbox to make my home easy to show to prospects; how long have you been selling real estate; do you have any professional designations; what is the last real estate education class you completed and when; how long should it take you to sell my home; how many houses have you sold in the last 12 months, what are their addresses and the names with phone numbers of the sellers; do you recommend a 90-day listing, or a shorter term (be wary of agents who attempt to lock you in to long listings without an unconditional cancellation clause); and is there anything else I should know about you or your firm?
After interviewing the agents, before signing a listing be sure to phone their three most recent home sellers. Ask, “Were you in any way unhappy with your agent and would you list your home for sale with the same agent again?” You’ll soon know which agent should get your listing.
– Set your asking price correctly. Price your home right and it is half sold. You could hire a professional appraiser to advise on your home’s market value. But the CMAs prepared by the agents you interview should be equally satisfactory to help you arrive at the correct asking price.
However, watch out for any agent who inflates the estimated value of your home, hoping to get your listing by estimating a too-high sales price.
– If you have tenants or guests in your home, get rid of them. If you have tenants or guests in the home, make certain they agree to be completely out of the house when it is shown to prospective buyers. You should get out, too.
– If your home doesn’t sell within a few months, offer seller financing. If you can carry back a first or second mortgage, or sell the home on a lease with option to buy, this will greatly enhance your sales opportunities.
– Beware of offers with unreasonable contingency clauses. Virtually all offers contain reasonable contingency clauses for financing and inspections.
Beware of offers with open-end contingencies without a time deadline. The worst contingency involves sale of the buyer’s old home. If you agree, be sure it has a release clause so you can accept a better purchase offer.
– Ask your realty agent to prepare a closing cost estimate. Before accepting a purchase offer, ask your agent to prepare a written statement of closing costs and net sale proceeds. This form will show you how much cash you will receive from your home sale if you accept the offer.
– Don’t be in a hurry to sell your home. Although you might want to sell your home quickly, perhaps due to moving out of town because of a job transfer, the reality is home sales take time. If your home is in tip-top condition, you select the best agent, and it is priced correctly at market value, it should sell within 90 days.
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Please note: Real estate laws differ from place to place, and laws of your area should be checked before making decisions on real estate problems. Letters should be addressed to Tribune Real Estate Features Service, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1400, Chicago, Ill. 60611.
