Mirror, Mirror on the Wall... Will My House Sell By Fall?

My absolute favorite question of the year, "What's Going on In the Michigan Market?" Good question. Let me look into my crystal ball and see...

Currently, I see a haze. Oh wait a minute... I see a home for sale and another home for sale. Some buyers are out looking at the front of the home and deciding whether or not to come in. Nope, they are going to try the neighbor's home instead.

You ask the psychic, "Why not my home? How come these buyers don't want to even come inside?" "Not sure." Says the psychic. "It's just one of those things."

Sellers everywhere and including Grand Rapids, Michigan are asking, "What do we need to do to sell our home?" First, you need to be part of the local multiple listing service (or mls). In Grand Rapids, Michigan our local board is the Grand Rapids Association of Realtors or GRAR. With the big ad campaign that the Grand Rapids Association of Realtors is promoting, many people in the area are aware of the ability to search for mls listings through the local site. The mls is a great tool that many buyers use because they can search a home listing by the address, mls number and of course, just do a really broad search of Grand Rapid real estate. Many Realtors also have those capabilities as well, you can pull up local listings from my local website at http://www.seegrhomes.com/.

Having a home for sale and having the property listing on the mls is crucial for selling a home in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Not putting your home on the mls, means you are missing out on a ton of potential buyers. Next and just as crucial is what Realtors will call staging a home. What do you need to do to sell? Coming from the Tammy Psychic, "Absolutely everything!" If you think it needs to be done, it probably does!

Personal Story

Currently, we are getting are home ready to sell as well and hope to have it ready for the 2008 spring market. Being a Realtor, I know all the things that need to be done because in today's market the home has to be PERFECT!

To see my funny article about getting my home ready to sell, click here:

Sellers...Don't Be Scared!!!

Sellers, know this...It can be done! In fact, that was the article title in the local newspaper, The Grand Rapid Press Business Section. I love hearing the success stories and even in a tough market with a lot of homes for sale, homes are selling and buyers are buying. Here's some of the absolute truths that the article touched on. While you can't control the market, here are the factors you can control: (GR Press. Sunday, July 15, 2007, Sellers Know This).

1. Reasonable Price
2. Good Realtor
3. Clean
4. Good Upkeep

In more detail...

Point # 1 - Price!

• Pricing-This is HUGE! I tell my sellers that if buyers have been looking long enough, they will have a good sense of where they feel the price of your home should be. If you are not getting any visitors to view your home, than the buyers (or the market, in general) is telling you that you have priced your home to high and you are losing out on the best candidates in the first month of selling your home. A Realtor will also tell you where the home should be priced. It is wise to listen to someone who is knowledgeable in the Grand Rapids' market.

A couple of quotes from the local newspaper article from homeowners that just went through the process. "We actually got an offer for $5,000 under... and we took it. Frankly, it would have cost us more than $5,000 to keep the house on the market another year, so it was good." (GR Press, Sunday, July 15, 1007). According to Ms. Hunt she said, "People have this fantastic idea of how much their house is worth based on how many memories they have there. Because of that, they tend to think there is more value in the house and that is not the case."

Case in point, see article, "Good Properties Move Quickly..."

Point #2 - Choosing a Good Real Estate Agent

• Choosing a Good Realtor... it would be wrong of me to not say that I believe you should use me for all your real estate needs. Honestly though, what makes a good Realtor? In my opinion, a good Realtor will do whatever it takes to get the job done (within ethical limits!) and will do what's right for the customer. I have been known to give advice that was better for my clients than what I would have preferred to give knowing I wouldn't benefit from that advice. Well, I take that back... because by doing the right thing, everything comes around full circle and the trust is established for the time period of when it is right to sell. To be in real estate, you have to believe in serving others. I believe that there are a lot of great Realtors in the West Michigan area that truly want to serve their clients' needs!

For more information about real estate relationships, click here...

Point #3 & 4 -While you can't control the market, you can control the condition of your home.

If you read nothing else in this article than you need to read this statement alone!!

YOU NEED TO LOOK AT YOUR HOME LIKE A BUYER WOULD SEE IT!!!!

• Do you want a buyer to come inside your home? Then realize the outside needs to look good too! First impressions count- Does your home have curb appeal? Have you washed, painted, fixed gutters, replaced trim etc... to make the outside of the home look beautiful? What does the landscaping look like?
• ALWAYS, ALWAYS... get rid of the clutter. If you haven't used it in the last year, you probably won't... so let someone else use it and give it to Goodwill. Less clutter makes the rooms look larger and larger is better!

If you linked over to my article, "Staging At it's Best", you might wonder how my project is going to help sell my home. Never fear, I've decided to bring in the professionals for the rest of the job and can't wait to show you the finished product, hopefully by the end of summer. You need to use your imagination and see beautiful green grass, bench seats, and beautiful perennials, a wonderful stained deck and my perennial gardens looking beautiful and that's only the backyard. Fortunately, my front yard is pretty much done and already looks beautiful. In Spring, we'll just need to cut back the perennials, add some woodchips and tadah!

Minimum Standards of Staging

1) Planning is Everything...

• Spend the time budgeting and asking if the home improvement cost will actually help sell a home in the Grand Rapids, Michigan marketplace.
• Minor repairs can "balloon" into major ones when things haven't been thought through in advance.
• DO IT WELL, or DON'T DO IT AT ALL! If you are unsure of how to do a home improvement, let the professionals do it. It is well worth your time and a professional job sells better than something that is half-way done.
• Don't Over-Improve, Make Unique Improvements, or Create a Mess!
• You may want to consider "staying put" if you will be spending a lot of money on the remodel.

2) Catch Them At the Curb

• First impressions are created at the curb!
• Landscaping can improve the attractiveness without much cost.
• Driveway can also affect the buyer's first impression.

3) Paint - makes each room really shine!

4) Decks and Patios - can create more living space, which is always good.

5) The Garage - don't forget about the looks and cleaning the garage... again it's a first impression thing!

6) Kitchen - needs to shine... one of the most important rooms of the house.

7) Bathroom - another important room for the buyer.

8) Bedrooms - Master bedroom is the most important room besides the kitchen!

9) Don't Neglect the Minor Details

For more help on staging, click over to HGTV's top 20 Home Improvement List:

This information is really just the basic information, if you need any further help, please feel free to contact me at any time. You can visit my website at www.seegrhomes.com. To discuss the housing market, visit www.stoneblogs.com.

References: The Grand Rapids Press. Sunday, July 15, 2007. "Sellers know this... It can be done."