10 Tips for Selling Your Home in 60 Days

SELL YOUR HOME IN 60 DAYS

At any given time there are many properties for sale both by brokers and homeowners themselves. There is always competition for buyer's of homes, so it's important to try to differentiate your home in the marketplace. The essentials keys to achieving this are price, condition, amenity, terms and positioning.

A prospective seller of property may have several goals; a fast sale, a maximized return, and/or convenient possession and relocation terms. It may not be possible to accomplish all of the goals with perfect precision.

A fast sale may mean accepting less than you could have hoped for if you had six months, or even a year.

A maximized return is possible if pricing is ambitious and you can afford to wait.

You may wish to sell Subject To Home of Choice, or coordinate your closing with your possession of a new property, but a buyer may not accept a Subject clause or may want to close at a date that does not fit perfectly into your plans.

If a seller seeks a fast sale, flexibility and a willingness to consider market conditions is required. In 2007 the average market time of a home in the greater Des Moines area was around 87 days. If you need to sell within sixty days, thirty percent faster than the MLS average, then your home should be better than average. If all things are equal, what I'm proposing is standard protocol for fast selling. There may be extenuating circumstances with your particular property however that might make it either easier or more difficult.

#1 PRICING

Simplistically speaking, a home's value can be broken down into square foot pricing. If you need to sell your home quickly, it must be priced considering market conditions from the start. In most cases you could base your price on sold comparables in the area. Your square footage price should be in the range determined by your valuation. If it is higher than the suggested range, it would need to be justified by additional amenity, unique features, or superb condition.

Your home's worth is always what a willing buyer will pay in the current market, often based on sold comparables in the general vicinity. Price generates interest, interest causes curiosity which then hopefully translates into lookers and a sale.

We all know the truth of the expression, "You never get a second chance to make a first impression". New properties are coming up on the market everyday, and everyday somebody is looking at making a move. When your home comes out on the MLS that is the first impression the market has of it. If you need to sell in 60 days it is important to begin with properly pricing your home. This is so important, I've dedicated a whole other report on it that can be accessed by this link, PRICING TO SELL.

#2 MARKET CONDITIONING

Often people selling their home want to defer maintenance to the buyer. The rationale is that "Hey, We're moving. Why should we fix that"? Deferred maintenance can . Buyers expect maintenance and upkeep, but not necessarily improvements. You may face longer market times if you are deferring your maintenance to the buyer, even if you have adjusted the price lower. Studies by the National Association of Realtors® have shown that $1000-$2000 in conditioning can pay off three fold in offering prices.

Simply put, you may triple your remodel dollar. You may also avoid a buyer asking for money for repairs or updating if it looks like you have put a lot into the home. If a buyer can look around and see the "new" in the home, it may create hesitancy in their minds about asking for more from you, because you've done so much already. A buyer may be willing to accept doing a few things as well if the deal seems fair.

When you condition your home, you should think from the exterior to the interior. Remember, buyers will come from outside the property in, so you need to create a favorable impression from down the street, to the front stoop, to the interior, from the foyer to the basement, and from the basement to the attic. Buyers will pull, poke, push, move, open, and touch almost every fixture in your home in their evaluation process. Make sure everything works if you can.

Next to price, condition is tantamount.

#3 STATE

DE-CLUTTER Your home is your castle, and your storage locker. You should rent a storage space and move; most items from any storage shelf, at least half of what is in every closet, at least one piece of furniture from every room, and most of what is in your garage. You need to clear your home to create the idea of spaciousness in the mind of the buyer. They need to be able to picture their stuff fitting in. They may not be able to do this if you fail to de-clutter. This will also give you a head start on moving.

GIVE IT AWAY Now is the time to start asking, "Do I really need this?" over, and over, and over again. You probably need to begin paring down your possessions. I recommend giving to charity. Call the Salvation Army, Goodwill, DAV, St. Vincent Depaul or whoever, and have them come out with a truck. Two guys or gals or whoever will come and take your stuff and give you a receipt that you can pass on to the IRS to reduce your taxes.

DE-PERSONALIZE Your home is your very personal space. It is a reflection of who you are. Now though, you want buyers to be able to picture themselves in it. Start to take down; family pictures, curios, trophies, collections and the like. Your things are nice but buyers do not want to feel they are entering someone else's space. Make the territory as neutral as possible to allow the buyer to picture themselves in the space with their family pictures, curios, trophies, collections and so on. Additionally, you want buyers to focus on the home, and not be distracted by your things.

DEEP CLEAN Now that everything is out of the way, you can get down to business. Picture a hotel room. Your home should be that clean. Start at the ceilings and move down to the floor. Clean out light fixtures, wash walls, wipe baseboards, move the fridge, Tilex the baths, wax the floors, shampoo the carpets, clean the stove, microwave and all appliances, including the furnace and water heater, and polish metal and furniture. Everything should shine. Make sure that you wash the windows inside and out, including inside the storms. Remove the screens if you can and wash them all out. If you have casements with screens, take them down and store them. Clean windows can make an amazing difference in the feel of the home, making it feel brighter, sunnier, and more inviting.

If your home looks like you are walking into a hotel room or furnished apartment on the first day of rental, congratulations, you are done.

#4 TRY TO AVOID NEGOTIATING SMALL ITEMS ON THE MLS

Fridge negotiable. It is better for you as a seller not to tell people what they can't have before they get there. Don't make it hard for the buyer, include the basics.

Plan on giving the washer and dryer, but consider not mentioning it in the listing information but pricing it into the home. This way if the buyer gets them, they feel like they've really accomplished something, and that's one less thing to be moved. Plus you included them in the price.

#5 ALLOW FOR FAVORABLE BUYER TERMS

CLOSING COSTS An important element is closing costs. This can seal the deal and make the purchase very attractive. Let's say there are two homes, one a little overpriced, fridge negotiable, kind of cluttered, needs a little work, and yours, priced right, fridge included, great condition, and closing costs covered! "Honey let's make an offer!" A good idea is to cap the closing costs. State a percent or certain dollar figure so you don't have to start negotiating this. Some buyers closing costs can be higher than others.

HOME WARRANTY Every home should include a home warranty for the buyer. The cost is around $375. What you are doing is giving the buyers insurance, creating a perception of safety, and eliminating concerns surrounding systems that may not be brand new. People crave certainty and often shy away from risk. A home warranty can go a long way to putting a buyer's fears to rest. Most warranties will also cover your systems while your home is listed as well. Protecting you from repair costs before you move out is probably the warranty's strongest feature.

#5 UNIMPEDED ACCESS

Homes need to have a lockbox with a key in it on the property. You are selling your home, people are going to go through, making it a challenge can affect your sale.

Ideally you want the agent showing remarks to say, "Call first, then lockbox." Realtors love showing vacant houses because they can get in anytime. Compete with a vacant house by communicating to Realtors that it is just as easy to show your home. Additionally, Realtors may have four or five houses lined up to show. The last house may be an owner occupied, and it becomes difficult to predict exactly when the showing will occur. I know I have the best intentions to make my showing times, but it doesn't always work out.

UNDERSTAND SHOWINGS When you want to see a home, what do you want? Chances are it is unfettered and unimpeded access. Please refrain from calling a showing agent to complain if they don't make a showing time, they may have made Hurculean effort but not have been able to swing it. Call your agent to give or get feedback instead.

More restrictions = fewer showings. A simple formula. If you make your showings "Appointment only" or "Three hours notice" please be aware you may have turned away some prospects.

#6 SORRY FIDO AND PUFFY

I love my dogs, and my cats. In home sales however, dogs and cats slow the process. It's just a fact. You can't smell Sophie or Chopper anymore, but a non-pet owning buyer sure can. It may be tough, but try to put the pets up with someone for the duration of the sale. Do this before your big clean. Beyond smell, there is hair. Pet hair is insidious. It gets everywhere. If people are pulling hair off their clothes when they leave your home, say goodbye.

#7 PRE-OFFER INSPECTIONS

Some full service brokers order a termite inspection when listings are taken. This is especially important on older homes. They do this because an unsatisfactory termite report can kill a deal. It is better to find out beforehand, so people can make an educated choice. You then don't have to take the property of the market and hope and pray the report does not turn up evidence of termites, which can cause people to run screaming down the street like their pants are on fire. Order this immediately and consider having it stapled to the property disclosure.

#8 AVOID RESTRICTIVE TERMS

SUBJECT TO HOME OF CHOICE You want to sell your home, but you need to find a home first. So, you write "Subject to Home of Choice" in your listing remarks. You just lost some prospects, guaranteed. Those you lost are those that want to close fast. They're next door looking at the vacant house. If you want to sell, try to not make it hard for anybody. Fast closers could be some of the best prospects and you don't want to alienate them. You can always counter offer any terms with home of choice. Then you have a written offer you are working on.

RESERVED BUYER A seller should think twice before they reserve a buyer. This comes into play when you may have someone interested in buying your home directly, and you are planning on listing it with a broker. It is possible to give the broker that person's name, and if they buy the home, then you don't have to pay the broker a commission. Problem is that this appears in the property listing remarks for agents to see, and some will not show the home until the reserve buyer has been removed. Try this instead, call the potential buyer and say, "Jack, I'm listing my home with Matt Grohe at RE/MAX. Do you want to buy it or not?" If Jack wants it, he'll hurry up and tell you, if not then you know for sure.

#9 LIGHTS UP & CLIMATE CONTROL

Hopefully when your home is listed, buyers will be coming through at all times of the day. Keep the lights on for them. Brightly lit houses show better. View any model home. All the lights are on and many switches are even modified so that they cannot be turned off. Builders have done research on the effect of lighting and purchase decisions, and therefore they leave them on when practical. Be sure to light up the exterior at night if you can, so that buyers driving by then will have a favorable impression as well.

Have you ever seen a model home with the windows open and the air or furnace turned off? Your home is now a model home, so look to the builders for how it should be shown. It can take fifteen minutes to cool a home in the summer. If you have the air off to save money, you may lose a good prospect, delay your sale and get many more days of utilities and expenses. Often agents will not want to touch thermostats to make prospects feel more comfortable, so this fact should be taken into consideration.

#10 LISTEN TO FEEDBACK

Criticism is not always easy to bear. Remember back in your school days? Standing up to a classroom of your peers and having them make all sorts of observations and critical commentary on your project or presentation, or how about your employee review at work? It's not often fun, but you likely take something away from those experiences.

You will get some feedback when your home is listed. Nice comments are good, but negative comments are better at exposing buyer reservations. Do you want to know why a prospect will buy your home, or why they won't? "You want to buy it? Great! Let's write it up!" "You don't want it? Why not?" This feedback might be painful but try to avoid getting defensive.

Sellers are often aggressive with agents to secure buyer feedback, as well they should be. Inevitably, a percentage of those same sellers scoff at, discount, and became hostile when faced with buyer reactions. Those who listen however, and rectify conditions where possible, often speed their sale.

CONCLUSION

If you're trying to sell in 60 days you should try not to fight the prospect or the market. You can't control the market and you should avoid dictating to buyers if you are seeking a fast sale.

It is difficult to let go of a home sometimes. You've made memories there, you raised children, you got married, you put on the addition, and so on. You're transitioning now. A little flexibility and a lot of preparedness will put you ahead of the selling pack. If you follow the advice given, it may not guarantee you the quick sale, but you can rest assured you are doing all you can to get yourself the best terms, and are further toward accomplishing your ultimate goal, settling into you next dream home.