Are You Preventing Your Home From Selling?

Selling your home is a very personal, emotional and in many cases a very hard thing for some people to do! Depending on the amount of time spent in a home or the reasons for having to sell it, may make it a very stressful decision. There are certain very important factors to remember, however, in order to sell your home no matter what the situation may be.

When listing your house, the MOST important thing is your home's price tag, or list price. You want to be careful at what price you put your house on the market. While everyone wants to walk away with the largest profit, you must be conscientious of the fact that if you list your home for too much, you are making a crucial mistake. A list price that is too high and not comparable to other homes listed in your area, will turn buyers off and you will not get the essential exposure that is critical in the first several weeks that your home is listed. If the price is too high, buyers and agents will be automatically turned off, and it will fall off the radar immediately. Even if you reduce your price a couple of weeks in, that original listing period is gone and you have lost out on the opportunity to sell quickly!

On the flip side, if you price your home UNDER market value, or too low, you take the chance of not only losing money, but getting in to a multiple offer situation in which things can get complicated and you run the risk of getting in to a bidding war and ultimately upsetting or driving away that potential buyer.

Besides, the price of your home, another extremely important factor, is whether or not your home will show well. Imagine if you were a buyer- you would want to walk in to a house that was immaculate looking and well taken care of. As a seller you must take the time to make sure that there is no clutter around your home and that it is thoroughly cleaned and stays clean. If possible, paint touch ups and freshly cleaned carpet will help, too! Despite how you may like your home arranged, some rearranging might be necessary in order to make the rooms look their biggest. Most agents would agree that some depersonalization will help too. If there are pictures of your family ALL over the home, a potential buyer may be distracted by them or they may feel like they can't see anyone but YOU in that home.

As if all of this weren't enough already to have to worry about, another very important thing to ask yourself is, "Is my house being marketed well enough?" If you are trying to sell your home yourself, the answer is more than likely, NO! As a FSBO, you do not have access to all of the marketing opportunities of a licensed real estate agent. As a matter of fact, 85% of homes originally listed by a FSBO, end up listing with an agent.

Word of mouth, home made flyers, a sign in the yard, and possibly one or two websites, is probably all the marketing that you will be able to get if you try to list yourself. A licensed agent will work hard to try to help you sell your home, and they will be much better prepared and have better tools and systems in place to do so.

A good agent is essential! Interview several agents and be prepared to allow them to SHOW you how they plan to SELL YOUR HOME. An experienced agent will be happy to share with you, their marketing plan and will help you price your home at fair market value. They will share with you how to improve the "showing appearance" of your home, and they will advise you on whether or not your bottom line is reasonable.

For more tips on how to be an effective SELLER, please visit www.charlottehomesourceonline.com!