Picayune, MS

It’s a typical concern for all sellers when they are starting the process of selling their home. You want the most amount of money in the shortest time possible. How can you do that when you know a buyer is going to try to negotiate the price down to get a bargain? Your first reaction is to price the home higher because, you believe, you can always come down on the price later.

Although that sounds like a sensible thing to do, you need to understand how a house is marketed, and what agents and buyers are thinking.

Most sellers believe that a Realtor’s job, when listing a property, is to find the buyer for the house. Truthfully, a listing agent is a “marketing agent”, and if they are doing their job honestly (and not keeping your house a secret so they can find their own buyer and make all of the commission), they will be marketing your property not only to the buyers, but to all the other Realtors in the direct and surrounding areas. You see, 9 times out of 10, it’s another Realtor who has a buyer that is perfect for your house.

Real Estate Agents know the market that they work in, and know what properties should be priced at. When your listing goes out to the masses, and is overpriced, the Realtors in the market are going to put your house on the back burner because they know that it will never sell for that price and it will be difficult to find a buyer willing to pay that price. So, your house sits on the market and doesn’t get the showings that are needed to expose it the most amount of buyers to the house. Also, buyers are very savvy these days, and since market information is readily available on the internet, they too will know that the house is overpriced and will not even consider it. Or, they make take a “wait and see” attitude, watching to see when you do start to lower your price.

The first few weeks of your listing is the most crucial when setting the stage for a sale. A property that is priced right, combined with a listing agent that that has the tools to get it out in front of as many agents and buyers as possible, will have the greatest chance of selling in the shortest time. The longer a house sits on the market, the lower the chance will be of selling.

You need to also consider that once you start discounting the price, the buyers start discounting the house and looking for problems, or feeling that you are desperate. This puts you into a bad position when it comes to negotiating a deal on the home.

If you are serious about selling your home, and want your listing agent to have the best chance possible to get it sold for you, then you need to price your home at or below market value – the first time!

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When thinking of selling your home, there are many things to do before calling a Realtor and having a sign put in the yard.

Many people assume that they should first have the house put on the market, and THEN start to fix the things that need repair. First things first, you should Think like a Buyer! If you were out looking for a new home, would you be impressed with one that the seller “promises to repair”, or one that is freshly painted, clean, and ready to move into?

Start Making a List! Put yourself in the buyer’s shoes. Walk out your front door, go right out to the street, and then turn around. Now take off your owner’s goggles (you know, those rose-colored glasses you wear when looking at your home), and look that house in front of you. What do you see? When you look at your house from a buyer’s perspective, you will be amazed at what pops out at you. That gutter that is hanging a little, the shutters that are weather-beaten and in need of paint, the tarnished door knob . . . all those little things that you have been meaning to get to, but just haven’t found the time. How impressed would YOU be if you were a buyer coming to see this house for the first time?

Do Everything Before Putting Your Home on the Market! Of all the things homeowners control when selling their home, the condition of the property is one of the most important. If the carpets need to be cleaned, then call a professional. Believe it or not, dirty or worn carpets could cost you $10,000 on your asking price. And don’t forget that leaky faucet, or loose toilet. Buyers are going to scrutinize every aspect of the house. Don’t give them any ammunition when it comes time to negotiate.

I highly recommend for a seller to have a licensed Home Inspection, to see if there are any issues that need to be addressed. This puts you in a better position in your pricing when you already have made repairs, and can present to a buyer a home free of defects. Nothing is worse than having a buyer who wants your home, and then when they have a home inspection completed, problems arise and they have the opportunity to back out of the deal.

I have seen many deals lost because something was discovered, after the contract, and it spooked the buyers. Even if you offer to take care of things, the buyer may have that nagging feeling in the back of their mind that they should have seen it and now they’ve lost that warm fuzzy feeling about buying the home.

The moral of the story is that you should remove all worries ahead of time in order to be in a better position to get more money for your home.

by Michelle Fradella, Broker, FHS, CNHS

Pinnacle Real Estate Services - Picayune, MS http://www.prchomes.com

The Home of the Future

Reprinted from The Residential Specialist, July/August 2007 issue. Visit online at www.crs.com.

What will new homes look like in 2015? For starters, they'll be slightly smaller than they are today, according to architects, designers, and manufacturers surveyed by the National Associaton of Home Builders. The average size of a new home will be 2,300 to 2,500 square feet, slightly less than the 2,459 average for the first three quarters of 2006. Higher ceilings and upscale amenities will also become more common.

Issues driving the changes include accessibility for aging baby boomers, technological advances, green construction materials and environmental concerns. Other trends:

• Formal living rooms will shrink or vanish altogether, while family rooms will get larger.
• Ceilings in the average home will be nine to 10 feet; some luxury homes will have 12-foot ceilings.
• The family room will be the most important feature in the average home, followed by low-maintenance exteriors, design, location and two-car garages. In luxury homes, design will be the most important feature.
• Outdoor kitchens and second master bedroom suites will become more common in luxury homes.
• The average home will have two and a half to three and a half bathrooms.
• Recessed lighting and bold colors will be more common in both luxury and average homes.
• Demand for energy-efficient appliances, mechanical equipment and windows, and environmentally friendly green products will increase.
• Programmable thermostats, structured wiring systems and mult-line phone systems will be standard in the average home, while luxury homes will include just about every electronic feature that is available.

  SOURCE: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HOME BUILDERS

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