Tips for Home Sellers

Prepare for your own purchase: Before selling your home, give some careful thought about where you will live next. Planning ahead will save the time and money associated with moving multiple times or trying to get out of a deal after you sign a purchase agreement. Your Realtor can help you locate a new home or rental before you close escrow or negotiate a lease back.

If your plan is to buy another home and finance it, get preapproved for a mortgage. That way, you’ll know what you will be able to afford—and can eliminate surprises, she added.

It’s also getting more common these days—in certain markets—to purchase a home contingent on the sale of your existing one.

Get the home move-in ready: If you can afford it, do whatever you can to make your home move-in ready. That means replacing ripped screens, broken baseboards, leaky faucets and making cosmetic repairs, as well as updating landscaping. Your house needs to be in showing condition all the time.

At this point, start looking at your home as a house—stripping all sentimental value from the place, since your buyer won’t care about the tree you planted or the kitchen tile you installed yourself.
 

Price it right: A good real-estate agent will help you price the home right—from the start. Nothing will attract more buyers than making the right choice when pricing your home and nothing will deter buyers more than overpricing. Overpricing often means a longer stay on the market as well as future price cuts—which often makes a home listing look stale and less desirable.
 

Make the house available: Some sellers create restrictions on when their home can be shown, but being inflexible on this point can hurt you. Make your home available for all of the daylight hours. Otherwise, within two days, prospective buyers will find another home and forget yours.

Plan your negotiation: Know what you will and won’t give up when it comes to your sale, from price to closing date, repairs to closing costs. Knowing what outcome you want in advance will help you avoid haggling over minor items that could cost you the sale.

Finally, don’t focus as much on the final sales price as on the final net price. Many first-time buyers ask for sellers to help with closing costs, for example, which affects the net cost.

For more information please call Karen Lindsey (805) 469-8262