When selling your home, it's important to make the psychological shift from the "home" you love so dearly into the "house" you are trying to sell. This shift, in layman's terms, is part of letting go and is the emotional detachment process all sellers experience sooner or later. Home is where your heart is. Houses, like TV sets, toasters, and tangerines, are commodities sold on the open market. You're getting ready to sell a house.
Getting your house ready to put on the market takes time. If you make the right improvements when fixing up your property, you increase the odds of selling it more quickly.
Start the presale fix-up process by getting an outside opinion of your house's strengths and weaknesses. Real estate agents are an excellent, objective source of advice about readying your house for sale. Because agents see your house with fresh eyes, they can spot flaws you no longer notice. Furthermore, agents look at your house the way buyers do. They know how to prepare houses so that they're appealing for marketing -- a process sometimes referred to as staging.
Common Presale Pitfalls
Suppose that your house needs a new roof, kitchen remodeling, or bathroom upgrades. What's the best way to handle major expenses like these?
You shouldn't spend big dollars on major improvements. For example, you probably shouldn't install a new roof just before putting your house on the market. A wiser plan is to give buyers a credit to cover the repair cost. Prepare for negotiations regarding the credit by getting several competitive bids for the corrective work from reputable local contractors, and then base your credit on the lowest realistic bid.
Why offer to give the buyer a credit? For one thing, you can avoid a huge out-of-pocket expense by handling the repairs this way. Furthermore, this arrangement allows the new owners to have the work done by their own contractor whenever they want after the sale is completed. Last, but not least, if the buyers have problems with their new roof after the sale, the repair isn't your responsibility because you aren't liable for their contractor's work.
Nor should you make major remodeling changes to a kitchen or bathroom. You generally can't increase your sale price enough to fully compensate you for all the work and money you put into the project. Furthermore, you can't second-guess the next owner's preferences in toilets, tile, and tubs.
A much better plan is to reduce your asking price so it reflects that your house has an old kitchen or bathroom instead of spending your time and money on a major remodeling job.
Hello, my name is Jody Calvin. I have been a real estate professional for 20 years and pride myself on efficient, accurate and friendly service. I make it a point to stay involved in the community, working with the Chamber of Commerce, Volunteering for the American Cancer Society, American Red Cross, and also appearing as a guest lecturer for Stephen's College Business Class. 18 of my 20 years in the business have been extremely involved in teaching ethics and REALTOR™ cooperation, both during orientation for new realtors and in mini-seminars.
