Sell Home For More Money

How Home Sellers Should Price Their House To Sell In 2010

by Lisa Udy on September 13, 2010

When selling a home, pricing your property is crucial, and the psychology that goes into determining a price can leave your insides churning.

Should you start out high and see if you can get top dollar? Should you start low knowing the competition out there is tough? If you just drop your price later, how many buyers did you miss out on at the start?

The decision to price your home is extremely important. I can’t stress this enough. Pricing your home not only dictates how much money you will make, it also dictates how many people will see your home. Here are a few things to consider before you set the price of your home.

Change Your Mindset If You Wish To Sell Your Home In A Buyers Market

Emotional attachment to a home can end up costing a home seller thousands of dollars. In my ten years of experience, I can’t tell you how many times I have had a seller price to high because they were stuck in the mindset of: My home is worth more because it’s mine.

It’s easy for me, as a Realtor, to look at a home with a coldblooded point of view and determine a price it would sell for. But for sellers with emotions, a history, and attachment to the property, this becomes very difficult.

This is called the “endowment effect” and is a psychological human emotion. We tend to think, even with something with little value, that since we own it, the item is worth more than it really is.

The truth is, buyer’s don’t care how much you paid for your home when you bought it. They care about what comparable homes are selling for today. This is a large step for home sellers to overcome.

You can’t price your home to sell for what you owe if the market says it’s worth less. Once you understand this and overcome the emotions of pricing your home, you’re on your way to a successful sale.

Make Your First Week Count

Don’t kill your sale before you even start. The first week is crucial to selling a home. When you put your home on the MLS, most buyers will only see it when it first pops up in their daily listing alerts.

If the price is too high, these buyers won’t ever see it again, and you may have killed the sale before it even started. If the price is right, many of these buyers will schedule a showing within the first week of seeing it.

Identify your homes true value and price it just below. For example; if your market analysis comes in at $150k, pricing your home at $147k will give you a lot more activity.

Even though you’re priced slightly below market value, with the amount of activity that price will bring, you may end up getting multiple offers which will drive the price back up. If you don’t get multiple offers, you will at least get an offer close to asking price.

Test your price as a buyer would looking for homes. Pretend you were a buyer and look online at homes within your price range. Be realistic when doing this. Find which homes standout to you, and if your home doesn’t pop out at you like the others, your price is probably to high.

Most sellers generally start out with a price higher than what it sales for. Because of this, they end up chasing buyers with price reductions later on, and by that time they have already spent a lot of money on marketing, house payments, insurance, taxes, and all the other expenses that come along with owning a home. They end up losing a lot more than if they would have priced it slightly lower than value from the get go.

How fast do you need to sell? What’s more important to your situation: tome or money? If you need to sell within 30 days, price your home lower than if you could hold out for 60-90 days. You may get less with the 30 day sale, but you will get rid of the home faster. If you price for 90 days, you may get more money, but you’ll lose out on time.

If you sell within the first 90 days, you should be all right. If you’re home sits longer, you could end up losing a lot more money and time than anticipated with your original list price. Pricing your home to high will end up netting you less money in the long run during a declining market. You will end up chasing lower prices, and you should try to avoid that situation if at all possible.

If your home sits to long, don’t be afraid to get aggressive. The longer your home sits on the market the more stale it becomes to buyers in that price range. Obviously, after sitting for an extended amount of time, your home isn’t worth what your asking.

To get out of that “stale” market, take decisive action and drop your price a substantial amount. By doing this, you will attract new buyers in new price ranges. If you drop the price in small increments, it’s like dieing by a thousand cuts.

Buyers can see all your price reductions, and it shows you’re getting more desperate the more you cut. A quick, substantial cut in price is going to give buyers a real incentive to take another look at your property.

If, after all of this, you still can’t get your home to sell, it may be time to take if off the market or consider a short sale. If you can’t afford to price a home at a price that will allow it to sell, talk to your agent about the possibilities of a short sale if you feel you need to go that route.

Related Articles:

Struggling Home Sellers Should Consider Lease Options

How To Avoid Going Into Foreclosure

5 Reasons Your Home Isn’t Selling

Why You Should Counter Every Low Offer You Receive

Home Selling Negotiation Strategies

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How To Increase Your Logan Homes Value Before Selling

by Lisa Udy on August 17, 2010

Before putting your home on the market, it’s best to get it in pristine condition. In a market that’s over saturated with inventory, your home doesn’t only have to be priced correctly, but it has to shine like a diamond in a coal pit to bring top value.

I have witnessed home sellers ignore my staging advice and left their homes in dire condition when listing. These sellers find out later the huge mistake they made. Taking the extra time to get your home looking good will save you time, money, and will give you the best chance to increase it’s value.

Spruce Up Exterior Paint And Repair/Replace Siding

A first impression comes from the outside of your home. Retouching paint, fixing lose siding, or replacing damaged or missing siding on your home shows you care about the maintenance of your property.

If you feel you need to repaint the home entirely, please be cautious of the colors you paint it with. (Bright pink does not bode well for selling a home.) Talk to your Realtor about paints colors that will appeal to the largest amount of buyers.

Update/Repair Windows And Doors

If you have an older home with inefficient windows or single pane, updating them can add some value to your home. Choose stylish and efficient windows when replacing to give your home a better look, while keeping your utility bills lower. You can also get a $1,500 tax credit for replacing your windows and doors until the end of 2010. (Energy Efficient Tax Credits)

Reinvigorate Your Landscaping And Update Old Outside Lighting

Pretty Flowers

Go to the local garden shops here in town and see if you can get any ideas on updating your landscaping. Adding some new trees, shrubs, colorful flowers, and replacing sod can create an inviting space over night.

Updating your outside lighting will give potential buyers who drive by at night a better view of your home. During the day it will give the exterior an updated look to go with your new landscaping.

New Flooring

Flooring has a huge pull on buyers. Many people don’t like carpet in kitchens, raggedy carpet, and wood flooring that’s in bad shape. Your Logan home’s floors need to be clean, modern, and stylish to help increase your value.

Update And De-Clutter The Kitchen

Updating counter tops, cabinets, and plumbing is a good way to add value. Be careful not to overdue it though. You shouldn’t over improve your home. Your home should be comparable to your neighbors but doesn’t necessarily have to surpass them. De-clutter counter tops and remove anything that you don’t absolutely need to survive.

Update Bathrooms

Even the small things can give your bathroom a refreshing look. Remove grout, re-caulk as necessary, and a fresh coat of paint can go a long way. If you have chips in porcelain sinks and tubs, you may want to look at repairing or replacing them. Also, updating lightning fixtures is an easy, yet effective way of adding value to your home.

Update Interior Panting

It’s a good idea to walk through some open houses and model homes to get an idea of the current paint colors buyers are looking for. If you have rooms with outlandish colors such as bright pink, neon green, or orange sherbet. Your home will appeal to more buyers if you paint over those colors while your home is on the market with something more subtle and neutral.

Deep Cleaning

If you don’t have the time or feel you aren’t as cleanly as need be, hire some professionals to give your home a deep cleaning. Clean carpets, re-finished wood floors, and removal of stuck on grime in the corners will give your home a fresh feeling. Keeping a home in showing condition is very important to getting the best value out of your home from a potential buyer.

You don’t have to do every one of these tips to get your home to stand out, but you do need to take care of the items that are most important to your home. If your home needs landscaping attention more than interior attention, do what you can. Work your way down the list from worst to best and do what you can, but don’t stress to much over every little thing. As your home gets shown, you will get more feedback on what items need the most attention.

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5 Things You Must Know Before Selling FSBO In Logan Utah

by Lisa Udy on July 28, 2010

Are you thinking about selling your Logan home on your own? If so, you need to be aware of what’s going on in the Logan real estate market, and what you need to do to get your home sold fast and for more money. Here are 5 tips you can use to put yourself in the best position to get your home sold:

Price It Right:

As of today, there are over 900 homes on the market in Cache Valley surpassing any other inventory level in our history. Our market is flooded with inventory and if you want to sell your home, you have to price it competitively. Home buyers are few and far between, and they know their in the drivers seat when it comes to purchasing.

If your home is over priced, home buyers won’t even bother setting up a showing. There are to many homes for them to choose from to waste their time on an unrealistic seller. How do you price your home right? Since you’re selling your home on your own, it will be difficult to get the right price.

I would recommend putting your home on the market, and see what type of activity you receive. If you’re not getting any activity on your property after a few weeks, you’re likely over priced and need to reduce it. You can also ask a real estate agent to do a market analysis for you, as most agents would be happy to provide this service. They have access to sold data from the MLS, and can usually provide you a pretty good ball park of your homes value.

Prepare Your Home For Showings

If you want to sell your home for the most money in the shortest amount of time, your home has to look sexy. Putting a sign in the yard and not taking care of the cosmetics will not cut it. Home buyers are picky. They like updated homes that are clean, de-cluttered, well manicured, and fresh.

Staging your home for home buyers is like going to a party at the white house. Your home has to look it’s best to impress, and if you don’t take care of the cosmetics, you’re home isn’t getting through the white house gates. Wow potential home buyers by taking care of the little things from curb to curb.

Clean gutters, wash off sidewalks, mow the lawn, remove weeds, plant some flowers, open up your front porch with some inviting potted plants, and freshen up the paint on the front door.

Remove any personal clutter, pictures, shoes, coats, and unsightly furniture to give buyers a canvas to paint their own pictures. Remove wall paper and paint all rooms with some neutral colors. And don’t forget to remove pets, and get your carpets cleaned!

Market Your Home Aggressively

Many FSBO sellers put a sign in their yard and leave it at that. Give yourself a better shot at selling by doing a few extra things. You never know who might buy your home, and you never know who knows someone looking for a home like yours. So anyone you talk to, let them know you’re selling your home.

Also, there are many websites that will let you advertise your home is for sale. You can check out sites such as KSL.com, CacheValleyDaily.com, and Craigslist.org. These websites get a descent amount of traffic here in Utah, and should help you get your home some fresh eyeballs.

There are also some real estate brokerages who offer a fee service allowing you to list your home in the MLS. They usually cost between $300-$500.

Keep your marketing updated. Many FSBO signs, after a month or so, start to fade. Make sure people can see your phone number clearly. You will also need to re-post your online ad’s about once every two weeks. If anything changes with your price or selling conditions, be sure to update your advertising to show it.

Get Creative With Your Selling Options

What can you do to entice a buyer to pick your home over another home? Adding extras such as closing costs for buyers, furniture, or new appliances can be the difference in getting an offer or not. If you can carry seller financing, you open yourself up to more buyers.

Also, consider doing a lease option if you feel desperate. The rental market here in Cache Valley is extremely competitive right now. There are many people with descent incomes that want to buy but can’t quite qualify. A lease option could be a good way to pay your mortgage and have a chance to sell the home later on down the road.

According to the National Association of Realtors, only 13% of homes sold in 2008 were FSBO’s. Offering these extra incentives will give you a greater shot at selling your home. Be prepared to make the pot sweet enough to entice a potential buyer.

Who Are You Kidding? Hire An Agent

Did you see that last statistic? Only 13% of sold homes are FSBO. If you’ve been on the market for a long time and your time is running out.

Hire a Realtor to get your home sold. Yes, Realtor fees are high, but we provide a valuable service, and statistically will bring you more money than if you sell on your own.

Hate real estate agents? So did I before I became one. The reason I became an agent was the frustration I had with working with them. If you had a bad experience with a Realtor, don’t judge everyone by that experience.

Since becoming an agent, I have found most agents are respectable business people with high integrity. Sure, just like all professions, we have our bad apples. But you can avoid them by doing a little homework and talking to friends.

I admire anyone willing to take on the challenge of selling a home in today’s tough market. Be sure to get all the information you can and speak to agents about pricing your home correctly. I would also recommend you keep an open mind on paying a commission to a buyers agent for a potential sale, and have plenty of patience. Good Luck!

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4 Ways To Sell Your Home Faster And For More Money

by Lisa Udy on July 7, 2010

As a home seller, you want the most money, in the shortest amount of time possible when selling a home. Heck, who doesn’t? But how do you go about getting the most money in the least amount of time? That’s the golden question isn’t it? Well, here are a few tips to get you headed in the right direction:

Price Your Home Just Below Market Value

Paper money in grass.

Most people price their homes above market value hoping to get an offer right around market value. But consider this: Which homes are selling the fastest in today’s market? Foreclosures and Short Sales.

The reason people are buying up foreclosures and short sale is simple, they are usually priced below market value. Even though most of these homes start out priced below market value, most of them sell for market value because of bidding wars.

Foreclosure and short sale Realtors know that if you price a home below market value, you can stir up more activity on the home, which will then bring in multiple offers. Multiple offers will create bidding wars. Bidding wars will raise the price people will pay for the home.

Besides, most real estate markets are declining, and in 3 months, your home will be worth 5-10k less anyways. Why not take advantage of that market today before it bites you in the butt 3 months from now? Price ahead of the market and watch your home sell faster and for more money.

If you’re home is priced the same as the foreclosure down the street, yet in prestine condition, you can be sure those offers will be on your home and not the foreclosure.

A home priced ahead of the market will sell faster and for more money.

Finish The To Do’s Before You List, Not After

Getting your home ready to show is crucial. First impressions leave a lasting impression and you need to make sure your home sticks out amongst the crowd. And, if you haven’t noticed, the crowds are out in full force these days.

Market inventory, in many markets, is at all time highs! Paint the porch, clean the carpets, replace light bulbs, clean and paint walls, and anything else that needs to be taken care of.

A home that isn’t well maintained tells buyers the owners don’t take care of the place which will be reflected in any offers you receive.

A well maintained home will sell faster and for more money.

Get Rid Of The Personal Stuff

Buyers are looking for a home they can call their own. Give them a canvas to paint their own picture. Sure, little Johnny’s first doo-doo was cute, but you don’t need to display in on the fridge.

Personal pictures distract buyers from your homes features. I don’t know how many times I’ve walked through a home with buyers who stop and look at every picture. They want to see if they know the people who live in the home.

Personal pictures tell buyers someone else lives there, and it makes it harder for them to picture themselves in the home.

A home without personal clutter sales faster and for more money.

Keep It Clean And Smelling Nice

You have to be prepared to show your home at anytime. If you’re not, you may miss the opportunity to show your home to an out of town buyer that’s in just for the weekend. Or, if you show them your home when it’s not clean, you may also lose out.

A bad smelling home is a warning sign to buyers. Common household odors such as pet urine, smoke, and mold tell buyers to run for the hills. Get rid of the odors and the odor producers.

If you’re a smoker, smoke outside. If you have pets give them to a family member while you’re on the market. If you have mold or mildew smells, use some vinegar to get rid of it, cover it with baking soda, and spray some Febreeze.

Before a buyer comes over, bake some c0okies for a nice homely smell, or light a fresh scent candle. You can also put a bowl of vinegar in various places to neutralize odors while spraying some odor cover ups like Lysol or Glade.

A clean, fresh smelling home sells faster and for more money.

If you need to sell your home fast but don’t want to give it away, you have to be prepared to put a little work in. Clean up your house so that Martha Stewart would be proud, price your home ahead of the market, get rid of your personal stuff, and make sure all repairs are done and presentable. Happy selling!

5 Reasons Why Your Home Isn’t Selling

How To Get Rid Of Common Household Odors

Home Selling Negotiation Strategies

Why You Should Counter Every Low Offer You Receive

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