PREPARING YOUR HOME TO SELL
If you're ready to sell your home, you would, obviously, want to sell it for the highest possible price. AMIRIGHT? In order to do that, the price you list it for is extremely important. All regions may not be the same but, in Middle Tennessee, we price the home in line with the homes that have sold in the current market. If you price the property too high for the market, you'll be on the market for a longer time. The whole point of this is to get buyers in the door. Price using"Apples to Apples". Your home should compare to the sold properties in the following ways:
- Age (within the same era)
- Size (similar in square footage, number of bedrooms and baths)
- Condition (are the sold homes updated? Is yours? If not, are you willing to make any upgrades? Upgrades can bring approximately 3x their cost in value)
- Construction (brick with brick, etc)
To find your current market value, you will need to compare your home to the most similar homes that have recently SOLD/CLOSED. The reason that you're using only sold comparable properties is because the sales price shows what buyers are willing to and have paid, in the CURRENT market (prices can fluctuate). Compare the photos in the sold listings in the market analysis (that your Real Estate Professional provided to you) to your home so you can see how your home compares, aesthetically. If your home is not updated and the comparable properties are, it should be obvious that your home won't bring the same price (with some exceptions such as there being no comparable homes to compete with at the time). If your home is updated and the comparable properties are not, you know that you can price at the top or over the highest priced sold property and vice versa.
ACTIVE listings are not comparable properties to use for price comparisons. They're your competition. These prices aren't proven. If they are priced higher than the homes that have sold then the sellers are using emotion to price their home. Some sellers want to price higher thinking that a buyer will negotiate. This may work with used cars but it doesn't work the same way with resale homes. If you price too high (again, there are exceptions such as if there is something special about your home that stands out above the others), your home will stay on the market longer. If you're priced above the value of your neighborhood's median amount, some buyers may not even want to view your listing. Buyers' agents in this area know that, if priced correctly, the home will normally sell for 98% to 101% of the asking price so they advise their buyers not to make a lower offer early in the listing. Sellers are known to not want to negotiate early in the life of the listing. The first week is the strongest time your home will ever be on the market because buyers are looking at new listings as they come up. You will never get this time back!
HOWEVER; you can use the too-high priced listing down the street to your advantage. Price correctlyb and price a small amount below them, and your home, if in comparable condition, should sell at it's asking price before theirs.
Tips for preparing to sell that will help to get a buyer, quickly that don't require a large investment of time or money.
- The first thing the buyer will see is your "curb appeal". Mow the lawn, pull weeds and repair any issues you see. Passers-by will want to see more. The'll either call your listing agent or their buyer's agent.
- Inside: Remove all clutter from counters, tables, etc. Store or get rid of items you don't use on a regular basis or haven't used in years.
- CLEAN goes a long way! Clean the entire home from top to bottom, inside and outside. clean the exterior; removing dirt and webs off the front door, clean the mailbox! On the inside, clean inside and behind appliances, clean to the corners of every room, make sure there are no webs on the ceiling. A clean home will enhance the desirability EVEN IF THE HOME NEEDS WORK!
Click here to get an estimate of how much your home is worth in today's market.