Selling Your Home-First Time Seller Tips
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You bought your very first house a couple of years and now we’re in a Hot sellers market you’ve decided you want to put your house on the market.
Although you probably learned a lot when you went through the buying process, selling is a whole different experience.
Even if you've sold many homes, novice sellers still face challenges and decisions that are unique to the sales process.
If you're ready to sell, but feeling a little anxious about the first time experience, Today I’m going to give you 4 tips all first time home sellers need- to have a great home selling experience.
1.Pricing It Right- the first time
Some homeowners can let their emotions dictate their selling price instead of relying on their real estate agent's expert opinion and market data -- and that can be a huge mistake.
Hopefully you’ve chosen an awesome Real Estate agent who will provide you with the data you need to make good decisions. I’m not going to get into how to choose a Realtor today, but if you’d like more info check out my prior video .
Hi, I’m Lisa Kelly, Lakeland Homes and Lifestyles with Premier Realty.
But before even speaking with a Realtor, do your own homework. Be sure to research comparable sales, also known as "comps". This is really the only time those public websites are actually helpful.
It's important that the comps you use are a similar size and condition as yours. They should also be near the same age and in the same area of your home.
So now, when your Realtor suggests a pricing strategy, you’ll feel much more confident when agreeing or disagreeing.
Poor timing will create undue stress, especially if this is your first home selling experience.
Before putting your home on the market, know where you are moving to and know your dates!
If your home ends up selling faster than you predicted, you can ward off any anxiety by having options in place ahead of time.
Whether you’re buying a new home, moving into a rental know the availability dates so your Realtor can negotiate a smooth transition for you.
In last weeks video, I talked about 4 options to consider when buying while selling a house. Check it out.
3.Staging your house to sell
Know and understand the difference between home décor and home staging.
An experience Realtor will be able to advise you how to best showcase your home. Unique spaces and especially smaller spaces can be optimized only if there is a correct balance of that ‘homey feeling’, yet neutral and unpersonalized.
That may mean that you will need to remove some of your furniture in order to stage the home correctly.
You want your buyer to imagine themselves and their things in the space.
Statistics show that staged homes sell 60% faster and for 5% higher than homes that are not staged.
Compared to what it costs to stage a home, that’s a pretty good return on the investment.
4.Complete certain home repairs before listing
The Biggest source of anxiety for a seller is the anticipation of being handed a list of needed repairs the buyers home inspector found.
Especially if you, as seller, honestly feel you’ve done an excellent job in maintaining and caring for your home.
Unless you have recently updated most all of the structural components of your home like New Roof, A/C, Plumbing and Wiring;
You can Avoid these unexpected stressers by having your own home inspection done before listing your home.
Being a first time home seller , you may be thinking, “why should I spend money on a home inspection when the buyer is going be doing the same thing”.
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Any repair or deficiency a buyer finds, most always translates to an inflated repair or replacement costs in their mind.
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You do not want to give your buyer reason to question how well your home has cared for
A Home Inspection typically will cost around $350 for an average 1800 square foot home..
A pretty small and Wise investment, to potentially avoid a bite out of your profit or pricey contractors that buyers lenders may insist on for repairs.
So If you know you learn a water heater that's about to go, a running toilet, leaky faucet, or other issues that are likely to turn a buyer off-- fix them before listing your house for sale.
The bottom line when selling your home
Whether you’re selling because you need more space for your growing family, rightsizing for retirement, or relocating for your job.., it's important to be prepared and educated about the selling process.
Of course, there’s a lot more that goes into properly preparing your to go go on the market.
But If you follow these four tips, you’ll be ahead of the game and on the path to a great selling experience.
Thank you for taking the time to be with me today. If you found this video helpful, please tap the like button and leave me a comment. I’d love to hear about your future plans!
I’m Lisa Kelly and until then, I’ll see you on the next one.