How to Sell Your House

• by J.M.Brown

Introduction

• Due to the sliding ecconomy and the downward spiral of housing sales prices, now is not the best time to sell your home. MSNBC says the median sales price for single-family homes has dropped 8.7 percent since last year. And because ecconomists expect a long, slow recovery, don't expect selling prices to soar anytime soon. In the current market, sellers have to work to sell their home and make a profit.

Step 1: FSBO or Listing Agent?

• Before selling your home, decide if you are selling for sale by owner as a FSBO, or if you are hiring a listing agent. There are advantages to both options: real estate agents have knowledge, resources, and experience; FSBO saves you money on the agent's commission.

Listing Agent

• A real estate agent represents you and has the responsibility to look out for your best interests. An agent receives 2.5 to 3 percent commission. When choosing a listing agent consider the following:

1. Interview agents and talk to at least three neighborhood specialists.
2. Request a marketing plan.
3. Request a comparative market analysis.
4. Do not select based on suggested sales price because some agents will intentionally overbid.

• When you choose an agent she will probably ask you to sign a contract. There are three types of listing contracts:

1. Exclusive Right to Sell: You choose one agent to represent you exclusively and market and sell your house; however, the agent can work with other agents to show your house in exchange for a share of profits. If you pick this option and end up selling the house yourself, you will still have to pay the agent commission.
2. Exclusive Agency: Only one agent has the right to sell your house and does not work with outside agents.
3. Open Listing: An open listing means you list your house with several agents, but only the agent who brings you the sale gets the commission.

• After you choose an agent make sure:

1. You are listed in the Multiple Listing Service.
2. Your agent has prepared a professional looking fact sheet, which includes:
   1. Full color photo of your house
   2. Asking price
   3. List of features and amenities
   4. Utilities figures
   5. Contact Information
3. Your house has an online presence.

For Sale By Owner

• If you decide to sell your own house, you will save thousands of dollars in commission, however, you will have to do all the work yourself. Beware, selling your own home is a lot of effort and can be overwhelming. According to Sacramento Magazine, eighty-five percent of for sale by owners give up and get a real estate agent. With enough motivation and the willingness to learn, you can sell your own home.

Step 2: Set the Stage

• When you sell your home, your goal is to sell it quickly for the highest price. Home staging helps you achieve that goal by improving the look of your house. Realtor Magazine suggests staging your home right before it's listed otherwise you might lose momentum.

• Think about brand new model homes: immaculately clean, ruthlessly organized, and simply elegant. You want your home to be beautiful, yet impersonal so the buyer imagines herself sleeping in the bedroom, cooking in the kitchen and relaxing in the living room. But before staging your home, you need to prepare your home:

1. Clean
2. Declutter
3. Repair
4. Paint

• After you do the prep work, it's time to make you house look bigger and brighter. For a magnificent look, focus on the details. You can hire a professional home stager or do-it-yourself.

Professional Home Staging

• A survey by Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation found staged homes spent half as much time on the market and sold for 6% above the asking price. Professional Home Stagers create a clean, airy, bright space by arranging furniture to optimize space. Some tricks of the trade:

1. Arrange furniture in a grouping called a vignette.
2. Drape window covers using simple lines.

• Stagers also depersonalize, while adding tasteful accessories. Clutter to pack away includes:

1. Religious items
2. Personal photos
3. Awards and certificates
4. Cultural items
5. Pets

• Accessories to add flair to your house:

1. Mirrors
2. Plants
3. Pillows
4. Silk Flowers
5. Lamps

• Professional Home Stagers can be pricey, ranging from $500 to $5,000 depending on square footage, so feel free to do your own home staging using professional tricks.

The Kitchen

• Look: Open, airy, clean
• How to get it:

1. Arrange colorful cookbooks on counters.
2. Put out large bowls of fruit.
3. Small appliances, like toasters, etc., should be kept off the counters to create space.
4. Good lighting: natural and artificial.
5. Create bursts of color using a potted plant or bouquet of fresh flowers. Use as focal point on your kitchen table or windowsill.

The Bathroom

• Look: Luxurious Spa
• How to get it:

1. Hide away personal items like toothpaste, shampoo, etc.
2. Add accessories:
   1. Scented Soaps
   2. Cute baskets
   3. Hand towels tied with ribbons

The Bedroom

• Look: Cozy Oasis
• How to get it:

1. Use soft, neutral colors. If you already have a bright wall color, play it down with light-colored accessories. If you have a light-colored wall, you can make the room pop with a few well-placed, bright-colored accessories.
2. Remove electronics like TV, computer and exercise equipment. If you must, keep in a cabinet (not in the closet—buyers want to see storage space!).
3. Add accessories:
   1. Area or throw rug
   2. Drapery
   3. Art

The Living Room

• Look: Focused but livable
• How to get it:

1. Furniture: less is more.
2. Create a focal point using colors.
   1. Use neutral colors on most walls but paint one wall with a bold color to draw the eye.
   2. A fireplace makes a great focal point because fireplaces are highly sought by buyers.
3. Furniture should face buyers when they walk in the room.
4. Emphasize windows and hard wood floors.
5. If the room is multifunctional, show buyers the possibilities but maintain the flow of the room.

The Entrance Way

• Look: Elegant and inviting
• How to get it:

1. Strategically placed mirrors to open the space
2. Vase of fresh cut flowers, or potted plant
3. Good lighting
4. A beautiful painting

The Outside

• The front yard is the first thing buyers see, so it needs curb appeal. Invest in a professional landscaper, or try these tips:

1. Mow and weed lawn.
2. Trim trees and bushes.
3. Group potted plants in threes or in varying levels.
4. Get rid of tacky accessories like pink flamingos or lawn gnomes.
5. Paint your front door a rich color like red, black, or brown.
6. Wash sidewalks, driveways, and walkways.

Got Pets?

• You might consider your pet to be part of your family, but remember, to prospective homebuyers pets can equal dirty, smelly, destructive animals. You don't want to lie about pets living in your home but you don't want to advertise it either. To get the best price for your home, About.com has a few good ideas for dealing with pets:

1. Relocate your pets (short term!).
   1. Ask a friend or relative to watch your pet.
   2. Board them a kennel.
   3. Hire a pet sitter to take your pet to the park.
   4. Putting pets in a locked room, the backyard, or the garage is not ideal, so if you must keep your pets at home try putting your pets in a carrier while you show the house. That way you won't have any surprises.
2. Keep litter boxes, pet toys and other pet products clean and out of sight.
3. Remove all pet stains; if stains are permanent then replace flooring.
4. Neutralize pet odors using scent-free, hypoallergenic sprays.
5. Vacuum.

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• ForSalebyOwner.com: 0% Real Estate Commissions Sponsored
• Homeassure.com: Stop Foreclosure Sponsored

Step 3: Don't Be Greedy

• Pricing your house to sell is tricky business. If you price too high, your house might stay on the market too long, but if you price too low, you'll lose profit. The key to selling your house fast is setting a competitive price. According to Sacramento Magazine, if your house is priced right it will sell in 60 days.

• Here are a few ways to research the value of your property:

1. Take a look at local listings and see how much houses are going for in your neighborhood.
2. Check recent sales records with a local tax assessor.
3. Enter your zip code in online databases, such as:
   1. House Values
   2. Coldwell Banker
4. Hire a property appraiser.

• When you set the asking price, include closing fees, selling expenses, and how much profit you want.

• After the first few weeks, if no one has made an offer, drop the asking price.

• If there are foreclosed properties in your neighborhood, wait to put your house on the market because a foreclosed property lowers the value of your home by an average $5,000. With the current economy, you may have several foreclosed homes in your neighborhood.

Step 4: Market

• Once your house is ready, it's time to market your home. If you have an listing agent, then you should approve her marketing plan. If you're selling FSBO, then it's time to learn how to market your home.

Classic Strategies

1. Put up "For Sale" signs in your front yard.
2. Place ads in major newspapers, local classifieds, real estate publications and penny savers.
3. Tell everyone you know.

Online

• Online is the best place to market your house because most buyers start their search online. To get the most out of the Internet:

1. List your home for free on various websites, such as Craigslist, to boost your visitors by 6 percent.
2. A picture is worth a thousand words, so make sure to use full-color pictures in your ads.
   1. Photograph the front of your house, close-up and angled.
   2. Front of house should be clear of vehicles and debris.
   3. Photograph yard, emphasizing space.
   4. Take photos of every room.
3. Use a FSBO hotline or website like:
   1. FSBO.com
   2. FSBO Hotline: A Service for California FSBO Sellers
   3. National FSBO Association
4. Send E-Flyers.

Step 5: Show Your House

• Now you are ready to show your house. To increase traffic there are several things you can do:

1. Redfin, an online real estate brokerage firm suggests starting on a Friday to see a 7.7 percent increase in the number of visitors.
2. Selling in spring encourages more visitors than selling in the winter.
3. Avoid selling during the holidays to get a higher price.
4. Allow your agent to use a lockbox so she is free to schedule appointments without checking your availability.

Virtual Tours

• Virtual tours are becoming more and more popular as people search for houses online. Hire a virtual tour company to take 360 degree pictures of each room in your home. Virtual tours are convenient for buyers because if they like what they see, they will want to see the house in person. This also helps encourage serious buyers.

Open House

• An open house exposes your home to potential buyers. Many agents suggest using this technique sparingly, however, at least one out of five listings sell at open houses. Here are some suggestions for making your open house a hit:

1. The best time to hold an open house is Sunday afternoon for two to four hours.
2. Avoid holidays, or special events like the Super Bowl.
3. Check the weather: avoid cold or rainy days.
4. 24 hours before your open house:
   1. Air out the house.
   2. Bake cookies or buy some treats for your guests.
   3. Make sure every room looks perfect.
5. Ask for buyer feedback.

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• ForSalebyOwner.com: 0% Real Estate Commissions Sponsored
• Homeassure.com: Stop Foreclosure Sponsored

Step 6: Close the Deal

• Closing the deal is where real estate agents prove their worth, but no fear, if you are selling FSBO, you can still make a good deal.

Negotiate

• When a buyer decides she wants your house, she will make an offer. Carefully examine initialed clauses and contingencies. If the offer is too low, or you don't like some conditions, respond with a counter offer. Always make a counter offer! If you can't agree on a price, try offering to leave major appliances like the washer/dryer or refrigerator. Sometimes the buyer might request other concessions, it is up to you to decide if giving in is worth the sale.

Open Escrow

• After you accept an offer, your real estate agent or transaction coordinator will open escrow and order a title policy. Escrow is when seller and buyers exchange funds and documents through a neutral third party upon completion of terms and conditions. [1] The buyer will make an earnest money deposit, which is not the same as a down payment.

Inspections

• A home inspection is standard procedure before closing escrow because buyers want to make sure there are no unpleasant surprises. If you don't want any surprises, prepare your house before inspection and don't try to fool your home inspector. Inspectors check numerous systems throughout the house so for a detailed list ask your agent for a home inspection checklist. A few major areas include:

1. Mold and mildew
2. Plumbing
3. Appliances
4. Electrical systems
5. Attics and basements

• After a home inspection, buyers may request repairs, you do not have to agree to the repairs but you do risk the buyers backing out.

• In addition to home inspections, buyers may want the seller to pay for:

1. Roof certification
2. Pest inspections
3. Sewer inspections

• Buyers will also want a final walk-through inspection to ensure the house is in the agreed upon condition a few days before closing.

Close Escrow

• If everything goes smoothly, escrow closes and the sale is made when:

1. Sign the grant deed.
2. Complete final escrow instructions and contingency releases.
3. Escrow office records new deed in buyer's name.

Conclusion

• Despite the housing crisis, with a little effort and a lot of know-how, you can sell your house. Good Luck!

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Resources for How to Sell Your House

• About.com: Before Selling Your Home - 5 Important Steps Before Selling  
• About.com: Sell Your House The Easy Way with Feng Shui  
• About.com: Home Selling Path A to Z  
• About.com: Home Marketing Tips  
• iVillage.com: 7 Ways to Sell Your Home -- Fast  
• eHow: Selling your home? / useful tips before you take that big step
• eHow: How to Quickly Sell Your House in a Slow Market
• wikiHow: How to Sell Your Own House
• CNNMoney: Buy my house, please!
• Parade: How To Make Your Home Sell Faster
• Sacramento Magazine: How To Sell Your House  
• MSN Real Estate: How to make your home stand out
• MSNBC: Tips on selling your house in a cooling market
• MSNBC: Home sales rise, but prices keep tumbling
• Wikipedia: Home Staging
• Wikipedia: Real Estate Broker
• Realtor Magazine: Staging Tips
• Realtor.com: What is Escrow?

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