Ways to Make Your Home Sell Faster and For More Money

In addition to right pricing, condition, condition, condition is the watch-word for selling a home faster and for more money.  Simple fixes and staging practices can focus buyers’ attention in the right places and keep them from getting sidetracked by personal items in the home.

  

 

Remember, you are preparing your home to become a product for market; one that appeals to the broadest market.  Don’t feel offended that your REALTOR^® insists your coveted widget collection is stored, away from view.  How your live in your home and how you prepare and keep it market-ready are very different.  The 10 minute rule applies: if you (or the kids) can’t put it away in ten minutes, reevaluate whether you must take it out.

   

 

The front yard and door are the buyer’s first impression of your product.  If buyers won’t leave the car, you can’t make the sale.  Clean the gutters, paint the front door, pull weeds and spent flowers, polish the hardware, and power-wash walkways and siding.

 

Be prepared for a white glove inspection. Prospective buyers pull open drawers, look in closets and peek behind the shower curtain, and inspect the oven. Mop, dust, vacuum, clean baseboards, wash windows. Make sure the house looks fresh and smells neutral.

 

Remove furniture that makes rooms feel crowded or décor that will distract buyers from your home’s architectural features.  

 

 

Use furnishings to give each space a logical identity.  If it worked best for your family to use your formal dining room as a home office, get rid of the desk and computer, and bring back the dining table and chairs.

 

 

Eliminate countertop clutter. A countertop covered with small appliances and utensils looks crowded, not spacious. Store personal items, including toiletries; stash family photos and team and religious memorabilia.  Make the place look suitcase ready.

 

 

Dripping faucets, burned-out light bulbs, and squeaking hinges become a distraction and can falsely magnify a home’s need for routine care and maintenance and tend to make the buyer question the condition of other items that can’t be seen, such as the HVAC, roof, and other expensive items.

  

  

The buyer is mentally subtracting thousands of dollars from your list price with every flaw he sees.

 

 

Finally, ask yourself, “Is this property’s condition what I would like to see when I go house hunting this afternoon?”

 

For a checklist on how to prepare your home for market, or a list of preferred and proven vendors, email your request to: chrystal.safari@gmail.com

 

 

Consistent        ◊        Reliable        ◊        Loyal

Buyer’s Agent New Construction Closing Checklist

Closing Checklist as Buyer’s Agent

 

New Construction

Once you are under contract with a new home builder, there are many behind-the-scenes activities that are necessary to progress seamlessly from contract to close. 

Following is a list of items your REALTOR^® should oversee.  Problems will arise.  To avoid unnecessary delays, let your REALTOR^® know immediately when a problem occurs.  Always let your REALTOR^® know all builder scheduled appointments as soon as they are set so your REALTOR^® can attend.

 

•            Get copies of finalized contract to buyers and lender
  
•  ð       Follow loan process with loan officer from beginning to end
•  ð       Ask lender what is needed from buyer
  
•  ð       Accompany buyer to design center/location for color and materials selection
•  ð       Attend pre-construction meeting with buyer
  
•  ð       Set up pre-dry wall inspection with independent home inspector
  
•  ð       Get update from lender – any needs outstanding from buyer
  
•  ð       Get update from closing coordinator regarding closing with attorney
  
•  ð       Inform buyers of time and date for closing
  
•  ð       Have buyer check into and set up home owner’s insurance
  
•       Clarify if survey (showing building on site) will be provided
  
•  ð       Get update from lender
  
•       Arrange home inspection prior to pre-closing walk –  utilities on, all appliances installed
•  ð       Get repair request list to construction supervisor
  
•  ð       Review HUD statement with buyers
  
•  ð       Make sure buyers have driver’s licenses and certified check made out to attorney
  
•  ð       Final walk to check on repairs the day of closing

 ð       Enjoy closing!

Avoid the sticker shock of a new or move up purchase

LANDLADY LEAD… Whether you are a renter, investor, or move up buyer, you can Avoid the Sticker Shock that has no doubt contributed to many foreclosure scenarios.  Put away the amount of money each month that is the difference between what you now pay for rent or mortgage.  For example, if you now pay $1,000 per month rent/mortgage, but expect to move up to $2,000 rent or mortgage, put away the additional $1,000 per month needed for 6 months.  If you never have to touch that money in 6 months, you will likely have little problems with paying for your new home.  Same works if you think you might need a new car.  Stash away that new car payment, and if it’s untouched for 6 months…you’ll have a great down payment!

The Unusual Suspects

A real estate broker must always be aware of personal safety, and the safety of clients, whether meeting new clients for the first time, while showing properties, driving to home tours, installing roadside signage, and on site at new construction.

The simplest tasks must constantly be evaluated and strategized to ensure utmost safety for all, but no class, lesson, or quick thinking could have prepared me for this.

While out with clients touring new home communities in Union County yesterday, we stopped into the builder’s agent-on-duty model home, and quickly on to the model next door with the preferred floor plan.  After getting the key and walking through an inventory home just down the street, we returned to the model home to see the sales agent.

As we were sharing our feedback on the house under construction, I noticed a sudden cough getting embarrassingly worse.  I started to make my apologies, explaining to the sales agent that I didn’t know what had happened, but it must have been the new construction dust that had triggered this worsening episode.

In mid-sentence, he stopped me.  He said, “I know what happened to you.”  He continued that 3 hours prior, he had accidentally set off pepper spray in his office…by this time, my lungs were burning, my chest was hurting, I felt a warm flush throughout my body and broke into a head-to-toe sweat! 

Continuing to cough to clear my airway, my client, a medical professional, became concerned, explaining that she could see my eyes and face swelling.  We said a quick goodbye and left.  I continued to cough terribly, and by this time had a headache. 

When we arrived at the next new home community minutes down the road, I realized that water might help clear my throat.  I was beginning to lose my voice.  It took several cups of water to relieve my throat symptoms, and after two hours I was no longer coughing, but had a headache until the next morning.

 Thank goodness he had not just sprayed that mace!  I can’t image my reaction if it had been recently sprayed, or worse yet, sprayed on me.  I don’t know how my client and the sales agent managed to avoid a reaction, but apparently I would make an excellent mine canary!

But let this be a lesson to you.  No matter how bored you are, sitting at work in your office with nothing to do, do not test your mace can.  Trust me, it works.