Ebook Seller Tips

Hire a Real Estate Professional – Experienced Real Estate Agents are very knowledgeable of the market which allows them to properly price your home, assist you with the negotiation process, provide advice, draft contracts and simply navigate the market with ease. Real Estate agents know what to look for in offers that is most beneficial to you. Your agent will guide you through the entire process to ensure that you get the most money from the sell of your investment. The main goal is for your real estate experience to be smooth and stress-free.

Declutter – It very important to declutter your home prior to listing. Decluttering allows potential buyers to get a feel for just how much space your home actually has. My recommendation for decluttering a kitchen would. be to remove small appliances such as a toaster oven, small grills, wine racks, etc. from your counter top. Less is better because it highlights just how much counter space you have. Even if you use these items on a daily basis, it would be highly recommended that you store them when they’re not being used.

Remove Personal Pictures Specific To Your Family – As humans, we are always curious when we see pictures. We want to see if we know the people in the picture or just want to see who currently lives here. This can be a huge distraction as it takes the focus off of the reason for viewing the home. Instead of displaying your beautiful family, allow them the opportunity to envision their family pictures hanging or a piece of wall décor that they currently have. Pictures also shrink wall space creating the impression that the room is smaller than it really is.

Organize All Closets – Closet space can be a major factor when shopping for a new home. We somehow accumulate so many clothes, shoes and “things” over a period of time and because we as humans have “detachment issues”, we intend to use closet space to store everything. A full closet can be challenging to organize, especially is your space is limited. Shoe boxes, collectables, trunks, etc. takes up a lot of space in closets. There have been many cases where buyers love the home but fear there isn’t enough closet space for the amount of clothes that they currently have. Buyer tip: If your budget allows, consider having your closet professionally designed so that there is a place for everything.

Neutral Paint Colors – We like to express our personalities, our favorite colors and our wild imagination thru paint colors in our homes! However, this could be another huge distraction when listing your home for sale. Dark colors, designs and murals will visually shrink the size of a room while brighter neutral colors intend to make rooms appear larger. We want the room to appear spacious while welcoming natural lighting as well. Also, keep in mind that it could be another added expense for the buyer to have to hire a contractor to lighten the walls. As a seller, you could offer a paint allowance as an incentive if your colors are a bit bold and undesired. ** Dark paint versus lighter/neutral color paint **

Repairs – Before you list your home, it is highly recommended that you and your Realtor self-evaluate the condition of your home to assure that it’s in line with the list price. As your Realtor, I would not advise you to go over and beyond with repairs prior to listing your home. Why?? Glad you asked! The buyer is going to have a home inspection performed and will more than likely have their own set of requested repairs. The items that YOU feel need to be repaired may not even be an issue to the buyer. Let them present to you their concerns. Now, if you know prior to listing your home that there is something “major”, such as some sort of pluming issue, please have that addressed as it will definitely appear on the inspection report. Plumbing issues could potentially result in other major issues that could become a costly repair.

Price Your Home To Sell – It’s imperative that your home is priced according to the Comparable Market Analysis that was performed for your home. In some cases, seller’s intent to want to price their home according to what THEY feel their home is worth. Over pricing the home will typically result in the home being overlooked by serious buyers. In today’s market, when a home is on the market for a prolonged time, it is often perceived that something is wrong with it. Over pricing the home could also result in appraisal issues. If your desire is to price your home over the CMA price, make sure you have home improvements to justify the increase in list price.

Presentation is everything – When you decide to list your home, please understand the importance of keeping the home in showing status at all times. By now, we all know that it is believed to be a seller’s market and because of that, you should expect a great deal of activity once your home is listed. The inventory is considerably low compared to the number of buyers, therefore, as soon as your listing goes “live”, agents are making appointments to show your home. It’s understood that you are still actively living in your house and it could be challenging at times to always have everything in place. However, making your bed, keeping the floor clear of toys, shoes, etc. (safety reasons), keep bathrooms cleaned, ensuring the dishes are washed and being aware of curb appeal are just a few tasks that I ask you to be mindful of.

Latricia Gilmore Broker/Realtor 704.975.2073 www.carodproperties.com