Let’s talk about selling your home.
THE prime real estate selling season is just around the corner. While investors are always on the lookout for a great deal, these next few months are when the most owner-occupant buyers are out looking for their next home. It’s also when the most houses are on the market and the most sales are made.
In fact, May is the best month to sell a home, according to an ATTOM Data Solutions analysis of home sales from 2011 to 2017. Homeowners selling in May realized the biggest premiums above estimated market value of any month—5.9 percent on average!
And the best day of the year to sell a home is June 28, with an average seller premium of 9.1 percent, according to the analysis.
Now, what does this mean to you? It means now is the time for you to get your house ready to list in order to capitalize on the best time of year to sell.
Maybe you want to take advantage of the appreciation you’ve realized in recent years. Maybe you’ve looked over your portfolio and want to get rid of the “dogs.”
Whatever your reason, you definitely want to get top dollar for your property, right?
I’m going to help you get there.
Condition Matters—A Lot
In order to get top dollar, you need to present a modern home that’s clean, staged, and ready to move in.
A little upfront work can make a HUGE difference in your bottom line. I can’t tell you how many absolutely disgusting properties I’ve been inside as an agent and investor.
You’re going to have potential buyers walking through your property before they buy it. If it’s your own personal home, there is absolutely no excuse for filth and clutter.
Give yourself a few weeks to pack up extra stuff before you list your home. You’re moving anyway, so if you start now, you’ll be ahead of the game once you get an offer.
Go through every cabinet, every closet, every bathroom, every bedroom. Pull out your best Marie Kondo impersonation, and toss out anything that doesn’t spark joy.
Pack up everything you’re not going to need in the next three months. Aim for a sparse aesthetic of minimalism. The more stuff in the property, the smaller it looks.
Can You Smell That?
After you’ve decluttered and packed, have a good friend come over and smell your house. This sounds weird—but hear me out!
Every house has a smell. Conveniently, if you live in that house, you can’t smell it. But potential buyers can, and if it’s unpleasant, they will walk out and never come back.
So, bring in a good friend who will tell you honestly what your house smells like.
I know that at some point in your life, you’ve walked into a house where cats live. And most likely, you knew—immediately—that cats lived there.
Why? Because it smelled like cat. Which, despite what you may think, is not a pretty smell.
I’m not anti-cat. Don’t write me hate mail. But I am anti-cat-smelling houses. And you know who else feels the same? Most buyers.
Come to think of it, most buyers are anti-anything-smelling houses. So, get your friends to come over and give you an honest assessment of what your house smells like to them.
If they describe it as smelling anything other than fresh or amazing, do something about it. And don’t just cover it up with sprays!
Clean your air with an ozonator. You can rent them at your local home improvement store.
You may also want to have your HVAC system cleaned out, as smells linger there, too.
Sorry, No Pets Allowed
While we’re on the subject of pets, start thinking about what you’re going to do with your pets during showings. Having a trusted neighbor or pet sitter come get them beforehand and keeping them away from the home during the entire visit is the best choice. Buyers don’t want to be uncomfortable; they’ll just leave the house.
Don’t give them any reasons to leave.
The whole point of you listing your home to sell is to sell it. Make your buyers want to stay. Show them how they can fit seamlessly into your home by presenting a clean, fresh-smelling property with no animals to distract them from the house itself.
Improvements?
If you’re listing a property significantly higher than the amount you paid for it—especially if you purchased it recently—you are going to want to make a list of all the improvements you’ve made. This is extra important if those improvements aren’t visible. Roof, HVAC, Fence, Plumbing or electrical
You only want people coming to your house who are interested in that property. How do you do that? Two ways:
- Make sure you have accurate pictures on your listing. Include every room, warts and all. And have those pictures reflect the property in its current condition. I once viewed a house where the photographer used fancy lenses and probably laid on his stomach to make the room under the stairs look as big as a bedroom. It had three-and-a-half foot ceilings and was about four feet wide, but the listing pictures made it look like an additional bedroom. Don’t do this. You won’t sell the home based on pictures. You sell based on what the house actually looks like.
- Once your listing is in the MLS, read it carefully for accuracy. Check for number of bedrooms and bathrooms, square footage, price, inclusions and exclusions, HOA info if applicable, location on the map, driving directions, and number of garage spaces. Literally everything on the listing, you should be reviewing. Ask your agent if there is a section for “Broker’s Remarks,” a place hidden from general view where your agent can convey information to other agents. If so, make sure to read that over, too. Agents are human and make mistakes. You just don’t want to pay the price for their mistakes.
Stage It Well
Buyers have no imagination. Pay for staging or have a staging consutation. It is proven that homes that are staged well sell for more money and sell faster than those that are not staged. When selling to an investor, it’s less of an issue. But keep in mind that you are trying to appeal to the widest group possible (and that includes owner-occupants).
Owner-occupant buyers cannot see what isn’t there. If your property has weird spaces, show your buyers how those spaces can be used.
Got an odd corner? Adding a chair, table, and a few books turns it into a reading nook.
Teeny bedroom? A crib, rocking chair, and a few toys make that space perfect for a baby. Or a set of small shelves, a small desk, and a chair turn it into an office or study.
Disclosures
This is the part that no one wants to talk about: disclosing known issues with the house.
“I won’t be able to get top dollar if I tell everyone what’s wrong with the property, right?”
Here’s the thing, the disclosure actually protects you down the road.
First off, you are required to disclose any material defects. A quick way to think of a material defect is one that costs a lot of money to repair or affects the structural integrity or habitability of the home. Mold, meth, foundation issues, things like that are material defects.
If a buyer discovers that you knew about these issues and did not disclose, that can have pretty big financial consequences for you. But the law doesn’t stop there. Not only are you on the hook for things you know about, but you’re also on the hook for things you should have known.
Even if it’s not a material defect, if you know, you should disclose. When you’re selling an investment property, you don’t always know about the issues with the home, especially if you’ve never lived there.
But anything you are aware of should be disclosed in writing. This way, the buyers are informed. So, if they choose to still buy the home and experience any issues down the road, they have little recourse against you.
Plus, it’s the right thing to do. You wouldn’t want to buy a house without all the available information, would you?
The Offer
Let’s talk about the offer now. You’ve listed it on the MLS, you’ve staged it, and now you’ve received an offer. Hopefully your agent has sent an email or called all other agents who have shown the house to let them know there is an offer and to see if they’d like to make a competing offer. More offers means a potential bidding war, which benefits you, the seller.
It’s a good idea to double check with your agent to make sure they did this. If they haven’t, encourage them to do so.
Read the offer very carefully. Don’t just focus on the dollar amount offered; read through the entire offer and decipher what they’re truly offering.
If the buyer is asking you to pay closing costs, give concessions, or otherwise foot bills that aren’t your responsibility, work with your agent to deduct these costs from the offer price to get a true idea of the amount you’re actually being offered. Some costs are traditionally seller-paid, like the previous year’s taxes.
If you’re not an experienced seller, you won’t know when the buyer asks you to pay for things that aren’t your responsibility. This is especially important when you receive more than one offer. Don’t get distracted by a higher offer price that ends up netting you less because of concessions.
More Tips and Tricks?
Contact me for more tips and on getting your home ready to sell.