There is nothing wrong with picking the colors of your choosing to live in your home. In fact, when it comes to things that are inexpensive to do, paint is one of the cheapest ways to change the décor in a room and we all want to put our signature on a room or two where we live. However, when you get ready to sell a home, one of the things you can do is go back to those rooms that may be a little crazy and paint them with a neutral color. That teen that has his entire room painted black may be the reason your house is not selling!
It is hard at times to step back and look at your home critically to assess what it is that may keep people from making that all important offer. If you don’t have a clue, it may be time to call in a Professional Stager or Interior Designer that can give you some direction. This also holds true with the yard as well and you might just need an hour of consult time to get the information you need to get your home up to snuff and get it sold. Don’t be afraid to ask for help; that’s what I am here for.
Now that I have your attention, I would like you to know that you can sell your home today by following a couple of tried and true rules of real estate; price it right and show it well. By making sure you have the home priced to sell almost any house will sell quickly. If you show the home in its best light, you won’t have to under price your home to sell it either.
Most people make one, if not two, big mistakes; they put their house on the market based on what THEY THINK its worth and they show it the way THEY THINK it should be shown. Notice that I have highlighted “THEY THINK” because selling your house has nothing to do with what the seller thinks its worth or what the seller thinks it should look like. People who sell their homes quickly do so because they or their Realtor have done the research to find out what the buyers are looking for and what the market will bare in the neighborhood they live. Without this important information the sellers are shooting in the dark and if they hit something, it’s pure luck. Let’s get serious and sell your home the right way with the right information.
When the economy goes down the toilet, everyone scrambles to save as much money as possible and one of the things that homeowners do is get rid of any type of insect treatments, including termite treatments. I would use extreme caution if this is one of the things you are thinking about terminating because once you place your house on the market, if it has termite damage, it could cost you the sale of the home.
Recently, I showed houses to a couple who were interested in putting a contract down on a house before they discovered an entire interior wall eaten up with termites, which had the immediate affect of them changing their minds. This particular house was valued by local taxes in the 200’s and ended up selling to an investor in the 60,000 range. Ouch! The owner of that house took a big hit due to the damage done by these little creatures that could have been avoided with proper treatment. Unfortunately, I am seeing way too many homes with preventable termite damage and it is affecting the sales price. The take away is simple; protect the value of your home by keeping the termites at bay with annual inspections and treatments if necessary.
This has been one of the questions I have heard on more than one occasion and would like to take a few minutes to address answer it. I know that in today’s world, as a buyer, you can easily search and find a home on the internet and it seems like it makes more since to just do it yourself. While I understand the thought process, I think it’s important for you to understand the real estate process.
Realtors are normally paid by the seller, not the buyer. There are few exceptions to this and if you are involved in one of those exceptions, you will have plenty of advanced notice. If a seller has a knowledgeable realtor, shouldn’t you have one on your side to negotiate the deal on your behalf? Would you go into a business deal without an attorney making sure you are dotting every I and crossing every t? It’s the same for a real estate transaction. This is a legal transaction and may be one of the most expensive purchases you make in a lifetime. Should you not do everything in your power to protect yourself? That’s what realtors do.
One of the things that seller’s seldom do is take a good look at their house as a buyer. The seller tends to go on and on about all the great things about the house and why they believe it should bring in a certain price. A Realtor’s job is to look at the house like a buyer would look at the house and make recommendations to the seller to make some changes so the house will appeal to a buyer right out of the gate.
Here are some of the things the seller should look at like a buyer.
- Grease stains on your driveway.
- Keeping the lawn cut and free of clutter
- Putting personal items like family pictures or your children’s drawing’s away
- Keep your closets neat and tidy
- Organize your garage
These are just a small list of things that makes buyers think the house will stay just as they see it after they purchase the house. It may not be true in practice but perception is often mistaken as truth.
Every buyer needs to know some basic information about the electrical system of the home they are considering purchasing. Those questions are quit simple and do not require the assistance of an electrician. The seller’s agent (realtor) should also be able to tell you about it as well.
Here are some basic but important questions to ask:
- Where’s the fuse box? (AKA breaker box and main panel box)
- This allows you to take a look and make sure everything seems to be okay
- Does the home have 220 volt service?
- This will allow you to hook up modern day dryers, air-conditioners and other higher voltage appliances
- Are the plugs or outlets in the house grounded?
- Grounded plugs protect you from escaping electrical current
For some of you these questions will seem to be elementary but it is important when looking at older homes. As many older homes have been renovated and have upgraded their electrical systems, there are many that have not been renovated or upgraded and it’s important to ask these questions before you buy.
