You’ve seen “For Sale” signs around your neighborhood, but what does it take to actually put your home on the market? First-time home sellers often enter the selling process unaware of what’s to come, their heads full of questions. Understanding the selling process will inform your conversations with your real estate agent and will help you stay organized and on schedule as you sell your home for the first time.
8 Tips for First-Time Home Sellers
1. Know the Costs of Selling a Home
Though you’ll eventually walk away from the sale of your home with a lump sum in your pocket, the selling process isn’t without its costs. Real estate agent commission costs typically account for five to six percent of the sale price, but they’re not the only expense you’ll encounter on your selling journey. Between repairs, home upgrades, staging, escrow fees, Capital Gains Tax and more, it’s important to budget for these costs before listing your home.
2. Find the Right Agent
A successful selling experience starts by working with a professional real estate agent. Real estate agents specialize in keeping up with local market conditions, they have the tools to competitively price your home, and they understand what is driving buyer interest in your area. But beyond these qualities, it’s important that first-time home sellers choose an agent who understands their goals and cares about their happiness. Selling a home can be an emotional roller coaster and having a trusted expert beside you will help you navigate its ups and downs.
3. The Importance of Home Staging
Whether you hire a professional or decide to stage your home yourself, what’s important is that you make the commitment. Staging your home creates universal appeal, capturing the attention of the widest possible buyer pool. If your interior is too personalized, it makes it harder for buyers to see themselves in your home. Staging makes financial sense as well, as it often equates to higher sales prices. According to a 2020 survey performed by the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA®), of the 13,000 homes surveyed, 85% of staged homes sold for 5-23% over list price.1
4. High ROI Remodeling Projects
Remodeling projects cost a significant amount of money; there’s no way around it. This is where your agent’s expertise can help you spend wisely: they can inform you of which home features and upgrades are driving buyer interest in your area. Target the high ROI remodeling projects that increase home value to get the most bang for your buck and know which remodeling projects to avoid when selling your home.
Image Source: Getty Images – Image Credit: Hispanolistic
5. Pre-Listing Inspection
Anything that could potentially give your home a competitive advantage over other listings is worth discussing with your agent. One such strategy is conducting a pre-listing inspection before putting your home on the market. Not only do pre-listing inspections give sellers a better understanding of what repairs may be in order, but they also streamline the selling process by transparently disclosing the details of a property’s condition to the buyer. These reports are especially helpful in competitive markets, since buyers are more likely to waive inspections.
6. How to Price Your Home
Of all the information coming at you during the selling process, you’ll likely have your mind set on getting the best price for your home. Determining home value is one area where real estate agents excel; their Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) will help them set an accurate and competitive figure. It’s important to separate your emotional attachment to your home from your agent’s calculations. In your mind, your home possesses a certain value, but that may not match what it can realistically fetch on the market. Sometimes it may be even more than you thought!
7. Safety Tips for Open Houses
The more buyer interest you’re able to drum up, the better. Open houses play an important role in the selling process in that they allow buyers to experience the property firsthand. Making this connection requires opening your doors to strangers, which is cause for taking the appropriate safety measures. Remove all prescriptions from your medicine cabinets, lock up precious belongings and personal information, make sure all doors and windows are locked at the end of each day, and discuss your buyer screening process with your agent so you’re on the same page.
8. Moving Timeline
The planning doesn’t stop once you’ve sold your home. Before the ink is dry on your real estate contract, your gears will be turning about how to efficiently move into your new home. We’ve created an interactive Moving Checklist with a step-by-step guide to the moving process, from twelve weeks before moving day all the way up until you make your move. The list is also available as an interactive web page and downloadable PDF here:
For more information on the selling process from list to closing, visit our comprehensive selling guide here:
1: Real Estate Staging Association (RESA®). “The Consumer’s Guide to Real Estate Staging.” Realestatestagingassociation.com. 2020.
Featured Image Source: Getty Images – Image Credit: Hispanolistic
This post originally published by Sandy Dodge
Deciding when to sell your home can depend on a variety of factors. Perhaps your local market conditions are favorable to sellers, or you’ve recently changed jobs, or your family is growing and you need to upsize. Whatever the case may be, making the decision to sell your home is the first step in your selling journey.
Deciding to Sell Your Home
Once you know it’s time to sell your home, it’s natural to feel a wave of emotions. A home is an integral part of a homeowner’s life. They provide countless memories and, for many homeowners, are their greatest investment. But once you’ve decided to sell, it’s important to look at your home with an objective eye to appeal to a wide variety of buyers.
Which repairs should I make before selling my home?
To get your house in top selling shape, identify its outstanding repairs. As you fill out your list, separate the projects into categories which are DIY-eligible and which require a professional. This will help you to budget for your overall repair expenses and build a reasonable timeline. Some of the most important repairs to make before listing your home include fixing appliances, making sure your sinks and faucets work properly, repairing any cracks or holes in the walls, fixing all leaks and water damage, and ensuring that all systems in the home are functioning properly. Making repairs before you list your home will bode well for home inspections, negotiations, and can even give your home an advantage over other listings. Your agent may suggest a pre-listing inspection to make your home more competitive in a seller’s market.
Which upgrades should I make before selling my home?
When you sell your home, you’re inevitably competing against other listings in your area. The aesthetics of a house play a significant role in its ability to catch buyer’s attention, which emphasizes the importance of improving your curb appeal as you prepare to hit the market. Landscaping projects, new exterior paint, and upgrading your front entry are just a few ways you can spruce up the outside of your home.
And what about the interior? Consider upgrading to energy-efficient appliances, which are known for their high ROI potential. This is a great time to repaint your home’s interior as well. Consider using a neutral color palette to make it as appealing as possible to a wide-array of buyers. It’s also a good idea to identify rooms in which the flooring should be replaced or repaired. When remodeling your home’s flooring, choose a material that is within budget and has good resale value.
Working With an Agent
Listing agents are trained professionals who work with homeowners to sell their homes. Your listing agent will be there to answer any questions you may have throughout the selling process and will negotiate with buyer’s agents to get the best price for your home. But their value doesn’t stop there. A listing agent will list the home, coordinate showings and open houses, and market the home. When searching for a real estate agent, find someone with whom you are compatible both emotionally and professionally, and who cares about the goals of you and your household.
What’s my home worth?
Homeowners can get a general idea of how much their home is worth by using online home value estimators, like Windermere’s free Home Worth Calculator. Though these tools can provide some context behind the value of your home, nothing compares to the in-depth analysis of an agent’s Comparative Market Analysis (CMA). Using a CMA, an agent can accurately price your home to get it sold quickly.
For more information on your local housing market and how to sell your home, connect with a Windermere agent today by clicking on the button below.
Featured Image Source: Getty Images – Image Credit: Inside Creative House
This post originally published by Sandy Dodge
For more than 20 years, the benefits of staging a home have been well documented. Numerous studies show that staging helps sell a home faster and for a higher price. According to the National Association of REALTORS®, 88 percent of home buyers start their search online, forming impressions within three seconds of viewing a listing. When a home is well staged, it photographs well and makes the kind of the first impression that encourages buyers to take the next step.
Studies also indicate that buyers decide if they’re interested within the first 30 seconds of entering a home. Not only does home staging help to remove potential red flags that can turn buyers off, but it also helps them begin to imagine living there. Homes that are professionally staged look more “move-in ready” and that makes them far more appealing to potential buyers.
According to the Village Voice, staged homes sell in one-third less time than non-staged homes. Staged homes can also command higher prices than non-staged homes. Data compiled by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development indicate that staged homes sell for approximately 17 percent more than non-staged homes.
A measurable difference in time and money
In a study conducted by the Real Estate Staging Association in 2007, a group of vacant homes that had remained unsold for an average of 131 days were taken off the market, staged, and relisted. The newly staged properties sold, on average, in just 42 days, – which is approximately 68 percent less time on the market.
The study was repeated in 2011, in a more challenging market, and the numbers were even more dramatic. Vacant homes that were previously on the market for an average of 156 days as unstaged properties, when listed again as staged properties, sold after an average of 42 days—an average of 73 percent less time on the market.
Small investments, big potential returns
Staging is a powerful advantage when selling your home, but that’s not the only reason to do it. Staging uncovers problems that need to be addressed, repairs that need to be made, and upgrades that should be undertaken. For a relatively small investment of time and money, you can reap big returns. Staged properties are more inviting, and that inspires the kind of peace-of-mind that gets buyers to sign on the dotted line. In the age of social media, a well-staged home is a home that stands out, gets shared, and sticks in people’s minds.
What’s more, the investment in staging can bring a higher price. According to the National Association of REALTORS, the average staging investment is between one percent and three percent of the home’s asking price, and typically generates a return of eight to ten percent.
In short, less time on the market and higher selling prices make the small cost of staging your home a wise investment.
Interested in learning more? Contact your real estate agent for information about the value of staging and referrals for professional home stagers.
This post originally appeared on the Windermere.com Blog
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