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Posts Tagged ‘Seller Tips’
VIP Realty
Friday, March 11th, 2011The Top Five Things you Should NOT do at your Next Open House
Monday, August 24th, 2009Your open house is the prime opportunity to make your house shine. It is the perfect time to showcase your home to potential buyers and to wow them with your property.
It is, however, also the time that things can quickly fall apart. Don’t let your open house day become a disaster! The following list of “don’ts” will guide you as you prepare for your open house:
- Do not linger during the open house. If you think that your presence during at an open house will benefit you: think again. Buyers are simply not comfortable looking through a house when the seller is present. Make yourself scarce during the open house so that potential buyers can leisurely tour your home. Your real estate agent will be present to answer questions, to discuss the home and to show potential buyers all of the wonderful features of your home.
- Do not leave your pets in the home during the open house. It is important to remember that not everyone loves pets. And not everyone wants your dog jumping up to greet them as they walk through the front door. It is also quite distracting to have a barking, whining dog behind a closed during the open house, as well. Take Fido or Fluffy with you when you leave, and don’t forget to hide all evidence of your pets before you leave, as well (think: litter box!).
- Do not leave your dishes in the sink. Your spotless kitchen will be forever tarnished in the eyes of buyers when they see your dirty breakfast dishes sitting in the sink. Take a moment and clear the sink so that buyers can imagine themselves in your University Park home.
- Do not return to the house until everyone has left. Just like the first “don’t,” buyers just don’t want to see the owner during an open house. It makes them uncomfortable and unlikely to take the time to thoroughly tour your home. And that means that showing up before the open house has concluded is also a no-no. Don’t return until all signs of the open house are gone.
- Do not underestimate the power of setting the mood. Preparing your home for your open house also means creating an atmosphere that welcomes potential buyers and makes them feel at home. Don’t forget to light the fireplace, arrange fresh flowers on the dining room table and open the curtains to let the sunshine flood the home.
The Top 10 Do
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009Selling your home takes a bit more work and planning than just putting the “For Sale” sign in your front yard. If you want to compete in today’s tough buyer’s market, and attract plenty of buyers, then there are a few things you’ll want to take care of beforehand:
1.
How to Choose the Right Agent to Sell your Home
Wednesday, May 13th, 2009You know the drill: the market is tough, the buyers are few, and the homes for sale are plentiful. So, what’s a seller in today’s market to do?
Well, the first -and arguably the most important – thing to do is obtain a qualified real estate agent. This is not the time to get stuck with a less-than-experienced agent who makes all the wrong moves.
How to Find an Agent Who Will Get the Job Done
- Ask friends, family members and neighbors for referrals. Often times, you may find the best real estate agent through a friend or family member who recently bought or sold their home. Remember: a great referral goes a long way!
- Look around the neighborhood at the homes for sale. Often times, the best way to snag a popular agent in your neighborhood is to simply look at the other homes for sale. It may also be a great way to find an agent with a good knowledge of the area and the homes in the area.
- Interview at least two or three agents from different companies. Compare each agent’s experience, background, education and continuing education, and see which agent comes out ahead.
- Ask a potential agent about his or her philosophy on selling homes. The agent’s answer can often indicate whether he or she is a good fit for you.
- Determine if you have a good rapport with the agent. An agent can have all of the education and experience under the sun, but if you don’t feel comfortable talking with him or her, it is probably not a good decision to dive into a business relationship. Remember: you will need to communicate with this individual over the course of several months, so make sure you have a good rapport with him or her!
- Determine which marketing strategies the agent will use to sell your Coppell home. More importantly, make sure you are in agreement on the strategies that the agent will use. A red flag may be an agent who does not have an active marketing strategy for selling a home.
- Ask for references and follow up. Ask others who have bought or sold homes with the agent about their overall experience. Ask them what they liked most about the agent, and what they didn’t like about the agent.
Some Questions you May Want to Ask a Potential Real Estate Agent
- How long have you been in business?
- Are you involved in continuing education? What certificates and qualifications do you hold?
- Are you familiar with the area? How many homes in the area have you sold?
- How many Coppell homes have you sold in the past year?
- Will I deal directly with you throughout the process, or will I also deal with an assistant/ colleague?
- How do you plan on marketing my home?
- How many clients do you currently have (too many clients may mean the agent may not have enough time to properly market your home)?
Clearing it out: De-Personalizing your Home for Better Showings
Monday, February 16th, 2009Your home is your castle, as they say, and as such it reflects your personal taste, style and design flair. It may not, however, reflect the taste of the buyer that just walked through the door.
What to do?
Assuming that not everyone will appreciate your shot glass collection you must realize that an overly personalized home, while cozy and inviting to you, may not create a warm and fuzzy feeling with potential home buyers.
With that said, the best thing you can do to solve this style dilemma is to depersonalize your Irving home and instead create a warm, neutral palette that will attract most buyers.
Instead of your buyers focusing on your wall of family photos, for example, your buyers may instead focus on the great features of the room.
Your precious photographs, although incredibly important to you, will only serve do distract buyers and make a room feel overly cluttered.
Pack it Away (for Now)
Take the time to pack away your knick knacks, photographs and other mementos before listing your home for sale.
If your children’s toys have taken over the house, now is also the time to clear them out and pack most of them away. Buyers should not notice the large pile of toys in the living room before they notice the fantastic brick fireplace.
Religious statues and art may also fall under the category of overly personal. Just as not everyone has your taste in collectibles, they may not hold your beliefs.
And by all means, try not to take it personally when depersonalizing your home. Your mementos are an important part of your life, but for resale purposes they need to be packed away.
Your collectibles, art and photographs will all find a special place in your new home, but for now the name of the game is to depersonalize the space and get your house sold!
Seller Tips: Bring Life Back into your Outdoor Spaces
Thursday, January 8th, 2009You are blessed to live in an area of the country that enjoys seasonable temperatures nearly year-round, so it only makes sense that buyers touring your Highland Park home will show interest in your outdoor spaces.
Our outdoor spaces are usually well-used and loved, yet are often one of the most overlooked areas of our homes.
Seller Tips: Eliminating Odors in your Home
Monday, December 8th, 2008Your property can be as neat as a pin, clean as can be, and yet the odors can scare off even the best of potential buyers. Your fish dinner last night, Fluffy’s litter box, and the cigars from last week’s poker game are still lingering about – and you have an open house tomorrow! What to do?
The following tips will have your Highland Park real estate smelling less like last night’s dinner and more like a fresh, clean home:
- Take care of the cat’s litter box. Scoop and change the litter at least a few hours before an open house, and place the litter box in an inconspicuous place so that potential home buyers won’t have to view it.
- If your carpets smell like Fido, try sprinkling baking soda on them, letting them sit for about a half hour and then vacuuming it up. You can also try a carpet deodorizer made specifically for pet odors.
- Baking soda is also great on stinky garbage disposals, refrigerators and garbage cans. Pour a bit of baking soda down the garbage disposal drain, let sit for at least 10 minutes and then run the disposal. Place a box of baking soda in the refrigerator to eliminate odors.
- Open the windows and air out your home, is possible, at least a few hours before your showing or open house. Or, if possible, keep the windows open during the showing. There is nothing like a fresh air smell throughout your home to excite buyers and eliminate stubborn odors.
- Empty the garbage cans at least a few hours before your showing.
- Use scented candles, reed diffusers and air fresheners to freshen up any room in the home.
- For a quick fix of the air (especially after a strong-scented dinner), try boiling water with a few sprigs of lavender or other herbs to infuse the air with a light scent.
Selling in a Buyer
Friday, November 21st, 2008A savvy seller in today’s market must be proactive and plan ahead to stand out among the competition. With a larger inventory of homes on the market, a buyer may be inundated with a slew of Coppell homes from which to choose. Therefore, it is in your best interest to take the extra steps necessary to be the house that buyers don’t forget.
The following tips will help you prepare your home for sale in a buyer’s market:
- Price your home competitively. Now is not the time to play games with the price of your home. Price it competitively – right from the start – to attract more home buyers. This involves collaboration between you and your real estate agent. Research the homes in your area that have seen action in the last six months – that includes active listings, sold properties and price reductions – and use that information to accurately set your price.
- Improve your home’s curb appeal. If it’s true that most buyers make up their mind about a house within the first 30 seconds, then it’s especially important that you tend to the front yard and entrance of your home.
Creating great curb appeal includes pulling weeds, planting colorful flowers, trimming back hedges and tree limbs, painting shutters and trim, painting or replacing the front door and adding new hardware, replacing or painting your mailbox and repairing any cracks in your walkway or front porch.
- Clean and stage your home. Give your home a thorough, deep cleaning and then focus your attention on staging your home. Remove clutter and excess furniture, and use the remaining furniture to play up the features of each room. For example, the living room fireplace is best showcased when you frame it with a sofa and two chairs. And the deck furniture works best when it is facing your wooded backyard.
Remember the old adage – you only have one chance to make a first impression!
Seller Tips: Depersonalizing your Home for a Quick Sale
Monday, November 3rd, 2008Depersonalizing is a bit like taking off excessive jewelry and leaving just a few, sparkling pieces. You can better focus on the sparkling pieces – in this instance, the home’s features – when the extraneous is removed.
The following tips will guide you when depersonalizing your Highland Park real estate and showing off its best qualities:
- Eliminate boldly painted walls and wallpaper. The bright red walls of your living room and the floral wallpaper in your bathroom may be exactly what you envisioned your home to look like, but it may be a bit too specific for the general buying public. The theme throughout this article is “neutral.” You must remain neutral so that you can appeal to a larger audience. And that includes wall colors and wall coverings.
- Eliminate excess photos. Your wall of photographs in your living room is very special -and very specific – to you. Potential home buyers need to imagine themselves in your home, and that may be a bit hard to accomplish when a wall of your family photos stares them in the face. A few family photos can be kept, as they give the home a warm, welcoming feeling. It is best, however, to eliminate the majority of personal photographs before showing your home.
- Eliminate religious items. Once again, potential home buyers want to imagine themselves in your home, and your personal, religious items may not reflect their religious beliefs. Therefore, it is in your best interest to remove any items with religious meaning.
- Eliminate your collection of knick knacks. Your Elvis plate collection may be your pride and joy, but the only thing it will do is detract from the home’s features. Eliminating personal items not only depersonalizes your home, but also eliminates excess clutter, as well.
- Clean up the toys and pet items. These items can easily distract a buyer from the home’s features, and quickly clutter any room. Hide and/or neatly organize toys to eliminate this problem.