For Sellers

Last updated 10-21-09

Who to invite . . . when you're ready to party!

Your birthday is coming up soon, so you decide to throw a party for a few close friends. Instead of sending invitations directly, you run a simple ad in the paper that says, "It's my birthday! Help me celebrate. Come to my house for a party on Saturday at 3PM!"

You clean house, bake a cake, set out the refreshments, and wait for your friends to arrive. They never do . . . but you don't have time to wonder why. Plenty of folks arrive to help eat the cake and refreshments - total strangers. They are curious, and don't mind taking advantage of your hospitality, but they never had any intention of helping you celebrate.

What happened? Because you failed to target the group you wanted by sending invitations, you invited the community-at-large.

Getting the right response to an invitation is critical when selling your home, too. You must attract the right buyers - qualified individuals with a genuine interest in your home. How can you attract them? Your choice of a real estate agent may be the most important decision you will make.

Agents understand and implement "target marketing." This effective technique involves the identification of likely groups of buyers. By exposing your home only to likely buyers, rather than the "community-at-large," your home will sell more quickly. You benefit by fewer showings and less inconvenience to your family.

When selling your home, a well-planned target marketing campaign can attract the right guests. Ask your real estate agent for details - then get ready to celebrate!

You have influence . . . in determining the future!

Have you ever noticed that predictions made by economists and futurists rarely occur exactly as their timetables would have had you believe? Predicting the exact time it takes to sell a home can also fall short of expectations, yet one of the questions most often asked by sellers is, "How long will it take to find a buyer?"

There are three factors that can influence the selling time of your home. They are: price, condition of the home, and the average selling time experienced by other sellers in your area.

To begin, ask your real estate agent for detailed information about homes comparable to yours that have sold recently. Review the listed price, the final sale price, and a list of features such as size, number of bedrooms and baths, etc. Ask for the sale time and the financing method used by the buyers.

If your agent provides eight to ten comparable sales, eliminate both the longest and shortest sale times. Average the remaining sale times. Although this figure cannot be used to predict a certain sale time for your home, it can give you an approximation of the time you should allow. If you want to shorten your sale time, adjust the price and/or the condition of your home.

Put your home in significantly better condition than other comparable homes, or adjust the price downward to "fair market value" or below. Combining these two factors will significantly reduce your sale time.

Supply and demand . . . determine fair market value!

When you prepare to sell your home, you bear a heavy responsibility - pricing your home at "fair market value.” What is fair market value? Sellers often think it is the price they want to receive. On the other hand, buyers will tell you it is the price they want to pay.

In reality, "fair market" is a balance between the two. It is "that price which a seller is willing to accept and a buyer is willing to pay, both being fully informed about the property, and neither being under any time pressure to buy or sell."

Fair market value is a result of supply and demand, a balance between the needs of both buyers and sellers. Often, buyers and sellers think the real estate agent sets the price. Not so. While only the market sets the ultimate final sale price, it is up to the sellers to decide upon a listing price.

To determine the right price, sellers need accurate information and plenty of it. This includes recent sale prices of homes already sold, as well as asking prices of comparable homes being offered for sale. It is wise to compare homes similar to yours when deciding on a price. Buyers will be doing the same when shopping for a home.

This information is available from your real estate agent, who keeps extensive, and accurate, records on all area real estate activity. As sellers, remember that the closer your home is priced to "fair market" value, the more likely buyers are to recognize the value offered. A full price offer is more likely to be the result of a fairly priced home.

It's really no fun . . . to play at this game!

Have you ever played "High/Low" with your children? It's a fun game that can be played on family trips. Your child picks a number somewhere between 1 and 1,000, then you guess which number. Each time you guess, your child must tell if you are "high" or "low."

Not knowing the number, you start low at 100. You may be told you are too low, so you go the other direction and guess 900. Gradually, you narrow the possibilities until you eventually guess correctly at 656.

When a home is overpriced, a similar "game" ensues between sellers and buyers. Buyers don't know what the sellers will actually accept, so they may make their first offer considerably lower than the asking price. The sellers may then join the game with "You're too low, you must pay $XXX."

The buyers might raise their offer slightly, if at all, only to hear again, "You're too low!" Eventually, an acceptable price may be reached. Unfortunately, both sellers and buyers may feel that they have been victimized by unfair price concessions.

Wouldn't it be easier for the sellers to price their home at "fair market value" from the beginning? When selling, it pays to get complete details from your agent about recent sales and homes currently for sale. Comparing prices of other homes with the value offered by your home, you can set your price fairly and accurately.

You may be pleased to find that buyers don't spend a minute of time trying to reduce the price, because they already feel they are receiving real value for their money.

Pack first . . . and sell fast!

Selling your home? Before you even put your home on the market, start packing! The extra effort invested could pay off in an early sale. Why pack first? Homeowners who have lived in one place for more than a few years tend to collect things - lots and lots of things.

Boxes tend to pile up on closet shelves, in the attic, or the basement or garage. Magazines that should have been tossed long ago stack up on the living room floor. Porcelain frogs and pewter figurines seem to multiply, covering every inch of shelf space.

The longer a home is lived in, the more it takes on the personality of its owners. And that's what a home should do. When the home is sold, however, it is likely to be purchased by individuals with entirely different tastes. To be attractive to buyers, the home should be made as presentable and uncluttered as possible.

Thus, an important step in selling a home is a pre-move packing spree. The results can be quite dramatic and rewarding. Begin by removing all unneeded cartons, clothing and other items from closets. Pack everything that is not absolutely essential to day-to day activities. Stack the boxes neatly in the garage.

Remove extra sets of dishes, cookware, glasses, and utensils from kitchen drawers and cabinets. Leave only the bare essentials, neatly organized. Clean the bathrooms and medicine cabinets thoroughly, tossing outdated medicines, toiletries, and old sheets and towels.

Want to enjoy an early sale at the best possible price? A favorable first impression could be the key!