Selling Your House In A Tough Market Is Tough, But Can Be Done
It is no longer a seller's market in real estate, so if you are putting your house up for sale, it should be because you have to sell. In the bad ol...
It is no longer a seller’s market in real estate, so if you are putting your house up for sale, it should be because you have to sell. In the bad old seller’s market days, everybody and his brother put their homes up for sale even if they really didn’t want to move, just to realize the profits their home has garnered over the years. That is far from the case today, where sellers are losing money on their homes;so you should make sure you really need to sell now.
If you have no choice in the matter because you have a new job in another area, or a growing family requires a bigger home, make sure you go about the sales process very carefully. If you are not forced to sell, the greatest advice is to wait. Real estate prices have been rising and falling for decades, and though we may not see the heady days of the early 21st century, prices will once again stabilize and start increasing.
But if you do have to sell, the first decision you have to make is whether to sell with or without an broker. Paying a real estate commission will substantially lower the proceeds from your house. Commissions of five or six percent have been seen in the past, and agents feel they earn it because they have to devote so much work into a sale. If you are not going to be able to give the project a lot of time and interest, you may end up sitting on the house a lot longer, which will cost you as much as the commission. You may also think about asking your real estate broker if he is willing to negotiate the commission.
Pick your agent with a lot of care. Check the recent sales in your neighborhood to see which agent’s names you see most often as listing agent. Also research the original listing date against the sales date, to make sure the agent did not just sit on a home for a number of years and wait for it to sell.
After you found a super agent, stick to her like a tick. Contact him for news about what buyers are looking for, when she is showing your house next, etc. You will always be on her mind when a home shopper walks into her office. Be 100% available for viewings by prospective buyers, or opt for a lock box. There is a great deal of inventory out there, and buyers are not going to go back to see the house that was not available when there are so many more to view.
Be 100% ready. Make your home the best it can be. Attend to any little issues, and even think about hiring a home inspector to make sure there are no hidden problems; you can be sure your buyer will hire one and if he finds something you didn’t tell them about, there goes the sale. Maintain the home spotless always. Keep the lawn mowed, bushes trimmed and be sure there are no broken boards, crumbly concrete or other signs of neglect. Many’s the occasion that a buyer simply told the agent to skip the house when the outside appearance looked poor.
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