You might have a lot of ideas about how to fix up that home and market it to the public, but you should always be careful of investing time or money if you don't know what you're doing. Check out this article packed with great tips on how you can package your property to sell in any market.
Make sure that your floors are clean and your carpets do not have any stains before someone comes to look at your home. No one wants to buy a home with dirty floors and carpets. If your carpet is in really bad shape, try to have them replaced before even putting your home on the market.
Before you start showing your house to prospective buyers, make sure all minor repairs have been completed. It may not seem like a big deal to you, but that dripping faucet in the bathroom could cause a buyer to turn tail and run. From their perspective, if you didn't even bother to fix a leaky sink, what else is wrong with the place?
While it might be tempting to pack things into every nook, corner, and cabinet in your house, this strategy will not do you any favors in the eyes of prospective buyers as they tour the house. Remove clutter from the garage, closets, and storage areas; this creates an invitation for buyers to imagine all the things they could do with the extra storage space if the home was their own.
When looking for inexpensive home improvements that will greatly improve the look of your home, consider putting down tile in the foyer. The area immediately behind the front door is of course the first impression visitors will have of your home, so tile in that area can add significantly to your home's appeal.
Know the competition that you're up against, when putting your house on the market. Visit some open houses in your neighborhood or have your agent schedule you to attend a few showings. This can give you a great reality check and help you to analyze the effectiveness of the price and upgrades that you've done on your property.
Mortgage
When trying to figure out what price to sell your home for, look more at the prices that houses similar to yours sold for rather then houses that are currently on the market. When an appraisal is made for the sale of your home, the mortgage company will only approve a mortgage for the amount of the appraisal, even if both the buyer and seller agreed on a higher amount. Appraisers use previous sales as their guide. By doing this up front, you will keep yourself from having issues during the sale process.
Pre qualify prospective buyers to confirm that they have the ability to pay. Negotiating the terms of selling a house can be long and drawn out. The most frustrating thing is to go through that entire process and find out the buyer cannot obtain his mortgage. Before you spend the time working with someone, take the time to have them pre qualified.
When selling your home, it is crucial to keep some information to yourself. If you are moving for your job or can no longer afford your mortgage, you do not want to share this information with buyers because it could lower the overall price of your home. If a buyer senses that there is urgency in your sale, they will try to negotiate more than they would have otherwise. You can be honest about your situation without providing specifics.
If you have to move soon, and your home has not been sold, you may want to consider renting it out. The money you receive from renting out your home can pay off the mortgage on your older home so that you can have money to pay the mortgage on your newer one.
For best results, selling a house should be viewed as a team effort. Many times, your team consists not only of yourself and an agent, but also of property inspectors and assessors, escrow officers, mortgage and financing professionals, and maintenance and repairmen who can get your property ready for sale.
Now that you see that there's nothing really complicated about packaging your property correctly, you can use these tips to market your home properly. Always be aware of the pitfalls associated with the real estate market, and always use tips like these to say as informed as you possibly can.