Selling Information

Price

Price is currently king.   It used to be that you could get away with overpricing a property by a small amount, and the market would quickly catch up with your price.  This is no longer true.  An overpriced property in a decreasing market will languish for a long time.  And by the time you drop the price, you may have already lost buyers.  So it's critical to get your price set right to start with, and be ready to adjust it if you're not getting good showing volume

  Curb Appeal

I've had buyers who won't even get out of the car when we drive up to a property, even when I know that the inside of the home is lovely.  Firstly, make sure that your yard is neat.  Lawn furniture, toys, and garden hoses should not be evident from the front of the house.  Make sure the lawn is mowed and neatly edged.  And shrubs should be trimmed so that they don't obscure the house.  People want to see the house, and feel comfortable walking up the walkway to the front door.  A few flowering plants in the front yard or at the front doorstep can go a long way to making a home feel welcoming.

 DeClutter

Most of us have entirely too much "stuff" inside our homes.  This may make you feel at home, but it won't help you sell your home to someone else.  Since you plan to move anyway, why not start packing early?  Get some packing boxes, and go through each room and remove every single knick-knack, personal photo, etc. that isn't essential for your existance over the next couple of months.  Pack them in boxes, and neatly stack the boxes in your garage.  If you don't have a garage, see if you can't borrow some storage space from a friend or relative.   Pay particular attention to your closets.  Use those packing boxes and pack up all your off-season clothes.  You want your closets to look like you have room to spare.  If your clothes are all crammed in, people will think the house doesn't have enough storage space. 

 Sanitize

Buyers are looking for homes that look, feel, and smell clean.  The two biggest challenges are pet odors and smoking odors.  Those of us who have pets or smoke don't even notice this.  But buyers do.  I've seen houses sell for tens of thousands less than they should just because they don't smell clean.   So what do you do?  First, ask a friend or realtor to tell you the truth about whether your home smells and feels clean.  Second, if it doesn't, consider banishing the offending activity to a single part of the home for the period it is on the market.   Carpets and upholstered furniture tend to hold onto smells for long periods.  So consider having these professionally cleaned once you've banished the offender.  And use sanitizing spray before each showing.  I like Febreze air spray - it doesn't make it smell like you're covering something up with a heavy scent.  When I sold my last house, I sent my beloved cat to live with my mother for a couple of months.   They both had a blast, and I sold my house within 4 weeks and to person who was allergic to cats!

 Lock Up

Everyone is aware that they should lock up their valuables.  You don't want jewelry or cash sitting about to tempt someone.  However, most are not aware that you should also secure your prescription medications.  These don't actually need to be locked up - but put them somewhere other than in the bathroom medicine cabinet.  It's a sad state of affairs that we have to think this way, but it's better to be safe than sorry. 

 Leave

You are best not to be present at all during showings.  This is for a couple of reasons.  Buyers generally will not tell their realtor what they don't like about a home when the owner is present.   You want the showing realtor to be able to have an open conversation with the buyer so that they can help sell your home.  Many times a buyer will say, gosh, this livingroom is just too small.  And the realtor may know that it's actually bigger than the last one they looked at, but it just looks smaller because of the furniture placement.  Allowing the realtor to have this conversation with the buyer may be the difference between getting your home sold or not.    Second, shrewd realtors often grill property owners with all kinds of questions if they are present.  It's easy to let slip with some information that can be used to the buyer's advantage in negotiating a contract.   If you absolutely must be home to allow the showing agent and buyers into your home, it is best to let them in and immediately leave.  Take a walk around the neighborhood, and don't return until you see that they have left.