If the average days on the market is 90 days listing in January means you will have an offer on the home in April.  Add the time for the buyer to obtain financing and you could very well be looking at May before having to move.

Each area is different and the price you list your home will have an impact on the days your home is on the market.  Contact me if you would like to speak to an agent in your area about selling your home, now or in the spring.

To a home owner thinking of selling, this means more buyers in the market place.  There is no reason to believe that the tax credits will be extended past the April deadline so listing early in the year will result in the maximum exposure to a larger group of buyers.

If you are thinking of selling and would like to speak to an agent in your area, contact me and I will arrange for a qualified real estate agent in your area to call.

What do you need to know in order to sell your home?

You need to know…

• The initial list price you choose is crucial.  Testing the market or having the attitude that you can always drop the price later will result in missing buyers during the most critical stage in selling your home.  You cannot afford to miss any buyers in this real estate market.
• You have a lot of competition.  There are a lot of homes on the market in most areas of the country.  The competition is fierce.  Bank owned homes and short sales are offering low starting prices, new home builders are offering incredible incentives to entice buyers and regular sellers like you are working hard to attract buyers by offering to pay buyer closing costs and other price enhancements.
• Your home has to be ready to be seen.  Not only do you have to make sure your home is staged to impress, you also need to take the steps to make sure that when a buyer wants to view the home, the home will be available to them.  Hiring a professional stager and placing a lockbox on your door are keys to making sure your home is always ready for a potential buyer.

These are three of the things you should know if you are planning on selling your house in 2010.  Selling your house for the best price in the shortest amount of time requires that you use all of the tools and systems available to not only attract a buyer but also negotiate a successful contract that ends up at the closing table.

A real estate agent can help you sell your home in 2010

Selecting a professional real estate agent in your area to assist you with selling your home is also a key to accomplishing your goal.  Your local agent understands:

• The marketing and prospecting needed to sell your house
• The area market conditions including average sales prices and days on the market.
• How to successfully negotiate a closing from start to closing.
• Staging and how to help your home show its best.
• Buyer trends and enhancements that works in producing a sale.

Don’t leave selling your home to chance.  Take the steps outlined above including interviewing a real estate agent to help you with selling your home.  Having a solid, proven plan will result in you selling your home in 2010.

1. De-cluttering the closets, the garage, the extra room no one uses and is now filled with boxes or unused stuff, the utility shed and the attic or attic space.  The more de-cluttering you can do the more the buyer will be able to visualize all of the space available to them for their very own ‘cluttering’.
2. Paint by numbers.  The numbers in this case are the number of rooms in your house that are not currently light and bright and have a neutral paint scheme.  While I am sure the bright purple paint on your living room walls match your drapes perfectly, now is the time to re-paint, choosing a neutral color.
3. Clean and then clean some more.  Clean the carpets, the tile, the shelves that are way up high, the windows, the baseboards, the roof, the driveway, the ceiling fans, the a/c filters, the ceiling fan paddles, the shower, the tub, the toilet, the drapes and curtains, the upholstery, the counter tops, and the outside fixtures that include the mailbox and entry doors.

The goal is to make a good first impression and doing the 3 easy things listed above will help you reach your goal and possibly sell your home faster.

• Cabinets
• Appliances
• Flooring
• Lighting
• Counter Tops
• Paint/wallpaper

Higher end homes being sold will want to make sure they are offering the features and amenities expected with a gourmet kitchen while a moderately priced home’s kitchen might contain stainless appliances and refaced counter tops.

Spending a little money on your kitchen will allow you to sell your home faster and for a higher price.

Typically a home will receive the most interest and traffic within the first 1-5 weeks.   If your home has received zero or limited buyer  traffic and no offers you will need to consider:

• Did you list the property high to begin with?
• Has the home been readily available to show?
• Was there a delay with entering the home information in the MLS or a delay in starting the marketing efforts?

If you find none of these apply to your home then follow up with your agent and ask them:

• Have similar homes in the area gone under contract since you listed?
• What has been the feedback from; agents who showed the home? The office caravan? Buyer calls from signs and marketing?

Armed with the information from those questions and re-examining the statistics for the area coupled with your motivation to sale should be enough to help you determine if now is the right time to reduce the asking price of your home.

Short sales are becoming common around the country. Real estate agents are able to assist homeowners with a short sale. Make sure you use a real estate agent with short sale experience.

A successful short sale transaction is often the result of the work put in by an experienced, knowledgeable, patient and detailed oriented agent. Before listing your home subject to a short sale, ask the agents how many short sale transactions have they personally been involved with that have closed? Ask the agent what documents and disclosures are required by the lender and have them provide you with copies to review.

Time is of the essence when trying to sell and close a home subject to a short sale. Make sure you list your home with an agent who not only knows what a short sale is but also fully understands the process and has a track record of getting short sales to the closing table.

Make sure you include a contingency clause in the contract that covers all concerns you may have with the transaction.

The fact is not having access to show a home during a reasonable time period should be unacceptable.  Did the REALTOR not fully explain the importance of having the home ready and available to show?  Are the home owners not truly committed to selling, unwilling to deal with the inconvenience created by having their home on the market and open to buyer traffic?

Not having a lock box on the door, requiring an appointment or limiting the day and time a buyer can view a home will reduce the number of buyers who view the home and lengthen the time it takes for the home to sell, if it sells at all.

• What are the best features of the house?
• Is it an easy commute for shopping and work?
• What will you miss about the community,  the neighborhood?

Know one knows your house better than you.  You should let buyers know why they will love it too.

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