So many tips are being given on home selling. If only you knew where to begin with! Some homeowners get confused because they don’t have a big picture of what exactly will happen during the home selling process. While it may differ from various areas, some general steps sellers should expect are the same.
The first thing to do is some preliminary planning. Though you may not feel like it, this is the step that kick-start the whole home selling process. Your house needs to be fully prepared to accept a new owner. If you plan to sell your house and buy another one, always know for a fact that you’re qualified to buy a new one before selling your old home.
When you feel like you and your house is ready, it’s time to find yourself a realtor. Interview agents in your local neighborhood or ones that are proven with a good experience. Ask on how they would market your property, and what kinds of additional commissions do they offer. This is someone that’s going to be with you throughout the process, so make sure the chemistry works.
When you’ve made your decision about an agent, prepare the listing agreement. There are several types available, each ones giving you a different level of involvement between you and the broker. Choose one that’s similar to the amount of work you’re willing to contribute in the home selling process – and how much money you’re going to spend.
The money of your listing agreement should come from the revenue of your home price, so make sure you set the price ideally. A too high or too low price will not help sell your home, as this may creates a bad image to potential buyers. Check some cost analysis to get a rough value of your property, and work from there. Don’t forget the costs you have to spend throughout the home selling process.
If you set the price right, it’s highly possible that potential buyers would start calling for home showings. Prepare for this as well as you prepare your house for it. If you’re using an agent, leave the house whenever a client comes over. If you’re selling on your own, check the points you’re going to show the potential buyers and think about what you’re going to say.
Finally, if the home showings went well, the buyers will make an offer. Offers should be made in standard forms that would satisfy a lawyer. Make sure you know what the buyer wants to include in the sale and what should be excluded. You can choose to accept or reject the offer, or modify it and see if the buyer is willing to negotiate with your incentives.
Once you’ve reached an agreement, that pretty much brings you to the end of the your home selling process. Good luck!
Archive for June 11th, 2008
This is it. The icing to your cake. The moment you’ve been waiting for ever since you decide to sell your home. The price is right, the marketing is going well, and you watch with enthusiasm as the response started coming: the home buyers are coming! It’s now time to take your marketing to the next level: house showings. How are you preparing for it? You’ve inspected, checked and cleaned your house thoroughly. You made sure everything’s in place, or if they’re not, in the most ideal place to be shown. Showings are, after all, the chance to impress the home buyers by flaunting everything your house has.
Now relax. Showing your house to home buyers is especially easy when you’re trying to sell your own house by yourself. This is a good opportunity to get personal – homebuyers would want to see more than just the house they saw in the advertisement picture. As you move throughout the house, pay special attention to objects that created some memories during your stay. Things like “My father does this beautiful carving when he was 18” will add some personal note to your home. And while you’re on the business of using your family, don’t hesitate to let your family members take part. Assign jobs for them in advance for emergencies or short-notice showings.
You want the home buyer’s full attention on your house. But at the same time you want some elements on your house to be insignificant enough to provide a comfortable environment. Make sure the house is well aired and lighted by opening windows (during possible weathers) and positioning all the coverings to show maximum sunlight. A dark house, especially when it’s a big house, will create the effect of gloom and depression; not exactly the kind of house you’d buy.
During those times when you’re forced to keep all your windows shut, make sure the air inside your house is in good, clean condition. Some homeowners will bake cookies to keep that “fresh” air hanging, but if you’re not keen on taking it that far, just be sure to wipe out any pet / bathroom odors or smoke. In house showings, the air should do what it needs to do – allows human to breathe – and do nothing more.
Having a pet around is highly discouraged. No matter how well behaved they are, or how much the homebuyers may love them, it’s not a good idea to bring out your animal. God knows what kind of behaviour they can suddenly break into in front of your guests!
Last of all, if an agent is showing your house to home buyers, try as hard as you can not to be at home. Homebuyers tend to feel like intruders when they’re checking details of a house with its owners watching.
Real estate management firms – making life easier
Real estate investment can happen for various reasons. You could invest in real estate because you need a house for yourself (that house of your dreams that you so badly want). You could use real estate as a means for supplementing your income either by buying at a lower price and selling at a higher price or by letting it out. Sometimes you might buy a property for the purpose of resale but might want to wait for a few years before you actually sell it. In such a case, again it would make sense to rent out the property and earn some money till you actually decide to sell it off.
Whatever the reason, letting out real estate demands real estate management and real estate management is not an easy job for everyone. In fact, a lot of people find it so much of a hassle that they prefer keeping their property vacant instead of letting it. Real estate management demands time, which you will rarely have. Real estate management is not just about finding tenants and collecting rent from them. Real estate management is also about ensuring that you do all the duties that a landlord/landlady is required to do. Real estate management is about verifying the credentials of the tenants before you actually let out your property to them. Real estate management is about ensuring that all the paper work is complete and correct i.e. the tenancy agreement etc are properly done. Real estate management also requires you to do repairs as and when required. Real estate management activities also include maintenance, painting, polishing etc of the house when the tenants move out and before the new tenants get in. So, really, real estate management is not that easy a job for someone who is in a full time job. However, there is a solution to this and that is hiring a real estate management firm to do all these activities on your behalf. Yes, this will mean that what you receive as an income by letting your property will be reduced (due to the commission/ fee charged by the real estate management firm). But that is just a small price for the convenience that a real estate management firm brings to you. However, it’s important that you choose the real estate management firm carefully. There are all kinds of real estate management firms out there (good and bad). You must check the references of the real estate management firm before you actually hire them for the job. A good real estate management firm will not only keep your property occupied at all times but will also ensure that you always receive the rent in time and without any hassle.