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West Jordan Home For Sale

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Selling your home - Five things to consider

SELLING YOUR HOME - FIVE THINGS TO CONSIDER
By: Gayla Allen

PRICING YOUR HOME TO SELL
This is perhaps the most important decision you have to make. If you choose to put your home on the market using “For Sale By Owner” you will need to spend time studying your local market and your home. This can be time consuming and a bit confusing. For example in Salt Lake City, Utah, buyers and sellers have very diverse needs. With residential home prices in Utah ranging from low 100,000's well into multi million dollar estates the market has many choices for buyers in all income brackets.

In targeted areas such as Riverton, Herriman, and West Jordan homes average prices are between $200,000 - $300,000. Draper, Sandy, and South Jordan Homes are beginning to demand slightly higher selling prices, averaging upward in the $400,000 range. Many factors determine the value of a home.

Working with a real estate professional can give you the advantage of determining the best price and value of your property from the beginning. They will assist you in obtaining top-dollar price, thereby protecting your equity, and enjoying a relatively fast and easy sell. Since buyers are comparison shoppers, you need to remember that your home is only worth what a buyer is willing to pay.

STAGING YOUR HOME TO SELL
Across the United States more homes are on the market than in years past so it is important that you do everything you can to make your home stand apart from the rest. There are many things that you can do on a budget, involving more “elbow grease” than money. The internet is full of great ideas to help you get started, but here are just 4 important things to consider first.

• If buyers don’t like the way a home looks from the street, they won’t even get out of the car. Start by viewing your home from the curb. You must be honest with yourself and ask how someone might see in your home in comparison with all the other homes on the market. Buyers will start reducing the price of a home depending on what they perceive as time and money to update, replace, or fix problems. Your front door should be cleaned, freshly painted, or re-stained if needed. Remove any nails or other items used for hanging holiday ornaments. Prune anything back that distracts from the beauty of your home. Clean your driveway, sidewalks, and porch. Keep your lawn mowed and edges and your flower beds weed free. If possible, add fresh mulch to your garden areas. Artfully arranged and placed flower pots are appealing and pique the emotions of your buyer. Do everything you can to make sure no one simply drives away without viewing your home. Exposure is everything, and you want buyers and real estate professionals to see your home.

• Grab your packing boxes and start boxing things up! Your moving and have to do this, you may as well use it too your advantage right away. Start by viewing a few model homes near you. Most are perfectly staged to sell. You don’t have to buy new furniture or items, just de-clutter you house. Open up your home by removing as much as you can, especially personal pictures setting on tables, mantels, and walls. You want buyers to see this as their next home, not yours. Only keep out tasteful decorating items that enhance the home. Next, open up your cabinets and closets. Pack away as many dishes, pots and pans, and especially kitchen items setting out in view. Organize your panty, and all your closets. Pack away as much as you can including your clothes. Get rid of dead plants and trim dying or droopy greenery. Lastly, your furniture should be arranged to open up your home. That doesn’t mean that you have to push everything against the walls, simply store away furniture that is distracting or over bearing in you rooms. A rule of thumb, no more than 3 items on per wall. Make sure entrances to all rooms have an open flow.

• A home in disrepair can cost you a sale or a huge reduction in your offer price. Make sure that you thoroughly inspect your home inside and out for anything that needs repaired. This includes leaking facets, carpet, linoleum, and tile should be clean and in good repair. Notice light fixtures, toilets, storm drains, holes in doors and walls, and stains. Repair broken woodwork, loose planks, and creaky stairs. Hardwood floors are a very appealing. If you have hardwood floors, consider removing the floor covering, especially if the carpet is old. Go through your home and inspect it from top to bottom, inside and out. You may be amazed how much can be done with out costing very much.

• Lighten Up! Update, lighten, brighten or neutralize your wall and flooring colors. Nothing adds more to your home appeal than updated wall colors. Soft neutrals such as pale yellow, grays, and light tan can give your house a nice sophisticated look. If your budget allows, replace old and outdated carpets and flooring. Although you may have fun or eccentric taste in décor, stay neutral while showing your home. This will ensure that your home appeals to the largest group of buyers as possible. Remember, the way you live is not the way you should sell your home.

Some people may choose a more aggressive approach to staging a home to sell. Careful consideration is important if you want to optimize the cost of improvements vs. what you get back from the sale. Protecting your equity is important. Some bathroom and kitchen improvements can add appreciation, but not all home additions will add value to your property. You may value a swimming pool, but some may consider it a safety hazard for young children. An Island kitchen design is popular but it restricts kitchen traffic flow. Before spending a lot of money getting your house ready to sell, talk to your real estate agent about the improvements most appropriate in your market and you will do your share to speed the sale of your home.

 

When making the decision to switch from a renter to a home buyer, new buyers need to consider the following

right from the start.  

Should I keep renting or should I buy?

This is an obvious first consideration. Before you invest your savings in a home, decide if you can make more money renting and/or investing in a home. Run the numbers and look at your bottom line.

Buy to Sell

Many features in a home that may be desirable to you may not make a difference when you try to sell the house. In fact, some features can subtract from the value of your home thereby jeopardizing your equity. An example is a swimming pool. Depending on your neighborhood, state, or the needs of a buyer this can be a negative factor to the value of your home. When you're buying, make sure you have an exit plan.

Walk The Neighborhood

When you first view a home, make sure that you see it during the day in order to see how well lit the home is and to see all the features easily. In addition, you should return several times during the day, evening, night, and week-ends. You don't have to view the home at these times, just take a walk or drive around with your windows down. You will learn a lot about the people living in the neighborhood including what may be important information to you regarding their pets.

The Public Schools

No matter if you have school age kids, you'll want to find out about the area's local public schools. High desirable school districts have better selling markets, and you will typically find home owners that stay in their homes longer. This creates a higher valued neighborhood.

Environment in the area

Ask your realtor to run an environmental check on the areas your interested in buying. You'll want to know about any hazards that may effect your health or sellability of your home.

Home Owners' Associations Fees

Find out if your neighborhood as any Association Fee's. It's becoming more and more popular in newer developments. Make sure you know exactly what is covered in the fees and get a copy of the contracts and read the fine print. Most are very strait forward, but you want to be as informed as possible.

CC&R's (Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions)

Many suburbs have restrictions and limitations to remodeling, landscaping, and many other additions or changes on and around the property.  Most bylaws, covenants, and design guidelines protect the unique environment and aid in maintaining high property values for homeowners. Many people favor these guidelines, but it's not for everyone. You'll want to know about them if applicable. This is just a small list of things to consider for anyone buying a home. New comers in the home buying market should study suggestions, talk to friends and family, and then choose a realtor who is willing to answer all your questions.

Most consumers think that selling a home involves nothing more than placement on the MLS, sign in the front yard, maybe an open house, and a random ad. Nothing can be further from the truth! The internet is first choice to start the home buying or selling process for over 75% of sellers and buyers. The use of the Internet in households and businesses continues to rapidly grow. The number of people on the Internet has increased to around 80 million, an increase of around 100% over the last year. Worldwide nearly 300 million people are estimated to be online.

What does this mean for consumers and Realtors? For the consumer it means they should make sure their real estate professional is tech savvy and cyber connected continuously. You should take this very seriously.  Following is an outline of a basic marketing strategy which goes as follows:

1. Advertising your homes List the home on the World Wide Web - Any buyer with a computer can access your homes from anywhere. This includes but not limited to, WWW access and many other online services.

2. 24-Hour Information Hotlines List the home through advertised 24/7 toll free telephone information lines.  Buyers can receive free information about their home and can leave their name and address requesting information about a home. 

3. Virtual Tours   

4. E-Mail Additional information and access to the home should be a mouse click away. Check your E-Mail several times daily.

5. High Visibility Signage The Company sign is easy to spot and clearly let's the neighbors and people driving by know that a home is available.

6. E-Mail/Fax to Top Agents E-mail or fax your listing information to the top 100 buyer's agents.

7. Personal Contact Talk to potential buyers every day to let them know a home is for sale.  Additionally, if you have an assistant let them contact potential buyers each week asking them if they are interested in a home.  Finally, see if your brokerage team members make outbound calls looking for the right buyer for a home.

8. Homes-For-Sale Magazines Maintain a strong presence in the most effective, high distribution, free-to-the-public homes for sale magazines.

9. Flyers, Postcards and Property Profile Brochures Print and distribute high quality color and black & white flyers and postcards throughout the seller's neighborhood, to your business mailing list of past clients, to the top 100 buyer's agents, and to target market areas.  

10. Bus Tour After a home has been on the market for a reasonable amount of time, arrange for bus tours to stop by and visit the home.  Which means the home will be exposed to many of the top Realtors in the area and they will offer their opinions regarding the home's price and amenities.

Set yourself apart from the average Realtor by getting your name out there in your market area and make sure you are not a "Secret Agent."

http://www.gaylaallen.com