Are you interested in knowing how to make your Carlsbad home easy to sell? It's not that difficult, even in today's market. You just to need to have the right ingredients.

The most obvious, which you already know, but perhaps are ignoring, is PRICE. If you price it right, it will sell. It might not be the price YOU want, but the market doesn't listen to sellers, or agents for that matter. And if the price is not right, well, you might as well stop reading this right now, since the rest I have to share with you won't make a lick of difference.

You know, from everything you have read and heard, that the condition of your home is important - no clutter and de-personalized, take care of the repairs, get rid of odors, create curb appeal, and so on. You can't change the location, so if that is an issue what you CAN alter are the things just mentioned, to compensate, and the price.

But here is another factor that bears more discussion, especially in a competitive market where there might be 10, 20 or more homes like yours, similarly priced, that are vying for the attention of buyers (and depending on the price range, that pool might be smaller with all the mortgage changes going on).

How AVAILABLE is your home in Carlsbad to buyers?

There are 2 components to this issue (1) exposure to the target market, and (2) availability for showings.

Exposure is really your agent's responsibility, but you better be darn sure you pick the right agent and that he or she is exposing your home (i.e., making it available) to the right market and in as many ways as possible. Just having it in the MLS and putting a sign in the yard limits the availability to the right buyers. More on EXPOSURE in the next article. For now, let's focus on your job, making your home available for showings.

  What you SHOULD DO:

• Be flexible with regard to the showing schedule - you limit the times, and you might limit the buyers
• Allow lots of time for showings (all day, evenings, weekends) - same issue
• Honor last minute requests - sometimes buyers don't decide in advance what they want to see, or because of their schedule, have limited time, especially those from out of town
• Remove pets
• Turn on the lights, open the curtains to allow as much light as possible - yes, you might like it dark, or are obsessive about not having unnecessary lights on, but you are selling and the more light the better your home will look (if this brings out the defects, well then you better take care of them).
• Have your home in showing condition at all times, just in case
• Have a lock box installed to maximize showing access.
• Make sure the house keys WORK and easily - if the first impression is a door that does not work well, you can expect the buyer will already have some ideas about deferred maintenance. And it sends a "not welcome" message.
• Be welcoming when you get a call about a showing - don't put up roadblocks

  What you SHOULD NOT DO:

• Don't run the washer and dryer, or the dishwasher if you can help it when a showing is to occur. It's noisy and distracting
• Don't put Fido in the yard - people can't go enjoy it and appreciate your wonderful yard. And PLEASE pick up the doggie doo. (I'm a pet owner, too, and I know how tough it is, but having pets running around makes it hard for buyers, and can put your pet at risk if they are careless, so try to find some other solution. Some people DO NOT like cats and dogs, so why alienate them further??)
• Stay in the house when buyers come through - they need to take their time, open doors, comment about the home's feature, and start to bond. If you are there, they can't
• Light every smelly candle and install all those air freshener plug-in things - people are sensitive to odors and might suspect you are covering up (which you are, right? So take care of them). Some people are allergic and a home that smells like a perfume shop is a big turn-off for many. They are NOT going to buy your home because it smells like a pine forest, an Irish spring shower, or seaside mist.

One last thing. You can't really control this but you need to talk about it. If buyers (or their agents) need to call your agent, that's fine, although it's even better if they don't. But your agent needs to return the call PROMPTLY to give them access. If your agent is not responsive, well, the buyers may move on. I would, because there are lots of other choices.

Does your agent need to accompany? Well, that is limiting too, especially if your agent is busy. I know for some homes, especially high end, this is important, and some listing agents want to be there. But there are ways to maximize availability even in these situations.

So make it easy to sell your home, so you can get on with your life.

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Relocation A to Z - everything buyers and sellers need to know about relocation to Carlsbad, or anywhere else.

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