What is my home worth now?

Where do I start? Do I need a lawyer? Who do I tell my house is for sale?

There are a million questions that go through someone’s mind when they are getting ready to sell their house/property and there are very few property owners who can answer all of them. This is why the majority of home owners seek out an experienced Realtor.

HOW MUCH IS MY PROPERTY WORTH?

Everyone has an opinion or an aunt who is “in real estate” who says your house is worth X amount “and you shouldn’t take a penny less!!!”  But in reality, every property is different.  There are different factors that make the same house/property right next to each other worth more or less. An experienced Realtor can determine what your property is worth primarily with a CMA (Comparable Market Analysis)

CMA: Most of your large internet companies use this method along with property tax records to determine a good price for your property to sell for. They take recently sold homes in your area that are the same in size, location, etc. and come about with a fairly decent value. What an experienced Realtor will do is more area specific. They also factor in the improvements you have done on your property along with curb appeal, demand, etc. Your property might be worth more than you think.

IS THERE ANYTHING I SHOULD DO BEFORE PUTTING MY HOME/PROPERTY ON THE MARKET?

Remember how attractive/appealing you home was to you when you first got it? Since then, you have collected a lot of “stuff”, put a lot of wear and tear on it and now have to go through the process of peeling away the years to make it look that good again. Not an easy process, it’s going to take a little organization and work.

YARD SALE – GARBAGE – STORAGE

Oh yes, all that glorious “stuff” you have accumulated though the years has to go somewhere. When a prospective buyer comes to see your place, they want to see the least amount of clutter as possible. Keep your rooms and foyers clutter free and wide open: The more area showing, the better. Open curtains and drapes to give it that sun drenched feeling. No one likes dark lit rooms.

UPDATE/REPAIRS

A leaky faucet, one broken tile in the back of the bathroom, loose painted doorknob, screen door, etc. they have to be replaced. Look around your place, see what is damaged and ask yourself: “If I was a buyer, would I want to see this?” Did you know that painting the interior of your property can raise the value by $5,000?

CURB APPEAL

This is pretty easy stuff: You see two houses for sale for the same price, one has a freshly painted exterior, manicured garden and a beautiful green lawn, the other looks like the scary lady’s house who has a few hundred cats…  Which doorbell are you likely to ring?

SMELL

You would be surprised how many houses I have walked into and some kind of rancid odor hit me as soon as the door opened. Sometimes the cleanest houses have them and the people living there are oblivious to it because they smell it every day. A home’s aroma is very important when guests show up… Please be aware of yours.

MARKETING

We have a saying in the real estate business “everything works”. The vast amount of tools and networking an experienced Realtor has at their fingertips is of no comparison to a regular person. Sure, you might be able to find a few people by putting a sign on your lawn, posting to Craigslist or talking to the neighbors, but do you know if the people you find are even qualified to buy your home? Will they give you the price you want? Who are they anyhow? You’re leaving yourself and your home exposed to strangers this way.

ADVERTIZING ON THE INTERNET

Have I used Craigslist? Of course… It’s a very strong tool, but did you know as an experienced Realtor I have hundreds of different venues I can advertise your home/ property on? Some are local and some national. I could post your home in different languages to different places… Worldwide.

NETWORKING

As an experienced Realtor I have buyers on file for different areas. If I cannot find a buyer I can always call on a network of hundreds, maybe even thousands of professionals from different venues I have acquiredthroughout the years.

SEO (Search Engine Optimizer)

What is that? Did you know the internet searches for certain keywords and phrases constantly on different subjects? When you pull up a subject on Google it’s the SEO’s that bring the best things possible to the top for you. I advertise your home/property with proven effective target key words, long tail keywords and phrases that an SEO will bring to the proper investor/buyer.

PRE APPROVED

I myself will not show anyone’s property unless I know the buyer is pre-approved. A majority of people waste their time showing homes/property to people who don’t even have the finances to purchase.  I think this is one of the worst practices in real estate: It fools the seller into thinking real buyers are interested in their property.

A REAL ESTATE ATTORNEY

There are many real estate attorneys who charge different rates, some are very good, and some are not. An experienced Realtor would have the names and numbers to various attorneys he/she has done business with frequently  that can work with the type of property you are selling.

Experience counts now more than ever. Selling or buying a home is one of the biggest investments you are ever going to deal with. Leave it to a professional… Call a Realtor.