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5 Ways to sell your home fast

Reblogger
Managing Real Estate Broker with Keller Williams Bellevue 47538

I'm writing a lot about selling, but I couldn't say this any better than Mike Cooper did.  Selling fast also means getting top dollar, so do what you can to heed this great advice and you'll like the outcome. 

Original content by Mike Cooper, Broker VA,WV 0225086119

5 Ways to sell your home fast

What are the 5 ways to sell your home faster? That's easy, the hard part is trying to unlearn many of things you've learned about real estate in your lifetime. You see, real estate is cyclical, and that cycle changes both up and down.

Real estate is cyclical

It has been a broad belief that real estate will continually go up in value, but that belief was challenged in 2008. In my market, property lost 33% of its value across the market. It didn't matter if you bought a million dollar home or a $100,000 home. They all lost 33%. That brings me to the first point.

1. Sell your home fast by realizing what you paid for you home doesn't matter to a buyer and your home may no longer be worth what you paid.

With the losses experienced in our market in 2008 - 2010, a homeowner may have found house_outline_dollar_800_clr_9658himself underwater. Depending on what kind of down payment a homeowner put down on his home, the home's value may have passed the mortgage in its downward spiral.

The days of looking at what you paid for you home and then assuming you could add a certain percentage to that were over temporarily. My market is seeing a revival in home sale prices. They haven't reached 2008 values, but they are improving. In 2016, a great home can expect to bring 20-30% above the current county/city assessment. Some may go higher, but the 20-30 rule has been very consistent this year.

I've seen more people break even this year than any other time in my 20+ years in real estate. That tells me that the market is better, but it is still soft. What you paid for the home really doesn't matter to a buyer. A home is worth what a buyer is willing to pay, and an appraisal will prove that.

2. Sell your home fast by spending your resources on the right upgrades.

Two of the best things you can do to your home before you list is to paint the walls and redo the floors. If you have hardwood floors, consider having a flooring expert in to see what they need to be spectacular again. If you have carpet, do the same thing. Can the carpet be revived, or would it be better to replace it?

Let me give you a piece of advice related to flooring. Except for those areas where you tile, hardwoods are always the best investment. Laminate flooring should only be used if it is a high-end laminate. A lot of the laminate on the market today looks cheap and adds very little value to the property. At the cost of sounding like a hypocrite, I have seen a number of homes this year with beautiful laminate floors. They almost swayed my opinion of laminate, but the truth is, when you invest what those homeowners did for high-end laminate flooring, you could get hardwoods for just a little more.

Beyond paint and flooring, kitchen upgrades, bathroom upgrades, high quality appliances and curb appeal are the better places to invest your money. Granite or quartz counter-tops are still more desirable than laminate counters. Quartz is a less expensive granite alternative. It looks like granite, but it doesn't stain. You can get more bang for the buck with quartz.

3. Sell your home fast with the right Realtor.

Not all real estate agents are created equal. Interview agents. Listen to them, watch them, ask about their production, ask about their experience, have them detail how they plan to market your home. Ask friends which Realtor they've used. Read reviews online.

What type of marketing do they use? Our local market is more influenced by the Internet than the Homes Magazine or the local newspaper. Only 1-2% of total local sales come from hard copy marketing. They are expensive and a waste of money. The Internet brings in 89% of real estate sales in our market.

A tech savvy agent is more likely to get your home sold fast than one who ignores or refuses to use that media. Many regional multiple listing services syndicate their listings to the major online real estate portals. Beyond that, there are individual property websites, along with regional and local sites.

4. Sell your home fast by keeping it in good repair.

No matter what you do inside your home, it won't help you sell your home fast if the outside is in dis-repair. How old is your roof? When was it replaced last? What do the gutters look like? Are the plants and shrubs overgrown? Does it need paint or pressure washed? Is the grass trimmed?

Take an honest assessment of your property. Look at it through the buyer's eyes. What is the buyer determining he will have to change? What will he have to fix? He's going to deduct that off of his offer price. Fix it before you list to make sure you get top dollar.

5. Sell your home fast by pricing it right.

This brings us back to our first point. What you paid doesn't matter. What the market will bear is what matters. Be sure to have solid comps to price your property correctly. Remember, every financed property must meet the appraisal. It doesn't matter what a buyer offers, if it doesn't appraise for the offer price, the lender will only lend up to the appraised price.

You may find that your home is more valuable than you realize. I recently pushed the trend up $10,000 in a neighborhood where I listed a home. I could see the trend moving that way, and the appraisal confirmed the trend. The same thing happened on a second home I listed a few miles away. Again, the sale pushed the trend for future sales up beyond $10,000. Pick and agent who knows how to price properties accurately and it will sell fast.

It's hard to remove all emotion from a real estate sale, but if you want to sell your home fast, you've got to do it. Strong emotional ties to a home can make it hard to let it go. Memories linger and years of time and investment are sown into the fabric of every square foot, but when it's time to sell, you've got to set those good things aside to realistically work within the market you're in. And, when you're ready to sell your home fast, give your Cornerstone Business Group, Inc., agent a call. We are you local real estate sales pros.

5 Ways to Sell Your Home Fast

This information was originally published at www.winchestervarealestate.com. 5 Ways to Sell Your Home Fast. #mikecoopersellshomes, #cornerstonehomesales, #winchesterhomesales.

 

1. Buying your first home in Winchester VA

2. Winchester, VA Real Estate Market Update - 1st Quarter 2016

3. Ten promises I make to every real estate client.

4. Winchester, VA - The best bedroom community for the Washington, D.C. area

5. Passion is contagious - Infect somebody!

6. Winchester, Virginia is a great place to buy a house at great discount!

7. This simple electrical test could save your life.

8. Turn setbacks into springboards

9. Reduce your mortgage by pre-paying principle and eliminating interest

10. What can I do to sell my home more quickly?

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Give me a call, or email me for all your real estate needs, and let's make something am
azing happen. 

mikecooper@cbginc.net, 888-722-6029

Cell: 540-336-5522

 

Real Estate Sales and Property Management         

 

 

(Disclaimer:  All grammatical mistakes, punctuation breakdowns and misspellings are purely for your amusement and entertainment.   Feel free to cackle.)                                                                                                

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Dan Tabit       206-310-8629    425-868-SOLD(7653)  DanTabit@Northstone.net

One stop Real Estate & Mortgage Services Serving Sammamish, Issaquah, Redmond, Bellevue, Mercer Island and the greater Seattle area.  

Comments (3)

Bob Crane
Woodland Management Service / Woodland Real Estate, KW Diversified - Stevens Point, WI
Forestland Experts! 715-204-9671

Important tips Dan, thanks for sharing another of Mikes top notch posts!

 

Jul 07, 2016 04:49 PM
Endre Barath, Jr.
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties - Beverly Hills, CA
Realtor - Los Angeles Home Sales 310.486.1002

Dan I am so amazed tonight I commented at least on 15 posts and none were written by the original author, how interesting. I probably re-bloged a handful of posts in eight years... I guess times they are a changing, Endre

Jul 08, 2016 04:32 PM
Larry Johnston
Broker, Friends & Neighbors Real Estate and Elkhart County Subdivisions, LLC - Elkhart, IN
Broker,Friends & Neighbors Real Estate, Elkhart,IN

Hi Dan Tabit ,  You are right-on!   We always tell everyone the home needs to be priced right, updated and ultra clean for a faster sale without, in most cases, having to lower their price.

Jul 14, 2016 01:58 AM