Homes That Cook - Best-Kept Secrets for Buying, Selling, And Creating a Home

SECTION THREE

Selling a Home that Cooks

Tips for Selling a Home

1. Don’t attend your open house. Think back to when you were shopping for a house—would you have felt comfortable to speak your mind with the owner hovering? Give serious buyers room to have an honest conversation with each other and their agent without feeling the need to edit themselves.
2. Don’t pretend to be a buyer at your open house. This will likely backfire and you will drive away real potential buyers with this crazy behavior. If you feel like you need feedback, ask your agent to tell you the useful comments from the open house.
3. Provide attractions not distractions. You want to showcase your home and appeal to buyers, but go too far and you could detract. There is nothing wrong with providing cool drinks on a hot day to make buyers more comfortable—it could motivate them to stay longer and see more of the house. Offering a full meal, however, would be unnecessary and distracting.
4. Consider seasonal preferences. While preparing your property and taking steps to market it to potential buyers, consider what seasonal aspects will be appealing while you are selling it. A roaring fire in winter or beautiful spring blooms may help you get a better offer. This may seem silly, but research has shown that buyers are willing to pay more for houses with swimming pools in the summer than in the winter.
5. Provide full access to the property. You want to be sure buyers can view your whole property when they visit. Unless there is a safety issue, you should not make any rooms, closets, or areas off limits. It is called an open house, after all.
6. Hold your open house during common times. If at all possible, schedule your open house at the same time as others in the area. Potential buyers often spend a few hours on Sundays and want to maximize their time and see multiple properties while they are out. Though it may be more convenient for you to do it another time, you may limit the number of people that can attend.
7. Don’t neglect the neighbors. Your neighbors are good assets—they may know people who want to live in the neighborhood and can tell their friends about your property. Invite them to your open houses and offer flyers they can pass along.
8. Price it right. How do you know what to set for the price? Have it evaluated by an appraiser for its value, then lower that number by 15 to 20 percent. This may sound counterintuitive, but this will likely cause a bidding war between potential buyers that may drive the price up even higher than it’s worth.
9. Make sure your closets are half-empty. You know that buyers like to look in every door, so you must always keep closets and cabinets clean and organized. But a great tip is to take half of your things out of the closets and make what is left extremely neat. All buyers are looking for lots of storage space and this trick makes all your closets appear larger.
10. Maximize the light in your home. A bright and cheery house is more sellable. Do whatever you can to increase the light, including removing drapes, cleaning windows, and changing to higher-wattage light bulbs.
11. Play the agent field. You need the best broker for the job—don’t feel like you are stuck if it isn’t working out. Your broker should have a good grasp of technology with access to all the best tools and be very well informed about other properties in your neighborhood.
12. Conceal your pets. Evidence of pets can be a huge turnoff for buyers because it gives the impression that the house is not clean (especially if they smell the litter box or wet-dog odors). During open houses, send pets to a family member’s house or a kennel for the day.
13. Don’t over-upgrade. Though it may seem like it will help, major home improvements right before selling your house usually do not pay off. Don’t spend a nickel unless you can turn it into a dime. Small updates will be far more worthwhile: painting the walls, changing out door handles and cabinet hardware, fixing leaky faucets, and cleaning tile grout.
14. Take the home out of your house. You probably love how “homey” your house is, but when selling the house you want a clean slate for buyers to picture themselves in. Remove one-third of your belongings and put them in storage—especially family photos and personal keepsakes that don’t have a broad appeal. If you are unsure of what to do, there are professional home stagers that will help you to show off your home in the best light.
15. Improve the kitchen. One area where upgrades usually see a return is the kitchen. Even something as simple as painting the walls and cabinets and upgrading the hardware can have a major impact. If you are able to invest a little more, buy one high-end stainless steel appliance.
16. Always be ready to show. This can be difficult, but your house needs to be in perfect condition so as many prospective buyers as possible can come by at any time. If you aren’t available or if your timing is very restrictive you may alienate people who don’t want to deal with the hassle.
17. Stage the exterior of your home, too. Staging the house is not just about the inside—the exterior needs attention as well. Your landscaping and paint job should be in great shape. You may want to invest in furniture for your backyard so that buyers can picture themselves using that space.
18. Audit your agent’s online marketing. Have you seen your online listing? Research reveals 92 percent of homebuyers start their house hunt online. Do you have an enticing listing and pictures that attract buyers?
19. Let your neighbors choose their neighbors. Check into neighborhood message boards or newsletters to see if you can send the listing out to neighbors. As I mentioned before, inviting neighbors to open houses can help sell the area to potential buyers.
20. Facebook your home’s listing. Your social network is a good resource. Reach to your connections on Facebook to spread the word about your house being on the market.
21. Beat the competition with condition. If your neighborhood has very low-priced foreclosures, you will not be able to compete on price. But most of those properties will be in very poor condition. Appeal to the buyers looking for quality by looking at details like broken knobs and handles, scratches, or other things that need repairs and taking care of those before you start showing the house.
22. Get clued into your competition. It is good to know what you are up against. Research comparable houses for sale in your area. Attend open houses and notice what stands out to you—both negatives and positive—since similar things will be seen by buyers at your house. Make sure that the condition of your house stacks up to others that your potential buyers will be looking at.
23. De-clutter. Your surfaces should be as clear as possible, so pack up or sell all your knickknacks or other items sitting on top of counters, tables or other flat surfaces. If you need to, put things into storage.
24. Listen to your agent. Spend time finding the right agent, one that you can trust, with a lot of experience. Then listen and follow the advice your agent is giving to you.
25. Sweeten the deal. In a down market, you can distinguish yourself by offering a deal to buyers. Some sellers offer money toward closing costs, or even pay them entirely.
26. Move fast. Some buyers want to close very quickly, especially if they have been searching for a house for a long time. If you are able to close on the house within thirty to sixty days, you may get their attention.
27. Get your home in “move-in” condition. To speed up the process and make your house more appealing, take care of any necessary fixes to doors, appliances, or plumbing that isn’t in compliance.
28. Do pre-inspection repairs. Along those same lines, you probably know some of the issues the inspector will discover. Get ahead of the game and fix it now before the buyer needs to ask you to do so.
29. Pressure-wash the driveway and any decks. You never get a second chance at a first impression, so make sure your property impresses the moment they get out of the car. A clean driveway and deck will reflect the quality of the house inside.
30. Clean the windows. This is often overlooked, but will make a big difference in terms of light and a pleasant view outside. Be sure to wash them inside and out.
31. Leave neutral furniture and accessories. As I mentioned before, you want to get rid of personal items and photos, but don’t go too far and get rid of everything. Neutral furniture and accessories will actually help the buyer picture themselves in the house better than a completely empty house.
32. Clean and redo the laundry room. Don’t forget about the laundry room—it is often overlooked in daily life but it is worth sprucing up while selling a house. Keep the colors light and maybe repaint and replace baskets and towels.
33. Organize pots and pans. The same rule of closets applies to the kitchen—clear it out. Pack up the extra, rarely used kitchen items and your cabinets will look much larger.
34. Always follow the “clean clean clean” rule. Cleanliness is next to godliness, they say—and this is especially true in the eyes of buyers. When you are selling a house, you should clean thoroughly, paying attention to tiny...