Here are 7️⃣ tips to get top💲💲 in any market.
Hi, I’m Julie Marion with Hottel Real Estate.
1️⃣ Do a pre-home inspection.
2️⃣ Hire a licensed appraiser that knows your area.
3️⃣ Develop a custom home notebook.
4️⃣ Stage your home inside and out.
5️⃣ Require a pre-approval that is actually underwritten.
6️⃣ Be flexible with the showings.
7️⃣ Offer a home owner warranty.
A pre-home inspection, because as the seller, it affords you the opportunity to find out what’s wrong with the house ahead of time in terms of deferred maintenance and safety items. It also allows you as the seller to decide whether or not you’re going to repair any big ticket items prior to going on the market. A pre-home inspection also avoids you having to repair things that really aren’t necessary. Take into account the repair costs with your bottom line. It shows that you have absolutely nothing to hide it and that you’re being transparent. And it allows you to know the type of loan that you’ll be able to accept.
Have your home appraised by a local licensed appraiser that really knows the area. It takes the guesswork out of pricing your home. It ensures that proper negotiations are handled with respect to price, terms, and conditions when considering a contract. The bank will not loan more money than what the home is worth. Most importantly, it allows you as the seller not to overprice or under price your home. The online estimate tools are just that: estimates. They do not take into consideration the location within the town, any major improvements that you’ve done, and any maintenance that you’ve taken care of over the years.
A customized home notebook. This is really easy and fun to do. As you’re packing up all of your items, go ahead and tuck the manuals into this home notebook, along with any maintenance records that you discover, and finally, gather together all of the utility costs for heating and cooling the property for over the last 12 months.
Stage your home inside and out. It’s definitely worth the effort. The house will sell faster and for more money as compared to houses that are not staged. Let’s face it, buyers do drive-bys, and if they don’t like what they see on the outside of the house, they’re not going to come back and take a look what’s inside. Painting and flooring are always your best bet and will give you the most bang for your buck. Staging also affords the buyer the opportunity to really see themselves in your home. After all, you’re packing up all your memories and all of the great things that make it your home, and you’re going to pass this house along to somebody new where they’ll create their memories. And also, don’t worry about the house feeling cold and not have any character. Every staged house feels like this.
Make sure that the buyer gives you a pre-approval that is actually underwritten, and what this means is that the underwriting department has reviewed the credit score, the credit history, all the debt to income ratio, their bank statements, their W-2s, they verified the employment, and reviewed all of their taxes.
Be as flexible as possible with respect to showing requests. Don’t let the buyer fall in love with another house just because they couldn’t get in to see yours. Always have it show ready, and that means having a plan to remove any pet should you have them. Many sellers get nervous about not having the listing agent at the showing, but actually, it’s a big hindrance And as opposed to HGTV, where you see the buyers walking into the house unaccompanied without the agent, that’s not the way it’s done in Massachusetts. As professionals, we accompany the buyers throughout the entire home, and we make sure that they are seeing the parts of the home that they are permitted to see.
Offer a home warranty through the buyers. Typically, it’s a one year warranty. It gives the buyer assurances that any major items are going to be fixed without any cost to them. Number two, there’s a licensed professional that’s going to repair these items, and number three, it relieves the buyers of any worries that they may have additional expenses that they’re not anticipating. It safeguards you against low ball offers.
If you implement all seven of these tips, you’re sure to receive top dollar in any market. As always here at Hottel Real Estate, we treat you the way we would want to be treated. Make it a great day.