It is no longer a seller’s market in real estate, so if you are putting your home up for sale, it should be because you need to sell. In the recent past, a lot of people put their homes on the market just to take advantage of the increase in market value. That is no longer the case, and prices are no longer increasing, but rather, decreasing.
If you have no choice in the matter because you have a new job in a distant area, or a growing family necessitates a larger home, make sure you go about the sales process very carefully. If you have any choice in the issue, delay the sale as much as you can. The housing market moves in cycles and improved prices will come back, if you have the patience to wait.
If you must sell, the first and most important decision is, are you going to sell it yourself or are you going to use a real estate agent? The services of a real estate agent realtor may seem rather expensive, especially with inflated home prices. The reason realtors have been able to receive such high commissions is because there is a great deal of work to selling a house. If you are not going to be able to give the project a lot of time and attention, you may end up sitting on it a great deal longer, which will cost you as much as the commission. In addition, you may be able to negotiate a lower commission with your agent, since business is falling for them.
Pick your realtor with extreme care. Research the recent sales in your neighborhood to see which agent’s names you find most often as listing agent. Also check the original listing date against the sales date, to make sure the agent did not just sit on a property for a number of years and wait for it to sell.
Now that you have an agent, become a partner with him. Contact her for news about what clients are seeking, when she is showing your home next, etc. Your house should always be the first one the agent thinks of when a buyer walks in the door. Make sure you are 100% available to show the house, or use a lock box. There is a lot of inventory out there, and buyers are not going to go back to see the house that was not available when there are so many more to view.
Prepare, prepare, prepare. Get your home in perfect shape. Take care of any problems the home has so it will be more attractive to buyers; you may consider hiring an inspector to help you with this. Vacuum, dust and make the kitchen and bathrooms shine every day. Remember how important the view of a house from the outside is and keep everything clipped, watered and mowed. A buyer will have no issue telling the agent to drive to the next house if yours already looks bad before he even walks in the door.
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This post was written by Kristina A. Mcveigh on May 30, 2010

