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7 Ways to Make Life Easier When Selling Your Home
When it’s time to sell a home, we all dream of a flawlessly executed transaction where everything goes smoothly and ends with a win-win for you and the buyer. Here are seven tips to help make that happen—and avoid surprise expenses along the way…
1. Repair Your Home First
Making repairs to your home before you sell not only makes it more appealing to buyers, but it can also help you avoid the additional costs that can result from the buyer’s inspection. Disclosing any repairs that still need to be made will help you move smoothly to closing and avoid problems that could otherwise kill the deal. Consider conducting a pre-listing inspection to make sure everything is out in the open before you sell.
2. Make Sure Your Price is Right
The key to selling your home quickly is to find the right buyers. To find the right buyers, your home must be correctly priced. I use a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)—a thorough, data-backed examination of your home and how it compares to other listings in your area—to accurately price your home. Without an agent’s CMA, it’s easy for your home to be listed at the wrong price.
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- Avoid Overpricing: Overpricing your home will attract the wrong buyers because you will force your home into competition with other listings that are fundamentally superior or have more to offer. When comparing other homes to yours, buyers will focus on the discrepancies and the features your home lacks. Overpricing will often cause homes to sit on the market for extended periods of time and become less appealing to buyers.
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- Avoid Underpricing: Under competitive market conditions, intentionally underpricing a home is a common strategy to attract buyer attention with the goal of starting a bidding war to drive the price of the home up. However, several things must go correctly for this to happen. In all other cases, underpricing your home reflects a lack of knowledge about where its market value fits into the fabric of current local market conditions and can leave you, the seller, unsatisfied with the price your home ultimately fetches.
3. Invest In Staging & Professional Photography
First impressions matter when selling a home. The vast majority of buyers are searching online and taking virtual tours of homes they’re interested in. As such, it’s well worth the time and money to hire a high-quality photographer and I always provide this for my sellers. The right photography can make all the difference in the minds of buyers.
Home staging is also a critical element for getting the most value for a home and selling it quickly. You can even DIY if you have the time and modern decor. It’s also the perfect time to inspect your home for any minor or cosmetic repairs that can be addressed quickly. An aesthetically pleasing home will attract more eyes, and any edge you can give your home over competing listings may be just the ticket to getting it sold.
4. Keep Your Emotions in Check
Selling your home is an act of learning how to let it go. Once you know you’re ready to sell, you’ll need to be able to look at it with an objective eye. This will allow you to approach decisions from a neutral standpoint and work towards what is best for the sale of the home. Having clear judgement will also help you get through the negotiating process and steer yourself toward a smooth closing. Stepping back can be tough, but a good agent will always be happy to give you guidance and help you keep perspective.
5. Wait Until You’re Ready
It may be tempting to rush your listing to take advantage of local market conditions, but waiting until you have all your ducks in a row will make life so much easier. Knowing when to sell your home is a mixture of being financially prepared, having the right agent, and understanding how your home fits into the current local market landscape. Once you’re ready, here are some tips on timing the market.
6. Use an Agent
…and I’m not just saying it because I’m an agent! Selling a home “For Sale By Owner” (FSBO) can save on commission fees, but is a complex and risky process that can easily lead to serious costs. An agent will help you front marketing costs, provide sound advice to help you avoid legal trouble, and ultimately shoulder some of the liability for the transaction. Being represented by an experienced professional will help you avoid mistakes during the offer process, negotiations, and closing that could otherwise be costly or jeopardize the sale. It’s no wonder that a vast majority of sellers choose to work with an agent.
7. Be Willing to Negotiate
Approaching buyers’ offers with an open mind will ensure you don’t miss any opportunities. Before the offers start to come in, it’s important to work with your agent to understand your expectations and strategize which terms and contingencies you’re willing to negotiate on. That way, you can quickly identify the right offer when it comes along. Showing a willingness to work with buyers will also keep them engaged and make sure you don’t leave potential deals on the table.
© Copyright 2023 Windermere Mercer Island.
Adapted from articles that originally appeared on the Windermere blog, November 22, 2021 & April 7, 2021, by Sandy Dodge.
How to Avoid Overpaying for a Home in a Transitioning Market
Look Carefully at the Home Itself
Here are four home attributes beyond the number of bedrooms and baths that you should have your eye on…
Home (building) quality: Very well-built homes are a rare find and typically worth every penny of their price. Don’t confuse them with so-so homes that just measure up to the city inspector’s threshold. Lesser quality homes will cost you more in upkeep and replacement as systems and components wear out. If you purchase a lesser quality home for less, the differential might just cover the added maintenance expense. But, if you purchase a fair quality home at the going rate of higher quality homes, you might likely be overpaying.
Deferred maintenance: Different than home quality, deferred maintenance includes the to-do list of items that need to be done to maintain a home’s integrity. A home that has been well maintained over its life typically is a better investment than one that hasn’t. The true cost of deferred maintenance often adds up to more than the cost of the repairs themselves. Don’t forget to factor in the reduced life span of other components—like replacement of damaged wood beneath peeling paint or mold remediation in a damp basement caused by a clogged foundation drain.
Setting: The saying “location, location, location” didn’t get its fame from out of nowhere. A home with an ideal setting on its lot and in the neighborhood—away from busy roads and utility poles/boxes, with adequate privacy, good topography, best positioned to capture views if available, and not adjacent to undesirable elements (poorly maintained homes, water towers or other unsightly public structures, high traffic facilities, etc.) will have more value than a less-ideally sited home. When deciding what to pay for a property it is critical that you evaluate these aspects and any others relevant to a specific neighborhood to determine the +/- effect on value.
Floor plan: How a home lives—flow from room to room, size of rooms, open/closed-off spaces, and below ground vs. above ground living are every bit as important as the total home square footage. You can change a lot of things about a home, but it is very difficult to change a bad floor plan. When you are deciding how high to make that multiple offer bid, consider factoring in the added value or take-away of the floor plan.
Beyond the Four Walls
Interest Rates: In addition to being more selective about the home itself, it pays off to understand how interest rates impact your monthly housing cost. It’s a bigger deal than you might think. Every 1% increase in interest rate equates to roughly a 10% decrease in buying power. Said differently, a 10% drop in home sale price would be wiped out by a subtle 1% increase in mortgage interest rate. This means you can obtain a much more expensive home when rates are low, whereas higher rates get you less home—even though you still pay the same monthly payment.
If you have $5,000 a month to budget for a house payment (before taxes and insurance), you could purchase a $931,000 house at a 5% mortgage rate. If rates went up to 6%, the same monthly payment would only get you an $834,000 home. Your buying power diminishes considerably with each bump up in rates.
This second chart below shows how interest rates impact monthly payments. If you’re purchasing a $950,000 house at a 5% interest rate, you’ll be paying $596 less every month than if rates were 6%. That adds up quick…$7,152 in one year alone!
Job and Location Stability: Like nearly any investment vehicle, being able to buy and sell on your own time allows you take advantage of ideal market conditions or hold until a more favorable market returns. In an uncertain market, you should plan to be able to stay put for a minimum of 5-7 years if needed. If relocation or job loss is a distinct possibility, waiting to buy might avoid loss as a result of an untimely sale.
Homeownership Lifestyle: For many, homeownership represents a life accomplishment, independence, and financial security. For others, one more thing requiring maintenance and upkeep. Knowing where you stand (at this moment in time anyway) when it comes to evaluating the pros and cons of homeownership as a lifestyle choice is a better first step than an afterthought.
Final Thoughts
Want to know how you can best protect yourself in a changing real estate market? Reach out to us for help evaluating whether it would make financial sense to buy now or wait.
We earn the trust and loyalty of our brokers and clients by doing real estate exceptionally well. The leader in our market, we deliver client-focused service in an authentic, collaborative, and transparent manner and with the unmatched knowledge and expertise that comes from decades of experience.
2737 77th Ave SE, Mercer Island, WA 98040 | (206) 232-0446
mercerisland@windermere.com
© Copyright 2022, Windermere Real Estate/Mercer Island.
Interest rates make a BIG difference when you buy…
You probably know that interest rates affect your monthly mortgage payments, but most of us aren’t aware of just how big an impact they really have on a home loan. Each 1% change in interest rate equates to roughly a 10% change in buying power. This means you can qualify for a much more expensive home when rates are low, whereas higher rates mean you qualify for less home—even though you still pay the same monthly payment.
This first chart shows how much house you can buy for a set monthly payment. If you have $4,000 a month to budget for a house payment (before taxes and insurance), you could purchase a $949,000 house at today’s historically low 3% mortgage rate. If rates went up to 4%, the same monthly payment would only get you an $838,000 home. Your buying power diminishes considerably with each bump up in rates.
Scrolling down, this second chart shows how interest rates impact monthly payments. If you’re purchasing a $950,000 house at today’s 3% interest rate, you’ll be paying $530 less every month than if you’d bought that same house when rates were 4%. That adds up quick…$6,360 in one year alone! This explains why so many renters are eagerly looking to buy right now, and why homeowners are refinancing at record rates.
Want to know how you can best take advantage of these historical low mortgage rates? Reach out to me for help evaluating whether it would make financial sense to refinance, buy, or sell while rates are low. I am always happy to be a resource!
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We earn the trust and loyalty of our brokers and clients by doing real estate exceptionally well. The leader in our market, we deliver client-focused service in an authentic, collaborative and transparent manner and with the unmatched knowledge and expertise that comes from decades of experience.
2737 77th Ave SE, Mercer Island, WA 98040 | (206) 232-0446 mercerisland@windermere.com
© Copyright 2020, Windermere Real Estate/Mercer Island.
