Do's and Don'ts about selling your home in Virginia
An energetic real estate agent can have your home on the market in a
day. However, to provide the kind of marketing exposure you need to
sell in today's market takes a little longer, unless your home is
photo-ready when you list.
Ideally, you should start planning
for your home sale months before you want your home to be on the
market. First, find an agent to represent you. Then, create a game plan
together for the premarketing phase of the process.
Use your
agent as a resource. Walk through your home with your agent to get
feedback on work, decluttering, and rearranging that needs to be done
before the house is photographed for advertising and shown to
prospective buyers. If your agent doesn't have a good eye for design,
ask for a recommendation of a staging decorator.
HOUSE HUNTING
TIP: Preferably, your home should not be submitted to the multiple
listing service (MLS) or home-sale Internet sites without photos.
Studies have shown that many buyers don't consider a listing that
doesn't have photos.
Some sellers have presale inspections done
to find out if repairs should be made before the property goes on the
market. This wasn't as important several years ago when buyers were
enthusiastic about the prospect of making money in the residential real
estate market. Now buyers are much more cautious, and property
condition is a critical variable.
One seller did a beautiful job
fixing up her house for sale. She ordered a termite report and had some
of the work done. But she didn't hire a home inspector to inspect the
house. The interior was top-notch. In fact, more money was spent on
this than was necessary. The listing agent was hired after the work had
been done so the seller didn't benefit from the agent's advice about
how much to spend and on what.
The house sold with multiple
offers. However, the buyer's home inspection report revealed that the
house needed a new foundation. Fortunately, there was a backup buyer.
But, the price was negotiated down significantly. In hindsight, it
would have been better to have fixed the foundation and done a less
expensive redo of the interior.
A couple sold a similar home.
They worked with their agent for months before the house was marketed.
They did presale inspections and got estimates for painting, staging,
furnace replacement, making necessary structural modifications and
fixing miscellaneous defects referenced in the termite report.
Then,
they prioritized, with input from their agent, and had the most
critical repairs and enhancements done before the listing hit the MLS.
There was no renegotiation necessary with the buyers after they
completed their inspections.
Make sure buyers receive copies of
proposals and paid invoices for work you did to your home so they know
which items in your presale inspection reports have been repaired.
Another
couple, who plan to move in a few years, decided to get their home
ready to sell now. They put in a new master bathroom, refinished floors
and plan to replace a dry-rotted deck. They will enjoy the improvements
for the remaining years they stay in the house.
Most sellers
wait until the last minute to get their house ready for sale. It can be
very stressful trying to get all the work done in a short time frame.
Doing work gradually over time is a saner approach. Sadly, most homes
never look as good as they do when they're sold.
THE CLOSING:
Now is a good time to have work done. A lot of contractors are looking
for work. You might receive more competitive bids and be able to have
the work done when you want.
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