If you are going to put your home up for sale, you are likely wondering how much its worth. What you might not realize is that the price you eventually sell for will be a direct result of the choices you make in 7 other areas.
Let’s discuss each of them one by one:
Your Timing
How quickly can you move out?
Based on years of experience I have noticed that the best qualified buyers are almost always in a hurry. The best buyers are ‘between’ homes and anxious. The quicker you can help deliver them from this state the more attractive your home will be.
And just in case you were worried that offering immediate possession could make you homeless please don’t worry. In most cases, it takes a few weeks to find a buyer and a few more weeks to close the deal. In general, most ‘sales cycles’ last 8 to 12 weeks.
You will have plenty of time to get organized so be bold.
Your Terms
What ‘goodies’ are you prepared to leave behind?
I would encourage you to include appliances and window coverings right from the start. In most cases these items have high value to buyers (even if only short-term) and low value to you the home seller.
Leaving appliances means that your buyer can move in and start living in the home right away. And those curtains that currently adorn your bedroom or living room window probably won’t fit in your new home away.
Your Motivation
How much do you want this?
Selling and moving out of our homes is one of the most stressful things we ever do in life. I recommend you avoid ‘testing the market’. Every time you list on the MLS® System you create history. After one or two years of negative history that is listing your home and not selling you have created a stigma around the home and many buyers are going to wonder “what’s wrong with it”?
My best advice? Have a clear goal for where you are going to live next. It might be a bigger home, a smaller home or perhaps you want to leave the Edmonton area altogether. Whatever it is, make that your prize and selling your home a mere stepping stone to get there.
It’s been my experience that if a home seller is not that motivated to sell, the will get their secret wish, i.e., they stay in the home. This is especially true in the current market (November 2017). Our market is good, but there is plenty of homes for buyers to choose from.
Here’s a final test for you. Do you still the place where you live your home or is now a house? It takes a mental shift to be successful. You are selling a house NOT your home.
Your Preparation
In my years of helping people to sell homes, I’ve noticed they generally fall into 2 groups. Those that take the preparation of the home sale seriously and those just want someone to buy the home ‘as is’. Unfortunately, unless you live in a show home, it’s likely that you will have to do some home preparation before and during the home sales process.
But what does preparing a home for sale mean?
Some items don't cost a great deal and help hugely in making your home more attractive. For example, simply painting the front door in a fresh, attractive colour ‘adds a little rouge’ for little cost or effort. Conversely trying to make the yard more interesting by adding a rock garden with a pond could be a mistake. In fact, it could make the home very difficult to sell. This is especially true in a northern climate like we have in Edmonton Alberta.
The good news is that are a few key ‘smart’ things that you do to maximize the appeal of your home for buyers and not all of them cost a great deal of money.
For information about staging, please see this link: Should You Stage Your Home?
To receive a comprehensive renovations guide, please contact the office
Your Competition
You might have the nicest home on the street or in your community (in your opinion). Please recognize that there are always substitutes to your home. At the time of writing this blog (November 14, 2017 there was 5838 single family homes and condos for sale in Edmonton according to our MLS® System. If we accept that all of these listings fulfill a basic nee®d, i.e., to provide shelter and accommodation, home buyers are always going to find alternatives to your home.
It’s important therefore to pay close attention to all of the potential ‘substitutes’ that exist around you. Start on your street, neighborhood and general area of town until you find homes that might be similar to yours. It’s crucial that you monitor those that are for sale and most importantly those that have sold.
Your real estate professional can be a great resource in this regard.
Your Offer to Buyer Agents
Are you prepared to cover the buyers REALTOR® commission? To enjoy maximum cooperation from the real estate community it’s a good idea to do so.
You don’t have to pay traditional commissions. In fact, it could be argued paying a percentage to an agent that does not work for you, but the buyer is actually a conflict of interest.
The amount of work that buyer agents must do to support their buyers has also come way down. Before the internet a buyer’s agent would have to show their client between 20 and 30 homes before they had seen enough to make an informed choice.
These days the modern buyer will spend 2 to 3 years on the internet passively looking around, then about 2 months intensely searching and driving around neighborhoods before going out with their REALTOR® of choice, going into 5 to 10 homes and then purchasing one.
Therefore, you can realistically expect to pay LESS than in years gone by and a flat fee is the best way to go.
Of course, the best scenario would be to find a buyer direct and there is no need to pay 2 REALTOR®S. Our program has this feature built in. Click here to see our program that includes a ‘sell direct option’
Your Partner
From the quality of the sign on your front lawn, the clarity of the photos taken, the way in which the ad copy is written, to the level of social media marketing undertaken. These factors will affect your outcome. In addition, based on the marketing partner you choose from a by owner program, discounter or full-service REALTOR® service will dictate whether you attract buyers from the: retail, wholesale or sub wholesale layers of the market.
HINT – to get the most money you need to retail your home. For a much more detailed explanation please click on this link: Will You Retail or Wholesale Your Home?
Your Asking Price
How much you ask for your home will be used as a filter by home buyers. They will include it or exclude it from their short list based on what dollar figure you choose. However, it’s important to remember that your price works in conjunction with the seven other components mentioned here. For more information about how to select a correct asking price see this link: 6 Pricing Mistakes & How to Avoid Them
To review your best options please contact us and together we can explore your unique situation.
About the author:
You can read more about the author of this blog by clicking this link – Stuart Neal Broker Owner & REALTOR®®
Want more information about our discount and flat fee home selling programs? Please feel free to call our broker owner Stuart Neal at: 780-760-2014.
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