7 Things Your Real Estate Agent Wants You to Know
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You’re about to put your property on the market, and you’re going to hire An AGENT. But before you do, here’s what that Agent wants you to know even before you meet:
Air freshener is not enough
Before you list your home it needs to be clean. Really, really clean. No plug-in air fresheners. No signs of pets, no toys scattered around, no everyday detritus stashed away in closets (prospective buyers are going to open every closet door). And yes, that means the garage has to be clean, too. Schedule a pre-sale home inspection, and get a checklist of what needs to be done to make your property look its best. If it means putting some things in storage, so be it. Look at this as an opportunity to get rid of everything you don’t need before you move to your new home. Need help chucking some of your stuff? Moveline has some good tips. And so does “Getting Rid of It: The Step-by-step Guide for Eliminating the Clutter in Your Life,” a book by queen of downsizing Betsy Talbot and her husband Warren. Their bona fides? They downsized a few years ago to one backpack each for a trip around the world.
Get rid of the tchotchkes
Be ruthless. Your family photos, that shell collection from Sanibel – it all has to go. Prospective buyers have to be able to picture themselves in your space, and they can’t do that if your family’s stuff is all around. Your mantra, presale, should be “depersonalize.” If you need help, consider hiring a professional stager who will help make your home look more “neutral” and get it ready for the photo shoot and for the actual viewings. Keep in mind that only 10% of prospective buyers can visualize a home looking any different than the way it looks when they walk in the door.
Fix that leaky kitchen faucet
Fix the basics – have all lightbulbs in place, replace that broken blind. Remember, prospective buyers will even flush the toilets so be sure they’re not running overtime. Go outside and look at your home: How’s your curb appeal? Do your bushes need trimming? Any cracks in the walkway to your house? Make sure your mailbox is standing straight. Put the garden hose away. You want to avoid the dreaded buyer drive-by. Now is not the time to undertake any mammoth home improvement projects; just be sure that everything that’s there already is in working order. Some people may want to skip the fix-up stage and just lower the price a bit but that’s not a plan: If your house doesn’t look appealing you’ll never even get to the offer and negotiating stage.
Price it right
A good Agent will know your neighborhood and the local market and will advise you on what the asking price should be, but educate yourself beforehand about what is a reasonable expectation. There is no such thing as a national market; what exists is a patchwork of regional markets, and sometimes prices will vary from neighborhood to neighborhood or from street to street. Even apartments in the same building, in the same line, may not be comparable pricewise – another may have a better view, a nicer outdoor space. Be aware of what may be uniquely appealing about your home and on the flip side, what might make it a challenge to sell.
Pricing in the right segment is also key, according to Ari Harkov, a New York–based Agent. “Buyers often look up certain key markets – $1 million, $1.5 million, $2 million, $3 million, etc. If you price at $1.499 million you are likely to get many more eyeballs than if you price at $1.525 million. That additional $25K could end up costing you significantly in exposure. A buyer is also much more likely to see a place they love at $1.499 million, see that there is significant interest and multiple offers, become emotionally engaged and INVESTED in the property, and bid up to $1.55 million as a stretch. That wouldn’t happen if the property had been priced at $1.525 million – above their theoretical budget limit – at the beginning. Most buyers we work with set the upper limit well within their financial means and not at their absolute max.”
Be ready for spur-of-the-moment viewings
You may get a call from an Agent saying that in 15 minutes a prospect is going to ring your bell. That means that your home needs to be ready for prime time – all the time. That motivated buyer might be just the one who will make you an offer.
Know what an Agent can and cannot say
Agents must follow strict rules in order not to appear to be discriminating against any group in their listings and in their conversations with prospective buyers. In New York, for example, there are laws that prohibit discrimination against any of 14 protected categories which include – besides the most obvious such as race, religion and sex – the categories of familial status and marital status. That means that listings that use terms such as “bachelor pad” or “near churches” are out. Generally, Agents are not allowed even to say what schools are in the area of the property and shouldn’t answer questions such as “what kind of people live in the neighborhood?” or “are there kids in the building?”
Often the best offers come first
In Harkov’s experience, “the best buyers and offers come in the first weeks your home is on the market, or the first 30 days,” he says. “Thinking that ‘the longer we wait, the better it will be’ is not a strategy. Early lookers are informed, on the ball, preapproved. Given the popularity of Street Easy and other consumer-facing listing aggregator websites, which list days-on-the-market counts, buyers are more focused than ever on how long a property has been for sale. They’ll wonder, ‘Why has it been sitting? What am I missing that other buyers saw?’ and they will immediately start to discount the property in their minds.”
The Bottom Line
Preparing your house and yourself for a sale will make it easier for your Agent to do a good job for you. Of course, you should expect a detailed marketing plan from them, but remember, there are many other things they’ll be doing for you behind the scenes that may not be on that plan: for example, answering questions from other Agents; putting together newsletters with your property featured; troubleshooting whenever needed and doing outreach to past clients.
Source: http://realtytimes.com/
Author: Apex Properties