Re: Looking for Advice - Selling Home - Page 4

faeriemoon · ‎03-14-2010

@libbyannE wrote:
Be sure you have a good, experienced agent. Follow agent's advice on preparing the home to sell. You will probably be told to remove clutter, including too many personal things, extra furniture, etc. Stay away during open houses! Homeowners can be in the way and prevent buyers from relaxing and taking their time to envision the house as their own.

We just sold our house and this is good advice.

ccassaday · ‎10-21-2010

We are in the process of getting our house ready to put on the market in the spring. As far as the outside we are painting the trim and making sure the yard and landscaping are looking nice. This winter we have to lay new kitchen floor and do some painting inside. My brother in law is a realtor so we have someone we can trust. He also appraises homes so he will know the right price to get a quick sale. Houses right now where I live are only on the market a couple weeks because inventory is so low. Plus the price range of our house almost anyone can afford so the pool of buyers will be greater.

ccassaday · ‎10-21-2010

One other thing I forgot. We are moving to a rental so we don't have to live here while its up for sale. We are going to be building a new house.

ScrapHappy · ‎03-28-2010

We just sold out house this past June. I interviewed 4 real estate agents. I researched them as much as I could on line. Looked at listings they had and how fast it sold. I felt that was very important. Then I narrowed it down to 2: one was very familiar with my neighborhood and lived there, he was a man. The other was a woman and she just sold a house in my area in a day or two. I went with the woman for two reasons: she's the only realtor who discussed getting the house to appraise and because the male realtor always had price decreases on his listings. Our home was in excellent condition, inside and out. We did declutter A LOT. And I mean A LOT. Got a POD storage and filled it up. We had only one open house. Got an offer right away. Full price with no contingencies. Had backup offer the same. Good luck!

Mominohio · ‎08-08-2010

I haven't read all the replies but some advice I'd offer:

Be flexible. When people call to schedule a tour, don't fuss about when the Realtor wants to bring them through, even if it is inconvenient, make every effort to let them come when they want to.

Do not stay on the property when the house is being shown. If you can't leave, be prepared how off putting that will be to many buyers. They want to feel free to look, and talk openly about what they see and think. You being there makes that difficult to do, may send them away with the feeling you are too controlling, and they might figure it isn't worth even making an offer.

Clean. Clean. Clean. Empty closets, cabinets, basements etc and be sure when people look into those areas, they look unstuffed, organized, and orderly. If the closets and storage areas are jammed, it gives the impression that your home is lacking in storage space. Rent a storage unit if necessary to pare down your home to appear homey yet clean, big, spacious, and organized.

Mi47 · ‎05-18-2010

We listed our house in 2013, had our first showing at 2 pm, had an offer at 5 pm, house sold. I agree with most of the suggestions, except for two, our realtor didn't do open houses, and he requested we stay during the showing in case the potental buyers had questions, we sat on the back porch and let their realtor show the house to them. Good luck, it can be very stressful but once you list your home it cease to be your home but a house for sale. So if you overhear the buyers making negative remarks don't take it personally. You have a product to sell its no longer your home. Best of luck for a fast sale.

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

@Mi47 wrote:
We listed our house in 2013, had our first showing at 2 pm, had an offer at 5 pm, house sold. I agree with most of the suggestions, except for two, our realtor didn't do open houses, and he requested we stay during the showing in case the potental buyers had questions, we sat on the back porch and let their realtor show the house to them. Good luck, it can be very stressful but once you list your home it cease to be your home but a house for sale. So if you overhear the buyers making negative remarks don't take it personally. You have a product to sell its no longer your home. Best of luck for a fast sale.

When we were selling we had our camper sitting in the driveway and that was where I would be while the house was being viewed. As the people were leaving I would usually hear their comments to the realtor and each other as they were going to their car. It was very interesting. I remember one young lady telling her husband that the homes they were looking at certainly weren't anything like the homes on HGTV. The realtor told them if they wanted the HGTV dream home they would have to up the budget by about 50 grand at least. It's sad what HGTV has brainwashed people to believe they NEED.

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

@Mominohio wrote:
I haven't read all the replies but some advice I'd offer:

Be flexible. When people call to schedule a tour, don't fuss about when the Realtor wants to bring them through, even if it is inconvenient, make every effort to let them come when they want to.

Do not stay on the property when the house is being shown. If you can't leave, be prepared how off putting that will be to many buyers. They want to feel free to look, and talk openly about what they see and think. You being there makes that difficult to do, may send them away with the feeling you are too controlling, and they might figure it isn't worth even making an offer.

Clean. Clean. Clean. Empty closets, cabinets, basements etc and be sure when people look into those areas, they look unstuffed, organized, and orderly. If the closets and storage areas are jammed, it gives the impression that your home is lacking in storage space. Rent a storage unit if necessary to pare down your home to appear homey yet clean, big, spacious, and organize

The year we retired we left for Florida in our camper with intention of looking at homes and we bought one. We hurried home and as soon as we got home we put our house on the market immediately. I did not "declutter" and I did not "clean" because I kept my house clean and decluttered all the time. My realtor made no suggestions to us to change anything at all. Our house was sold in 9 days. Wenever took down any pictures or anything. I did get the powder blue carpet professionally cleaned, and since it was spring I planted some flowers outside. About a year before this I did have the house painted, and the painter had recommended painting all ivory as that was a popular neutral. However, we still had wallpaper in 2 bedrooms and the bathroom.

Shop Till you Drop · ‎03-10-2010

Sorry this is long, but has a funny ending. My Mom sold her hom last year and luckily she lives with her home very de-clutered. She is often teased that she bought the model home and kept it that way for 15 years. it was lovely and sold very quickly. The house was put on the market on a Friday, and by Sunday afternoon the home had 24 offers, some not good offers, many very good. The first offter that she did take fell through. We never understood why. The man came to the home several times and she always accomodated his times and she left the home. Each time she came in after him, we found every door in the house closed and every closet open. At first we thought he was checking for any foundation issues, but the report was complete that the house did not have any foundation issues. He got out of the contract, the next peron bought the home for way above the asking price ( we live in a hot home market). After all was said and done we asked the realator if he had any idea why the first potential buyer kept coming back and clsoing the doors and opening the closets. The realator told my mom, he did find out, did she really want to know? My Mom said yes, of course. Seemed the man was getting an odd vibe when he came in the home and was meditating in each room of the house. He could not get comfortable in the master bedroom. Finally he backed out buying which was just fine with us. We had declared this on the realator paper work so it was not hidden that my dad had passed away in the home, guess Dad was sending him a bad vibe. He died in the master bedroom..Haha guess he just wasnt supposed to live in that house

mousiegirl · ‎03-09-2010

@Imadickens wrote:
I have bought and sold over eight times in 40 years. I never had an open house. The best advice I have is to uncluttered as much as possible and take down as many personal pictures as you can. Lookers like to be able to imagine themselves living in the house. Also, be aware of any strange odors your house may have! I find it amazing that when I've been gone a few days how easy it is to smell my dogs when I return! In fall, I used to bake an apple pie when people were coming (just make sure there is nothing to burn in the bottom of the oven!) or chocolate chip cookies! Remember to turn lamps on to make hose look bright! Keep drawers and closets clean as people will open them! Also, garbage should be emptied before they arrive! Finally, curb appeal is most important! Keep lawn cut, get rid of dead flowers, and put things away that don't belong in the yard! Make sure nothing needs painting are cleaning! If you do repainted, keep it neutral in color and do a good job! I've seen houses where the paint was all over the windows! Good luck!

@Imadickens While in the process of selling our previous home, everything was pristine, but a small clump of bulbs by the lampost in the front of the house were dying back, as food for next year's bulbs, so I tied them so they would be neat, and that is what the buyer's realtor mentioned, the "weeds" in front. I educated her.

Not knowing we were going to move, I had just bought many bareroot roses and had them in pots in one area in the side yard, and one realtor had many negative comments about that, said she would not bring anyone over, and I said to myself, good riddance. We sold above asking price in a very short time, had threee potential buyers with bids at our dining room table one night, we accepted the over the asking, lol.

If we ever had to move from here, I would be in BIG trouble, so much more "stuff" than I had decades ago. I would prefer to be moved out, but realtors like to show a furnished house around here, so I think if we hadn't moved out, I would have to store a lot, shuddering just thinking about it.