Eleven Steps to Selling your Home
for Maximum Value

Selling your home is normally the largest financial transaction you will make. Here are ten steps for getting maximum value from the sale of your home.

1- Why are you selling your home?

This one question will impact every aspect concerning the sale of your home. It will help determine the sale price and the money you spend to fix up your home for the sale. You will know the “Real” reason you’re selling your home. That’s the way it should be. However, make sure you keep that to yourself. You want to be in as strong of position as possible when you’re negotiating the final sale price of your home. If the buyer is aware that you have pressing needs, you can expect a lower offer. If someone presses you for an answer, simply tell them your housing needs have changed.

2- Take Time to Establish your Selling Price.

This is probably the most important factor in selling your home. Don’t take it lightly. Do your homework. You real estate agent can give you a lot of information to assist you in this decision. Keep a couple of points in mind. If you set a price that is too high, your home will sit on the market for a long time. The longer it sits on the market, the less money you are likely to make. Fewer people will actually tour your home. In fact, many people may begin to think you have a problem. However, if you set your price too low, you may loose thousands of dollars. Research tells us that today’s buyers sit at their computer and do a comparison of homes before they even talk to an agent. You want your home to compare favorably with other similar homes in your neighborhood.

3- Analyze the sale of homes in your neighborhood over the past three to six months

You agent should give you a comparative market analysis. This will list several homes in your neighborhood that have recently sold. It will tell you the type of home, the sales price, the time it was on the market, etc. By taking the time to carefully study this, you can get a realistic picture of what your home is worth. After all, this is exactly what your potential buyers are going to do.

4- Work with a Real Estate Agent that Communicates well and Understands Your Specific Needs

Research shows that nearly seventy-five percent of all home owners would not use the same real estate agent to sell their home again. Poor communication and feedback is the biggest complaint. The end result is normally strained client-agent relationships and lower net return for the client.

5- Make Sure your Home is Ready for Sale

Before you allow potential buyers to visit your home, make sure you’re ready. You will never have a second chance to make a good first impression. The appearance of your home and yard will determine how much money you will net from the sale. Although many factors are out of your control, the look and feel of your home is dependent upon you. You want potential buyers to make an emotional connection with your home. You want them to say “Wow” when it comes to comparing your home with other homes they’ve seen. Simply stated, the better your home looks, the more money you will net from its sale.

6- Step into the Shoes of Your Potential Buyer

Research suggests that buying a home is primarily an emotional response. Potential buyers look at your home and try to imagine what it would be like to live there. When you have buyers touring your home, you should leave if at all possible. You want them to feel comfortable about browsing and taking their time. Your presence will hinder that mind-set. If you must be in the home, then to an out-of-the-way room and stay there. Give your buyer the privacy to tour your home alone, so they may talk openly and honestly about what they would do if they bought your home. Under no circumstances should you follow them from room to room! They will leave your home quickly and will not return.

7- Make your Home Information Easily Accessible.

Many home owners don’t understand that some marketing options that are not very effective. One example is open houses. Many people see real estate shows on TV that use open houses. So, they figure that is the best way to market a home. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Research shows less than one percent of all sales occur because of an open house.

Another problem that frequently occurs when someone wants information about your home is “telephone tag” with your agent. If your agent doesn’t return calls in a timely manner, you will loose potential buyers before they ever see your home. However, the best idea is to make sure your agent offers a 24/7 service with information about your home. Potential home buyers can call a specific number at any time, day or night, and get detailed information about your home. Don’t forget… the more buyers that compete for your home, the more money you will net on your sale.

8- Separate the Lookers from the Buyers.

You want buyers that are qualified to purchase your home. That sounds simple, but sometimes it is not. For example, some people love to tour homes, but they have not intention of buying… or you have people that tour your home but are not capable of purchasing it. This is a waste of your time, energy and effort. Make sure you agent has a method set up for screening potential buyers. When you get real buyers competing for your home, your net profit goes up.

9- Finish you Seller Disclosure Document Before Buyers See Your Home

By law you, the seller, are required to disclose everything you personally know about your home. That means that provide factual information about the condition of your home and any problems you are aware of. If you’re really smart, you’ll disclose everything you are aware of that has not been repaired or replaced. When a buyer knows specific problems, up front, they cannot come back to you later and sue you. Make sure you give your agent a detailed list of this information. Then, have your agent insure that the potential buyer is aware of all potential problems.

10- Put Everything in Writing

Everything about your home should be put in writing. This is why you have contracts. Once you’ve put something in writing you are legally obligated to follow through on your part. It works both ways. It also obligates the buyer to specific action. For example, if the buyer wants to move in 24 hours after closing and that is in the contract, you must be out of the house within 24 hours. It no longer belongs to you. The bottom line is this. Put everything you can in writing. Have both the seller and buyer sign the agreement and then follow it as carefully as possible.

11- Clean the House Well When You Move

You should leave your home in as good of shape as possible when you leave. Hopefully, you’ve cleaned the carpets and painted the walls, etc. as part of getting ready to sell your home. If you move out before it is sold, have someone maintain your yard. Ask your real estate agent for help. Also make sure your agent lets other agents know that your home is vacant and available for easy access and immediate occupancy.