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Category Archives: real estate market
Avoid These Home Improvement Projects
In addition to being a poor investment, these projects will often hurt the future sale of your home:
- Turning a bedroom into another type of space
- Installing an above ground pool
- Not keeping paint colors neutral
- Installing a hot tub
- Creating themed children’s bedrooms
When making changes or improvements to your home, always ask the question; how will this affect my home’s value and marketability when it’s time to sell?
LeadingRE 2013 Sales Numbers
Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® is a network of over 500 of the very best real estate firms that are located in nearly 50 countries. These firms have 3,500 offices with 120,000 sales associates. In 2013 these firms had sales of $314 billion dollars representing over one million transactions, which placed Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® #1 in sales volume in the United States.
Sales volume numbers for 2013 were as follows:
Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® – $314 billion
Coldwell Banker – $267 billion
Re/Max – $221 billion
Keller Williams – $131 billion
Century 21 – $122 billion
Prudential – $114 billion
Berkshire Hathaway Home Services – $80 billion
Real Living – $44 billion
Sotheby’s International Realty – $28 billion
ERA – $22 billion
Realty Executives – $19 billion
Better Homes & Gardens – $12 billion
Firms affiliated with Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® can offer sellers global exposure of their home in addition to strong marketing expertise at the local level. Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® has the resources to market your property to the highest possible number of potential buyers. With 120,000 talented associates around the world, they expose your property to buyers on six continents ensuring more eyes are on your property. In addition they receive inbound clients from other affiliates around the globe who are interested in purchasing a home.
If you are looking for the best real estate firm to sell your home, then you need to consider a firm that’s affiliated with Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®.
Source: Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®
Should I Sell My Own House?
Selling a home For Sale By Owner (FSBO) is not an easy task, that’s why most FSBO’s end up hiring a REALTOR®. Nationally the success rate of FSBO’s is very low. Over 80% of all FSBO’s end up hiring a REALTOR® to get their home sold in the end.
Why is it so hard to sell without a REALTOR®?
1. Determining the right listing price – Pricing a property correctly is probably the most important step when placing your home up for sale. If your home is not priced right, then you stand a slim chance of selling in a competitive market. A REALTOR® will have access to the sales data, plus their experience to best advise you on a proper listing price.
2. Buyer’s want your commission savings – One of the things most sellers don’t understand when deciding to go the FSBO route, is that many buyers know you are marketing you own home in order to save the commission, and they want a part of that savings. Many of the buyers will take 5% right off the top regardless of whether the home is priced well or not.
3. Availability for showings – It’s hard for many homeowners to be available to show their home at the time buyers want to look. Buyers can come at all hours of the day and night. Most serious buyers are looking at a number of homes within a given time period and are not willing to rearrange their schedule to accommodate an unworkable seller. One advantage of having a REALTOR® is they can take care of all showings, thus freeing you up to keep your life as normal as possible during the selling process.
4. Showing to unqualified buyers – It’s a waste of your time and the buyers if they are unable to obtain the financing needed to complete the purchase. If a REALTOR® is involved, in most cases only pre-qualified buyers will be looking at your home.
5. Negotiations & inspections – This is an area where an inexperienced seller can put their self at great risk. When your dealing directly with the buyer you can be put of the spot with answering questions and making decisions without thinking them over carefully. You might unknowingly commit to something without understanding all of the cost and time considerations. Negotiating buyer inspections on your home can be tricky as well. These are areas were a REALTOR® will look out for your best interest.
While it’s not impossible to sell your home on your own, you can see there are many pitfalls along the way if your not experienced. By hiring a REALTOR® studies have shown that you will usually sell your home for a higher price, and you will have someone on your side to make the process much easier.
Be Careful – Don’t Overprice Your Home
Sellers who overprice their home are usually making one of the biggest mistakes that many sellers make when listing their home. Here are some of the dangers of overpricing:
1. You don’t get a second chance to make a good impression – After many months on the market, and several price reductions your property starts to get market worn in the eyes of both buyers and agents. When looking at a property or deciding on an offer, the buyer will often ask their agent how long has this property been on the market? If its been for an extend period of time, then buyers will start to question what’s wrong with the property. Additionally; many agents will not even show homes that have been on the market for a long time. They will assume that there are condition, location or pricing issues involved, and it will be a waste of their time and their buyer’s time to even show the property.
2. You are setting yourself up for failure – You will most often get your best offers within the first thirty days of being on the market, so don’t waste this opportunity. Time and time again, many sellers find this out the hard way and end up regretting their prior decisions.
3. You will often help sell someone else’s property – Most buyers will look at several homes before making a decision to buy, so they get a pretty good idea of what you get for the dollar. If your home is priced above the other comparable homes, then the buyer is almost always going to choose the one that’s a better value.
Good Reasons to Sell Your Home Now
Here are several good reasons why now is a good time to place your house on the market:
•The most serious buyers are out now
•There is less competion now
•The process will be quicker
•There will never be a better time to move up
•It’s time to move on with your life
The Six Elements that Determine if a Home Sells
Price – This is probably the most important element of the six items listed. A property needs to be properly priced to attract buyers in the first place. Pricing a home too high will most often lead to a lower sales price and longer market time than if priced right in the beginning.
Property Condition – Properties that are in tip top shape will usually sell much quicker than a property that’s in disrepair or needing updating. Properties that are in substandard condition will often draw low ball offers from investors and those folks looking for fixer uppers. Additionally a property that’s not up to certain minimum standards will not be considered for government backed loan programs, which significantly reduces the pool of available buyers if your limited to cash or conventional buyers.
Terms – This item rates high on the list of elements because if a buyer is unable to locate the needed financing, then they will not be in a position to purchase your property in the first place. If interest rates are at an attractive level and lending standards are reasonable, then terms should not be an issue. If you have a hard to sell property, then you might consider offering seller financing. This would open up your property to those buyers that are unable to secure traditional financing.
Agent Marketing – Selecting an agent and firm that has your best interest in mind is most important. You want someone that will provide you the necessary information, so that you can make informed decisions throughout the process of buying and selling. Visit www.KnoxSold.com to find out more about agent marketing.
Market Conditions – This is one of the elements that you have little to no control over. Market conditions will determine a property’s value at any given time based upon the law of supply and demand. The market is ever changing as the supply of available properties for sale rises and falls. Values will rise as the supply of available properties dwindles, and values will fall if the supply of properties exceeds buyer demands.
Property Location – Location greatly affects the value of a property. Property values are mostly influenced by neighboring property values. Usually you will find like valued properties in company with with one another. When pricing property you will usually need to be priced in relationship to other properties in the immediate area.
The Best Day to List Your House
Turns out the best day of the week to list your house is on a Friday. Homes listed on Fridays tend to bring the seller a higher percent of their asking price than on any other day of the week, according to research done by the real estate brokerage Redfin. Homes listed on Fridays usually sell the quickest as well. The majority of the property showings occur Friday through Sunday, so it makes perfectly good sense that Fridays would rate high.
Another good day to list your home is on a Tuesday. Tuesdays generate the most interest for home tours. Tuesday is often a big planning day for many people as they make plans for properties to view over the upcoming weekend.
Wondering what’s the worst day of the week is to list a house? Well; it’s on Sunday.
You can sign the listing paperwork with your REALTOR® on any day of the week, but ask your REALTOR® to time the marketing of your home so that you get maximum exposure. You only get one chance to make a good first impression, so why not make the best of it.
Make Your Home to Stand-out When Selling
When selling your home you need to highlight its strengths and focus on its features. Here’s a list of places to start:
1. Make a lasting first impression – Curb appeal is extremely important. Make sure your lawn and shrubbery are neatly trimmed. The front door should be clean and dust free. If it needs a fresh coat of paint, then paint it.
2. Don’t hesitate to decorate – Faded walls and worn woodwork won’t sell your home. A small investment in paint will do wonders.
3. Let the sun shine in – Open drapes and curtains. Clean the windows. Home buyers are drawn to bright, cheery interiors.
4. Bathrooms are big sellers – Make bathrooms shine. Clean the sinks and toilets thoroughly. Re-caulk vanity tops and tile as needed. Make sure that you are displaying fresh neatly folded towels.
5. Wake up your bedrooms – Remove excess furniture. Use colorful sheets and bed spreads. Open the drapes and let the light in.
6. Pay close attention to the details – Loose door knobs, sticking drawers, wobbly hinges and stuck windows can all cost you the sale.
7. Call the plumber – Have those leaky faucets fixed. Make sure the drains are running free and clear. Clean those rust stains from the tub and bowls.
8. Buyers love big closets – They look even bigger when they are clean, neat and well organized. Remove as much as possible. Either give it away or place it in storage.
9. Lighten up – By day let the sun shine in. By night turn on all lighting in advance of showings. Make sure that you replace any bulbs that are not working. Add accent lighting to wall hangings, fireplaces and other unique features of the home.
10. Leave it to the professionals – Let your REALTOR® handle the showings and negotiations. They’ve been carefully trained and will look out for your best interest.
Avoid These Costly Mistakes When Selling Your Home
Here are seven things that a seller should avoid when selling their home:
1. Putting the home on the market before it’s ready – Make sure you have the home in top notch condition and free of clutter. Impressions are everything when selling, so get yours ready before putting it up for sale.
2. Over improving for the neighborhood – When making improvements to your home, be careful not to go overboard. You want to keep your home’s size and materials used similar to the other homes in your immediate area.
3. Pricing the home based upon what the seller wants to net – Following this practice will almost always lead to failure. If a home is not priced in-line with other similar homes, then it will receive few if any showings, and will attract mostly low ball offers. After a while the home will become what is termed as “market worn”.
4. Hiring an agent based on non-business factors – Make sure that your hiring the best person for the job and not a friend or family member who’s in the business.
5. Getting emotionally involved in the sale of the home – Once you decide to sell your home you need to become emotionally unattached to the house, it’s now a commodity and it needs to be treated as such.
6. Trying to cover up problems and not disclosing them – Most states require a written seller property disclosure report that you as the seller must complete as part of the selling process. Make sure that you complete this form with great care and detail. If you don’t properly disclose an issue that you have knowledge of, then you open yourself up for possible liability at a later date.
7. Not getting everything in order before selling – Research such things as new financing, terms of your existing mortgage, market conditions and etc. By having a better understanding the process and what to expect, you can hopefully sell your home and purchase a new one with less stress and fewer hassles.