My New Blog

The reality is the market has slowed.  So now what?  I have a house I am trying to sell.  What do I do?  It can really be boiled down to three words:  maintenance, cleanliness, and price.

My parents bought a number of homes when I was growing up.  They bought them at a fair price and then they fixed them up, cleaned them up, and priced them to sell.  They didn't put very much money into them, but they made what was there sparkle. 

Maintenance.  Screens that have holes in them.  Trim pieces that aren't on.   Doors that don't close properly. Gutters that are bent up and rusted.  A yard that needs some TLC and fresh landscaping.  Most maintenance doesn't cost much.  It simply takes time.  So look for things on your home that need to be fixed.  If you have trouble ask someone to walk through your home and pick things out and pay attention to detail.

Cleanliness.  Did you know that if you smoke in your home it will bring 10% less in the market place?  Ouch!  If your house looks junky and cluttered people aren't going to look past it.  If the walls are marked up, the floors are dirty, and countertops are messy, then when you are competing with other homes in a competitive market you will be on the "short end of the stick"

My mother was a clean freak.  She could make a house sparkle.  I remember that one time they bought a house, put about $1,000 into the house in paint, carpeting, landscaping, and minor repairs.  They sold that house for $10,000 more than they paid for it.  That's pretty good considering they paid $20,000 for it.  It was in the 1960's.  Well, it might cost a bit more than that today.  That $1,000 may be $5,000 now.  But sometimes you will need to spend money to make money. 

In the appraisal business we call this curable depreciation.  Curable means that if you put $1 into fixing a house you will get more than $1 back in value.  About one year ago I was asked to do an appraisal for an estate.  I appraised the house for about $275,000.  I then told the homeowner what he needed to do to add value.  He spent about $30,000 to fix up the house.  It has suffered from more neglect than average.  But he sold that house for $60,000 more than $275,000.  If you could make 100% interest on an investment would you make it?

Price.  Price is King.  The single most important factor to selling your home is to price it correctly.  This is more so in a slow market where you have many properties you are competing with.  The principle of substitution is this:  If two similar properties are on the market, people will buy the property that has the lowest price.  Buyers are more savvy today then ever.  So if you over price your property it doesn't matter how good your realtor is, your property will most likely not sell.

But if you do the first two then you can ask for more.  You can make your house "dissimilar" by making it more appealing.  Who wouldn't pay more for a well maintained and clean house?  So get out that "honey-do" list.

If you are thinking about selling your house give me a call for an evaluation and consultation.  It would be money well spent.