Selling Reno And Sparks Real Estate Blog: Nevada

Everyone has heard rumors of de-cluttering when it's time to sell your home. But, what does that really mean?  Before going hog wild and moving out... here's a few of the most important things to consider removing before you list your home for sale.

10. Personal photos. I don't always recommend removing photos of the 'family' but if you have hallways filled with photos or photos on every end table it is probably necessary. Buyers really DO get distracted by them. They will take them all in as they walk down the hall. Not only do they take away from the home, but it's really disturbing when a buyer is excited to 'know' the sellers. And, the buyers do look at them.

9. Bills and personal papers. I understand that you cannot remove these document from the home all together, but please take the time to organize them, box them up and put them out of sight. If you have bills laying out on the counter or kitchen table it's like an invitation for the buyers to 'peek' at them. Believe me - I discourage it - but it still happens. And as a seller you just don't want to leave the temptation behind.

8. Money. I would love to say that every buyer (and Realtor) going through every home is honest, but I really don't want to test those waters. If you have cash, cash boxes or coin jars sitting out in the open... put them away. It's just better for everyone if it's out of sight. As Realtors we do what we can to protect your home, but your help makes a difference!

7. Valuables. Jewelry, watches, valuable antiques.... anything that might be worth a bit of money that you wouldn't want to lose. Out of sight, out of mind. If buyers don't know they are there they won't think about it. I can't tell you how many homes I've been in where the jewelry is left on the dresser.... somehow it's uncomfortable. At least put it away.

6. Guns and ammo. I don't care if they are in a case or out laying around or under a bed. It's better if you just plain old remove them from the home prior to listing. For some reason they make buyers (in my experience) feel really insecure.

5. Shoes! If you have a pile of shoes at the door... ask yourself why. A pile of shoes gives a buyer two impressions. The first? That there isn't enough storage in your home. 2. That there are too many people living in the home. So, in order to avoid wondering on the part of the buyer... just put them away.

4. Medicine. Take it out. Don't store it on the counter. Don't store it in the cabinet. Don't store it in the bathroom. Remove it. There have been many complaints over the years of potential buyers 'stealing' the medicine out of the cabinets. I have never had it happen on my time clock, but to avoid any trouble it's best to simply remove it.

3. All things on your kitchen counter. Everything? Really? Yup. The cleaner you can leave the counter, the more buyers dream of being in there. Have you ever been in a cluttered kitchen? Does it feel inviting? How about a cleaned up kitchen? Does it make you wanna spend time there? Also, if you store things on the counter it gives the appearance that you do not have enough storage space.

2. No more junk drawers. Seriously. Clean 'em out. There is nothing more tacky than a potential buyer opening the cupboards and drawers and having things sticking out everywhere. Box up all the notes, pens, tacks, and odds and ends and put them away. Chances are you don't dig in the drawer often anyways.

1. Nothing but magnets.... and maybe not even that. Take a photo of your fridge, take everything off, wash the front (and side), and take another photo. It is really refreshing to walk into a home that has a clean fridge. The kids pictures are beautiful (believe me... my fridge is covered in them) but buyer's can't imagine their own children's drawing on there if it is covered with yours. And, the magnets... If they aren't decorative (and even then) they are generally more of a distraction to the room than a help. Consider it.

There are many more ways to declutter a home for sale... but these are some important things to consider. For more information on selling your home in Minnesota... give me a call.

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                 In the meantime... if you are looking to move into the area... I'll wait for you to call!

Selling Real Estate in Minnesota!

If you are looking for professional real estate services I am only a ring away! I am looking forward to working with you. And, please feel free to share my name with anyone that you know who needs assistance buying or selling a home ~ I love referrals!

                                                   Lindsey Hasford, REALTOR
                                                        Coldwell Banker Vision
                                             231 Main Street - Elk River - MN 55330
                                          763-241-5488 (office)  763-218-1347 (cell)
                                           lindseyhasford@coldwellbankervision.com
                                                  http://www.hasfordhomes.com

How Much Will My Home Sell For?

Dear Liz,
We've been thinking about selling our home, but need to know how much our home will sell for to help make the decision.  Can you help us determine what to expect?  We'd love to take advantage of the low interest rates to buy a new home, but we're not sure we can afford to leave the home we have.
Thanks!
Joe Public

Dear Joe,
First of all, YES, we can help you determine the expected selling price of your home, and that assessment won't cost you anything but some of your time when we meet with you to review your home.  You're facing a common issue with many Warren County home sellers.  Either home values for your area have dropped, or you didn't have a large down payment and it hasn't been that long since you purchased so your equity build up is negligible.

Here's how the process typically works for determining your home's value.  When you first contact us, we're going to ask what features you've added to your home.   Knowing what is different about your home helps us increase the accuracy of our valuation.  You may have finished the basement, added hardwood floors, custom tiled your bathroom or any number of other things that impact valuation.

We're going to baseline your home first of all.  We'll go to MLS and see if your home has ever been on the market and the information available.  We'll also visit the Warren County auditor's site and pull public information on your home.  Now we recognize the auditor's site might not always be accurate (square footage for instance often isn't as reported).

We'll pull the MLS information for your community for the last 6 months to a year depending on how many homes have sold.  Obviously, the most recent and most similar carry the most weight.  We'll review the Pendings to see what is about to go Sold.  We won't know final price, but it will at least give us another input to what is happening right now.  We'll also review the Active homes on the market.  Are they like yours?  How long have they been on market?  Have they been adjusting price?

And lastly from MLS we'll look at the home sellers that quit the market.  They also provide a loud message as to what the market will and won't do.  Their price and product was rejected by the home buyers.  There's valuable information there.  We'll also review which homes are distressed properties (short sale and foreclosures).  Their influence on pricing is critical too.

For your development, we'll also extract the tax records since not every home that sells is in MLS.  For Sale by Owners and new construction typically won't be represented, and we need to account for ALL sales.  We'll add some data like price per square foot and the ratio of recent sales prices to current tax assessments. 

Now we're also going to factor in some bigger picture items.  Is there new construction for you to compete with?  In general, if buyers CAN buy new for the same price, they will unless they just don't have the time to wait. We're also going to consider the community trends.  Is that school district tax fight killing home values and causing a decline?  Or was there a recent announcement of 500 new jobs that will push demand for housing?  What's the overall reputation of your community? Whether Mason, Lebanon, Springboro, Franklin, Maineville or Waynesville, they ALL offer a different set of pros and cons.

As you can see, the preparation work is pretty extensive, but we're STILL not done!  To get the most accurate we can, we need to cross your threshold and see it in person.  The condition of your home is another key factor.  And lastly, we'll calibrate what we see in your home against what we first hand see in the market.  How do you compare to the other choices?

And now we can finally sit down at the table, review the data and give you our best estimate of your particular home's value, and it will be a range because despite all the data gathered, there's still some art to it.

Now you'll notice nowhere in this valuation did we ask what you WANT or what you NEED to get for you home.  Buyers are like honey badgers....they just don't care about what you want or need.  It is purely about THEIR needs.  If your price and product don't work for them, they WILL reject your home as a choice.  No amount of marketing and effort on our part can overcome that.

However, that's not to say we don't consider YOUR needs during our meeting.  If you're willing to provide us your mortgage balance, we'll input that into our custom net proceeds sheet and determine the price for breaking even (no check to you, but you're not paying to leave). 

Now if that break even price is ABOVE what the market will bear, you may have a tough decision to make about whether to sell or stay.  We can help provide you options if you still want to proceed.

And ultimately, YOU decide what you will and won't accept.  Sometimes sellers decide that being "done" is more important than getting extra dollars.

We hope this helps you understand why calling a local REALTOR® is better than clicking on some online valuation website.  If you're truly serious about selling your home, there's much more to the process than a mere computer can calculate.

Just give us a call if we can help!

Serving Warren County's residential real estate needs,
Liz and Bill aka BLiz

The Liz Spear Team
Elizabeth & William Spear
RE/MAX Elite:  Ask for us by name if you visit the office!
Two locations: Lebanon & Mason, OH
Office direct: 513-248-3660  Liz direct:  513-265-3004
Bill direct: 513-520-5305 Fax: 866-302-8418     

MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com  Our Website: Warren County Ohio Homes

 

 

 

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