The Selling Process

Preparation

Get your home into first-class condition. The most important step in selling your home in any market is to get it into top shape. Make it stand out from the other homes for sale by painting, fixing, and cleaning everything. Make the house sparkle. Pretend you are a home buyer and look critically at every room of your house. Your goal should be to have your home in perfect condition so that all the buyer has to do is unlock the door and move in. If something needs attention, do not cut corners. Just do it!

For example, most garages are dark and dreary places. Make yours shine. If your garage does not have finished walls, have them sheetrocked. Then, paint the garage walls white. The cost is small compared to the improvement. Next, paint the cement floor gray with special floor paint. The cost should be less than $100. Buyers will spend time admiring a detailed garage but will just peek into a dark, dingy one. A clean garage will make your house stand out from 90% of the other homes on the market.

Do not try to get away from making the necessary improvements by thinking you can give an allowance so the buyer will do the work. For instance, if your carpeting needs to be replaced, the cost may be only $3,000. But buyers put a value of much more than that on new carpeting. So it makes sense to replace it with good-quality, neutral wall-to-wall carpeting.

Pay special attention to your kitchen and bathrooms. All appliances should work properly. Install new middle-of-the-line models if the existing ones are worn out. Money spent on new appliances can make your home sell fast for top dollar.

Hire an Agent

Hire the best real estate agent. Your key to successfully selling your home in any market is to select the most successful agent in your neighborhood. Do not even think of trying to sell your home without an agent. Have your friends, neighbors, and business associates make recommendations and phone nearby real estate offices to get the names of their top agents. After you have as least three names, you are ready to set up interviews.

You need the best and you cannot afford to list your house with an inexperienced or unsuccessful agent. Although any agent can put your listing into the local multiple listing service ( MLS), that is not enough. You need a successful agent who works well with other agents and knows how to get buyers to make offers on your home.

Incidentally, pass on any agent who does not bring you a written comparative market analysis. This report shows recent selling prices of similar houses in the neighborhood as well as the asking prices of comparable houses. Successful agents will also give you a list of their most recent sales with the seller's phone numbers. It is a good idea to call a few of those sellers to verify that they were satisfied and would list with the same agent again. If any agent neglects to give you this information, ask for it.

If an agent cannot give you a list of their most recent sales, keep looking for someone who is better prepared. Also, do not sign a listing for more than 120 days, just in case the agent you select does not properly market your home. Any agent who does not have enough confidence to take a 120-day listing is not the one you want to be working with.

Ask each agent to explain exactly what they would do to sell your home. They should have a written plan.

Pricing

Price your home correctly. After selecting the most successful real estate agent in your community to sell your home, the next important step is pricing it right. Review the agent's written comparative market analysis. With the help of your agent, add or subtract value for the pros and cons of your home, compared to the houses that have sold. Be suspicious of an agent who inflates the value of your home just to get your listing.

When pricing, think about the logical price breaks. There is a lot to the psychology of the Buyer. While $505,000 is only $5,100 more than $499,900, you have two things going against you. A HALF A MILLION DOLLARS is a huge barrier for many Buyers. Staying under this and may other logical price breaks can go a long way to increasing the traffic through your home.

The other issue with going over the price break is that many agents don't think outside the box, and when their clients ask them to look for houses "under $500,000," many agents will cap their search at $500,000. So even though you're practically there, you are technically not, and your house will go unnoticed by these agents. The more savvys Buyer's agents will look a little above, say $510,000, but many will not. When selecting a price, try to think like a Buyer or the average agent and see what you come up with.

When I'm working with clients on determining a price on a home, I like to provide all the data regarding the comparable properties that are Available, Under Contract, and recently Sold. The Solds give us the best idea of a base minimum price that we should sell for (unless you're in a truly depreciating market, which is seldom the case and is definitely not the case here in Las Vegas.) The Available prices give us an idea what the other agents and owners in the area think the house will sell for. The Under Contract prices tell us what prices worked to get people in the house and making an offer today.

Using that data, I like to provide my clients a range of pricing that I think, based on my experience and expertise, will result in a contract in 30 days, in 60 days, and then the maximum appraisable price that might take many months to get. I then let the client select the price. Honestly, I don't mind if the client selects a price that is higher than what I recommend. While I would like the house to sell very quickly, I have enough business in the pipeline that it does not bother me to take a few months to sell, as long as it fits the clients needs.

Price Reductions

Price sells. I can sell a run down house in the worst neighborhood in the valley in one day... if I can price it right. If the house is worth $90,000 and someone can buy it for $40,000, you can bet that you'll sell it immediately. Just because your house is a spectacularly upgraded home that is the gem of the subdivision, it needs to be priced appropriately. So if you're not getting the traffic or the offers, you are probably over priced.

How can you tell if you are over priced? In a typical market in a metropolitan area, you should be having a minimum of 3-5 visits a week. If you're not getting that kind of traffic and your agent is fully marketing your property, you need to reduce your price.

The amount and frequency of price reductions is not fixed. The main factors are how over priced you are, how quickly you need to sell, and the style of the agent. There are many opinions about price reduction strategy, but here's mine. Once we set a price, I like to see the traffic after two weeks. The second week traffic is a good indication of how we are priced. If we see more than five, we've got a great price. If we see 3-5, I mention this to the Sellers and see what they think. If we see less than three, I advocate a price reduction.

The amount of the price reduction depends upon the price range of the house and how far overpriced you are. It is not unreasonable to drop prices by 1-2% of the List Price. I like to keep in mind logical price breaks as well. So if a slightly larger price reduction will bring us below a price break, I'd would take that in considersation.

Terms

Offer attractive sales terms. Unless you absolutely need all your cash, be flexible about the selling terms. Consider carrying back a first or second trust deed. Or, perhaps a lease-option is better for you. Properly marketed, lease options can sell virtually any property.

So there you are. It is that simple. To sell your home in any market, be sure it is in tiptop condition, marketed by the most successful agent in your community, priced correctly, and with flexible terms. Be prepared to adjust the price if you are getting showings but no offers.