Our regular columnist, Mom2KG, returns to give some practical tips on selling your home in the first of a two part post. Her next post will be on buying a home. Please note that I am a week long blogging vacation. Hope you enjoy today’s post and I’ll see you next week. Enjoy.
I recently bullied my husband into selling our house and buying a new one. One day, he was yelling “We are not buying a new house!” in response to an open-house brochure I proffered, and the next, we were putting an offer in on a fixer-upper. OK, it wasn’t quite from one day to the next, but we did move things along pretty fast. Here are my tips on selling a house. Next post - tips on buying.
Get on the same page. I believe my past posts illustrate how emotional money management can be between spouses. Since homes are often considered a family’s biggest asset and investment, it makes sense that parting with one must be a mutual, happy decision. (I’m a complete hypocrite here. I really did bully him.)
Sell first, buy second. Selling first is the less-risky move, obviously. At worst, you don’t buy and have to move in with your in-laws. But buying and not selling puts you at serious financial risk-you can’t get bridge financing until you sell. In the current housing market, you need to sell first, and determine what you can afford to buy.
Find an agent. I interviewed three agents. None of them thought the house was worth what we thought. TIP: agents would rather sell a house fast than sell for more. It means a lower commission, but less work, which means they can take on more listings for greater revenue. Anyhow, we went with the agent who seemed most willing to listen to us, gave practical advice, and negotiated her commission down.
Do you homework. We had to prove to our agent the house was worth more. The “comparables” were limited at a passing glance, but a more detailed analysis gave us confidence that we were selling something extremely desirable, even though our house is on the “wrong side of the tracks.” We pushed the agent to a higher price point. Worst that happens? You don’t get it and drop the price in a few weeks. On the flip side of that coin, if you are selling a cookie-cutter new build in a neighbourhood full of “for sale” signs, be prepared not to get the top price.
Finish your housework. Take an extremely hard look at your home. What needs to be done? You must finish anything not completed in the way of renovations. Repair cracks, wash crayon off the walls, and clean, clean, clean.
De-personalize. Buyers don’t want to see your family photos. De-clutter, and put away all personal items, as well as kids’ toys, the cat litter box, folded laundry, etc. Buyers need to see themselves living there, which is really hard with Uncle Ron looking at them from the mantle (When we looked for our first home, the owner had oh-so-casually left out pictures of himself with then-President George Bush at a golf tournament. Seriously?)
HIRE A STAGER. Invest the money (and some time) in a home-staging service. This can run into the thousands, but let me assure you: it is worth every penny! Stagers will view your house with an unemotional, critical eye, and help you de-clutter and get your house in viewing shape. Ours had us re-paint in neutral colours, re-arranged furniture and art, provided several accessory items, and even shopped for things we were missing (like lamps). By the time they were done, our home was a showpiece. No one lives like that, but buyers were completely entranced. We sold our home over the asking price, in a bidding war, in three days. We attribute much of that to the home-staging. Just trust me on this one. It feels like a splurge, and it may be a bit of a pain, but it will maximize the selling price.
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