It’s a buyer’s market! When it comes to the housing market — how many times have we heard that lately?
Well, sellers, this morning’s stretching your dollar is for you. In part two of our series on stretching that home dollar– we have tips for sellers from smartmoney.com.
At #5: picking the wrong buyer. Watch out for people with preapproval letters that are more than 4 to 6 weeks old and people who want to attach all kinds of caveats on buying your house– for example– selling theirs first.
#4: paying for a home stager; someone you pay to ready your place for tours. Smartmoney.com says unless you live in a million dollar mansion, save your cash and use common sense instead.
“You want to make sure that when people have four houses that are similar that they’re going into that yours is going to look the best,” says Mary Low with Iron Gate Realty Group.
Your yard should look healthy and weed free. The inside of your home should be clean, bright, and free of clutter, extra furniture, and knick knacks.
Mistake #3: failing to respond to all offers. If someone lowballs you– see if they’re willing to negotiate rather than rejecting them outright.
“If you’re not motivated to really sell, this is not a market to put your house on,” says Mary.
On a similar vein mistake #2 is: questioning the first offer. Smartmoney.com says too many sellers reject thier first offer thinking if they hold out more money will come– a strategy that rarely works.
And the number one mistake home sellers make? Asking too much.
“You really have to price your home at the competition or a little under in order to really be competitive,” says Mary.
Look around at what’s currently selling in your neighborhood– that’ll tell you if you’re way off the mark.
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