Below are
some helpful tips that will make the sale
of your home easier, faster, with less hassle, selling
in the least amount of time and for top dollar. These tips
are helpful when selling a home in the Huntsville, AL area.
Please
Note:
If you're thinking of selling your home in the Huntsville,
AL
area Steve can provide you with a free Consultation
and Detailed Home
Market Analysis. With Steve's informative
data and home evaluation you'll
be able to make good decisions on pricing, marketing
strategy and so
much more.Click here
for more information!
Selling
Tip #1 - Prepare The Outside Of Your Home Before Putting
It On The Market
Always remember that home buyers buy homes within their
price range that are clean in
appearance and well maintained. You can more easily attract
buyers and help sell your
home with inexpensive, usually do it your self cosmetic
changes like: cutting the grass,
cleaning up around the outside perimeter, touch up painting
or if needed completely repaint
walls and trim, remove any clutter that may be lying around.
Tips For The Outside: A well kept lawn
implies a well maintained home and helps a
great deal when a home buyer is looking at your home for
the first time. Mow your lawn
weekly while showing your home, rake leaves, sweep sidewalks,
edge & weed eat as
needed. Remove dead limbs and debris, prune shrubs and trees
and bag grass clipping
rather than leaving the clipping on the ground.
Plant a few extra flowers to add color and spruce up landscaping
with potted flowers and
just the right amount of mulch or ground cover in the flower
beds.
Repair broken fences and touch-up paint or stain for a new
looking maintained appearance.
Store or organize lawn equipment, outdoor items and children's
toys away neatly.
Take the dog or other large pets over to a neighbors when
the house is to be shown.
Repaint or replace the mailbox if needed.
The front entrance of your home is a key part of the "First
Impression". Paint, clean or stain
the front door. Remove old screens if they don't fit or
operate properly.
Make sure the entry light and doorbell are working properly.
Replace missing or damaged house numbers and make sure the
number is visible from the
street in the early morning and evening when many home buyers
are out looking.
Put out a welcome mat and potted plant on steps, front porch
or entrance way if there's room.
Selling
Tip #2 - Prepare The Inside Of Your Home Before Putting
It On The Market Tips For The Inside: Clutter and dark colors
usually will turn most buyers off. That means
getting rid of everything you can live without and painting
with lighter colors as needed.
Have the carpet cleaned thoroughly. If the carpet is in
bad condition and if cleaning is of little
or no use replace the carpet with a neutral color that should
match most anyone's furniture
and household items.
If you can't see the baseboard, the room is probably cluttered.
Have a garage sale to
eliminate unnecessary items. You could use the money you
earn from the garage sale
to put some of your bulkier furniture or unnecessary items
in storage.
Bright lights and light colors on walls make rooms look
bigger. If you plan to paint some
popular colors are white or off-white for the trim work
and a variety of tan colors for the walls.
Remember that neutral colors are best because they match
almost any color of furniture
and household items.
Replace lights with higher wattage bulbs to make rooms seem
warm and cheerful, but be
sure to not use higher wattage bulbs than what is recommended
for each light fixture.
Clear kitchen countertops as much as possible. Reduce the
number of items in cabinets.
Arrange clothing neatly in each closet and reduce the number
of items stored on shelves,
in the pantry and on the floor.
Clean and organize your basement, attic and garage.
Selling Tip #3
- Appropriately Price Your Home
If you're planning to sell your home located in Huntsville,
AL or surrounding areas of North
Alabama and would like to know the value of your home in
today's market, Steve can provide
you with an on site Consultation and detailed Comparative
Market Analysis on your home at
no charge and with no obligation.
Click here to receive an
on site Consultation and detailed Comparative Market Analysis
on
your home. The information you submit on the following page
will be used to prepare a
detailed analysis report of current market activity in your
area. Steve's analysis will include
all current market activity along with a complete evaluation
of your home. With this informative
data and Steve's home evaluation you'll be able to make
good decisions on pricing, marketing
strategy, whether or not listing with a Realtor is right
for you and so much more.
While meeting with Steve and receiving his home evaluation
and Comparative Market
Analysis, Steve will recommend a starting list price for
your home that he feels will
be appropriate. After receiving Steve's price recommendation
it is up to you to decide just
how much to ask for your home. You may want to do a little
research yourself, if so below
are a few things to keep in mind:
Using the Comparative Market Analysis report that you receive
form Steve check off the
homes most similar to your own in terms of size, number
of bedrooms, number of bath
rooms, square footage, type construction (brick or frame),
age etc. Walk by and view the
selected homes. Decide if the lots are bigger or smaller
than your own. Is the general
condition better or worse than your house? Set your asking
list price higher or lower than
the selected homes based on your observations.
Selling
Tip #4 - Great Internet Marketing Sells Homes
When listing your home with a Realtor be sure the Realtor
you choose is very Internet active
and well versed in Internet marketing for the Real Estate
industry in your area. Research
shows that more and more home buyers are searching the Internet
looking for homes for
sale than ever before. The Internet is currently the leading
source for home buyers who are
actively shopping for a home as well as seeking information
about the home buying process.
When you list your home for sale with Steve your home will
be advertised on various popular
Real Estate Web sites such as this site www.HuntsvilleHomeSales.com,
www.valleymls.com
and www.Realtor.com
as well as www.NARIS.com the MLS online site for Realtors
only in
Huntsville, AL and surrounding areas. Your home will display
a complete description listing
detailed information about your home along with up to nine
photos of the interior and exterior.
The combination of the above mentioned types of Internet
Marketing is a very powerful and
effective way to market a home for sale and has proven results
Steve can provide you as part
of his home marketing plan.
Selling Tip #5
- Tips For Negotiating With Home Buyers
In this country we are often conditioned to pay list price
for everything from clothing to
furniture, but we bargain when it comes to much more expensive
things like our automobiles
and homes.
A few things to remember when it comes time to negotiate
an offer on your home:
The first thing to do is be sure that the buyer has been
pre-qualified or better yet
pre-approved for at least the amount of the offer, this
is important because you don't want
to waste your time negotiating with a buyer who can't qualify
to buy your home.
If you have your home listed with a Realtor who is representing
you be sure and listen to
the advice that your agent has to offer. Your agent is most
likely very familiar with what is
usual and what is in your best interest when it comes to
negotiating an offer to purchase
on your home.
Remember that the buyer is not the enemy. Don't be afraid
to engage in the negotiation
process. If the offering price or terms of the offer are
not acceptable to you make a counter
offer and give the reasoning as to why you made the counter
offer (ex. can't afford to take
less, two comparable homes across the street sold for more
etc.)
Often buyers who offer less than list price can be motivated
to pay more or agree to other
terms like asking for a lessor amount of closing costs to
be paid by the seller or scheduling
the closing date for a time that is more convenient for
you.
In the earlier stages of the negotiation process and in
regards to the offering price, it's often
best to reduce your asking price by small amounts with each
counter offer. This implies that
you are motivated to sell but not so motivated that you
will sell the house for much less than
the list price.
Never discourage a home inspection. If a buyer makes an
offer contingent upon a satisfactory
inspection it is best to allow the buyer to inspect your
home for defects pertaining to heating,
cooling, electrical, plumbing, structure, health and safety
issues. If you do not allow the
buyer to perform the inspection the buyer will most likely
think there is something terribly
wrong with the home and could very easily withdraw from
any further negotiations on your
home and proceed with looking for a different home.
