Every home seller wants to sell their home the painless way: without too much work, without legal hassles, and for top dollar. You can break your home sale into three easy steps to make the process as pleasurable as possible. Step # 1 Get Your Home Ready to Sell All right, maybe this won't be so easy if your home's a mess. You can avoid the cleanup and sell for a bargain-basement price to an investor. Or you can get busy with boxes. Sort your "stuff." Pack boxes for the dumpster, boxes for charity (don't forget Habitat for Humanity's ReStore for building materials), and boxes for storage of things you can't bear to part with. Your goal: take your personality out of the home. This means family pictures, diplomas (unless you went to Harvard and want to give the buyers the idea that if they buy your home they're making a "smart" decision!), trophies, and anything else that speaks of you instead of the buyer. Next, deep clean. Make every surface shine, sparkle, and shimmer. After that, touch up paint, replace broken house parts like switch plates and leaky faucets. Your goal: make your home feel like the buyer can move into their new home without any extra work. Step # 2 Stage a Buyer's Delight Fill empty spaces, which look bare without all your possessions, with nature to bring the outside in. House plants, flowers, and bowls of fresh fruit make buyers feel connected to Mother Earth. Cut branches from your bushes and trees for tall arrangements. Your goal: encourage your buyer to feel at home. Turn on the lights, especially table lamps, even in the daytime. Buyers associate the warm pools of light from table lamps with good conversations and escape reading. Go beyond the typical home staging of setting the table. In fact, don't set the table; that looks too staged. Instead of filling your home with furnishings, stage little vignettes of activities like a board game, an open magazine, or a tea setting. Highlight your home's best feature with an activity so buyers remember your home. Your goal: make buyers think about your home more than other houses they see and to feel like they can't live without your home. Step # 3 Sell for Top Dollar Perhaps you're tempted to sell your home yourself. If you have sold other homes recently and know what you're doing, go ahead. However, 80 percent of home sellers end up listing with an agent. Interview several agents. Look for an agent who understands marketing psychology for advertising. Choose an agent who will open and show your home, not just rely on a lockbox. Each time your home is shown, the lights need to be turned on, the heat or air conditioning needs to be set, and other details checked. Price your home right. don't just accept an agent's market value without checking yourself on recent sales and your competition. Cover your assets. Be sure to draw up proper disclosure statements to prevent lawsuits against you after the sale. Read the fine print in your sales contract. Don't pay exorbitant buyer's closing costs. Limit unexpected expenses, like termite work. Include a daily fee charge to the home buyer if they don't perform in the agreed upon timeframe. This motivates them to close on time! Don't accept the first offer to come along or let your agent talk you into lowering your price. It only takes ONE buyer to fall in love with your home. You can sell your home, for top dollar, and limit your liability. Meet your goal of moving on to your new home! Copyright 2006 Jeanette J. Fisher |
