Linda Moore’s 5th Step to Selling a House – Successful Negotiations
In my continuing series of blog posts centered around tips for selling a home,we continue today with some strategies to think about when it comes time to contract negotiations. Now that you have prepped and primped your home to be shown in optimum physical and decorative condition, added a yard sign that proudly states “look at me” you have unlimited visibility on the internet, and cars are beginning to slowly pass your property. While going to sleep with thoughts of a great offer coming in provide the stuff for pleasant dreams in reality all you keep hearing is neighborhood buzz about interested buyers who stop their cars and pull out a marketing flyer from your yard sign. Then you get the call from your agent, who has just gotten off the phone with a prospective buyers agent, you learn that they are thinking about making an offer! You may find yourself excited, anxious, even euphoric. The subsequent series of events surrounding contract negotiation is where the real excitement begins and your agent leaps into action!
Here are some empowering strategies to consider as a seller during the negotiation phase.
Neighborhood talk is cheap. It is important to remember until an offer is in writing you don’t have an offer at all. While an call from another agent is a sound indicator of a potential buyers desire to step into the ring, verbal offers at best are an guideline of what a buyer may be willing to entertain as a starting point. A seasoned agent and most real estate regulations will require that a bona fide offer be in writing. In other words the buyers agent needs to get the buyer to walk the talk.
Consult with your listing agent. Selling your home and negotiating with buyers is something you do once every 5 or 10 years. On the other hand your agent is skilled at negotiating the sale of property on a daily basis. Sit down with your agent and collaborate on a joint strategy to get a fair price for your home. It’s important to contribute but even more important to listen. Your agent will be partnering with you to engineer the best outcome.
Put everything on the table. The skillful art of negotiation is much more than an agreed upon contract price. What will the buyer put down on the property? When are they desiring to close and how does that benefit you or them? What kind of personal property is to remain on the property or be subject to further negotiations? Your agent can can further investigate and help develop a detailed profile of the prospective buyer identifying their needs and wants to ensure there is a good match with yours. Remember that gaps in pricing can be compensated by other factors that can be advantageous. Seek win win solutions.
Be wary of shutting the door on early offers. One of the more common regrets of a seller is not engaging an good offer submitted very soon after the property is placed on the market. Sellers often have high expectations in the first weeks of marketing time. It’s important to remember that buyers have a “seasoning curve and at some point on that curve they may have seen enough variety in their price range to know what they need, where they want to live and what they are willing to initially offer. Receiving a good offer that has room for negotiations early in the game is a problem many sellers wish they had.
A sale that didn’t move forward is not a sale. Sellers often experience the heart wrenching disappointment of losing a sale due to inspection issues, financing or buyer home sale contingency. Should this happen plan to move on and not let the terms of one offer be the benchmark for subsequent offers. Many sellers will cling to a previous offer price believing it will be duplicated, however this will not always prove to be true. Have a discussion with your agent and be open minded to the uniqueness of each subsequent offer. Remember you are not selling a product with a manufacturer’s suggested list price, but rather a unique property where give and take are part and parcel of the process.
Coldwell Banker Encinitas Realtor Linda Moore has developed a solid reputation as an expert negotiator and facilitator. Masterfully blending the art and science of skillful negotiation gives her a proven edge when working with home sellers. Linda employs a consultative approach, collaborating and partnering with her clients to ensure a successful home sale experience.
August 31, 2010
Step 4 for Selling a Home – Home Inspection Process
In my continuing series blog posts dealing with tips for selling a home, I’d like to venture into the process of home inspection and the implication for prospective sellers. Most if not all buyers will want to be informed of various aspects of a property they are making an offer on. A home inspection is an objective comprehensive visual examination of a property and its major mechanical systems which usually includes roofing and foundations. The inspection results in a detailed written report which is presented to the purchaser. Over the years of doing business many home inspection companies have compiled checklists of the common home inspection issues that would concern a potential purchaser. These items are always covered in the typical home inspection. Early detection of these issues along with some routine maintenance can minimize the number of items that a home inspector is likely to call out. To that end correction of any possible red flags will not only streamline the inspection process but also result in a buyer being less likely to walk away from the property or hand the seller an exhaustive list of items needing repair or replacement.
According to home inspection experts approximately half of the resale homes on the market today have at least one significant defect. So if you have been deferring some basic home maintenance, now might be the time to walk through your home and see what is needed. Let’s begin with the most critical systems in the home. Begin with the heating and cooling systems and ensure they are operating correctly. A good suggestion is to have a routine cleaning performed by a contractor prior to the buyers home inspection. A clean system conveys a history of regular maintenance and having a professional give it a “once over”can detect any safety issues well in advance of the home inspection. Electrical and plumbing systems should be checked next. Ensure that all outlets are properly grounded and circuit breakers are up to date. Check that there are no leaky pipes and all waste drains are quickly evacuating water. The exterior roofing material as well as both exterior and interior foundation walls should be looked at for evidence of any loose tile/shingles and cracking. If professionals are needed to make further assessment of these items they should be called in for a second opinion.
Now that the major components have been checked – don’t stop here! Routine maintenance is the best way to not only enhance appeal, but to provide real value at a minimum of time and expense. Below are some items that are often overlooked by potential sellers and can easily be addressed.
Re- apply new caulking and weatherstripping as needed around windows and doors.
Clean all gutters and downspouts of debris and leaves, repair or replace any that are cracked and ensure that downspouts extend far enough from the house to ensure proper drainage
Replace the caulk or grout in the bathroom and/or kitchen where necessary to prevent seepage and improve appearance.
Ensure that closed basements and crawl spaces are properly ventilated, or install a dehumidifier to prevent excessive moisture from accumulating.
Examine and regrade soil around the house to prevent accumulation of water next to the foundation
Trim any bushes, trees and shrubs which are in contract with or hang over the house. Neatly cut the grass and edge all sidewalks and driveways
Since safety issues are usually number one on a home inspectors checklist’s the following should also be addressed and while many of these are common sense, they are for your personal safety as well.
Install good quality smoke and carbon-monoxide detectors; change batteries every 6 months.
‘GFCI’ outlets should be installed outdoors and in wet locations such a bath & laundry areas.
Stairwells and doorways should be kept tidy and free of debris and obstructions.
Any combustibles should always be stored away from the furnace/water heater and dryer.
Sensors and down tension on garage door openers should be frequently checked, to ensure that the door reverses without an excessive amount of pressure.
Other good documentation to make available to potential buyers includes things such as:
Information on the age of major components such as the roof coverings, furnace, air-conditioner, along with receipts, service records and warranties.
Major component warranties (roofing, siding, windows, carpeting furnace and appliances)
Heating, water and electric bills from at least the past 12 months.
While no home is perfect, a reasonable and conscientious home inspector will attempt to discover if there are significant defects in a home that the homeowner is unaware and will frequently point out the positive attributes of a house. A good or better than average report can be a good marketing tool for sellers and their agents. Sellers will often differentiate their property from others by having a home inspection done prior to marketing their home adding another level of credibility to their property.
Coldwell Banker Encinitas Realtor Linda Moore has been assisting both sellers and buyers with the home inspection process since 1990. Her knowledge of how to prepare your home for inspection coupled with her ability to successfully guide you through each and every step of the home sale process in unmatched in the San Diego area!
August 30, 2010
Step 3 for Selling a Home – Setting a Price
In my continuing series of posts dealing with tips for selling a home we move on today to successful home pricing techniques. It is critical to have a market sensitive pricing strategy, but no matter what kind of property your are thinking about putting on the market certain base guidelines apply. Let’s first think about the very nature what constitutes any marketplace; the forces of supply and demand.
If you are living in an area where new jobs are being created, population is growing and the number of available homes is limited, the marketplace will shift in favor of the seller. Conversely, the very same forces can shift in favor of the buyer if the job base is eroding and more properties are on the market due to relocation of job seekers to areas where employment is on the rise. In areas where demand is high and supply is modest, prices will tend to rise across all property types.
When the reverse is true, median home prices can be negatively affected. In addition, certain lifestyle events or changes can impact the average market time of a property. For example, the death or divorce of the property owners can create a stronger incentive and urgency for the home to sell quickly, and pricing strategies will reflect this. The marketplace is often complex and doesn’t always follow logic. One unique way to graphically see cost versus value is to visit the properties identified by your agent in the market analysis directly competing with your home as though you were a buyer shopping in a given price range. As you view these homes think in terms of how you (as a buyer) would judge their value as compared to their list price.
Accurately pricing a home is part art, having a intuitive understanding of a particular homes personality and uniqueness coupled with a level forensic science employing careful data analysis, and strategic marketing of the the best features to a specific target audience. A seasoned real estate agent will be able to interpret the data and gain specific insight from their network of neighborhood insiders to provide interpretation of even the slightest changes in the market.
Sellers must also consider the fact that being the best priced, best conditioned home on day one of market time results in lower market time and a closer list to sale price ratio. What a seller “needs” to profit from the sale should be considered secondary. The strategy of stetting a initial price is not without the marriage of skillful negotiation and incentives. By creating monetary incentives in the marketing cycle that are aimed at both a prospective purchaser and even their agent you can differentiate your property from others.
The negotiation may continue at the time of a purchase contract where a buyer can request certain mortgage financing concessions or credits for items discovered by a home inspection. Taking these up front and down the road events and factoring them into a list price is necessary to weigh out when establishing a pricing strategy. Often times the bottom line impact may offset or even be less than the recurring carry cost of mortgage taxes insurance and utilities which can be significant.
So how can you be sure your pricing is spot on? Utilizing an agent who intelligently recommends a pricing strategy, keeps abreast of factors affecting the balance of the market and regularly updates a seller on the shifts or trends is the the greatest resource. Coldwell Banker Encinitas realtor Linda Moore is deeply rooted in the community. Her continuous years of pricing expertise and successfully facing market challenges provides the best platform for effective pricing and marketing of your home.
