Knowing what your home is worth in today's market and pricing it accordingly can make all the difference in your selling experience. Choose the team with expertise in pricing, preparation, and top of the line marketing to get your home sold. When it comes to selling your home, our goal at ISH is the same as yours: to get your home sold as quickly, profitably, and stress-free as possible.
Ready to sell? Contact Emily today for information on the selling process or for a complimentary home evaluation.
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Pricing it wrong: Pricing your home according to what it's really worth in today's market is critical to the selling process and can be the difference between a home that sells quickly and a home that lingers on the market. That's why you'll want a professional assessment of your home's value that takes into account similar homes for sale as well as recently sold homes in your area. Click here to find out what your home may be worth in today's market.
Ignoring necessary repairs before listing: Buyers don’t like seeing issues they know will require immediate attention - and money. Leaky faucets, rotting wood, broken window seals, soiled carpet and any obvious damage all send up red flags to buyers and should be repaired prior to listing your house. Additionally, minor improvements, or even a fresh coat of paint can make a huge difference.
Not staging your home to its best advantage: Buyers often can't visualize living in your home the way you do. To help make your home appeal to the broadest audience possible (which can help you sell for highest price possible in the shortest time possible) be sure to clean, declutter and impersonalize - in other words, start thinking of it as the house you're going sell rather than your home.
Foregoing professional photos: 95% of people start their home search online - and they want to see good, professional photos. Otherwise, they're likely to overlook your home entirely. Yes, hiring a professional photographer is an extra expense, but it's one that will pay for itself off in the long run.
Not hiring a real estate professional: Not only is there a multitude of paperwork and negotiations involved in selling your home, theres also the possibility of complicated legal issues you need to be aware of as well. As your listing team it's our job to take care of the details associated with selling your home so you can move on! There are simply too many factors to be aware of and too many shifting variables to keep track of. Market knowledge is one of the biggest reasons to hire a reputable Realtor that has experience in the local market. Southern Oklahomas market is very different than some of the major cities.
Contact us today to learn more about listing your home with ISH.
To sum it up in one word. ROLLERCOASTER!
Another popular question for Realtors is when should I put my home on the market. This is one of our favorite questions from home sellers. Why? I will answer honestly, while most agents will always say “right now.” It is still easy to spot an agent that gives advice based on what’s best for them.
Of course, you want to sell when you are likely to get the best possible results. But when is that? The answer is complicated. Generally speaking, the best time to sell is when you are ready. There are advantages to selling in every season, despite what some agents may try to tell you.
There is a lot of work to be done before you list your home. Everything must be done behind the scenes before allowing buyers to look at your home and start asking questions.
That way, when you finally open the doors, you are prepared to make a sale then and there.
Your ISH agent is the best-qualified person to help you identify what needs to be done before you sell. Keep in mind that every home is different, so the advice you get for your home might be different than the information another seller would get.
That being said, there are some things that almost every seller needs to do. These include:
No, you can’t. There are several trendy real estate websites out there now that offer pricing options for sellers. They draw on massive databases to give you an idea of your home’s current value. While they are undoubtedly useful for getting a general idea of your home’s value, they are not sufficient for pricing a home for sale.
Pricing a home to sell in a reasonable time frame and for the best possible price is both an art and a science that ISH agents have tons of experience in. It requires up-to-the-minute market knowledge of what is going on at a local level, and it requires a feel for how your home compares to other similar homes in your market. A website algorithm cannot substitute for a skilled real estate agent.
What real estate agents do and what home appraisers do are a bit different. The result for us, however, is getting to what a buyer will most likely pay for a property.
Both appraisers and real estate agents use comparable sales or “comps” to determine fair market value. Real Estate agents will perform what’s called a comparative market analysis.
More than likely, the report generated will include the following:
The most important data is what has sold. The least important is what is currently for sale. The price for these homes can change at a moment’s notice. You never want to hang your hat on what someone thinks their home is worth.
The analysis that your ISH listing agent performs will compare your house to other properties that have sold. The evaluation will include the following points of interest.
The list price is the price you list the home for sale. It is the reasonable goal you set for your sale, one you hope to get close to when you contract on the home. The sale price is the price that you actually sell the home for after negotiations. An ISH agent should be able to help you set a price that will be close to the sale price.
The best agents will suggest you list at X with a probable sale price of Y. One of the essential skills of a real estate agent is accurate pricing. Agents who are worth it will be on the money with the price.
This is another common real estate question. The answer is NO! Assessed value has nothing to do with market value. The assessed value is nothing more than a figure the local municipality uses to collect the appropriate amount of taxes.
See what’s the difference between market value and assessed value to better understand this topic.
One of the most popular questions a seller will ask a Realtor pertains to pricing and negotiating room.
While you may think that you are giving yourself room to negotiate, too high a price is more likely to drive off potential buyers.
The longer you have the home on the market due to a high price, the more stigma that home develops.
Instead of pricing high, price right. Work with your agent to find the perfect price. On some occasions this may even lead to multiple offers!
If you want to price a a bit higher than suggested, ISH will advise a price drop if there is no action within 3 weeks.
Agreements can vary from agent to agent and company to company.
At ISH we have options of 6,8, or 12 months. You will find that homes in price points that take longer to sell usually have more extended contract periods.
Most agents do not let you cancel a contract just because the home hasn’t sold. At ISH we offer options if you must remove your home from the market.
At ISH we like to use Open Houses to generate interest on your home and get the most exposure! Our marketing plan will include an Open House at the time the listing goes active in the MLS to help get your property seen by as many potential buyers as possible.
Here at ISH we have list and buy side agents so you will have one agent on each side of the transaction, if the transaction happens to stay in our office on both sides, to cut out any confusion!
ISH Listing Team has a broad range of services they offer. We have a marketing team of 4 virtual assistants as well as a marketing manager!
At ISH we offer a real estate marketing plan designed to sell a home quickly for the most money. Accept nothing less.
ISH has a Project Management Department to assist with finding and/or providing services such as:
One of the most crucial aspects of selling a home is the buyer’s first impression.
There are some simple things you can do to ensure the buyer feels good about your house. These include:
Here are some additional home-showing tips that are worth reading. We completely understand that you live in your home so we know it can’t be perfect every time and that’s okay!
It is advisable not to have the listing agent present during a showing. Buyers and their agents want to be able to speak freely during a showing. They don’t want sellers or the seller’s agent hovering around.
When it comes to selling your home, honesty is the best policy. There are several reasons for the honest approach. First, your state likely has real estate disclosure laws that require you to report any significant issues you know about with the home—especially if you are asked about those issues.
In states where disclosure is mandatory, you avoid the risk of a potential lawsuit by disclosing known issues. If you were not to reveal a problem to a buyer, that buyer could come back after the sale and sue you for failure to disclose.
You may not like how your garbage disposal works, but if it works, you don’t have to tell buyers about your feelings. You can go overboard with telling buyers about problems. If you have a question about an issue and disclosing that issue, ask your agent. Your Realtor can give you targeted advice to protect you and your sale.
The agent you hire should ask upfront how you prefer to keep in touch, whether through email, text, or an old fashion phone call.
The agent should be flexible enough to accommodate whatever mode of communication you prefer. At ISH we use text group chats, emails, and phone calls-whatever the seller prefers!.
The best scenario for any seller is to have multiple offers on their home. When you are in a strong seller’s market, having a bidding war is not that uncommon. It is crucial to speak with your agent about how to deal with various offer scenarios.
Sometimes the best offer isn’t the highest offer. The Listing Agent at ISH will provide you with a breakdown of each offer, what the buyers are requesting, and what the money will look like for you once its all said and done.
One of the things that can happen when you have multiple offers is your home sells for too much. The appraiser is unable to justify the price based on comparable sales data. Of course, there are times when an appraiser comes in low, and it just isn’t justified.
In cases like these, you’ll need to know how to contest the appraisal. There are usually a couple of scenarios the rectify a low appraisal, including the following:
You will need to be completely out of the home, clean, and yard mowed by the day of closing. If you need more time after closing be sure to express this to your agent so it can be worked into the contract. ISH agents want this to be a smooth, easy transition for you and will do what we can to make that happen!
One of the more vital tasks when selling a home will be finding one of the best moving companies. If you are moving out of state, you will definitely want a top-notch mover. You should ask the real estate agents you’re interviewing whether they can provide you references.
If you have expensive cars that need to be transported across the country, you should also ask the real estate agent if they know of any good car shipping companies.
As a home seller, it is vital to ask your real estate agent all of these types of questions. Homeowners who are educated about the selling process usually have the least amount of problems in a sale. Be sure to hire an agent who is going to go above and beyond your expectations. Here at ISH that is our goal!
Never underestimate the importance of asking a real estate agent lots of questions. Hopefully, these real estate questions provided have given you additional food for thought when selling your home.
Sellers need to be sure they hire an advocate with the education & Experience to get the strongest contract & highest return while ensuring the lowest possibility for mistakes.
