Category Archives: Home Seller Advice

Divorcing & Selling

13 Monday Jun 2011

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I read this great post today from Karen Bernetti, Advice for Couples Selling a Home Because of Divorce. Below is a small portion of her post, but I encourage you to read the whole thing. This is, unfortunately, one of the main reasons for selling and it’s very tough for the real estate agents as well as the sellers going through a tough thing such as divorce.

    • Sellers: If you have to sell your home because of a divorce, take Scott’s advice and try to keep those emotions in check. I KNOW, I KNOW – that’s easier said than done – but there’s so much at stake! You could easily end up making a very costly mistake that you’ll regret later on.

    • Do whatever you have to do to put that hurt, resentment, hate, fear or whatever else you’re feeling aside. Get counseling, join a support group, spend time with family/friends who are positive and supportive, read inspiring literature, exercise, pray, meditate. Do what works best for you.

    • Don’t underestimate the healing power of TIME. Give yourself TIME to process the many emotions you’re experiencing right now. If possible, take time to grief the loss of your marriage BEFORE you take on the sale of your house. Remember, it’s a process that can’t be rushed.

    • Most importantly, hire a competent and reputable Realtor to represent you. Be honest about what you’re going through and make sure that person has experience with your type of situation.

    • Remember the job of an agent representing a couple who’s hostile to one another or not communicating well is extremely difficult! Your agent wants to help you – let him or her do the job and don’t make it harder than it needs to be.

Sell It Now?!?

02 Monday May 2011

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Sometimes real estate agents have to question if the client is really motivated.

You tell me, if you’re motivated to sell your home, how many times are you going to allow it to be shown??

Allow 1, cancel 5?

No, no, no!!

Making your home accessible is one of the most important factors in helping your agent sell your home. (And…even better if it can be accessible on short notice.) It can even be more important than being perfectly clean!!

Look at it like this. Most buyers only go out 2 or 3 times with their agent to look at homes. Often, because of the internet, they can find the house in the first day. If you don’t allow your home to be shown THAT DAY, you can probably kiss that buyer goodbye.

And why would it be so important to be able to walk out the door at a moment’s notice?? Well, there’s times when we’re out showing buyers and it’s possible they either missed your property in their search or didn’t like the picture on the web and then suddenly, they’re driving by. “Hey, what about that one? Can we see it too?” Grab your stuff and get out the door—-the curb appeal that you’ve worked so hard on caught the fish. Do everything you can to help their agent reel them in!! A cute little “Left in a hurry, please pardon our mess” note on the door is perfectly acceptable in this situation.

Are you motivated??

Should I Accept This Offer?

15 Tuesday Mar 2011

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March 15, 2011 — Realty Times Feature Article by Carla Hill

Today’s market can be a difficult one for many sellers to navigate. And while your real estate agent can advise you, the ultimate decision of what offer to accept is entirely up to you.

This decision can come with quite a bit of pressure. Even in the most favorable of markets this can be a difficult time. How do you know when to accept an offer?

Here are some questions to consider.

1. Is the buyer pre-qualified/approved? Selling will require an investment of time and money. You may need to find a new home or a temporary rental. There’s nothing worse than buying a new house, only to find out the deal to sell yours has fallen through.

2. Do you need to move? The urgency of your move may dictate what offer you accept. Many sellers need to move quickly for a new job. Or they may need to sell to avoid foreclosure. If you are in a rush, you may need to accept an offer that is less than ideal.

3. How much do you owe? You don’t want to sell your home at a loss. And be sure to take closing costs into consideration. Many markets experienced high levels of depreciation over the last year. If you are underwater on your loan, now may not be the time to sell.

4. What is the market climate? Are you likely to get another offer? How long has your home been on the market? Have you had many showings? All of these are factors to consider when contemplating what offer to accept.

Above all, ask yourself if this offer was a reasonable offer. There are buyers that may attempt to low ball you. They may see that your home has been on the market longer than your competition. They may know that it’s a strong buyers market. And in response they offer a much smaller amount for your home than it is worth. You are not obligated to accept or even respond to these low ball offers. But if you are in need of selling now, every offer warrants consideration or a counter offer.

In the end, you must accept an offer that works for you. You may be willing to accept a lower amount in exchange for a faster closing date. Or you may wish to hold out for the highest dollar amount.

Curious About Color?

06 Sunday Mar 2011

Posted by in Decor, Home Maintenance, Home Seller Advice

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The latest trend in interior color is gray. The colors have gone from white and brass, to beige and brass, to beige and brushed nickel, then taupe and oil rubbed bronze (still popular), to gray and brushed nickel.

Another popular combo for the master or children’s rooms is a Tiffany blue with cream colored woodwork. Think of a Tiffany’s box.

The colors, for the most part, have gone much darker than we’ve seen in years past. It used to be all about light, bright colors and rooms and now the colors (on everything) all have a richer tone giving the home a more opulent look overall.

Cabinets are dark, rich mahogany; counter tops are darker. With most walls going to gray, you’ll see various pops of color throughout since gray goes with as many things as beige does.

I’m personally a fan of both styles. The new, almost cold, grays, blacks and silvers and the less recent taupe, mahogany and bronze.

If you’re looking to update your home to put it on the market, or just because you’re tired of the current style, feel free to walk through a few open houses and to browse through the hundreds of pictures of homes that are listed. To get the best idea, check out the higher price range homes or the brand new model homes. Most builders have a good handle on the latest trends.

Happy Updating!!

Reblog: Pet Peeves of a Home Stager

14 Monday Feb 2011

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“Pet Peeves of a Home Stager” 

(or: Things that Make Me Go “Aaarghhh!”) 

by: Cynthia Black, HomeStaging by Cynthia, Inc. in KCMO

www.HomeStagingByC.com  

“Over 4,000 Homes Staged…since 1999!”

 I’ll admit that I’ve never owned a Peeve so I don’t know what they’re like as Pets, but I DO know what drives me nuts as a Home Stager:

Painted-over Wallpaper 

I realize that some of the stager-types do this on HGTV, but it’s EVIL! Eventually, the paint pulls the paper away from the wall, revealing a seam, which is a huge red flag for wise buyers. Meanwhile, someone is cursing the person who painted over the wallpaper (whose life is now in the toilet and doesn’t know why). To avoid bad karma you’ll never hear me say that it’s okay to paint over wallpaper. Meanwhile, is it too much to ask builders to size before hanging wallpaper? Continue reading →

Buy Owner.com Sells for $1M

10 Thursday Feb 2011

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MIAMI — The real estate website BuyOwner.com has sold for $1 million.

The Daily Business Review reported Tuesday that Utah entrepreneur Jonathan Holbrook bought the site. It was once billed as the nation’s largest for-sale-by-owner operation.

Holbrook told the paper he intends to close the sale Wednesday. The proceeds will be split among the company’s creditors.

The Florida company’s revenue has declined sharply since 2008, from more than $28 million to less than $250,000 last July.

Since July, the company has generated about $588,000 in revenue but after expenses netted only $56,000.

Holbrook said he will hire additional employees, including sales and customer service agents for the Deerfield Beach, Fla., headquarters and the Chicago office.

Why did they lose so much revenue? There’s probably quite a few reasons for this. One of the main reasons, I believe, is that as transactions have gotten more difficult and home prices have dropped further than most sellers want to acknowledge, the general public has been forced to turn to the experts to help guide them through the process of selling their home. Also, with most markets still having a high number of foreclosure listings, banks don’t usually sell FSBO, they list the home with a REALTOR.

Is it REALLY a Short Sale?

28 Friday Jan 2011

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Even though they’ve been around forever, short sales are at the forefront of the real estate market along with foreclosures. I’ve found there’s a general misunderstanding about short sales that I’d like to correct.

As listing agents, we have to disclose to selling agents every type of potential hindrance to a closing, especially a short sale. That being said…it’s important to understand there’s essentially two different types of short sales.

The first one, and least common, is a sale on a listing where the seller owes more than the home is worth, but has the ability to bring money to closing to make up the difference. You may wonder why we would need to disclose this type of short sale since there’s no bank involved. Well, let’s say, the seller has the ability to bring funds to closing, but suddenly falls on hard times and blows through his/her emergency funds. The seller can no longer afford to sell the home that way and the buyer would’ve been blindsided by the change or cancellation. What this sale would then hopefully switch to is the second type.

The second type of short sale is the most common one. Since home prices have depreciated in most areas, homeowners owe much more than their home is worth and sometimes have fallen on hard times and have to move. At this point, a real estate agent can swoop in to help the homeowner by facilitating a conversation with the bank/lender, to see if they’re willing to accept a short sale. Once the agent has the go-ahead from the bank, the property can be marketed and sold at a reduced and more marketable price without the seller having to come up with extra cash to close.

You may be thinking, ‘but if I don’t have to pay a real estate agent, I can sell my home for what I need to get out of it.’ Well, but if you’re at a point of hardship, timing can be everything for you. It’s been proven over and again that listing your home with a real estate agent at a recommended price, will snag you a buyer in a much shorter amount of time. And, by now, most all agents have knowledge of how to work a short sale and should be able to knowledgeably direct you through the sale.

One thing’s for sure, short sales are a much better option for the seller’s credit than foreclosure. Sure, they take patience, but doesn’t everything that worth doing?

Happy Friday! Sunny and 46 degrees in our fair city today—-whooohooo!

What to do, Right Now

03 Monday Jan 2011

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We’ve talked quite a bit about putting your home on the market after the holidays or in the spring. Are you ready?

The new year is upon us and it’s time to get yourself geared towards a successful sale. Is there anything you can be doing right now to get ready?

Well, sure!

If you have a friend in the real estate business, or a real estate agent you know and trust that you’re going to be using to market your home; now is a good time to have them over for some coffee or dinner.

Call them up and tell them about your plans. Let them know your timeline and give them some time to do a little research on your neighborhood. When you have them over, ask their advice on the improvements they think you need to make in order to make your home sell faster. Is it just new paint or does your home need a complete overhaul?

This will give you and them a chance to really know what your goals are. It could be that you don’t have the time, money or desire to make any improvements—-there’s a market for as-is homes as well. Don’t be afraid to have this discussion. It could be that a few simple improvements could net you quite a bit more—-or it could be that the improvements you need to make will cost way more than you had planned.

Either way, having this information early is the best plan.

Call a REALTOR today!!

Property Appraisals Today

11 Thursday Nov 2010

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….WARNING…things aren’t the same as they used to be!

Bet you knew that, right?

Let me tell you, earlier this year this post would’ve been completely different than it is today. During the economic/real estate nightmare of the last two years, appraisals have been a ‘last minute’ issue when selling a home.

You may think, why?? Trust me, I’m of the school of thought that a home is only ‘worth’ what a buyer is willing to pay. But after this financial crisis, the lenders are understandably scared of lending money on homes that aren’t worth their price. They’ve lost a ton of money on foreclosures and new rules have been put on appraisals to keep this mess from happening again. The new HVCC (Home Value Code of Conduct) for Fannie & Freddie loans turned the real estate world upside down for a while.

But, thankfully, I can now report that informed consumers are now more reasonable about the value of their home. Real estate agents have been through enough transactions in this economy to be have more confidence in their pricing opinion.

Earlier in the year, I would’ve guessed about >50% of the homes that were selling were having appraisal issues right before close. When there’s an appraisal issue, the seller either has to come down on price or the buyer has to come to the table with the difference between the contract price and the appraisal price. If the parties can’t agree, the contract fails. You can see how this would not only be a nightmare for the agents to negotiate, but also extremely stressful for the buyers and sellers.

I can actually say that it’s been several months since I’ve seen an appraisal issue come through on a pending sale. Thank goodness!!

One thing is for sure, though. You need an experienced company on your side when you’re ready to buy or sell your home. We’re still stumbling through an economic crisis; and you’ll need a strong and confident helping hand.

You know where to find me!

Until next time—I hope you’re enjoying this beautiful fall weather as much as I am!

That’s What Your Contract Says

25 Sunday Jul 2010

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The current housing market has created an interesting problem. Sellers are feeling like they’re “giving” their house away, and buyers feel like they’re doing the sellers a favor by taking it off their hands.

Problem is, both parties are a bit disgruntled with each other. Sometimes, when a seller is moving out, they may accidentally damage something. Let’s say, they put a little hole in the wall or spill something on the carpet. Usually, by the time something like this happens the buyer has already done a final walk-through on the property and everything looked fine. So, the sellers move out, leave the damage; then the buyers move in and find it. Who’s the first person they call and scream at?? Their agent.

It’s not your real estate agent’s fault this has happened. It’s the seller’s fault for not bringing it to anyone’s attention and/or repairing it. You see, the contract says that the seller will deliver the home to the buyer in the same condition it was whenever the contract was written. If the home was damaged by a tornado or fire, the buyer would either have the right to cancel or the right to the insurance money for the repairs.

Now, I’ve been preaching this to the agents in our office since we’ve had many issues with this lately. Every seller out there needs to read and understand that paragraph in our contracts. Ultimately, the agent cannot really do anything after the sale has closed. We can offer to put the two parties in contact with each other, or even act as a mediator for a face-to-face meeting with the sellers and the buyers. But, we are not the ‘judge and jury’ enforcers of the contract. If there’s a serious problem with the property after closing, your only option may be small claims court.

Either way, please know that your agent isn’t leaving you high and dry in this situation, it’s that we can only legally offer so much.

Disclaimer: We sell real estate in Missouri and Kansas. Laws and contracts will vary from state to state.