Getting Ready To Sell Your House: Here are seven things you are going to want to do to ensure you get top dollar and sell your house quickly.

1. Hire a great agent. Sure I say that I am a real estate agent. This is important though. If you hire the wrong agent, like a low flat fee agent, you may not be doing everything you need to sell your house quickly and for top dollar. A good agent is going to have a plan to get feet through the door. While people look at houses online, houses are sold when people walk through the door. Use this easy access to Self Storage in Melbourne for more information.

If you are still unsure if the agent matters, check out this short video I did on what happens when you hire hour ‘homie’ to sell your house and not an executive.

1. You need to price it right. I would rather underprice my house by 10% than overprice it by 10%. If I were selling my house there is a better chance I would underprice my house a little than overprice it at all. When I underprice my house I will cause a bidding war. When I overprice, I kill the feet through the door which is what I am looking for. Overpricing also causes the house to sit on the market much longer than you want. And ask yourself as a home buyer, when you see a house has been on the market for a few months what are you thinking? I bet it is something like, “I bet I can get a good deal on this one.” According to Homeads Barrie, the best strategy is to price your house where it should be. Pricing your house where it should be is going to help get it sold.
2. Take care of the cosmetic work. Last week I talked about if you should be doing paint and carpet when selling your house. Besides those, you need to do take care of all the cosmetic issues in your house. Worn-out carpets need a new carpet installation, just as lack-luster walls need a new painting. The more things that are wrong with the house, the more the buyer is going to question how well the house was taken care of. Take care of the small cosmetic issues to put the buyer’s mind at ease.
3. Take care of the 3-De’s. Declutter, depersonalize and de-pet. Start by getting everything out of the house you can. Make the house feel bigger by having less stuff in the house. Try storing them in wire shelving units in your garage, just be sure to use shoulder screws so you can hang them properly. Make sure you hire someone to help you with garage door repair if you need it, because issues with garage doors are very easy to verify. If people identify easily detectable problems, they’ll wonder what else there might be wrong that they couldn’t find.
4. Get a short-term storage unit from a self storage facility if you must. There are some self storage places around that will even give you the first month at a discount rate. We have also used self-storage when space gets tight in the house and we used this great self-storage service in Camden recently which was amazing so look into facilities like that if you need some more space. You want to depersonalize by placing in self storage anything that is personal and identifies the house as ‘your house’ such as family photos. When a buyer comes through the door we want them to be able to see themselves in the house, and when the pictures of your family are all over the walls and bookcases, they have a hard time doing that. The last de is de-pet. We know, you love Fido and Whiskers and they are part of your family. But the Jones may not have the same attachment to furry pets. Get all the animal toys out when you declutter and make sure the pets are not there during showings.
5. Next, you are going to want to deep clean the house. Clean the house like you are in military boot camp. If you have not been in the military, the Drill Sergeant is going to come through your area and pick it over with a fine tooth comb. Make sure your house will pass the inspection. If you need to, hire a professional cleaning crew from steam cleaning in Melbourne to come in and let them spend a few hours cleaning the place for you.
6. Have your friends do a smell test. Invite your family and friends over o do a smell test. You are used to how your house smells. Invite them over and have them be the judge. Make sure you tell them to be honest. After the cleaning, adding an amazon reed diffuser and fresh paint, hopefully the house smells fantastic. If not, identify where the odor may be coming from and fix it.
7. Hire a stager. The final thing you will want to consider is either hiring a stager to stage the house or bring in a stager to do a consultation. Many stagers will come over with tape and spend an hour with you walking around and marking things with tape. They will tell you what to move, what to get rid of and what to add. Take their advice. A good stager is easily worth their fee.

There you go. When you are getting ready to sell your house, follow these seven things as a good place to start and get your cash for houses.

Should I put in new rug and paint before I sell my house?

When selling the house should you do interior painting and put down new carpet? Today we are going to tackle this question, which tends to be one of the more common ones. To begin, there are two myths I want to address. The first myth comes from some agents who will say no, let the new home buyer pick out what they want and let them make it their home. Just price the house 3500 cheaper which is what it will cost. Get in contact with dallas flooring to choose your favorite design.

That there is a myth. And a bad one at that. I have probably shown over 3,000 houses in the last decade. Sure it seems half of those were with the one couple who saw every house in the east valley before they finally picked one, but let’s please not remind me of them.

Showing so many houses I have seen the reaction of home buyers when they walk into houses. Besides the curb appeal, carpet and paint are often the first two things that people notice in a house. If the carpet is worn and the paint is aged, the first impression for the home buyer is, what else is wrong and what am I going to have to do for work. Before you show the house, make sure to hire professional house painters from Tony Painting to improve the look of the home.

According to CleaningPRO Wellington, if the first impression is fresh paint and nice carpet, the home screams I am nice, make me your home. Having a clean and tidy home with a fresh clean smell of paint and carpet says the Seller cares and made their home ready to sell, sometimes you do not necessarily have to put a new carpet, many times just hiring proficient services like Eco Clean Solutions is enough to bring them back to good as new.

Most buyers cannot see past the work that needs to be done. Even those who think they want to do work, when the option is between a house that they ‘can’ do work to vs. a house where they ‘need’ to do work, they are always willing to pay more for the move in ready house.

The other thing buyers will see is the money. Let’s say you have a 2,000 square foot home where about half of the laminate flooring, carpet and the whole thing need work you can go to Home Depot and buy very basic padding and neutral carpet plus have the inside of your home professionally painted and it may cost you about $3500. A good rule of thumb is a buyer is going to double that price. They see the money they need to spend, automatically assume it will be more than it could be and factor in the time and hassle, and that $3500 likely becomes 6-7-8,000 in their mind.

First impressions are everything. I had a client who was relocating from Michigan and they were coming in for a weekend to look at houses. They said they were fine with houses that needed work. I pulled up a list of about 20-25 houses that we were going to see in the two days they were here looking.

Day one we looked at something like a dozen houses. They were very critical of many of the houses. they had given me a narrow price range and I had pulled up a bunch of houses in that range. I actually pulled in more houses that needed work than not. The reason is when you are buying a house that needs work, in theory, you should be getting more house for your dollar.

After an exhausting day, I realized what they thought they wanted and what they actually wanted was two things. The next day I put together a list of houses that were move-in ready. They were much happier with the houses that we saw. I realized by listening to their feedback that what they thought they wanted and what they really wanted were two different things. Most people want move-in ready houses.

The second myth is from the skeptical people who say the agent just wants to get more money because they make more money if it sells. So, of course, they want you to do upgrades.

First when you look at the numbers that are just silly. But, let’s say for a minute that is 100% true. Let’s go worst case scenario and you have a bad agent who wants to sell the house for 10,000 more than if you didn’t do paint and carpet. So just to pick a round number they will make $300 more than if you didn’t do it. Now you spend $3500 on the upgrades so your agent can make an extra $300. Now, you sell the house for $10,000 more than if you didn’t do the upgrades. So no the questions are, is the $6,000 more you put in your pocket worth it? These, of course, are estimated numbers and you cannot guarantee you will get a certain amount more by doing paint and recarpeting or even carpet cleaning as stated in this important source. But I can assure you it will make a difference.

So then the question is what about nicer floors. Should you spend more money and put in nice tile or wood? I would say it depends on the house and the neighborhood and price point you can look at a few options at the RD Tiling Decor website. But for the vast majority of houses, new paint and the inexpensive carpet is going to go a long way and give you a nice return. If you really want to go all out, you can go for Flake Epoxy Flooring.

So when someone asks “Should I put in new carpet and paint” the answer for most is yes, and you should even consider additional upgrades, like getting powder coating from National Powder Coating Services for a greener solution.

As I’m writing this post the wind is blowing crazy (again), dust is flying everywhere and maybe, just maybe we’ll get some rain.  It’s been a pretty busy monsoon season in AZ this year!  I noticed several downed trees last week while headed to an inspection in one of my favorite Chandler communities, Valencia. In my experience, this means some people might have had trees damage their roof, and will find themselves in need of roof repair in a hurry.

According to roofers near me, another thing to check is if there has been some damage to the property, the roof is often the most affected part. While others will scramble to get on their roof for DIY repair to save money, it is not safe. Getting the help of roofing contractors for residential roofing services is still the best route. According to Commercial roof repairs calgary, visible signs include dark or wet spots on the wall or ceiling, drywall that’s flaking or cracking, and wet spots around pipes, toilets, sinks, and taps. Hiring roofing contractors will not only ensure your safety but also professional work on your roof. Visit raintechoklahoma.com/roofing/services/repair/ or other sites’ to get a quote.

For the damages inside your home, let a water damage restoration company help you clean your home and do the necessary repairs. Houses with water damage must be tended to as soon as possible in order to avoid mold and other complications that can further damage the property if left alone. Sometimes you’ll find mold even if you try to avoid it. In these cases, call mold removal services and have them resolve this issue for good, before you have to worry about any health issues. Make sure that you hire a top rated restoration and construction company when choosing one.

Valley Disaster and Restoration prepares you for a remodel in the best way after calamity.

I was visiting my Dentist last week…(shout out to Dr. Cory Rauch and his amazing staff at Rauch Family Dentistry)…anyway, we were chatting about the storm and he mentioned a patient of his who lost a large tree in the backyard.  It happens, right?

The thing that got my attention was that this patient’s house was under contract.  So what happens when you’re selling your Phoenix area home and there is damage to your property while it’s under contract that requires the help of a professional plumber? You can visit some helpful sites if you need an expert plumber. You can also contact the best local plumbers melbourne to help you repairing the damage at home.

You may also notice a musty or moldy smell or even a sewage smell coming from plumbing fixtures, we are a local service. We are the best water damage restoration company in the northern Virginia and Washington DC area.

There are 3 sections of the purchase contract that this scenario falls under:

Disclosure:  The first section is on pg. 4 under Disclosure.

“The seller shall IMMEDIATELY notify Buyer of any changes to in the premises…”

Pretty self explanatory, right?  You have to let the Buyer know.  This may require that you make repairs by hiring a contractor from the Water Mold Fire Restoration online website, or it may allow the Buyer the opportunity to cancel the contract.

Seller Warranties:  The next section is the Seller Warranties paragraph also on pg 4.

“Seller warrants and shall maintain and repair the Premises so that…the premises…will be in substantially the same condition as on the date of the contract acceptance.”

Did you catch that?  SUBSTANTIALLY the same condition.  What if a HUGE tree dies?  What if wind takes out the roof and I need roof repair?  What if?  What if?  The seller is on the hook for making it SUBSTANTIALLY the same.  That doesn’t mean that the seller gets to replace the huge shade tree with a new 10-gallon tree.  Or just remove it altogether.  SUBSTANTIALLY the same.  

Risk of Loss:  The final section on pg. 9 gives the seller a little reprieve…maybe.

“If there is any loss or damage to the premises between the date of Contract acceptance and COE (close of escrow) or possession, whichever is earlier, by reason of fire, vandalism, flood, earthquake or act of God, the risk of loss shall be on the Seller, provided, however, that if the cost of repairing such loss or damage would exceed 10% of the purchase price, either Seller or Buyer may elect to cancel the Contract.”

Again we see that the seller is on the hook for any repairs UNLESS the damages exceed 10% of the sales price.  If that’s the case EITHER party may elect to cancel the contract. With storms and natural disasters damages can get a bit unpredictable. A tree could fall, damaging your deck, the deck railing, or other parts of your home like the roof. However it is important to give the correct maintenance to your home prior the storms season, try hiring gutter repair manly and checking the roof for leaks. There are simple fixes like spray polyurethane foam that can help you if the leaks are not too severe. Instead of ignoring them and potentially causing more damage to your home, you can prevent this issue altogether rather easily.

Some of these sections are fairly overlooked in the contract (surprisingly by many agents, too).  Just make sure you know how the contract applies to you and what your obligations are if a haboob or some other issue strikes!

If you’re thinking of selling your Phoenix area home, we’d love the opportunity to earn your business.  For a comparative market analysis feel free to call/text 480.420.4441 or email me at shar@phoenixrealestateguy.com.