Sell Your House Quickly

We are having our first open house on sunday and need some really good ideas that will sell our house fast. Weve already drop it 20,000 any ideas appreciated
Clear out any “clutter”. You want it to look almost like a hotel suite would. People coming in need to be able to easily visualize their own “stuff” in there, and that’s hard with a lot of someone else’s “stuff”obstructing the view. Very few, if any personal pictures. No knick knacks. Take all pictures and magnets off your fridge. You want to arrange the furniture to make the rooms look as spacious as possible. There are a couple of shows on TV that talk about the kinds of things to do. One is called “Design to Sell” and the other is called “Sell This House.” They’re pretty good to watch. Sometimes they go a little overboard–tearing down walls and stuff–but they’re good to get ideas from. Here’s the web address to the show “Sell This House”. http://www.aetv.com/sell_this_house/index.jsp

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Sister moved out – house is in my name – she said she’d be there for at least two years……… I can’t get a roommate cause I have a 1&1/2 year old, and I don’t trust ANY stranger around my son. I don’t have any other family in this city, so it’s just me and my son. I need to SELL the house…any suggestions? It’s been listed for a month, and I’ve had one bite. My other bills are falling behind already.
Stage your house properly to make it as attractive and roomy appearing as possible, have your realtor hold open houses and advertise regularly, ask for a ‘broker open’ for other realtors in the same firm, and always consider lowering your selling price to match what other sales in the area are bringing for sales values. GOOD LUCK !

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Want to avoid going through a realtor, lots of pretty land in country (though not so pretty in winter) – house is small – also, how can small cracks in the walls be covered?

1) Paint the walls
2) Keep it clean, clean, clean

Most home buyers begin their search on the Internet, and if your home does not appeal to them, they will quickly click past it. On important consideration is the colors of your walls and floors — if potential buyers cannot envision their furniture in your home they will not be interested. . Kay Barchetti of Coldwell Banker Real Estate explains the importance of choosing the neutral paint and flooring colors to increase the resale value of your home and to ensure that your home sells quickly. Featured Guest: Kay Barchetti, Coldwell Banker, Mobile: 412-691-5086, Business:412-366-1600 344, web: http://kaybarchetti.com Filmed at Molyneaux Tile Carpet Wood in Pittsburgh, PA. http://www.beautifulfloors.com Email your questions about flooring to vblog@beautifulfloors.com and we will publish them and our answers in video.

Duration : 0:4:2

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The indication of a novice home seller is one of those poorly constructed red and white signs you can pick up at any hardware store. These signs do a very poor job at communicating your message. Sure they “home for sale” but you need to go beyond if you want to sell your house quickly. This short video explains what you need to do and exactly how to do it step by step to get the greatest results.

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I think my husband and I are going to be listing our house for sale. It is a typical 3 bed/2 bath rambler on the end of a cul-de-sac. It has nice upgrades, and is a very comfortable home, but there are lots of other similar homes for sale in our area. What can we do to make our house stand out?
You used the phrase “listing our house” so I assume that means you’re using a REALTOR, that is the first thing I’d recommend. Interview several (I’d recommend 3, but interview until you find someone you’re comfortable with) ask them how they are going to market your home and what they would recommend you do to help you sell your home quickly. You sell your home by having people who are interested in purchasing a home look at it. Quantity is what ultimately sells your house. How do you get more people to look at your house, here’s some suggestions. 1. Use a REALTOR, the majority of your highly motivated buyers will be using one and they’ll start out looking only at listed houses. 2. Work on the “Curb Appeal”. In general you want to look at your home from the eyes of a buyer, especially from the street. People will drive by your house and decide to see or not see it based on what they see. Clean it up. Paint your trim and front door if it needs it. Get your lawn looking as nice as possibly (at least free of debris). Trim those overgrown bushes and trees. Consider putting a couple of potted flowers on your stoop. 3. Make your home Sparkle on the inside. Make sure it’s clean ALWAYS, you don’t know when your buyer is going to want to show up. De-clutter… clear your counter tops as much as possible. If you have a ton of furniture consider renting a storage unit for some of it. The less clutter and furniture your home has the bigger it feels. If it needs it and you have the funds repaint rooms and replace the carpet and or laminate flooring. It doesn’t have to be really high quality, it just needs to look good. Again look at your home through the eyes of the buyer. 4. Make it as easy as possible for REALTORS to show your home. Don’t deny access to anyone that’s working with a REALTOR (you can make exceptions if it’s exceptionally inconvenient, but chances are if it’s a strange time to be looking there’s a reason they can’t look at normal times and others will be denying them… why not capture this opportunity of reduced competition?). In our market, if a seller denies me access, not a big deal there’s a dozen others to look at and chances are if it’s a motivated buyer the seller that denied access won’t get another chance. 5. Leave when your home is being shown. Buyers aren’t comfortable if they feel like they’re invading someone else’s space. Along those lines remove the majority of your personal photographs and such. 6. Look at pricing and consider pricing more aggressively than your competition. Also look at what your competition is offering to buyer’s agents (selling agent’s commission), if you offer a bonus or a half a percentage point more in commission to the buyer’s agent, REALTORs have an added incentive to push your home. If their client is waffling between 2 homes that equally suite their needs, they’ll probably push the one that pays more. There are a million little things that can be done. I’m sure any REALTOR you interview will be able to give you some other ideas. Best of luck to you in your upcoming home sale, hope this helps. ———————————————- In response to CiCi’s comment about agents bonus’ not working. In my area, there are agents comments and public comments. A bonus would be put in the agents comments and therefore unknown to the buyer. The majority of buyer’s are in a Buyer Broker relationship with their agent and probably trust their agent, so the idea that they will think their REALTOR is pushing a house just for the money probably is not likely. It is unethical to push a client towards a home that isn’t good for the client for any reason, and the majority of REALTORS don’t think a small bonus is worth the possiblity of losing their license. It DOES give REALTORS added incentive to at least have their clients seriously look at and consider your home though and if there are a lot of other homes, ever little bit helps.

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By Selena Maranjian

If you’re looking for impassioned differences of opinion in the field of real estate, look no further than selling a home by yourself, which is typically referred to as FSBO (for sale by owner). I’ve written before about the advantages of going FSBO and about the advantages of using a real estate agent. And I’ve received numerous emails from readers sharing additional thoughts. Permit me to share a few of them with you:

One reader disclosed that he’s a Realtor before listing some familiar benefits of using a Realtor. For example, a good one will have expertise to share on the local home market and will handle most of the details, such as arranging for viewings, marketing, dealing with other involved parties, etc. He then added a point I hadn’t thought of: Real estate agents can ensure that you fill out all the required disclosure paperwork correctly and objectively. Why is this such a big deal?

Well, if you fail to disclose some things, a lawsuit can come back to bite you. If your FSBO cost-benefit analysis has you saving $7,500 by going FSBO, consider that you might end up paying much more in legal fees later on. (I don’t mean to scare anyone too much. Lawsuits aren’t the norm, but you should take their possibility into account.) The reader concluded: “Many people who think they have the knowledge in handling details related to a real estate transaction, often regret to find out that there is much more to it than first imagined.”

Your time and place
Another reader offered a simple way to frame your decision:

I think two major items that also come into play are: (1) How much time do you have? (2) Where do you live? … FSBO might be the way to go if you have lots of time to do all the research, running around, filling out paperwork, et al; but if you are still working and/or packing to move and/or looking for a new home while trying to sell your home, time pressures become paramount. I think you have to look at all the stuff you have going on.

That’s a good point. You shouldn’t underestimate the work involved in selling on your own. His second point is also apt. Some states have more paperwork than others (his example of a lots-of-paperwork state was California). And some states are simply more conducive to FSBO transactions, due to their being more prevalent and accepted. Some states have well-stocked websites with FSBO listings and high traffic, while others do not.

Other considerations
Another factor is what kind of real estate market you’re dealing with. If it’s a seller’s market, with buyers snapping up homes quickly, you might do well via FSBO. If it’s a buyer’s market, the professional expertise of an agent could be helpful.

In a San Francisco Gate article, Carol Lloyd offers another thing to mull over: your emotional readiness to FSBO. Know that it will involve negotiating and having a thick skin. (You’re likely to hear negative comments from prospective buyers about your property and even your decorating style.)

The bottom line
The truth is that you stand a chance of dealing with a nightmare no matter what route you take. Consider the pros and cons of the FSBO process, weighing whether it will serve you very well or create headaches you hadn’t anticipated.

You can learn more about homebuying in the Fool’s Home Center — we’ve even got some good deals on mortgage rates and information on refinancing. In addition, drop by our Buying or Selling a Home discussion board to see what other Fools have on their minds.

Longtime Fool contributor Selena Maranjian appreciates your feedback. Try any one of our investing services free for 30 days. The Motley Fool is Fools writing for Fools.

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We need to sell our house quickly due to relocation. I’ve contacted a couple of those websites that offer to buy your house no matter the condition for cash. My house is in great condition and we know we’re going to take a hit financially whether we try to sell it the ‘old fashioned’ way or otherwise (we’ve only had it a year and homes don’t appreciate well here, even with a good market). My questions are these: What are the pros/cons of selling for cash? How do I pay off my mortgage if I get ‘cash’? Will it affect my credit? Will I take a hit from the IRS? We really need to be out of here in about 5 weeks. Our house has been on the market now for about 2 months with little to no response – Texans and their irrational belief that any house with an upstairs master is not worth their time… Please, any useful advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks to those who have reponded so far. First, yeah I know it won’t be a big bag of cash with a dollar on it or anything, haha! Also, it’s listed slightly below market value at this time and if we go any lower we will be selling it for less than we bought a year ago. Renting – we’ve got it listed in a couple of places, no interest in that either right now and it makes me nervous to rent when we’ll be out of state. Thanks for such great answers. I should totally take back what I said about Texas and their beliefs. I know prideful people in TX can be and honestly, I do understand the downstairs master thing, we just prefer to have all beds up and knew it would make for a difficult sell later on. We just didn’t count on having to make it sell after just a year. I’m in Houston, by the way.
When you sell for cash, you’re getting money from someone who’s not taking a mortgage. It doesn’t make any difference, you’re still getting money. You’re not actually going to get a bag of cash, you’ll still get a check. You’re just not getting it from a mortgage company. So it doesn’t make any difference at all. At your closing you’ll give the “cash” to your mortgage holder and sign lots and lots of papers. Just as if you got the money from a buyer who was getting a mortgage. If you’re not getting any interest in your house there’s a reason: it’s listed too high! Period. People think they can get what they think a house should be worth and are frequently disappointed. If you want to sell it, list it a the fair market value or a little less. If you’re not getting any lookers and it’s a good house then you’re asking too much. Good luck!

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We want to find a legitimate way to sell our house without having to wait very long.
I am closing on my home on 2 weeks. I was house shopping for 4+ months and I saw a ton of homes in the process. I did a ton of internet searching and in person showings and I learned a lot in the process… what made me want one house over another. Even though they take a percentage, get an agent who can list your property on the MLS system. Since you’ve bought a home before, I would assume that you know what the MLS is. In todays internet, it can seem that an agent is not always needed, but the MLS still does a better job at getting your home advertised to the broadest market quickly. Since your focus was on FAST and not cheap, an agent is the way to go. However, if price is a factor, then be prepared to do all the marketing on your home. With our without an agent, price your home to sell and make it stand out and as “move in ready” as possible. No buyer likes to move into a house that needs a ton of work on day one. So, I’d start with cleaning out the clutter and staging your house like you see on those TV shows. Rent a storage shed and make your house, yard, garage, closets look roomy and clean. Do any repairs/maintainence on the home and if possible, go the extra mile… put in new light fixtures, new appliances, flooring – whatever you can to make your home better than the competition. Then, photograph your home. The more photos the better. Good photos will get people to want to come see it. Put in a great, complete description. Even if you use an agent, be sure to post your home on the local classifieds, local TV station classified pages and Craigslist. A good price and good pictures will get the phone ringing. I don’t think you need to do the whole, “baking cookies” thing, but having a clean home that smells nice and is de-junked and fixed up will get a buyer’s attention. Obviously as a buyer, location plays a HUGE factor. While your house might be great, if the location is bad – you’ll have to take that into consideration when pricing. With the tax incentives, the low interest rates, if you put your home on the market and you don’t have any interest in 2 weeks to a month, then something is wrong. To trouble shoot: 1. If they are coming, but not buying, then it’s probably condition. The price and the location wasn’t a factor, but when they got to the property, they didn’t like it, you won’t get an offer. This means that you’ve got to work on fixing it up or lower the price. 2. If they aren’t even coming or calling, then it’s price. If the price is too high, it turns buyers off before they even step a foot in the door and it might not even be coming up in their search results. The rule is this… no matter what you think – the value/worth of a home is only what someone else is willing to pay for it. You can’t go by what an appraisal said a year ago. Have an agent run the comps or do your own research and see what the going “price per square foot” is going for in your area. If you want fast, it’s all about price, then condition, then location. If you screw up on price, then condition and location will never factor in. Good luck!

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