Two of the biggest concerns home buyers have are: 1. getting a fair price and 2. avoiding a money pit. You can alleviate these concerns with 3 simple steps, and by doing so, get top dollar for your home in a short period of time. Best of all it won't cost you anything. At the end of this article I will show you how.
1. Get Your Home Inspected First
Repair issues are a serious potential deal killer. Therefore, the best time to find out if your home has a serious problem is before putting it on the market. Every home has at least some hidden or obvious repairs issues. I have yet to sell a home where a professional inspector couldn't find at least $1000 worth of needed repairs. Often it is much more than that. I strongly suggest you get your home inspected and fix any flaws that are revealed. If it isn't feasible to fix a problem, you will at least know what the actual cost of the repairs will be. Then you can price accordingly. Buyers have a tendency to over-estimate costs of repairs. So do inspectors. Having a flawless inspection report will become a great marketing tool when you put your home on the market.
The week or two that is usually allowed for inspections once the home is under contract can be a very stressful time. Having that peace of mind is well worth the price by itself. Trust me on this one. Should your home fail the inspection and the deal falls apart you have lost value time while you home was off the market. A common ploy buyers use to get a better price is to renegotiate after the inspection. Inspecting your home first will disarm this tactic.
Approximate cost of a home inspection is $500.
2. Get Your Home Appraised.
Appraisals are another potential deal killer. If the most likely buyer of your home will be getting financing to purchase it, you should know ahead of time what that number will likely be and price accordingly. Valuable marketing time will be lost if you accept an offer from an excited, but ill informed buyer that makes an offer but can't get the financing.
Conventional wisdom is that it takes a lot of time to find just the right buyer that will be willing to spend more for your home than anyone else. This can be true for a truly unique home, like this one pictured. For the most part this is a myth. Buyers that have the means to buy your home without financing didn't get the means by over paying for things. In other words, cash buyers will usually drive the hardest bargain. As I already stated a buyer that needs to finance will have to get over the appraisal hurdle. Trying to get well above appraised value is senseless.
An appraisal is an unbiased opinion. When I give my opinion of a homes value I try to be as fair and honest as possible. But there will always be a perception of bias because I'm the guy that won't get paid unless it gets sold. Less scrupulous agents might give you an over inflated value just to win your listing, only to beat you up for price reductions later.
It doesn't have to take a long time on the market to maximize your sale price. To do that you need to attract the most buyers you can from the beginning and create some competition among them. Competition, and the fear of losing the home they love, is what really pushes buyers to open up their wallet.
Approximate price of an appraisal is $450.
3. Offer a Home Warranty.
A home warranty offers buyer peace of mind. A top concern for buyers is avoiding paying for problems on top of paying their mortgage. Studies have shown that sellers that offer a warranty of a year or more get their home sold faster and for more money. It is money well spent. It sets you apart from the other competing properties in your neighborhood.
Approximate cost of a home warranty is $550.
Have you noticed luxury car dealers, like Lexus and Mercedes Benz, don't sell used cars? They sell Certified Pre-Owned Cars. Their pre-owned cars get a thorough inspection, needed repairs are done, and they are sold with an extended warranty. This is a similar approach and it works.
So the total cost of these three value adding items is about $1500 and I firmly believe it is money well spent. So much so, that I am willing to cover these costs with a credit at closing for any and all of them for sellers that hire me as their agent. It is a small price to pay to reduce the stress of selling your home and also getting top dollar for it.
Related:
How Long Should it Take to Sell a Home?
Pre-Marketing Inspections - Are They Worth It?
Serving The Greater Fort Lauderdale area since 2006
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