Secrets to Sell Real Estate Now

It is Memorial Day, and Now is the Prime Selling season for Homes. A friend of mine is flipping an investment house he bought and is fixing up. He needs to finish soon and sell before July. Do you need to sell your home, condo, single family, duplex, vacation home, forclosure, or investment real estate Now? I will disclose the secrets to a fast sale.

Most homes are sold after school is out and before September in most of the country. We will exclude the winter home markets where the fall is the big market like Florida and desert communities.

When you get promotions, new jobs or if your company moves you may have to sell quickly. My advice is based on my experience as a homeowner, an investor, a former agent, and as an appraiser. Have over twenty years experience. I sold my last house in 4 days on the market within $3,000 of my asking price, so I do know how to market a house.

The steps are simple: Price the house right for your market. Get professionals involved. Prepare for buyers. Develop a marketing plan. Deal fairly.

1 - First focus on being realistic. Every house is special, but every house has flaws, neighbors, and competition. To real estate professionals and investors, houses are a commodity and won't generate emotion like when selling your own house. Find out what houses are selling for in your neighborhood, NOT what other homes are listed for. List prices are wish lists. Then find out how long it took to sell the homes that sold. You need to know what is the sales trend for similar homes. Price it below the median to generate buyer traffic. Price it near or at the bottom to sell now!

The general trend in 2007 is prices are falling after the big boom of the last 6 years. Investors and speculators are selling, or only buying bargains. Buyers with borderline credit will not qualify for loans, so there are less buyers.

Why should you ask a low price? Because you don't have time for someone to fall in love with it. You need a buyer now. Agents will only bring buyers to houses priced fairly. Ask too much and no one will see your home. The ideal to get multiple offers so you can pick the best qualified buyer and get close to your price.

Special note to those who owe more than it is worth. Mortgage holders will work with you if you are selling below what you owe. Technically they can make you pay the whole amount, but they do not want to take the foreclosure. If you can sell it for them and get most of their debt they will be thrilled. Don't forget the second or third mortgage holders. They have the most to lose.

2 - You want to sell fast? Get every real estate agent in town to see your place. The odds of your listing agent having a buyer also is low. That is why they want other agents to bring their buyers. Hold agent open houses. Clean up, get out of the way, and they will run through your house in five minutes as they tour all the open house. If an agent wants to see your place quickly, let them in no matter how messy or inconvient. The agent just will run through quickly, ask a couple questions, and bring buyers. Have your agent invite agents for other companies!

Don't consider selling yourself if you are in a hurry. The odds of your advertising beating the Multiple Listing Services (MLS) is low. Great agents will maximize your sale price and do lots of paperwork for you.

Disclose any problems to your agent. They may help remedy them, and you will avoid a messy lawsuit or canceled sale. You can write down an allowance for new carpet or whatever necessary will be included in the sale.

3 -Buyers buy within the first 5 to 10 steps into your home. First impressions are the most important! Beware, lots of buyers will stay in their car unless your house appears ready.

So get the buyers into your house. Key is to have a neat front lawn, fresh paint or washed walls, and some colorful flowers by the front door. Potted plants are a good investment.

Next clean up the junk in your house. Especially the living room and any room you can see from the entrance. Start packing momento, family pictures, knick knacks, books and anything you won't need until you are in your new home. Especially throw away anything you can.

The next thing is how does your house smell? Go out for an errant, and check when you come in. The kitchen is the main culprit. Especially cooking with oil, garlic, onions, or strong spices. Next where do you keep shoes? I ate out, cooked outside on the grill, and still sprayed the house with Lysol or Oust every time I left for work or someone wanted to see my house. Don't forget to pack and remove clutter from the cabinets.

Next focus on the bathrooms and the master bedroom. You have made a good impression, don't destroy it. Pack, throw away, and pack some more. Storage is a good idea, and I found buyers will forgive your garage if it is filled with packed, taped moving boxes. They like the idea you are ready to leave.

4 - Market your house. Now is not the time to be private or discreet. Anyone can find out how much your house is list for or what it sold for. Before the internet, most homes are sold to friends of one of your 20 closest neighbors by them telling family or friends about a house for sale. Tell everyone you know and tell them the price.

Classified ads with prices get 5 to 10 times the response than ads without a price. I don't know why agents don't put the price on the for sale sign instead of making people stop for the flyer. So tell every neighbor a couple street each way with a flyer your house is for sale. Some agents will mail postcards for you.

Next I will remind you how important it is to be nice to agents. They are your friend no matter what a nuisance they seem to be. They bring buyers. Hold a second agent open house. Invite other agencies to visit.

5 - Deal fairly with everyone. People can tell if you are looking for an excuse to stiff the agent his commission, or trick a buyer. If you smell tricky, or desperate you will not do as well. It is best to be honest, disclose fairly, and be a good seller to do business with. Agents make their money by commission, and they will keep buyers away rather than deal with a foolish seller. Especially with so many other homes for sale. In this market your deal may fall through, so you want them motivated to deal with you.

Be reasonable. I was trying to sell another home in Connecticut when I changed jobs in Texas. My agent called me up with an offer below what I wanted. When he told me the price was $3,000 below my asking price, I responded "That is only a couple months mortgage payments", and we countered $1,000 higher to insure the deal went through. I saved money by being reasonable.

Good luck and get to work! Believe it or not this method will get you the most money as well as sell quicker.
Steve