For Home Sellers
As Your Agent, We Will
- Complete a comparative market analysis that will compare your home's value to that of your neighbors.
- Compile a comprehensive plan detailing all the efforts we will employ to sell your home, including Internet and local media.
- Present your home to as many qualified buyers as possible getting your home maximum exposure.
- Help you stage your home and generate curb appeal to ensure you get the highest price.
- Assist with obtaining offers and help you in negotiating the best deal as smoothly as possible.
- Help you find your next home and answer all of your questions about the local market area, including schools, neighborhoods, the local economy, and more.
Recent Home Sales
Closing Costs to Expect:
- Title insurance fees depend on the sales price of the home.
- Broker's commission is a full-service fee and will cost anywhere between 5% to 6%.
- Local property transfer tax, county transfer tax, state transfer tax, and state capital gains tax are the charges that you'll pay for the privilege of selling your home. Credit to the buyer of unpaid real estate taxes for the prior or current year are variable and depend on when you close and when your taxes are due.
- FHA fees and costs are all fees are now negotiable between an FHA buyer and seller.
- Home inspections fees are in some circumstances paid for by the seller and include pest, radon and other inspections.
- Miscellaneous fees can accrue from correcting problems noticed during the home inspection. Call us to find out how much your closing cost fees would be.
Home Selling Advice to Help You Attract Potential Buyers
Curb Appeal Exercise
What are the best exterior features of the house or lot? How can you enhance them?
What are the worst exterior features of the house or lot? How can you minimize or improve them?
Park where a potential buyer would and walk towards the house, looking around you as if it were your first visit. Is the approach clean and tidy? What could you do to make it more attractive?
Take photos of the home's exterior. If you have a digital camera, view the color versions first, then remove the color and look at it in black and white, because it's easier to see problems when color isn't around to affect our senses.
Make a list of the problem areas you discovered. Tackle clean up and repair chores first, then put some time into projects that make the grounds more attractive.
- Kill mold and mildew on the house, sidewalks, roof, or driveway.
- Stow away unnecessary garden implements and tools.
- Clean windows and gutters.
- Pressure wash dirty siding and dingy decks.
- Edge sidewalks and remove vegetation growing between concrete or bricks.
- Mow the lawn. Get rid of weeds.
- Rake and dispose of leaves, even if your lot is wooded.
- Trim tree limbs that are near or touching the home's roof.
Don't Forget the Rear View
Evening Curb Appeal
- String low voltage lighting along your driveway, sidewalks, and near important landscaping elements.
- Add a decorative street lamp or an attractive light fixture to a front porch.
- Make sure lighting that's visible through front doors and windows enhances the home's appearance.
Landscaping Decisions
There are times that adding elements to your landscaping can improve curb appeal, but there are other times when removing something is even more effective.
For example, we had a listing for a large brick house with large white columns. Tall evergreens, planted in front of each column, had grown taller than the roof. They obscured the columns and windows and made it difficult to see the front of the house.
We suggested that the owner remove them. She trimmed them back, but it didn't do the trick, they were unattractive and still kept potential buyers from seeing the true character of the house.
I sold the house to a couple who could see past the trees. One of their first tasks after closing was to yank them out of the ground, instantly boosting the home's curb appeal.
Most buyers cannot visualize changes, and often won't take a second look at a house if the first look doesn't appeal to them. Home buyers who can visualize changes, and are prepared to make them, expect you to reduce the price of the house to compensate for the work they plan to do.
A Few Curb Appeal Tips
- If you can budget it, a fresh paint job does wonders for a dingy house. Drive around your town to find color schemes that are appealing.
- Install a more attractive front door, maybe something with leaded glass inserts.
- If you can't justify the cost of a new door, consider replacing plain doorknob hardware with something more attractive.
- If new hardware is beyond your budget, repaint or stain the door and polish the hardware.
If you brainstorm, you'll find that there's a solution to most problems, one that lets you stay within your budget. The trick is to find the areas where improvements are needed, then work on them as best you can.