Friday, November 14, 2008

Optimizing The Sale of Your Home

The Three P’s of Selling Your Home

The link above will take you to the site

November 14th, 2008 by Bonnie
Blissfully Domestic Published Article


blissful-home The Three Ps of Selling Your Home
It was once said that in selling your house it was location, location, location. Things have gotten a little more complicated these days. Of course in part this is due to the economy but there are other factors that contribute to my new list.

blissful-home The Three Ps of Selling Your Home
Place:
Of course this is still very important
but when you go to sell your home that factor is already established and you have to work with where you already are. As neighborhoods change this can be very frustrating as what once was a beautiful place can change over time. There is little we can do about how our neighbors care for their property although it totally affects the sale of our homes. We also have little influence over new construction around us that can take its toll as well.

Price:
Many people think they can set the asking price for their home. Actually this is not the case. The comparable sales (comps) in the neighborhood actually set your asking price. If you have a good agent you will not be asking more than what the market will bear. There is a tendency to think our homes are worth more than they are, especially since the bubble has burst!

It is not always the best idea to go with a friend or relative as your agent, as they may tend to want to go along with your wishes even when the asking price is too high. Professionalism and friendship do not mix well. If you do use someone you know well make sure there is an understanding in advance of the listing. If you do not like the price of course you do have some recourse, as you ultimately decide to sell at the lower price or remove the house from the market. But if your real estate agent is worth their salt (and many are), you don’t get to say, “I want to ask $1,000,000 for my house because I think that is what it is worth!” when the market will only bear $650,000.

blissful-home The Three Ps of Selling Your Home
If you are over-priced your house will sit on the market for a long time and you will lose the golden opportunity to sell during that incredible first few weeks when the house is fresh on the market. Once your listing becomes stale it is hard to recapture enthusiasm for it in the real estate community. The rule is the longer the house sits~the lower your selling price will be.

Presentation:
This is the place where you actually have som
e real control. The market is very competitive and the expectations of people are high. It is industry standard now to have your home professionally staged for sale. Did you know that homes sales are based on emotional decisions most of the time? People want to improve their lives with a better house, better, neighborhood, etc.

blissful-home The Three Ps of Selling Your Home
Professionally Staged by Interiors by Design

They are often exhausted from the work they have just completely on their own homes and want to move into a great, “work free” environment. Of course we all know intellectually that all homes require a lot of work but they do not want to think about that when they tour your home.

The words flooding their minds should be fresh, clean, beautiful, comfortable, inviting. You don’t want them thinking, paint, updating required, needs new landscaping, fences are falling, terrible carpeting, etc.

Of the three P’s this one is where you can really make a huge difference in the money you put into your pocket as you turn over the keys. Make your home shine like a diamond and you will dramatically optimize your chances for a great sale!

You can find Bonnie on her design site http://www.interiorsbydesigndefined.blogspot.com where she offers various plans for helping you solve your design questions online.

5 comments:

Barbara said...

Congrats on another great article, Bonnie. Love it.

Connie said...

I should have read your blog before I posted mine today...I promise I will make it shiny, and and fresh and all those other words that you used, before we try to sell it, if we ever do. :) Excellent article, my professional and articulate friend!!!! :)

mandy* said...

My friends are about to put their townhouse up on the market. I'll have to have them read this post.

CA Poppy said...

Presentation! You and your team created a sale for us. Again thankyou for being the best at what you do. Love,Michelle.

Deanna said...

Hi Bonnie,
I'm glad that you are feeling better. Being sick is no fun at all. I'm sitting here watching Doris Day and Frank Sinatra in Young at Heart and sipping away at my fourth pot of hot tea with honey. We went to my nieces football game last night and I lost my voice from all the yelling I did. I sound horrible.

Let me know what you needed to ask me about the clock. Did you need to know how to put it on your blog? I'll be online for most of the day so I'll keep checking my blog and yours.

The mandatory eye rest did me a world of good and I have a lot of catching up to do!

Hugs,
Deanna :}