| FSBOs (for sale by owner) are NFE (not for everyone) |
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"People generally think their houses are worth more than they are because it's their home," he adds. "They put in special walnut cabinets and they cost a lot, but the guy who wants to buy it doesn't like walnut."
What's important is how much the house is worth, not how much you paid to buy it and fix it up.
The successful seller goes with the hard facts: How much do houses in the neighborhood go for per square foot? Are prices generally rising or falling, and how fast? How much are extras worth? For example, your in-ground swimming pool might have cost $6,000 to install, but houses in your neighborhood with pools sell for $3,000 more than comparable houses without pools. That means the pool is worth $3,000, not $6,000, to a buyer.
You have to look at the house from the buyer's viewpoint, not the seller's. Those walnut cabinets that Burbidge mentioned might have cost you hundreds of dollars, but the buyer might dislike them, in which case they're worth no more than cheaper oak cabinets. Your beloved property is the repository of countless wonderful memories, but those remembrances are in your head, not on the land -- and the buyer isn't going to pay extra for them.
To find out how much you should ask for the house, do some research and consult the right people. You might be able to find out the recent selling prices of homes in your neighborhood by viewing such sites as Homepricecheck.com.
The title company you choose will be able to provide you with selling prices for comparable houses in the area (called "comps" in real-estate lingo), and the title company can steer you to a certified appraiser who can do the most thorough job for a few hundred dollars.
You can even ask a real-estate agent to give you a list of comparable prices. Because many FSBO sellers give up after a while and end up listing their house with an agent, an agent might help you as a way of getting a foot in the door.
Negotiation experts say that you should arrive at a reasonable bottom line on price and conditions -- the minimum you will accept -- and stick with it.
Get the house ready to show
The buyer is going to hire an inspector. Before you show the house, why not hire one yourself to point out problems? Based on the inspection report, you can seal those cracks, fix that faulty furnace and repair that leaky roof before visitors arrive.
In addition to fixing the big problems, spiff the place up by cleaning it and reducing clutter. Tidy up closets, clear off kitchen counters, put excess furniture in storage. Wash the windows and get the floors as clean as you can.
And, says Burbidge, never underestimate the power of paint, which almost always pays for itself and more.
Real-estate agents always ask sellers to take as much off the kitchen counters as possible and to make closets seem more roomy by removing stuff. A buyer won't be charmed by a jumble of shoes on the floor of a closet. The same goes for rooms: the sparser the furniture (within reason), the bigger-looking the room. |
