Many
questions we hear from Sellers revolve around "Buying
and Selling". If that fits you, then you might
want to take a look at the Buyers
FAQ. We will limit our discussion here to topics
as specific to Sellers as is practical. Customs and
practices are very different around the country. In
fact, they are even different around the state of
California. So, keep in mind, the material presented
here is specific to Southern California.
As
is the case with every page at this site, we want
this information to be valuable to you. We can't guess
all the questions everyone might have, but we can
guess that you may have questions we didn't answer
here. Don't feel left out. Just go to our Contact
Us page and send us an eMail. Your situation is
specific to you and we will answer your specific questions
to the best of our abilities.
(click
on the question to go to the answer)
1.)
What's my home worth?
2.)
What should we do to get top dollar for our home/condo?
3.)
Should I get a Home Inspection before putting my home
on the market?
4.)
We're selling and buying something else. Should we
sell first or buy first?
5.)
Prices are really high right now. We're thinking of
selling now and renting for a while, then we will
buy when prices are lower. What are your thoughts
on this idea?
6.)
Realistically, can I sell my house myself and save
the commission?
7.)
How can I check you out further?
1.)
What's my home worth?
We've
spent a lot of time thinking about the best "broad"
answer to this question. Broad answers really aren't
effective and don't really provide you with meaningful
information to your question. We use the word "broad"
because real estate can be really different from property
to property. One share of IBM stock is pretty much
identical to every other share (leaving out the differences
of preferred classes), but the house that sold down
the street is probably different in many meaningful
aspects than yours.
The
classic definition of value is: what a willing buyer
will pay a willing seller in an arms length transaction
after reasonable marketing time. Quite a mouthful,
isn't it? In english, it means we guess. But. it's
an educated guess. We take current market climate,
current inventory, time of year, current property
condition and seller situation into consideration
and extrapolate our "educated guess". And
even with all that, the best anybody can do is come
up with a range of value.
There
are sites that say they will give you a value over
the internet. We don't think that gives a great deal
of value because they can't take the specific aspects
of your individual property and your individual situation
into consideration. Of course, you can take advantage
of our Seller
Search to get the sold properties around your
property. We know we are more familiar with our home
compared to the sales around us. So this may give
you a good "heads up" on the value of your
home.
Any
more than that really requires a brief visit from
a real estate professional. And, yes, we would love
to be that professional. If you are ready to take
it to that step, just let us know and we can work
up an in-depth valuation with no obligation. Just
let us know how we can be of service. Use the Contact
Us form.
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2.) What should we do to get top dollar for
our home/condo?
Oh
no, we have to give another "general" answer.
Sorry. As you can imagine, there is an almost endless
number of things you can do to get a reasonable return
on your time and money invested. If your needs (or
desires) go deeper than the answer here, please (!!)
contact us. We have fixed up or overseen the fix up
of several hundred houses. You get the hang of it
after that many.
There
is a popular idea running through real estate right
now called "staging" a house. You actually
hire someone to come in and do a make-over on your
house. You pay for the consultation and then pay some
more for any recommendations they may make. This idea
works in some circumstances. We are not a big fan
of the idea for most people as this can be costly
and disruptive. We can hear the staging consultants
berating us now. OK. We'll match our experience against
their's any day. Again, it may or may not work for
you. Use strong common sense. Or, ask us for some
of ours.
There
are some simple things that give an excellent return
on time and money. You don't get a second
chance to make a first impression. Please
read that last sentence again. Buyers have likely
been looking at a lot of other houses. It's easy to
make yours stand out. Make sure that yours gives a
good first impression. Another thing is to provide
curb appeal. A flat of flowers can really liven up
your exterior. Keep the approach (walkway and driveway)
looking sharp. And, while it is inconvenient and messy,
consider painting the front door. Be conservative.
Go for an overall general "look". But, be
sharp about it.
As
for the inside, clean is good. Lack of clutter is
good. Less is more. You may think the rooms look a
little empty. YES! That's the look you are going for.
You want the buyers to have a pretty clean slate so
they can use their imagination to see their "stuff"
in your house. You can pile lots of things in the
garage. People generally don't have demanding expectations
for the garage. So, they can see that space being
cleaned out. You can use the garage instead of renting
storage space.
Do
you still get to "live" in your home? Absolutely.
Selling a property is a journey. There will be twists
and turns. You will need to make a few changes that
should be tolerable. And when you move, you get to
go back to the way things used to be. The stress will
be behind you.
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3.)
Should I get a Home Inspection before putting my home
on the market?
This
can be a short answer. NO! Now, let us explain. Some
agents will tell you it is a good idea. It is not.
These agents have found that is a good measure of
your seriousness to sell. If you will jump through
their hoops, they can judge you as serious and an
easier payday. Please! Give us a break. See it for
what it is. Now, these are good strong agents. So,
respect that. But, say no.
Home
Inspections have become a messy area. We are very
sorry to say that home inspections have become the
means for a second round of negotiations. You can
get a really good inspector and they can do a really
good job. However, the buyer will hire their own inspector
and you have very little control over how they do
what they do. And, herein lies the problem. Most home
inspectors are good honest professionals. However,
we have seen inspections where the inspector sits
at the kitchen table and asks the agent "what
should he find". We're serious! It is ridiculous.
Another
sad tale: we had an expensive listing. The buyer's
home inspector wasn't aware the property was so large
and the inspection was going to take much more time
that he had planned. Maybe it interfered with his
afternoon golf game. We don't know, but he went crazy.
He found 72 items of concern. 72! We spent 20-30 hours
trying to make sense of this. Over 50 of the items
would cost less than $100 to fix. Many were flat out
wrong. Seriously. Blatantly wrong. A few of the items
would cost around a dollar to fix. Yes,$1.00! However,
the buyer still backed out because of the number of
items of concern.
Again,
you have little control over what the buyers' inspector
will find. The above are true, although extreme cases.
But, really, let their inspector find what they find.
And be reasonable about the process. We predict this
environment of odd home inspections will change, but
it may take a few more years.
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4.)
We're selling and buying something else. Should we
sell first or buy first?
This
is going to be one of those answers that really depends
on your situation.
There
are situations where someone can buy cheap and sell
for top dollar. That happens about four times in a
hundred. Most of the time you have to give up something
either on the buying end or the selling end. What
you give up doesn't have to be extreme, but something
is likely. It usually breaks down like this: 1) You
take your time to find just the right property and
you have to sell quick, or, 2) You take your time
to sell for top dollar, but have to buy quick.
Why
can't you sell for top dollar and take your time to
find a really good deal? Well, that would be an ideal
situation. The difficulty lies in the other side of
the transaction. If you want top dollar (longer marketing
time, usually), the buyer isn't going to wait around
long for you to buy and remove the buying (home of
choice) contingency. And, if you buy really good,
that Seller isn't going to wait very long for you
to get your property sold. A faster sale usually means
a slightly lower selling price.
Can
you sell for top dollar and still buy at a good price.
Absolutely! Anything is possible in real estate. The
best way to do that is if you can buy without needing
the money from the selling property to close escrow
on the buying property. In most cases that isn't possible.
So, we come back to the answer that it depends on
your situation. There are lots of strategies. What
is the right one for you? If we were you, we'd call
in experienced professionals. Do you need a recommendation?
Contact US!
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5.)
Prices are really high right now. We're thinking of
selling now and renting for a while. Then we will
buy when prices are lower. What are your thoughts
on this idea?
We
wrote a big long "economic" explanation
about rising and falling values in the Buyers' FAQ.
Clink
this link to go directly to that topic.
Prices
are higher than they were last year, no doubt. Does
this make them too high? Not really. Could they fall?
Yes, absolutely. Will they? We don't know. Does anybody
know? Nope!
We
would argue that it is a really big gamble to sell
a primary residence and rent in anticipation of lower
prices. Real Estate moves in very slow cycles, yet
most people try to make decisions on a daily basis.
This appears to be a mistake. The common wisdom is
to treat a primary residence as "housing",
not as an "investment". But, you want to
maximize your economic opportunity. This gets dangerous.
Basically, you are trying to "time" the
market. If you are right (and, someday, someone will
be right) you will come out ahead. If you are wrong,
you may not be able to recover in the short term.
Just
look at the data. And pay very close attention. This
is a risky game you are attempting. The best bet I
can say is that when prices are rising, they will
continue rising. Don't sell when they are rising.
Play that rise as long as you can. When prices are
flat, wait and see. When prices are falling, run.
Don't be greedy. Just run. But make real sure prices
are falling. Use a broad indicator and give it three
or four months.
You
have to be very clear about your plan in this aspect.
Any mistakes are very punitive. I (Mark) sold everything
I owned in late 1989. Does that make me smart or lucky?
We're not selling anything now. In fact, we're expanding
our portfolio. Timing the market is a tough game.
Good luck!
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6.)
Realistically, can I sell my house myself and save
the commission?
Absolutely.
We even have a program to help you if you want to
try that. Use the Contact
Us form and tell us that you want to try on your
own and we'll give you some valuable assistance (contracts,
professional signs, guest registers, service providers
and more).
Now,
if you've made up your mind to try, these statistics
won' t dissuade you. If you are still weighing the
pro's and con's, then we'll throw out some statistics
that may help in your decision. Roughly 1 in 5 Sellers
are successful in selling on their own. Sellers that
are successful selling their own properties end up
netting 2-3% less after commission considerations.
That word, "net" is very important. Anybody
can sell a house without a commission. It's real simple.
Lower the price enough and somebody will buy. These
are sharp words, we know. But they are not our words.
The National Association of Realtors has done studies
for decades (yes, decades) and the results are very
consistent. People selling their own properties generally
net less. And, a fair amount less.
Why
is that? We can think of two primary reasons. The
first is the dramatically increased exposure with
the MLS. And we mean dramatic! More exposure almost
always results in more price. The other reason is
likely the edge provided by experience. More familiarity
with the process and more practice with the negotiating
process. These add real value.
You
may have heard of someone selling their own property
and getting the price they wanted. You may have done
it yourself. It can be done and is done all the time.
However, looking at lots of statistics, it does appear
to be risky. If you still want to give it a go, educate
yourself. Use us as a resource. You can do it. However,
if you decide the job is just outside your desires,
give us a call. We'll help how we can.
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7.)
How can I check you out further?
The
first place to start is the Testimonial
page. Now, we can't post contact information on
that page. That wouldn't be fair to the people that
have given us permission to post their comments. Many
of our clients have agreed to speak to you or return
an eMail and answer any questions you may have. Just
use the Contact
Us form and ask for a list of referrals. We would
be happy to have you communicate with them. This will
go a long way to satisfy your curiosity.
Of
course, when the time is right for you, a "face
to face" meeting is appropriate. We'll lay out
what we do and how we do it and you can learn a little
more about us. We will show you how we guarantee our
work, something most other agents won't do. At that
point, if you don't feel comfortable and confident
that we can help you get the most money for your property,
quickly and with the least hassle then we don't deserve
to be hired. We respect that. Honestly, we've worked
very hard to make sure that doesn't happen often,
but when it does, we wish you the best and get right
back to work.
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