What are the things I need to know before selling my home?

A.  Selling a home can be stressful unprepared consumer. These are five key points to keep in mind before marketing your home.

1. Staging will make or break you.

Homes that don’t show well don’t close well.  Go to an Open House and see for yourself how important the process is for your success.

2. Comparables are the key to the right price, not your opinion.

When it comes price, the winning opinion is always the market’s opinion. It is impossible to effectively price a home without taking into account the competition.  It is important to educate yourself on the market and your real estate agent can provide information on recent sales and current listings.  Make sure you have realistic expectations.  Remember, when it comes to selling your sellers on the right price, nothing beats the data.

3. You’ll get out what you put in, so consider improvements.

Most buyers do not want to deal with your old problems.  The problems buyers see when touring a home negatively impact the amount they will offer.  Before you list and start marketing the property, you and your agent should identify improvements that will make a difference when it comes to price.

4. Serious buyers never stop the hunt.

Too many sellers think they need to sell at a certain time of the year to maximize the potential price.  The reality is there are plenty of upsides to listing and marketing a home when everyone else is taking a break.

5. Asking prices are up nationally, but…

Real estate is a local business.  The last few years have turned real estate headlines into high-profile news. That means you have likely heard that home asking prices recently jumped more than 5 percent nationally. While this is great news for the country as a whole, remember real estate is a local industry and that asking price isn’t everything.  Check with your agent for market updates (I post market updates at http://mammothlakesrealestate.wordpress.com )

Source:  Jovan Hackley, Trulia