RALEIGH - HOW TO PRE-MARKET YOUR HOME (AND NOT LOSE YOUR SHIRT)
Raleigh, North Carolina. Pre-Marketing Your Home. We often hear about Ben Franklin’s “yellow Page” approach to decision making. He would take a sheet of paper (I don’t know if it was yellow or not) and draw a line down the center. On the left he would list all the pros he could think of in taking a proposed action and on the right all the cons. The one with the greatest number of items supposedly determined his course of action. If you are going to be putting your home on the market within the next three months to a year you should do the same thing AND as quickly as possible. The more time you give yourself to take care of problems or to make your home more presentable, and SELLABLE, the better. In this day of slower sales and more competitive offers it is imperative.
When making your list be objective. Tell the truth about what needs to be done - even if it hurts. When you think you have thought of everything call a real estate agent and have him or her look at your home. If you don’t know one call the office nearest you of a large firm and ask the office manager to recommend an experienced one. Tell him it may be some time before you are ready to sell and don’t sign any listing agreement until you are ready to put your home on the market. Also, you might want to think about asking him if you can hold an agents open house. In doing this he would set a time for agents to show up and go through your home. You would provide coffee, soft drinks and cookies. They would provide their time, expertise and thoughts about what you should do to get your home ready to sell. If you opt for an individual agent do not tell them what YOU think. You don’t want their thoughts and information to be colored by your thinking.
The importance of an experienced agent is that of knowing what the current market wants, expects and is buying in your price range and in both your city and your specific subdivision or area. Ask the agent if he/she/the office has a list of recommend contractors to do any work that might need to be done. Also, ask the agent who he or she suggests as a home inspector. You are well advised to have a home inspection done. Depending on the size of your home and the area you live in that can run from $250 to $400 - or more. If you call one ask what he charges before saying yes. Before you call find out what the square footage of your home is because you will be asked for it. Most of the time this is money well spent. A prospective buyer of your home will, in most cases, have an inspection done (which they pay for) so the more you know what to expect about your home’s problems and what an inspector will suggest that the buyer ask that you have fixed - the better. Sometimes an inspectors report can be used to your advantage when you want to show that you know your home’s condition and that you have had needed repairs done. How to use it should be gone over with your agent prior to being shown to the buyer or buyer’s agent. There are times when you want that information to only be available to you.
There is much, much more that can be gone into about getting your home ready to put on the market but this is a good base to start with. If you are getting ready to put your home on the market why not call me. I would be happy to assist you.
John Fish (919) 696-3474 Email: Marvmax@mindspring.com Website: www.JohnFish.com
