Most people believe that selling your home is not nearly as much fun as buying a new one. While that may be true, selling your home does not need to be a painful, frustrating experience.
There are many reasons to sell – your job is moving from Kenosha, you’ve outgrown it or you are just excited to move on into a new neighborhood. Whatever your motive for selling your home, it is important that you think through the process and anticipate the costs involved. Sometimes if you spend a little money on sprucing up the home before the sale, you can more than make it up on the back end. Just a few tips to selling your home can go a long way.
Small tweaks can often pay bigger returns than investing in major remodeling projects. Things like a fresh coat of paint, replacing door handles or just simply cleaning or replacing rugs and curtains. Things that will give your house a fresh, less lived-in appeal without breaking your budget before your move.
As you approach a showing, keep in mind the things that most buyers react positively to. For example, one detail many buyers appreciate is adequate closet space. Whatever space you have, you can make it appear bigger by simply leaving it half empty and available for additional clothes or materials. Little things like that can go a long way towards getting the offer you are looking for. Staging your home for a potential buyer can help your home sell. De-clutter your home by removing some personal items. Remember – the more a potential buyer can visualize your home as their new space, the better your opportunity for a sale becomes.
Many banks require an inspection as part of the approval process. It is likely that your buyers will require a mortgage, so you need to anticipate an inspection as being part of the process. If there are items in your home that an inspection will require addressing you will need to set aside enough money to accomplish those items.
Doing small things to get your home “showable” and ready for potential buyers to view and react to is the first investment you should be sure to anticipate. It will enhance the value for potential buyers and could even raise the value from an appraiser’s perspective.
Then, after you receive an offer and are moving towards a closing date, it is important that you understand the full cost of closing on your home. Most people know about the obvious things, like paying off your mortgage and pro-rating your taxes. There is also the agent commission that will be deducted from the bottom-line. But there are other items you need to be aware of that sometimes take sellers by surprise when they first peruse the closing documents.
Be sure to ask your agent to get you a copy of the closing document a day or two in advance of closing so that you can review and consider the various costs. It can make a difference in the amount you walk away with, dollars that are often expected to be available for down payment on your next home.
Although many closing costs are typically paid by the buyer, depending upon the type of loan they get the seller may be asked to contribute as well. Things like title insurance, points, doc prep, and other closing costs, which vary from lender to lender, are usually on the buyer’s side of the ledger. But it is important to remember that, depending on how motivated you are to sell, all of these items can be, and often are, subject to negotiation. If you, as a seller, are asked to assist with closing costs, you should ask to review the estimate of closing costs that the buyer should have been provided by the bank where they are getting their mortgage.
Most people don’t sell their home more than a few times in their lifetime. There is almost always years in between. Linda Swan can help you, as a seller, understand what you should expect as closing approaches. Her expertise has saved her clients a lot of heartburn at closing by helping them anticipate all of the costs associated with selling their home.
The Linda Swan team can also help you identify ways to enhance the value of your home as you approach time to sell. If you get her involved early enough in the process, she will recommend the items that, if done correctly, will expand the pool of potential buyers as well as attract larger offers.
Contact Linda Swan today to start find out more information on selling your home.
