EMPTY NESTERS: How to Sell the Place You Call Home

EMPTY NESTERS: How to Sell the Place You Call Home

Are you an "Empty Nester" who needs a home for the future? Is it

time to downsize or to move into another home more suitable for

your glorious retirement years?

Like thousands of homesellers, you may be discovering that after

years of non-stop child traffic in and out of your doors, toys on

the floor, music floating throughout, suddenly you can hear a pin

drop over the quiet hum of the refrigerator. Your rooms are

filled with pictures and memories of this wonderful time in your

life, but there are many empty rooms gathering dust now that your

children have moved on. The freer years ahead are exciting ones

to look forward to, and it may be time for you to move as well.

If you find yourself in this situation, you’re in vast and good

company. And what that means is that there are many wonderful

opportunities for you to create this new chapter in your life...

if you know what it takes to get the most out of the equity you’

ve built up in your current home.

To help you understand the issues involved in making such a move,

and how to avoid the most common and costly mistakes most Empty

Nesters make, we’ve prepared this special article to help you

identify and plan for the move ahead.

9 IMPORTANT EMPTY NESTER TIPS FOR SELLING YOUR HOME

Selling your home is one of the most important steps in your

life. This 9 step system will give you the tools you need to

maximize your profits, maintain control, and reduce the stress

that comes with the homeselling process:

1. Know why you’re selling, and keep it to yourself.

The reasons behind your decision to sell affect everything from

setting a price to deciding how much time and money to invest in

getting your home ready for sale. What’s more important to you:

the money you walk away with, the length of time your property is

on the market or both. Different goals will dictate different

strategies.

However, don’t reveal your motivation to anyone else or they may

use it against you at the negotiating table. When asked, simply

say that your housing needs have changed.

2. Do your homework before setting a price.

Settling on an offering price shouldn’t be done lightly. Once

you’ve set your price, you’ve told buyers the absolute maximum

they have to pay for your home, but pricing too high is as

dangerous as pricing too low. Remember that the average buyer is

looking at 15-20 homes at the same time they are considering

yours. This means that they have a basis for comparison, and if

your home doesn’t compare favorably with others in the price

range you’ve set, you won’t be taken seriously by prospects or

agents. As a result, your home may sit on the market for a long

time and, knowing this, new buyers will think there must be

something wrong with your home.

3. Find Out What Other Homes are Selling For.

(In fact, your agent should do this for you). Find out what

comparable homes in your own and similar neighborhoods have sold

for in the past 6-12 months, and research what current homes are

listed for. That’s certainly how prospective buyers will assess

the worth of your home.

4. Find a "good" real estate agent to represent your needs.

Nearly three-quarters of homeowners claim that they wouldn’t use

the same realtor who sold their last home. Dissatisfaction boils

down to poor communication which results in not enough feedback,

lower pricing and strained relations.

5. Maximize your home’s sales potential.

Each year, corporate North America spends billions on product and

packaging design. Appearance is critical, and it would be foolish

to ignore this when selling your home.

You may not be able to change your home’s location or floor plan,

but you can do a lot to improve its appearance. The look and

feel of your home generates a greater emotional response than any

other factor. Before a showing, clean like you’ve never cleaned

before. Pick up, straighten, unclutter, scrub, scour and dust.

Fix everything, no matter how insignificant it may appear.

Present your home to get a "wow" response from prospective

buyers. Allow the buyers to imagine themselves living in your

home.

The decision to buy a home is based on emotion, not logic.

Prospective buyers want to try on your home just like they would

a new suit of clothes. If you follow them around pointing out

improvements, or if your decor is so different that it’s

difficult for a buyer to strip it away in his or her mind, you

make it difficult for them to feel comfortable enough to imagine

themselves as an owner.

6. Make it easy for prospects to get information on your home.

You may be surprised to know that some marketing tools that most

agents use to sell homes (eg. traditional open houses) are

actually not very effective. In fact only 1% of homes are sold at

an open house.

Furthermore, the prospects calling for information on your home

probably value their time as much as you do. The last thing they

want to be subjected to is either a game of telephone tag with an

agent, or an unwanted sales pitch. Make sure the ads your agent

places for your home are attached to a 24 hour prerecorded

hotline with a specific ID# for your home which gives buyers

access to detailed information about your property day or night 7

days a week without having to talk to anyone. It’s been proven

that 3 times as many buyers call for information on your home

under this system. And remember, the more buyers you have

competing for your home the better, because it sets up an

auction-like atmosphere that puts you in the driver’s seat.

7. Know your buyer.

In the negotiation process, your objective is to control the pace

and set the duration. What is your buyer’s motivation? Does s/he

need to move quickly? Does s/he have enough money to pay you your

asking price? Knowing this information gives you the upper hand

in the negotiation because you know how far you can push to get

what you want.

8. Make sure the contract is complete.

For your part as a seller, make sure you disclose everything.

Smart sellers proactively go above and beyond the laws to

disclose all known defects to their buyers in writing. If the

buyer knows about a problem, s/he can’t come back with a lawsuit

later on.

Make sure all terms, costs and responsibilities are spelled out

in the contract of sale, and resist the temptation to diverge

from the contract. For example, if the buyer requests a move-in

prior to closing, just say no. Now is not the time to take any

chances of the deal falling through.

9. Don’t move out before you sell.

Studies have shown that it is more difficult to sell a home that

is vacant because it looks forlorn, forgotten, simply not

appealing. It could even cost you thousands. If you move,

you’re also telling buyers that you have a new home and are

probably highly motivated to sell fast. This, of course, will

give them the advantage at the negotiating table.