18 Questions For Every Home Seller (Part 4)

1.            Should I sell my house?

How motivated are you to sell?

You have to sell, or so you think. How urgently do you need to sell? The answer may affect not only the eventual price you realize for your property, but the method by which you sell your house as well.

Some sellers feel the time is right to sell because of market considerations. For example, a shortage of properties on the market might mean an unusually good price. Opportunistic sellers are not highly motivated to sell. If you are such a seller, consider setting an above-market price for their property.

Other sellers feel compelled to sell but may or may not do so with real urgency. For example, a retiree heading for a warmer climate may not see any reason to sell until a high offer 2.is received. Or a family may move to another city but retain the precious house as a rental unit during a poor market. Such sellers will often ask an above-market price for their property.

Finally, consider owners under immediate pressure to sell their property. Such sellers may feel they have no time to realize the full market value of their property, and out of desperation may even try to sell their home during the low-activity period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. If selling via traditional methods, they will set a relative low asking price.

Alternatives to selling

If you feel highly pressured to sell but think the market is low or have another reason to avoid selling, consider your alternatives. Simply postponing the placement of the property on the market may see prices drop rather than rise, so consider the auction-based selling methods discussed in a later section.

Renting the property instead of selling could help you postpone the sale until the market improves.

To determine whether the rental option makes sense, estimate the expected cash flow. In other words, what is the difference between rental income annually and the expected expenses. Income can be estimated by comparing comparable rental properties in the area, less about 10% due to necessary vacancy between renters. On the expense side, count your mortgage, property tax, utilities not paid by the tenant, anticipated repairs, maintenance, and conversion costs to make the property in the rental in the first place.

Remember, even if the overall cash flow is negative, renting a property is a much better net loss than letting a property languish on the market because your major costs (mortgage, property tax) will be present whether you rent or not.

18 Questions For Every Home Seller (Part 1)

Strategies and Tips From Getting Started to Getting Closed

Introduction

So you’ve decided to sell your home

Despite what web sites, brokers, or books might promise, there is no simple formula to follow because properties, markets, and sellers are different. Two things are needed in every case, make no mistake: asking the big questions first, and learning all you need to be an informed seller.

This concise volume is a road map from obvious initial issues like “Do I really want to sell right now?” and “Do I really need an agent?” to questions many forget to ask in advance, such as “What will I need to do after the sale?” Along the way, we’ll see how to estimate a realistic value of your property in the market today and what you can do to realize that value in a sale.

Perhaps the single biggest issue is method of sale. Most sellers know they can contract an agent to sell a property traditionally, or sell directly to a buy. But your options hardly stop there. We’ll put all of your options on the table and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each. This of course includes traditional methods but also pay particular attention to the options online technologies have recently enabled.

Whatever selling method you finally adopt, many tactical questions apply to almost every property. How do I maximize buyer interest? How do I minimize expenses, from house preparation costs to buyer and seller agent commissions?