Moving can be such a headache. Often times you are leaving a home you love and are emotionally attached to or you are leaving a town you love. Pricing your home correctly to sell can be a little overwhelming. You don’t want to price so high that no one even looks at your home. Price too low and risk losing money on your investment. With market prices in Chattanooga reaching a near pre-bust high, it is tempting to price your home as high as you dare. How do you decide? What should you take into consideration? If making changes on your home, what will help you get a better price?
A few things to remember is that sentimentality means nothing when you are selling your home. Buyers are looking to make their own memories, not pay for yours. There is nothing that makes your home more valuable than your neighbors except that it is in better condition, has more space or better upgrades. Unfortunately, that is all that matters when pricing your home. Compare your home to those which have sold and if you are the same, exactly, great!Unfortunately that is not all you have to take into consideration. Watching what the market is doing, how long homes are staying on the local market, what is going on in the neighborhood (ie schools, construction, businesses, etc) and demand are all factors you must consider.
Before you get ready to put your home on the market, it is a good idea to take stock of two things. The condition of your home and what trends are in homes that are selling. We tend to look at our home through rose colored glasses. After all this is our nest, our “home sweet home” where we feel safe and where memories have been made. It is easy to say that home in your neighborhood are selling for X amount per square foot and so should mine. However, if your neighbor’s homes are updated with fresh and modern paint, landscaped and structurally updated and yours is not…well, you are not going to be able to demand the same market prices.
Safety updates such bringing wiring to code, fixing leaks, repairing roofs and general maintenance should be done, whether you are selling your home or not. However, if your home is well maintained, you may want to freshen it up to make it attractive to sellers who are after all, comparing apples with apples when looking at homes.
A few small, inexpensive updates could boost your selling price. The most obvious are paint and hardware. Neutral paint creates a soothing visual for potential buyers. Updated cabinet and door hardware can pack a subtle punch. Light fixtures have changed a lot in the last few years and for less than $200 you can add a big “wow” to a room with a new light fixture and spend even less by replacing the globe.
Less obvious, but just as easily renovated are bathroom floors and grout. Grimy grout can be revitalized through professional steam cleaning or redone, while tiling or re-tiling a floor is often very inexpensive and can make a bathroom look updated and new. When you update the floor, new faucets and lights will tie it all together.
Kitchen trends can get dated quickly. One that is current and easy to install and will last a long time is the kitchen back splash. Stay away from the busy glass tiles that are everywhere right now and go with white subway tile or an eye pleasing equivalent. Farmhouse is big right now, but with a few changes of hardware in a year or two, can be updated to modern. If everyone is looking for brass , you don’t want to show your house with out of date gold. (GASP). Take a little peek online and see what is trending.
Also, tour open houses in your neighborhood. Look to see which homes are selling and what your neighbors did to get their homes ” show worthy”. If you live in a neighborhood that is in high demand, you must keep in mind that your home must appraise at or above your asking price in order for the sale to continue. One of our most experience mortgage bankers recently told us that she is seeing deals fall through when the appraisal comes back under the agreed upon price and buyers cannot get a loan for over the appraised value.
Dave Ramsey, financial fitness guru, strongly recommends hiring a real estate agent when selling your home. His reasons are that real estate agents think like retailers. they know the market. Experienced agents have the knowledge to see trends and demands in an area. They have the ability to see if an area’s popularity is growing or slowing down, what trends home owners are seeking, and have the knowledge to help you make your home be truly desirable to potential buyers. Good agents also know that the price of a home makes or breaks the deal as well as what is your best bet for small changes that could add value to your home.
Our team has vast experience in both finding homes for potential buyers as well as helping sellers get the most of their investment. Let us help you price your home correctly to sell. Contact us today at
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