Selling information

The process of selling your home can be stressful and challenging. Educating yourself and working with a great agent are the best ways to ensure that your home selling process will be as smooth as possible.

Exercise your clout, but don't overplay it...

If you set a price from 5% to 10% above the market, you're more apt to get an offer close to your home's real value than if you start much higher and force your listing to go stale. However, if your home has better qualities than area comps, you have a bit more latitude.

No need to pay closing costs or offer other incentives to the buyer, especially if it means keeping your in-demand home off the real estate market. For example, a sale contingent on the buyers selling their home is reasonable but only with a contractual escape for you, often called a "kick-out" clause. That gives you the right to continue marketing your home. If a less-encumbered bid comes in, you then offer the initial buyers a set time of 48 or 72 hours to withdraw their contingency.

Know your agent's commission split...

A heated market is causing sellers to question why they should pay the full 6% commission.Hence, sellers' agents are accepting less, then offering less of a split to buyers' agents in a practice known as "sell to the commission." When the co-op fee is low, buyers' agents tend to be less than enthusiastic in showing such houses, and yours will typically take longer to sell.

Know your influential rooms...

Upgrades rarely pay for themselves, but there are 2 spaces that can make or break a home sale: the kitchen and master bath.
Because kitchens are the heart of the home, or the "new living room," make yours homey. Hide the coffee maker and toaster. Add simple decorative touches to the wall behind the sink. Sure, new granite countertops and appliances are optimal, but new hardware for cabinets, new faucets, new lighting fixtures and fresh (neutral) wallpaper are inexpensive touches that carry weight. Thoroughly scour and depopulate the fridge and take magnets off it, please.
For bathrooms, always display a sparkling bathtub and commode. A new tub liner, or "shell," can make that marred tub look like new and save you from replacing it.
A new faucet, new lights, fresh caulking, a new towel rack or new mirror may be in order. Clean out the medicine cabinet. Of course, this doesn't mean you shouldn't declutter, depersonalize, paint and scrub the rest of your space, too.

Consider the replacement...

You're getting multiple offers on your home, with several over asking price. Wow, that was fast! But can you find your next home in time to move once you sign?

If not, one option would be to request a lease-back from the buyer, allowing you to remain in your old home for the time you need to shop for the replacement. This will be contingent on when the new owners need to occupy, and the period is usually limited to 60 days.

The other option is to slow the selling process by asking for a longer period before closing.

Whatever you do, get your prospects and finances lined up (see tip No. 3!). Yes, a seller's market swings 2 ways!

Don't play the bubble game...

Thousands of would-be sellers and buyers are agonizing over how they can time their next sale or purchase to coincide with the "pop" of this housing bubble, either by selling soon for optimal profit or swooping in with cash to pounce on post-pop pricing.

True, the bust of 2007-2008 was a loud and robust one, but don't look for anything catastrophic this time. The present froth is being fueled by narrow supply and widespread demand, not easy credit and "liars' loans."

Most real estate cycles don't explode like the last one; they just deflate slowly. Real estate continues to be a reliable long-term investment prone to usually modest peaks and valleys, done on a deal-by-deal basis and subject to local economies.

Read more: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/real-estate/tips/#ixzz4EsSfnIku

Selling information