Home Staging Blog

How to Sell Your House Quickly In 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:20:00 +0000

Help! I have to move soon, and I need to sell my house before I move. But I can't seem to attract any buyers and I've had no offers at all. What can I do to sell my house quickly in 2009?

This will be the most common concern among sellers in 2009, and for various reasons discussed below. But even in a slow market, it's possible to sell your home quickly. You just need to have the three P's in place -- proper pricing and preparation. If you set your asking price to high (as many sellers do), your house is going to sit on the market for a long time. I promise you that much.

The same is true if you fail to prepare the home for the market (staging, repairs, modernization, curb appeal, etc.) Competition for buyers is fierce right now. So when you sell your home, you need to go above and beyond to make it appealing. Anyone who is serious about selling in this market will know this, and they'll put in the extra effort. So if you fail to make such an effort in this market, your house will stand out in a negative way.

In a moment, I'll explain how you can sell your house quickly in the current economy. But before we get to that we need to address the current challenges sellers are facing. You have to understand the 2009 economic landscape in order to succeed with your home sale.

The Challenge for Sellers in 2009

Our economic meltdown has shrunken the buyer pool considerably. Millions of Americans are losing their jobs right now -- just turn on CNN and see for yourself. And on top of that, lenders have become stricture with their lending criteria. So you need to be better qualified to get a mortgage loan these days (higher credit score, larger down payment, better debt-to-income ratio, etc.).

If all this were not bad enough, home sellers in 2009 must also contend with a surplus of homes on the market. Many of them are foreclosure properties, which often represent a bargain for buyers.

When you combine the reduction in buyers with the increase in inventory, you have a buyer's market -- the extreme version. So if you want to sell your house quickly in this kind of market, you have to price it effectively and prepare it well. In other words, you need the three P's -- proper pricing and preparation.

How to Sell Quickly

Let me clear up an important distinction, before we go any further. Selling your house quickly is one thing. But making a quick sale while also recouping your investment ... well, that's another thing entirely. And it might not be possible in this market, depending on where you live.

For example, if you paid $300,000 for a home at the top of your market, the same property might be worth much less in the current market (depending on how bad the market crashed in your area). It might be worth closer to $200,000 today. Could you sell the house quickly in the current market? Yes. Would you be able to sell it for close to what you paid? No. Sorry, but that's the reality of the situation in many cities across American right now.

As a seller, you have to accept this harsh reality before you can price your home effectively for the current market. What you paid for the house when you bought it is almost entirely irrelevant. This is a whole new economy, with new pricing models in place.

So proper pricing is the first step to success. For starters, you need to get some recent sales data to see what homes are selling for in your area. The more closely the sold properties match your own home, the better. Real estate agents refer to these as comparable sales, or "comps." The three most important qualities of a good comp are timeliness, proximity and comparative likeness. In other words, you should base your asking price on recent sales from comparable homes located as close to your neighborhood as possible.

It might also be a good idea to have your house appraised by a professional home appraiser before you list it for sale. This will give you a good idea where you stand, in terms of value. Just keep in mind that a single appraiser's opinion is not gospel. You must consider it along with the other data you've gathered.

Proper home staging is another critical step in the process. If you want to sell your house quickly in the 2009 market, you need to stage the home for sale. Plain and simple. Many sellers hear the word "staging" and automatically assume it means spending a lot of money. But this is not necessarily the case. There are many free and low-cost staging ideas you can implement throughout your house.

Selling a house in this economy is a fierce competition. Sellers are competing for the attention (and ideally the offers) of a reduced number of home buyers. So the smart sellers -- the ones who understand this dynamic -- are going above and beyond to spruce up their homes. They are painting, landscaping, de-cluttering, staging and modernizing. They are also pricing their houses based on current sales data, as painful as it may be.

If you hope to sell your house quickly in this market, you'll need to do the same thing. The worst-case scenario is to have a property that is overpriced and under-prepared. You won't even attract any visitors if this is the case. But even if you price it right to attract buyers, you still need to go above and beyond to stage and present the home.

Related article:
How to Sell Fast - Home Selling Workshop

I hope this article has opened your eyes to the economic reality of selling a home in 2009. More importantly, I hope this advice helps you sell your house quickly and for the best possible price. Good luck!

How to Sell a Home Fast in the Current Economy

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:06:00 +0000

How can you sell your home fast in trouble economic times like the ones we are now seeing? For starters, you must understand how supply and demand has been affected by recent events. This will help you determine your pricing strategy, which in turn will help you sell the home fast and for a reasonable price.

As the 2008 financial crisis continues to unfold in the U.S., many home sellers have found themselves in a bind. Prices have dropped, banks are failing, and home buyers are having an increasingly hard time getting mortgage loans.

So how does one go about selling a house in the current economy? For starters, you need to price your home properly. The pricing process intimidates a lot of sellers, especially those who are handling the process by themselves (without an agent). But it doesn't have to be scary or confusing. Here are some tips to help you get it right.

Supply and Demand - The Key to Proper Pricing

This is always an important consideration for sellers, but right now it plays a major role. Due to recent economic events, the supply and demand of real estate is skewed like never before. The subprime mortgage crisis has led to record numbers of home foreclosure, which drives up the supply of houses. But it has also become much harder for buyers to qualify for mortgage loans, which decreases the demand. When supply goes up and demand goes down, it becomes a buyer's market. This is what's happening in most cities across the country right now, and creates another obstacle for those who want to sell fast.

Of course, there are some anomalies in certain cities across the U.S. For example, I live in Austin, Texas, and the market here has not suffered as bad as other cities. The reasons are twofold -- (1) our housing prices were not artificially inflated before this crisis, and (2) there is a high rate of immigration as people relocate here from elsewhere in the country.

To figure out the supply and demand situation in your area, you'll have to do some homework. Your local newspaper is a good place to start. You can also read the blogs published by local real estate agents to find out what they know. This kind of research is necessary if you want to sell your home fast and for the best possible price.

Get more tips from the House Selling Workshop

The Asking Price When Selling a Home

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:42:00 +0000

We just posted a new article to the home selling tips section that explains how to determine your asking price when selling your house. This is one of the key areas of confusion among many sellers. So we created a tutorial to make it easier to understand.

For example, the article addresses the reason why it's called an asking price in the first place. It also explains how proper research can help you set an asking price that will bring in more offers. In other words ... how to price your home in a realistic way that increases the chance of a quick sale.

Did you know there are a variety of web-based tools that can help you determine the asking price for your home? Did you know many of these same tools are free? Do you know what a comparative market analysis is, and how you can use it to set the asking price before listing your home for sale? These are a few of the topics covered in this new guide...

Read the article here:
Pricing a Home for Sale

If this article interest you, then you'll also enjoy another tutorial we published recently. It offers a nine-step approach to selling your own home effectively.

Staging for Online Property Listings and Flyers

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:10:00 +0000

A certain member of my family has expressed great interest in moving to our city over the past few years. She has made a hobby of searching the online real estate listings for existing homes in our area, sending me the houses she is most interested in at first glance. Now, I am not one to turn down an opportunity to browse photos of other homes, so peruse her favorites and try to provide constructive input on the geographic location and the actual house itself. It never ceases to amaze me how many homeowners don't bother to stage their home before their agent takes pictures to put on flyer's and include with their online property listing. What amazes me even more is that their agent will take the pictures with the home "as is" and not recommend the seller stage the home prior to photographing it. I immediately move on to the next listing if the home is dirty, cluttered or outdated, which is what I am sure most potential buyers do as well.

Staging your home for listing photographs and showings is the most important thing you can do when selling your home in the current real estate market. There are more sellers than buyers these days so it is imperative you do something that sets your home apart from the others to get it sold. It can be as simple as removing family photographs and extra furniture to help potential buyers to see their families living in the house rather than your family. Or, as easy as properly furnishing a room or rearranging furniture to give each room a specific purpose. For example, many of us use an empty bedroom in our home as an office. Some potential buyers may not be able to see the past the way each room is purposed for your particular lifestyle. Exchanging office furniture in a bedroom with an inviting bed with fresh linens will help potential buyers determine the true number of bedrooms in your home.

If your home is outdated, you may need to do a few extra things such as remove old wallpaper, update knobs and pulls on cabinets and replace old light fixtures and flooring if necessary. If you have brightly painted walls you should consider repainting those walls in a neutral color that appeals to a wider audience. That pink, purple and green bedroom may be adorable to you and your 10 year old daughter, but you may have singles, younger couples with no children or older folks choosing between your home and others on the market. Just imagine how a fresh coat of paint on the walls looks to the eyes of potential home buyers. Less work for them means a quicker sell for you!

Now we all know home staging is not a big industry secret or you would not have found this blog. Which is the reason I can't figure out why so many of the listings my relative sends me still have photos of dirty, cluttered or outdated homes! When your home is on the market you need to look at it through the eyes of my relative and other potential buyers. This may mean you need to live differently for a while -- less furniture, no home office, no photos of Tommy and Sally in every nook & cranny and what may seem like boring, neutral-colored walls. But getting your home staged will get your house sold while your dirty, cluttered, outdated neighbor sits on the market with little or no activity month after month. And you will have long since moved in to your new home or on to your next adventure.

Home Selling Tips for FSBOs

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 23:05:00 +0000

First of all, let's define FSBO just so we are all on the same page. FSBO stands for For Sale by Owner, and it refers to those people who choose to sell their home without using an agent. You can pronounce this acronym as "fizbo" if you like.

The home selling tips in this article, and also spread across our website, are mostly intended for the FSBO home sellers out there. After all, if you plan to sell your own home without using an agent, you'll need more advice than a regular seller (who uses an agent).

So here we go with today's dose of helpful tips for FSBOs...

Tips for Selling Your Home

As soon as possible, start keeping tabs on homes that are selling in your neighborhood and town. Pay particular attention to those homes that are comparable to yours in terms of size and features.
By keeping track of recent sales activity, you'll have an easier time setting a price for your own home. This is one of the first things an agent would do for you. They call it a CMA, or comparative market analysis, which is a fancy word for the "going rate" of homes being sold in your area.
Start going through your home with an eye out for things needing repair, items needing a fresh coat of paint, etc. Pretend you're a home inspector. After all, a home inspector is going to do the same thing, so it pays to do it for yourself.
In fact, if you have your inspection sheet from when you bought the home, use that as a guide. Go through the checklist and see what needs to be repaired, replaced, etc.
Use the room-by-room staging advice we have provided on the main website. One of the best home selling tips of all is to stage your home the buyers want to see it.
Painting is one of the best (and cheapest) things you can do to give your home a new look. Don't forget the outside of the home, such as doors and shutters.
No list of home selling tips is complete without a mention of curb appeal. We have quite a few curb appeal tips on the main website, so that's your first place to visit.
You can make your home seem larger by removing clutter, purging closets and drawers, arranging furniture for easy maneuvering, removing any furniture that's too big for a space, etc.

Well, that should keep you busy for now. But don't worry -- there are plenty more tips for home selling where these came from. So check back often.

Benefits of Staging a Home for Sale

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 20:14:00 +0000

Many home sellers ask the question, "Should I bother staging my home for sale before listing the property?" The answer to this question is a resounding yes! And here's why:

Staging a home for sale will benefit a home seller in any type of market. In a buyer's market (where sellers are behind the curve from the get-go), you need every advantage you can get in order to sell the home for a decent price. This is one of many areas where home staging can help.

But what about if you're in a seller's market? Do you need to worry about staging the property like you would in a buyer's market? Of course you do. Regardless of what market you are in, the goal of home selling is to sell as quickly as possible and for the best price possible. These are both areas where it pays to stage your home for sale before listing it.

Benefits of Home Staging

Here's what else you get out of the process:

Staging a home for sale can increase the likelihood of a sale. Professional stagers know that proper preparation, organization and presentation can give you an extra edge in selling any home.
The staging process also forces you to de-clutter and organize the home. And this helps with the moving process overall, because you'll have to pack things away at some point anyway. So staging the home will give you a head start on packing!
Staging your home requires you to think like a home buyer would. During the process, you will scrutinize the home as if you were buying it for the first time. Adopting this perspective early on will help you in many ways.
Staging a home for sale helps reduce the length of time that the property is on the market. Anybody who has sold a home in the past will tell you that the less time the property is on the market, the better. This is even more true if you'll be paying two mortgages during the "overlap" period (if you buy a new home before selling the old one).
Lastly, staging your home will help you justify the asking price you've set. This is especially important in a buyer's market, where you need everything in your favor to justify the asking price.

So there you have them, five good reasons why you should be staging your home for sale before showing it to buyers.

Definition of Home Staging - What Is It?

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 18:15:00 +0000

Our staging website offers a wealth of tips and advice to help you stage your home for sale. The end goal of the process is to sell the home faster and for the highest price possible.

When learning a new subject, however, it helps to start with the basics such as terminology. So I'd like to offer my own definition of home staging to help you better understand the subject:

Definition: Home staging is the process of preparing a home (and everything within the home) for sale, with a particular focus on presentation.

It's also worth noting that staging a home and preparing a home for the market are not always the same thing. For example, to prepare your home for potential buyers you might make small repairs where needed. Obviously this is an important step before listing the home for sale, but it doesn't really fall into the home staging category.

To stage a home for the market, you will be focusing on things of an aesthetic nature, such as the home's organization, design and general appearance (as opposed to functional or mechanical improvements).

Why stage a home in the first place? Because it has been proven, time and time again, to increase the likelihood of a sale. In other words, a home that undergoes expert staging will usually sell faster than a home that has not been properly staged for buyers.

Staging a home can also help you get the best price possible when selling the property, because buyers will be less likely to question your asking price.

Obviously, these are all good things. And that's why we have created an entire website to help sellers understand the concepts of expert home staging (and how to put those concepts into practice).

The goal of home staging then is to improve the home's appearance in the eyes of potential buyers, with the ultimate goal of selling the home more quickly and for the highest possible price. It can make the difference between an "okay" house and a "wow' house.

That's the definition of home staging.