Buying your first home is a momentous event. It signifies the culmination of scouring the classified ads and making critical judgments of each property. Selling a home, on the other hand, can seem like harder work than shopping for one.
Selling a house is daunting with or without a real estate agent to back you up. It’s all a matter of getting your place in sellable condition so it gets a high evaluation. But, even that has its share of particulars. There are a lot of hidden factors that go into getting your home sold on the market, for a price that suits you. Here are just a few things people won’t tell you. The more educated you are in these matters, the easier it will be for you to cut through all the other homes for sale and actually sell your property.
Hidden Fees
You might have done enough homework on real estate subjects, but you should hire a reliable real estate agent. Having a good realtor by your side, can ease you into negotiations over payments. Their services, however, are not cheap. Most realtor contracts charge a commission, but there may be extra fees sneaked in. These are sometimes called, “administrative fees” that can run anywhere from a few hundred dollars to over a thousand.
Inflated Renovations
Homeowners are caught up in the “fixer upper” craze launched by reality television. While it’s true that home renovations can increase value. But, many of these improvements can be frivolous once a realtor does an evaluation of the property. The new light fixtures might be attractive to customers touring your home, but the wallpaper could be a setback. The best advice is to focus your attention on bare necessities (windows, masonry, electrical) since these will be your responsibilities until the sale has been finalized.
Timing
Sometimes it isn’t about where you put your home on the market, but when. As they say in business, “time is money,” and that’s true for the housing market. How much money you receive from the purchase is proportional to local market patterns. A good rule of thumb is mostly the climate. Homes put on the market in colder seasons typically don’t sell as high.
Documentation
When you sit down with your realtor, they’ll ask you a lot of questions about the home’s history. Is the home insured? When did you have the roof fixed? Have you made any improvements? Questions like these are meant to help navigate through a home’s paper trail. The realtor needs this information to help sell the home. Your should save every certificate, permit, or receipt connected to your home.
Buyer Appraisals
It’s been mentioned how pre-listing home inspections are a common necessity. Most of the time, the owner will have to arrange it (at their expense) or the realtor will. Potential buyers may also ask to do one as well. Buyer appraisals are handled by the buyer’s mortgage lender to ensure the home’s worth as much as owed. An investigation into your title may also be conducted to check for any outstanding liens owed. Prior to sale, contact your mortgage lender. Pay off your mortgage before the sale actually occurs.
