How to claim your home on Zillow
This video will show you how to easily claim and edit your home facts on Zillow.com!
Get Your Finances in Order: To-Do’s
Before starting your search for the perfect home, it’s a good idea to get your finances in order. In most cases, the process of buying a home involves applying for a mortgage, and you’ll need to have all your ducks in line to get approved.
1. Develop a household budget. Instead of creating a budget of what you’d like to spend, use receipts to create a budget
Why you should own instead of rent
You’ve probably seen lots of financial arguments about why you should own your own home rather than rent. This includes budgeting (no rent increases) and the tax savings you’ll most likely have.
Now I’m going to give you some reasons you probably haven’t heard.
Marketing: What Works Best?
The 2 primary factors that determine if and when your home will sell are Exposure and Price. Exposure that counts is exposure that reaches buyers who are the most willing, ready, and able to buy. Setting the right price is crucial because under-pricing is like giving money away, and over-pricing is just a waste of time because nobody buys over-priced homes.
Improvements: How much value?
Which home improvements give the best payback? If you’re thinking about remodeling your kitchen, or finishing your basement, you probably want to get your investment back when you sell your home.
But when it comes to payback value of home improvements, some are definitely more profitable than others.
Trouble Selling? Sweeten the Deal
If you’re having trouble landing a buyer for your home, maybe you need better bait. Crafty home sellers know incentives are the prize at the bottom of the box. By offering buyers something a little different, they can improve their chances of selling their homes quickly and for the price they want.
Here are just a few of the ways home sellers can sweeten the deal with extras:
Cover the buyer’s closing costs
Many buyers, preoccupied with saving enough cash for their down payment, overlook their closing costs which, at between 3 and 6 percent of the sale price, can amount to several thousand dollars extra. Offering to pay them on behalf of potential buyers may be just the push they need to close the deal.
Tips for handling buyer offers
What do I do when I get an offer? That’s a common question from sellers. If the offer is at or above your asking price, the answer may be easy. But remember money is not the only consideration. You may prefer a lower offer with better financing or a stronger buyer, or a more convenient closing date. When all factors are favorable, and the price is right, set the contract and reel in your buyer quickly!
Aim For A Sale
Remember while your aim is to get as much as you can for your home, the buyers aim is to find your lowest acceptable price. In the end, however, you’re both angling for the same catch: a sale on the best possible terms for both parties.
Evaluate Your Buyer
Find out as much as you can about whether the buyer can afford to purchase your home. You’ll gain peace of mind knowing your buyer is really qualified to pay the price you agree upon. Buyers who are pre-qualified have been to a lender and are more likely able to close on the loan.
Showing Your Home
To get your home sold quickly, it’s important that other agents in the area show it to as many potential buyers as possible.
The first thing Realtors do when working with buyers is talk to them and learn about what kind of home they are looking for.
Then the agent will search the MLS for all the available homes closely matching what the buyer wants. Next, the agent puts together a list of the best matches to go show to the buyer.
10 things Realtors wont tell you
Let’s face it, no one likes to pay a real estate agent 6% to sell their home. Tired of paying such high commissions, many home owners attempt to sell their homes themselves (For Sale By Owner or FSBO). However, many of them realize that not being listed by a REALTOR® means not being able to take advantage of the most powerful marketing method in the history of real estate: the Realtor® Multiple Listing Service (MLS).
5 Ways to market your home online
Trulia.com offers some great home selling guides including “Five ways to use the internet to market your home”.
When you talk to friends and family about selling your home, many will give you the suggestion that to sell your home all you need to do is “put it on the internet.”They may be right. As over 80% of buyers today begin their home search online, if you are serious about selling, using the internet as a marketing tool is a smart choice.
Read the entire article “Five ways to use the internet to market your home”…