10 Things you must do to sell your house
It is a tough real estate market for sellers right now and anything you can do to give yourself the edge is important. We have all heard the obvious things: declutter, fresh paint, nice landscaping, etc. Here are a few other items to consider to help sway potential buyers toward your property.
1) Leave when buyers come through your house. There is no easier way to make a buyer feel uncomfortable than to be home when they walk through the property. You want to create an atmosphere where a buyer feels comfortable speaking their mind and envisioning themselves in the space.
2) Take out security systems. Buyers may not know the neighborhood as well as you do and the best way to make them think it is a terrible area is to have a security system. Many buyers will assume that this means the area is unsafe.
3) Remove bars from doors and windows. I see bars on basement windows all the time. For the same reason that security systems should be removed, so should bars.
4) Make sure locks are easy to operate, and replace if necessary. The front door is the first impression that the buyer will have of your home. If it is a struggle to open the door it will leave a bad first impression.
5) Recaulk your tub. This is something that is simple and easy to do and will give the tub a fresh, clean apperance (assuming the tub is also clean of course!)
6) Remove photos of your family. Again, you want the buyer to envision themselves in your space, so remove personal photos that will distract the buyer.
7) Take advanced degrees off the wall. You are proud of your PhD in physics..and you should be. However, if a buyer sees this degree on the wall they may assume things about your income and your ability to take a lower price.
8) Leave the lights on. You may know where all the switches are in your house, but a buyer does not. They may skip over basement storage rooms or others altogether if they are dark and the buyer can not find the switch.
9) Make sure your house does not smell. It is important to remove any odors from the house, especially those from smoking or pets. However, don’t just use an air freshener or the buyer will assume you are trying to cover something up.
10) Take animals with you. Never leave animals in the house. You may love your friendly cat or dog, but not all buyers are animal people and this is a sure-fire way to make them feel uncomfortable. The exception is a cat who will run and hide under the bed when people are walking through the house.
1151 MITCHELL, LANSING, MICHIGAN 48917
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1151 MITCHELL, LANSING, MICHIGAN – WAVERLY SCHOOLS
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Lansing Real Estate: Selling Your Upsidedown House
Do you owe more on your Lansing real estate than your house is worth? If so, you join the ranks of 50% or more of homeowners in Michigan (not to mention 3 of this bloggers rental houses) So what is one to do when you owe more than your house is worth and it comes time to sell? Here are a few ideas.
1) Take out a personal line of credit to cover the deficit. A first step would be the check with your mortgage company to see if they could offer you an unsecured line of credit. If not, you may have more luck with smaller local banks so check with your local credit union to see what they can offer.
2) Savings – Of course you could always cover the deficit with money from your savings. This might be a hard pill to swallow, but if you are buying something is a higher price range just think about how much more you would have had to pay for that house a few years ago.
3) Rent your current house – You could become a landlord. If you aren’t into tenants and toilets you can always hire a local management company to cover the day to day issues.
4) Friends and Family – perhaps you could convince your friends or family for a personal loan.
5) Short Sale – A short sale is when the price you sell your house for is less than what you owe to your lender and your lender agrees to eat the defecit. A couple of quick notes on this. First, you MUST have a hardship in order to do a short sale. So if you have money in the bank, can continue to pay your mortgage, or any other options you are not a good candidate for a short sale. Second, a short sale is anything but short. Expect the process to take many many months. Finally, your credit will suffer if you pursue this option.
6) Trade – Perhaps you could find someone to trade with. Some builders are even considering trades to get their model homes occupied, so if you are moving from a smaller home into a much more expensive home you may check with local builders and Realtors to see if anyone would consider a trade.
7) Stay Put – Yes that’s right, a real estate agent telling you to stay put. If you can swing the payment and are not bursting at the seams, it may make sense to stay where you are for the time being.
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