Low Offers: Prevention is the Cure

It takes an innovative marketing plan to cause a home to sell, but to attract serious buyers, it must also be priced fairly. What else must be done to successfully sell your home?

Buyers are in search of their dream home. If priced reasonably, they will purchase the home that best reflects their idea of that dream, and it’s the sellers who are in charge of making it happen.

Experience has shown that buyers often reduce their offers by as much as $2 for every $1 in uncompleted repairs. Sellers won't have to face those disappointing offers if attention is given to their home before it is ever shown.

The best method for improving buyer appeal is a "walk-through" by the sellers' real estate agent. The agent plays the part of a prospective buyer, and then suggests upgrades, repairs, and cosmetic improvements.

Then the sellers should complete all the work before the home is placed on the market. Neither a prospective buyer, nor another agent, should ever see the home until it is in 100% marketable condition.

Excuses made at a showing are an open invitation to a reduced price. When a buyer is disappointed, no explanation will suffice to bring the price back up. When selling, ask your agent for advice, and then take action. Buyers will often compete for such a good value.

Three Possible Choices

There are many factors that affect how you'll price your home when you're ready to sell. In spite of market conditions, interest rates, and so on, every transaction is unique. So you should seek the assistance of an agent and prepare yourself and your home well in advance of placing the For Sale sign out front.

Sometimes a home will have three different possible prices: the price the sellers want to net, the price the buyers would like to offer, and the final sales price agreed upon by both parties. Your home's ultimate value is determined by other local sale prices, which are often a product of supply and demand.

The asking price or the offered price are not the whole story, however. While an offer of $200,000 doesn't seem to appear as good as an offer of $210,000, pay close attention to the terms attached to that higher offer. If the buyers also want you to offset closing costs and deduct for a decorating allowance, the "clean" offer of $200,000 might actually put more money in your pocket.

It's wise to seek representation and assistance with pricing, marketing, negotiation and closing. Put a real estate agent with local experience to work for you. Once armed with the facts relating to terms and conditions of local sales, you can move forward with confidence in your listing.

Share the Love!

Have you ever heard of the "home staging" profession? These individuals assist sellers with presenting their home in a fashion that will increase the likelihood of a full price offer. While the value added by such professionals is often worth the investment, many sellers can put the basics into action themselves, and enjoy the same benefits.

There are several "quick fixes" that stagers commonly recommend, and here are some highlights for your consideration as you prepare to market your home.

First, the dirty work. You've got to clean your windows, but don't forget about washing all the screens to let in as much sparkling sunlight as possible. In tiled bathrooms, clean and regrout the floors. You know what they say about cleanliness!

Second, create space in two ways. In the kitchen, roll away any movable utility carts and clear clutter off the countertops and the refrigerator. In the rest of the home, move the furniture one to two feet away from the walls to create the illusion of more space.

Finally, impart a sense of warmth and coziness by making up beds with colorful sheets and comforters with matching window treatments. All of these preparations should make it that much easier for the buyers to imagine how comfortable they will be in this home. Your pride of ownership will encourage them to feel the same!

More or Less!

A country church once paid $1,500 per acre more than "fair market value" for two acres of land adjoining the existing church property. In another transaction, a young couple agreed to accept $7,900 less than "fair market value" for their three-year-old tract home.

Once "fair market value" is established on real estate, other factors such as availability and time pressure may influence the final sales price. The church wanted an additional two acres adjoining church property to use for a picnic and fellowship area. Property located in any other spot would have been unsuitable. Thus the adjacent land held more value for the church because of its location, and they were willing to pay the price.

The couple that accepted $7,900 less than fair value for their home exemplifies the concept of time pressure. The husband, a middle management candidate within his company, was offered a promotion in another state. He was anxious to move and assume his new responsibilities. They weighed a higher selling price for their home against a fast move to the new job. The new job won out, resulting in a lower than fair market value sale price.

Keep in mind that even when the final sale price of real estate is higher or lower than "fair market value," both buyer and seller may experience complete satisfaction with the transaction.

Stay One Step Ahead!

As a seller, you'd prefer a nice clean, unconditional offer at full price, right? One way to encourage such confidence among potential buyers is to have an inspection report available during showings, as well as any receipts (or estimates) for repairs. Why order an inspection when the buyers will probably do so anyway? Because when you take the initiative and perform repairs before listing, you are basically presenting a clean bill of health for your home.

Prelisting inspections are becoming a popular way to give sellers an edge in competitive markets. Taking such action also provides a great opportunity to take care of problems that otherwise might come back to bite you. Buyers today are armed with more knowledge than in the past, and they recognize the security offered when the seller is forthright and demonstrating that there is nothing to hide.

These are the conditions that are more likely to produce that unconditional offer. While it's probably a given that the buyers' representative will encourage them to order their own inspection, you also have a greater sense of confidence knowing that there won't be any surprises.

If you have any doubts about whether a prelisting inspection will improve your chances for an early sale, discuss it with your real estate representative, who will also undoubtedly have many other suggestions for successfully marketing your home.