Listen UP Sellers – Prepare Your Home for 3 Sales… read on…
March 12th, 2009 Categories: Alexandria Dirt, Arlington Dirt, Falls Church Dirt, Home Selling, McLean Dirt, Reston Dirt
Yes, I said 3 – THREE – When you’re contemplating selling your home in this market, you may feel that it’s an uphill battle – and for most, it is! The 
hardest hurdle (and single most important thing) is to price your home correctly. Remove emotions as best you can; don’t place extra value on your hand printed wall paper or your custom bathroom fixtures. Chances are the next buyer may not even notice those things, or they may be so personal that rather than placing extra value on them, the next buyer is factoring in money to REMOVE them! Then look at the comparable listings – and comparable solds – with your agent. Look as objectively as possible at the positive features of your home (think big here: location, curb appeal, updates, garage, etc..) as well as the negative aspects (small bedrooms, 1 fewer bath than most of your comparables, street parking, etc…). Remove all of the minutiae of custom this or custom that… look at the big picture.
So I’m sure you’re wondering why, after all this, you have to sell your home 3 times…
First you have to SELL YOUR HOME TO REALTORS – this is why we host broker’s open houses on Tuesdays – to give Realtors a chance to walk through your home and get a good look – they may not have a client for it, but they may talk it up at their office, or even write a blog post about it!
Second you have to actually SELL YOUR HOME TO POTENTIAL BUYERS – now this is the most obvious! You want them to walk in and imagine their lives in your home. Remember, it won’t be your home for much longer, but you want them to imagine their lives there and see the value.
Last you have to SELL IT TO THE APPRAISER – yes, the APPRAISER! This is primarily my job as the agent, but assuming we did the steps discussed in the first paragraph and actually priced off of valid comparables, we should be able to sail through appraisal process – but it is an often overlooked step that is as important as any of the others.
So, take the time to price and prepare your home up front for the best possible outcome and I’d be willing to bet the rest will fall into place!
Call me to discuss further – I’m EXCELLENT with the 3–sale approach with every base covered!
Happy Thursday
Jennifer
Serving all of your real estate needs in Arlington, McLean and the entire Northern Virginia Region!
Contact me today for a free home valuation or buyer counseling session! And remember, spring is RIGHT around the corner!
Like what you’ve read? Subscribe here
Copyright © 2007 Arlington Dirt Real Estate 