“Hi neighbor, how much did you sell your home for?”
If you want to get the wrong value of your property, talk to your neighbors. When I speak to homeowners, I often hear the same story. They have spoken to a neighbor across the street and are being told they sold their property for “X” amount of money. Then, the homeowner follows up with a neighbor situated behind them. This neighbor also says that their property sold for a similar sum of money.
The homeowner then believes that their property is worth this magical “X” amount. At this stage, I immediately go to the county tax records. Ninety-nine percent of the time, the information provided by the neighbors are incorrect.
Now, I don’t believe that the neighbors are bad people who are intentionally trying to be misleading. My gut tells me that in most cases, these people are hyping up the results. As a way of appearing successful to others, they inflate the price. It’s human nature.
Long story short, If you’re trying to determine the value of your property by asking your neighbors, be sure to verify the data first so that you’re working with accurate numbers.
A simple way to do so is by calling a local real estate agent who can verify this information in no time. We can help you determine the true value of your home with accurate sold prices in your neighborhood. Contact us today to find out with no obligation!
I recently got off the phone with someone who insisted on making home improvements with the goal of increasing their home value. While home improvements do help the value of your home, it is not always the case.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I love updating my home when I have the resource to do so! Making improvements is beneficial in keeping the home updated with your current taste in décor. Moreover, it also helps keep your home in good conditions to decrease the chances of any major repairs. I even made a post onFour leading home projects everyone is doing.
Now, how does it affect your home value when it comes to
making improvements to sell? Well, if you are not careful on what you choose to
do on your property, you may break-even or even worse, lose money.
Break even or lose money?
As a homeowner thinking of selling your home, your goal is
to maximize profit! I mean, who does not want to make the most out of their
sale? As a result, most homeowners believe their home needs to be top notch to
compete in the housing market. Therefore, they start doing home improvements to
make it the most presentable home possible.
Usually, what happens is that homeowners get carried away and
truly believe these improvements will make a huge impact on their home value.
The reality is, most times, it will not.
Depending on the updates and repairs, it may not be worth the work when it comes time to sell. In short, homeowners realize that the updates done did not deliver to their expectations and did not impact the buyers to pay more for it.
Why will home buyers not pay more for my home improvements?
Look, we all have great memories and a certain attachment to our homes. The improvements we make have always been with our family in mind. In the end, what we think of our own home is not what the buyers walking through will think. What they are thinking is not about the present, but of the future. They are thinking of how this home will fit their family needs and how to make it their own. Buyers will always want to change something or improve on something no matter how perfect we think our home is.
Therefore, the best way to approach this is by detaching
from the home. Looking at the home like it was a product. So, with that in mind,
do what is necessary to the property and not what you “feel” is the right updates
to do.
If you are unsure of what home improvements to make to
maximize the amount of money you make on your home when it’s time to sell, do
not hesitate to reach out and ask me. I am happy to assist you in making the
right decision!
Start packing to move out? When? Commonly asked questions when your home goes under contract.
Do not start packing to move out until, among other terms, the below four contract contingencies have cleared between you and the buyer.
Inspection: Upon completion of property inspections within the inspection period established between seller and buyer, the buyer may withdraw or renegotiate their offer based on inspection findings. So do not start packing.
Clean Title: This is a seller contingency. So as long as seller provides a clean and marketable title, the buyer cannot utilize this contingency to withdraw or renegotiate their offer based on title findings.
Appraisal: Upon completion of evaluation within the appraisal period established between seller and buyer, the buyer may withdraw or renegotiate their offer should appraisal value come at below purchase price. Again, do not yet start packing to move out.
Letter of Commitment (LOC) or Loan Guarantee: Buyer must provide LOC to the seller within LOC period established between seller and buyer. Until then, the buyer can withdraw or renegotiate their offer based on the buyer’s lender’s inability to guarantee the loan.
There are many other terms to be on the lookout. But clearing these four contingencies makes it a safer bet to start packing to move out.
Start Packing To Move Out Handy Links
Below are a few helpful links to aid the process of “where to look” to get things done when you are ready to move to a new home.
Yelp.com: go to this site and type “moving services” to check out companies and reviews on them.
Amazon.com: type “moving boxes” on the search box and get great deals (free alternative: you can go to your local supermarket during product unloading time to get their boxes. This is usually done around 6am or 7 am).
Evernote (for you techies that your life revolves around your phone, keep track of all items/schedules via this fantastic app).
I spoke with a homeowner who had their property listed for three months and had zero buyers go see it. I could not believe it when I heard it, I was in disbelief because we are in a sellers’ market and their house was not selling. There are many buyers out there searching for their ideal home. Therefore, if a home is not getting any showing requests within a month, then there is something up.
Why is my house not selling?
Here are the 3 reasons your house is not selling:
1. Price
Is your house properly priced? This is the first and most important question to ask if your house is not being shown. Odds are, it may be overpriced and buyers are discouraged to go see it.
Now, how do you overprice a home? Many homeowners compare their homes to their neighbor’s homes that may also be for sale. Do not compare your home value with currently for-sale homes in your neighborhood. Your best bet is determining your home price based off the recently sold prices in your neighborhood and the condition of those homes. Similar homes to yours may have upgrades while others don’t and the condition varies. All these factors help determine the correct value of your home.
First impressions count! Having good professional quality pictures of your home is a must! Your house pictures are the first impression buyers will have and you want to make it a good one so they can set the appointment to see it.
In addition to good professional quality pictures, your house is not selling due to poor advertising. Where these pictures and details of your house are being advertised are very important. They need to be advertised in at least every major real estate website, such as Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, etc.
Furthermore, with so many people on social media all the time, it has become as important as the major real estate websites, for advertising your home for sale.
3. How does the property show?
So now you know you need good professional pictures, but how will your house show in those pictures? It is not enough to have good angles and lighting in the pictures, but the actual house needs to look good too.
Therefore, ask yourself these questions. Is your house nicely organized? Is it de-cluttered? Are the walls painted in appealing colors?
Many times I have encountered listings with poor pictures or pictures where the home does not show well and my buyer clients do not even bother booking an appointment even though the description fits their criteria.
Get clear answers to why your house is not selling
If you are working with a real estate agent and your house is not selling, you need to get clear answers from your agent as to why this is happening.
My point is, in real estate, things can move quickly while other times, they may not. Therefore, no matter what direction the housing market is heading, you need to be aware of the causes. Not only that, you need to know why certain things are or are not happening. And have a clear understanding of those reasons. If you feel like you are not getting clear answers, it may be time to move on to a different agent.
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Nine times out of ten people check their home value on Zillow or Truliaprior to calling a real estate agent. I personally think these sites are great considering they get it right about 50% of the time. Even more so, when you consider that an algorithm is trying to determine a very complex ordeal such as the value of a home, so props to them!
Why do they miss the mark the other 50% of the time?
I don’t really know, and I doubt anyone else truly knows, but here is my educated guess: Because they can only see what’s on the outside of the property through the eyes in the sky – aka satellites – and they can only analyze what can be found on public records such as number of beds, number of baths, square footage, etc.
Therefore, the two reasons Zillow gets home values right half the time are the following:
1. Often, public records are incorrect
This can happen when updates, such
as expansion, added bathroom or bedrooms, that are yet not recorded in public
records.
For example, say you added a family room to your property. You may have expanded to the covered patio to do so. This adds more value to your home since the living square footage under A/C has significantly increased. But this information will most likely not be reflected on public property records, which is where these sites get their information. Therefore, the lack of accurate information can distort what’s reported in sites like Zillow.
2. These sites can’t see the interior of your home
These sites
can only determine the value by the exterior and what has been sold in that neighborhood
in recent years. Therefore, if your home has interior upgrades, or modifications
that would significantly add value to the property, it would not consider these
factors.
Ready to move in updated single family home. No homeowner’s association. Vaulted ceilings. Marble and porcelain flooring throughout. Open kitchen layout with granite counter-tops, stainless steel appliances, under-mount sink, and wood cabinetry overseeing dining and family area. Contemporary styled bathrooms. Master bedroom with en-suit (tub-shower combination). Spacious yard with covered patio and shed. Once car-garage converted into 4th bedroom, easily reversible.
Mario Avalos 