DETERMINING HOME VALUE
Many factors go into determining a home’s market value, including the condition of the property, the location, square footage, recent comparable sales, amenities and other components.
Your home’s value is determined by what a qualified buyer is willing to pay at the time it's on the market. The current real estate market fluctuates based on many factors such as supply and demand, interest rates, general economic conditions, and other items. The same house may sell for more or less under a different market condition.
Appraisals are primarily used to protect the lender's interest in the property. Just like lenders can be hesitant to issue a mortgage to credit-risky borrowers, they also don't like to underwrite properties for more than they're worth.
Your listing agent is the most qualified to evaluate your home and arrive at an accurate selling price based on the current market and multitude of industry resources.
STAGING YOUR HOME
Your home is your most valuable asset, so of course when the time comes to sell, you want to do everything you can to make it most attractive and get the highest price possible. Research shows that well-staged homes can sell approximately 35% faster and spend 67% less time on market than those that are non-staged. Additionally, staged homes often command higher sale prices of up to 10% more. Homes that are properly staged make a great first impression. It’s all about selling a lifestyle, and it’s proven that homes which exude warmth, elegance, romance and sex appeal sell fastest and command higher prices. Staging helps paint a picture for buyers so they can imagine themselves entertaining, relaxing or cooking in the space. Staging can involve anything from putting a new color on the wall or boxing up knick knacks to rearranging furniture or bringing in new décor. Your agent and a professional stager will work with you to find staging solutions to optimize your home’s appeal.
An interior decorator is not the same as a stager. An interior decorator designs your home to live and a stager designs your home to leave. The main rule of staging is to neutralize, de-clutter and redesign to sell.
At KL Realty Group, we strongly believe that professionally staging your home yields the highest price in the shortest amount of time; therefore, we will hire a professional stager to come and do a walkthrough consultation with you at NO COST to you after you have signed the exclusive Residential Listing Agreement.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION |
INCREASING THE VALUE OF YOUR HOME
There are many ways to make your home more appealing to buyers while adding both perceived and real value. Doing major remodeling like adding bedrooms and doing kitchen and bathroom renovations/upgrades can yield substantial price increases. However, not every improvement needs to be costly to increase the value. There are simple things you can do. A fresh coat of neutral paint, new cabinet knobs in the kitchen and bathrooms and new window treatments are small changes that buyers will appreciate. In addition, de-clutter and clean closets and cabinets; this gives your home a more spacious appearance. Repair cracks, leaks and other damage to walls, floors and paint. Features like high ceilings, ceramic tile and wood floors, granite countertops, a laundry room and central air also contribute to value.
IMPORTANCE OF AN ACCURATE CMA
To determine an accurate measure of what your home is worth, we can supply you with a comparative market analysis (CMA), which provides information on recent selling prices of similar properties in the same marketplace. With a CMA, you can monitor the closing price of specific types of homes in your area. CMAs also include information about area homes that failed to sell in recent months along with their listing prices.
SELLING TIMEFRAME
How long your home is on the market depends on many factors including location. Your agent can give you an approximate market time expectation based on your specific property. However, it's important to note that homes which are priced competitively, marketed aggressively to reach a wide buyer pool and staged effectively to showcase the best features attract more buyers and sell faster. Proper pricing is especially important in the early stages of your selling process. Statistics show that if properly priced, an offer should be presented within the first 10-15 showings.