When selling your home the kitchen comes first. Pay special attention because potential buyers will. In a sense you’re not actually selling your house, you’re selling your kitchen, that’s how important it is.

The kitchen is almost always the first place buyers gravitate to when I’m showing homes therefore it has to be impressive. If your kitchen hasn’t changed since 1962 that could present a problem. It will be a major expense and headache for the next owner. They’re not going to want to take that on. When a kitchen has been kept updated throughout the years it may just need a good cleaning and sprucing up.

The benefits of remodeling your kitchen can vary depending on how much work it really needs. Think about your location, price point and style of your house when making remodel decisions. If it needs updating it will certainly pay off to do so. It may cost a few thousand dollars to replace a countertop but a buyer may knock 10,000 dollars or more off their offer if it looks dated.

Some fast and inexpensive fixes for a dated kitchen could be as simple as adding or changing cabinet hardware. If the cabinets are old and dated sometimes you can get away with having them painted or resurfaced rather than replaced. When appliances look old and worn out buyers start adding up the expense of replacing them. To a buyer a $500 stove will costs thousands to replace in their head. They’ll use it as a negotiating point. Consider replacing them first if needed.

When a remodel is warranted carefully manage the costs. Just because you do a full remodel doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get all your money back. The market value of a home can only go so high depending on the neighborhood and comparables. The home will still have to be priced correctly in order to get it sold regardless of the remodel cost.

When selling your home for sale by owner these are all decisions you can figure out for yourself with a little research. Truthfully real estate agents in general are not that educated on remodel ROI. When you ask them for advice they’re doing the same thing you will, research.

You can easily sell your home yourself. It’s your money. Keep it.

Half empty closets make the space look twice as big. Storage is something all potential buyers are looking for and there can never be enough. Closets are some of that space. Organize them. Buyers will snoop by opening drawers and doors to see about storage. Keeping your spaces clean, tidy and uncluttered give the appearance of more room.

To often I see wardrobes packed full of clothes, shoes and stuff. I had a client that took the bifold doors off because she couldn’t get them closed and when I asked her to half empty her closets and put the doors on she refused. Ultimately the house didn’t sell because in my opinion it looked cluttered and messy. This particular house actually didn’t have much storage space to begin with so appearances were even more important.

When closets look small and crowded it gives the impression there isn’t much room and these days buyers are always talking about storage space. If it looks like there isn’t enough room for your clothes than there won’t be enough for theirs.

It isn’t just closets. All the storage spaces in your house should be half emptied and organized. You want to give the impression of plenty of room. Maybe you have one of those rooms in your basement. You know the one,  plastic containers stacked haphazardly to the ceiling full of everything you have owned for the last 20 years. Containers full of high school yearbooks, forgotten toys, material never used, forgotten hobbies and ect ect ect…

I suggest renting a storage unit or using a friends garage or parking a POD in your driveway. Take everything out of your closets and other storage spaces that you don’t need. Everything you can live without for the time it takes to sell your home. If you follow our advise that shouldn’t be long. By doing so the storage spaces in your house will appear larger and roomy which is Just what your potential buyer wants to see.

Giving the appearance of a lot of clutter free storage space is an important factor in getting your home sold. Pricing your house right is what will get buyers to visit. Giving the appearance of plenty of closet space will help to sell it!

Bookmark and read our blog. You’ll learn how you can easily sell your home yourself. It’s your money, keep it.

Why Would I Want to Help For Sale By Owner When I Make a Living Selling Real Estate.

Because sometimes it just makes more sense.

I work with a lot of military families helping them to find and purchase real estate. The first thing I want to know is does this make sense for you at this time. How long are you planning to be here? If you’re not going to be here long, and you have to sell your house, you should consider a For sale By Owner.

Military families move a lot. I know because I grew up in a military family and we were always moving, or so it seemed. We never spent more than a few years in any one place.

If someone is only going to be in a place for two years it doesn’t make sense to buy a house. They will likely have to pay to sell their home when the time comes to move. Yes, pay…to sell their home. Literally have to bring money to closing instead of leaving the closing table with a check.

Let me explain;

When you buy a house there is very little cost involved in the real estate transaction itself. If one is financing there will be some closing costs associated with that but it’s separate from the real estate transaction costs. For instance in the state I live in if you were to pay cash for a house there would be half the closing fee, around $250, and half the title insurance, which depends on the price of the house but isn’t expensive. Generally under $1000 total. When you go to sell your home that’s where the transaction fees (real estate commissions) get paid by the seller, you, along with half the closing fee and title insurance.

It’s not legal to fix those transaction fees where I live but they are generally 6% of the contract price. That can get expensive. If one doesn’t have enough equity built up they will have to bring money to closing to sell their house.

So my client tells me the Air Force says they are keeping him here for 7 years. Great, that’s plenty of time to buy a house, make it a home and if the economy stays intact probably come out a little ahead when it’s time to sell. A year and a half later the same client calls me and says the Air Force changed its mind and they have orders to ship out. Can I please help them sell the house.  One and half years is not enough time to build  equity to pay those outrageous transaction fees. Especially with government backed loans like FHA or VA that require little or no down payment. Little or down payment equals little or no equity.

Please notice I call them transaction fees rather than what they are. Real estate commissions. Transaction fees comes off a lot softer.

And yes, I get paid those outrageous fees when someone doesn’t know how or is scared to sell there house for sale by owner.

It’s really not that tough if you know how;

• To get your house market ready.
• To properly price your house.
• Where and how to market your house.
• How to vet a prospective buyer.
• And all the other things a real estate agent does.

And it’s not just Military either. Sometimes bad things happen to good people and they get jammed up. People lose jobs, get sick, get job transfers or just are forced for whatever reason to give up their home through no fault of their own. If this family owns a $300,000 house the fees are going to be in excess of $18,000. That’s a lot of money. It is to me anyway.

As I’ve talked about in previous posts you’ll have to put in a little work. Things might come up. Problems may arise. Every transaction isn’t always super smooth but…$18,000? Understand you’re going to have some costs and you may end up paying a realtor some money that brings you a buyer if you choose to. You can negotiate that.  Whatever happens you are going to save (make?) a lot of money.

To many sellers it’s worth the money not to have to deal with it. Not to go through all the necessary steps to sell your home for the most money. That’s well and good if you can afford it. For sale by owner isn’t for everyone. This is just to let you know there is another way. You can easily sell your house For Sale By Owner.