Want a quick home sale? Canton, Michigan home owners find out how.

August 15th, 2008 Lee Bittinger Posted in Curb Appeal, Fun & Interest, Marketing Your Home For Sale No Comments »

 

 

 

Canton and Plymouth, Michigan home owners learn the value of curb appeal and how it relates to the quick sale of their house. Simply defined, Curb Appeal is a "Common term for everything prospective buyers can see from the street that might make them want to take a closer look at a house for sale." Canton, MI home buyer’s and sellers find the following tips very informative and helpful. These easy, inexpensive fixes will help create that outside appeal and get you one giant step further into a sale in today’s market!

 

 

 

1. Paint or stain the front and garage doors, especially if they show any weathering. These are the first visuals where a potential buyer focuses. If garage doors are metal and dented, they may need to be replaced.

 

2. Any old, basically abandoned sheds or small structures, must be removed, the area graded and the grass replaced.

 

3. Change any dated, outside light fixtures.

 

4. Fix that driveway. If it is blacktop, make sure cracks and crumbling areas are dug out and filled and then the whole driveway sealed. If it is cement, have large cracks filled and repaired professionally. The buyer must at least feel they can drive the moving truck in confidently!

 

5. Make sure landscaping bricks are in their proper placement. Mowing, weed-whipping sometimes moves them and this is something the homeowner rarely notices, but makes the property look unsightly.

 

6. Fill in bare dirt under large shade trees. Plant shade-tolerant plants in defined planters or groundcover. Landscape properly for that area.

 

7. All landscaping beds should be cleaned out and updated for the time of year it is in your region. Place new bedding material down.

 

8. Have trees and bushes pruned and trimmed. If a bush or tree is looking old or about to expire, remove it and replace it with a similar size and type if you can. If there is a tree limb(s) over the roof, have them removed. Flowers also bring instant curb appeal.

 

9. If the house needs painting and a full paint job is not in the cards; have it touched up professionally in the worst, most visible spots. Paint shutters and fix them if they are hanging crooked. At least this may help get your client in the front door, even if they negotiate a full paint job into the sale later.

 

10. If the house is sided, have it power-washed and have gutters and windows cleaned. Window cleaning inside and out makes the house feel updated and fresh, rather than old and dingy.

 

11. Make sure grass is in good shape, weeds are removed, trimming done regularly. So many sellers fall down on this job the minute the house is listed, and this is critical to selling a house quickly, especially one where the owners have already moved out. In snowy climates, removal must be done regularly, too. If owners have moved out make sure you have an Home Warranty to re-assure buyers.

 

12. Keep garbage and recycle containers inside the garage, along with all toys and equipment. Make sure the garage is neat and organized. Painted walls and floors also go a long way in this area and are inexpensive to do. Some have found that having their garage floor resurfaced was a huge selling feature.

 

13. Decks should be washed and repainted or re-sealed; plantings around them cleaned, weed-free and looking good. Patio furniture should be in excellent condition. Even though it is in the backyard, this is the area where the family can envision enjoying the warm days and the new yard.

 

14. If the roof has missing shingles and they can be replaced inexpensively, suggest this be done as it may save negotiation over a completely new roof. Roof repair needs and costs should be minor or the homeowner might as well replace the entire roof.

 

15. If you want to do a bit more, other great ideas are solar lights lining the driveway or installing a more attractive front door with lead glass inserts and replacing plain doorknobs with something more custom.

 

16. If you have an evening showing, make sure lights are on outside and inside the house. This is warm and inviting. Staging your home nicely will gives the potential buyers a better perspective on how they can see themselves living there, and it makes your home really stand out from the rest!

 

17. If it’s a holiday season, by all means decorate the home! Just like sugar cookies or vanilla scent on the inside of the house, this really says "it’s a home" and "I can really see myself enjoying life here"! In the least, always have some greenery or flowers for the season on the front step or porch; even a birdbath with a little garden around it says home.

 

 

Remember, most home buyers cannot visualize even these simple changes and clean ups in a house. The ones who can, will be looking for a reduced price. So, to sell your house at top dollar and quickly, make it "appeal" to the many who will be seeing it rather than the few who are looking for a "fixer upper." These people know what they want, go after it and need less assistance. There are also, of course, some improvements that will give you the best payback as well.

 

Another tip is to have neighbors or friends look at the finished results to see if you have missed anything key that would be quick and easy to do. It may also be helpful to search the internet to get some other great ideas. 

 

Do you have any curb appeal suggestions to share?  Please leave us a comment!

 

Canton Michigan home sellers find their homes sell five times faster if they pay attention to the little things. This video provides one example of often overlooked items, within the home, that can make a big difference to potential buyers:

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Another video provides helpful tips on adding Sweat Equity as well as curb appeal to your home

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Low Appraisals Add To Seller’s Woes…Setting Your House Price, Clinic #1

May 22nd, 2008 Lee Bittinger Posted in House Values, Marketing Your Home For Sale, Pricing Your Home For Sale 2 Comments »

Low appraisals leave sellers in a state of despair

Getting the highest price for the sale of your home is usually a seller’s primary objective. But even if you sell the house at a high price, it still has to appraise or it will never make it to closing.

Our experience in home sales in the Detroit, Michigan suburbs is that sellers, with the help of their agents, usually price a property too high. This results in a lower appraisal and an unsold house after weeks or even months of being off the market.

This blog provides the first in a series of house pricing clinics that you can use to objectively set the correct asking price for your home that will net you the most dollars after all is said and done at the closing table.

Imagine having to run a marathon in almost impossible weather conditions. In fact, it is the worst race-day weather in almost twenty years. Somehow, you grit it out. Determination enables you to keep one foot in front of the other, even though the finish line is still miles ahead of you.
                                                               
How would you feel if you were that runner? That’s how sellers feel when they are told, about a week prior to closing, that their property won’t close because of a low appraisal. It’s a long walk back to the starting line.

Low appraisals are becoming more common in our correcting market, and it’s adding to the frustration levels of sellers, agents and even the appraisers. However, there are steps that sellers and agents can take to possibly improve the appraisal. In the cases where they cannot, they can at least minimize the disruption a low appraisal can cause.

The first step in avoiding a low appraisal is setting the price right the first time and getting a sale at a price that will appraise at current market conditions. Click here for advice on how to set the price right. 

Secondly, in our market where the price is decreasing, you’ll want to get the house sold as quickly as possible. Staging the house is crucial to getting it sold quickly at the right price. We often tell our clients who we represent in the sale of their home "We are in a price war and a beauty contest". Not only does the house have to be priced right, it also has to look great. Our home staging checklist will help in taking you through the things that must be done before putting your house on the market.

If you set the price right and made the house look like a gem, chances are you will get a sale in a reasonable time period. Once that happens it is crucial to get an appraisal fast. We work diligently with the selling agent and bank to get the appraisal fast. Every day the house is off the market is a loss to the seller if the appraisal comes in low. We want to know about appraisal issues right away so we can get the house back on the market if the issue is unresolvable. An added benefit is that often there were other buyers for the house that may still be in the market to buy. We want to resurrect them if possible

If their is an appraisal issue we work with the appraiser to try to arrive at a solution. Understand that the appraiser’s livelihood is tied to the success of our market, just like ours. Appraisers want every property to appraise, as long as they have the proper supporting information. Working together, instead of yelling and pointing fingers at each other, will better accomplish that.
 
Sellers may be able to help the cause, particularly if they know inside information on a recent sale in their neighborhood, such as a death or divorce, something that would explain a lower-than-normal sales price. Appraisers welcome input and reasons to use or disqualify a particular sale. Agents can do a better job of being cooperative with appraisers when they call to verify the details of a sale. The information they give may help rescue a transaction.
 
Buyers can lose because of a low appraisal too. Therefore, agents should be proactive in helping a buyer select a lender. Local lenders use local appraisers. Buyers take caution: chasing the “lowest rate of the day” from one of the many Internet lenders may not be the best path to take. Internet lenders sometimes use out-of-area appraisers, who do not know the nuances of the local market. Not only that, they may take the attitude that they will never have to do business with us again, so why go the extra mile in order to make the deal happen?
 
When a local lender is selected, agents should ask to see the list of approved appraisers. If a familiar name pops up, the agent may be able to request that person. It’s always better to work with someone you know. Consumers choosing an agent should request a list of all appraisers they have worked with in the past.
 
One of the most prudent things to do is to require the appraisal be done as close to the effective date of the contract as possible. Sellers, if you are selling privately, you should write this into the contract because if you do not specify the timing of the appraisal, then it may be completed according to someone else’s convenience, not yours. It may even take place after the mortgage contingency period is over. However, it could still ruin the sale because an acceptable appraisal is usually one of the conditions of loan approval. Either way, the property may not close. Aggressive buyers may even delay the appraisal and use it to reopen negotiations to the unsuspecting seller. Sellers, your negotiation strength is weakened somewhat once your moving truck is loaded.  

 

A low appraisal does not have to kill the deal. Remedies include getting a second appraisal, renegotiation of the price, or the buyer can increase the down payment to cover the shortage. Regardless, the marathon process of selling requires stamina. Therefore, when you run the race in the conditions we face, run it once. If you have to start over because of a low appraisal, the sooner off the starting line you find out, the better.

If you are ready to put your house on the market call us and ask for a detailed Marketing Market Analysis (MMA). Most agents will provide a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) which prices the house based on recent sales. Our MMA prices the house using recent sales and our Marketing systems to help you obtain the best price based on today’s market. Setting that initial price is the first step to getting the best price.

Subscribe to this site and watch for more blogs on pricing your house in today’s challenging market.

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