Pricing your home correctly from the moment it is listed is the single most important thing a seller can do to insure a quick and profitable sale. Most Collin County residents who plan to sell their home are faced with a challenge: how to sell their home for a profit.
Many sellers incorrectly believe that asking a higher price will net them more money; thinking that starting high gives them negotiating room. Unfortunately, these two notions are completely incorrect. This approach could actually prolong the time a home goes unsold and reduce the final sale price to well below market value.
A few key points to consider when pricing a home: The higher the sale price, the more it will be excluded from buyer property searches. A properly priced home will draw more prospective buyers and increase the chances for a quick sale. Statistics clearly show that the longer a property remains on the market, the lower its final sale price will be - buyers are wary of price-reduced properties, believing that something must be wrong with it.
Market analysis reports show that when a property sells in the first four weeks, it typically achieves a sale price within 1.9% of the fair market value. This discount increases to 3.6% after four weeks on the market, 5.6% after 12 weeks and 8.9% after 24 weeks. These percentages support the importance of pricing a home correctly from the start.
In competitive housing markets, it’s especially important that your home is not priced so high that it is overlooked or skipped in searches. A large number of buyers begin their searches on the internet. They key in price ranges and desired locations to get started looking at listings that meet their search criteria. A home that is priced even $1 above that range would be omitted.
The price of a home is critical – don’t let a pricing error cause you to lose more money in the long run.
Saving a dollar is always a smart idea, but in today’s economy it’s not only smart, it’s absolutely necessary. One of the best ways to save money and protect your investment is with a home warranty.
Owning a home is the American dream - but this dream has ongoing maintenance and repair costs. Many homeowners find themselves making numerous repairs throughout the year, piling up expenses. All it takes is one major breakdown to set a household into a financial tailspin. And that’s where your home warranty is useful.
Is a home warranty the same as homeowners insurance? No. A home warranty is a twelve month residential Read more…
Today, there are more than 20,000 active residential listings for sale in Plano alone. In today’s competitive housing market, it’s important that your home’s first impression is a lasting one. Home staging is designed to do just that by improving your home’s appeal – it is not intended to cover defects or deceive buyers. Remember, presentation is everything.
Living in your home and marketing your home to sell are two completely different concepts. It’s a fact of life that while we are living in our home, we collect things, save things and store things. The simpler forms of staging include de-cluttering your home – this is probably the single most important thing (next to cleaning) that a seller can do to make their home more attractive. Potential buyers are going to browse through the storage areas of a home, they want to see just how much room they will have for their own belongings. If you appear to be cramped, they believe they will be too.
The basics: organize or clean out closets, pantry, drawers and cabinets; clear off kitchen and bathroom countertops; put away your random collections of knick-knacks, memorabilia, magazines and the like. You want the buyer to easily imagine themselves living there and it may be difficult for them to do when they’re surrounded by your personal collections.
Your real estate agent may suggest a more detailed staging process, one that involves a professional stager, rather than a more common consultation. Do not take this suggestion personally, your agent knows your home’s competition and wants to ensure that your home fares well against it. Think of it as maximizing your home’s visual and emotional appeal to insure that it makes an impression with buyers.
Your agent can recommend a professional stager and most staging companies will work within your budget to dress up your home. The cost for home staging services vary considerably, but more often than not, it’s less expensive than the first price reduction you’ll make if the home doesn’t sell. Now that’s something to think about.
There’s been a lot of buzz in the real estate world this week about a 1% resale fee that some builders may put into their new home building contracts.
This fee is not a new concept; condominium and townhome owners are often subjected to resale fees or ‘flip tax’ as it is also called. Typically the flip tax is used toward community improvements or common area maintenance – but that doesn’t seem to be the case with this new development.
The fee proposed by developers has concerned a much larger group now, as it would affect home buyers of single family detached properties – which is the majority of real estate transactions, especially in the Collin County area. It appears that some developers are looking to receive 1% of the original sales price every time the house is sold – for 99 years. And these funds wouldn’t be put towards community improvements or common area maintenance, they are solely intended as profit for the builders.
A list of builders imposing this resale fee in their contracts has not been discovered yet. Your real estate agent will be able to assist you in checking the contract and providing assistance in negotiating the fee. However, if you’re purchasing a new construction home without an agent, make sure you read the fine print and fully understand any fees or charges imposed.
As of today, there are no set policies as to who would be required to pay this resale fee – the buyer or the seller – therefore, it would be just one more item up for negotiation.
Home builder confidence in the single family housing market has dropped for the third straight month, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The Housing Market Index (HMI) reached a 3-year high just 90 days ago, but has dropped almost half in August reaching a multi-year low.
The new construction housing market and consumer confidence are down for similar reasons: high unemployment levels, strict credit guidelines, heavy supply of distressed properties (foreclosures) and battered home values. Although home values are on the rise in North Texas, it a slow recovery.
For home buyers in Collin County and surrounding areas, this drop in builder confidence can be an excellent negotiation tool. When sales are lean, builders are more likely to offer incentives, upgrades and price reductions as a means of enticing prospective buyers. This is especially true on inventory or spec homes, as the builders do not want to carry excess supply into the slow months of fall and winter. In addition to the obvious savings offered by builders, a weakness in home building can indirectly affect and reduce mortgage rates.
The combination of incentives and excellent mortgage rates make this a great time to build a new home. Contact us to help you take advantage of these great offers!
Many sellers incorrectly believe that asking a higher price will net them more money; thinking that starting high gives them negotiating room. Unfortunately, these two notions are completely incorrect. This approach could actually prolong the time a home goes unsold and reduce the final sale price to well below market value. 
