home selling – Page 2 – OC Neighborhoods

Things to Avoid When Pricing Your Home for Sale

Home sales are never easy and there are so many challenges to deal with before they can be done correctly. However, hard does not mean impossible. By avoiding certain common mistakes, it can be a smooth ride for the seller at the end of the day.

A common mistakes that sellers makes is in pricing the home. In most cases, pricing determines whether a home is sold quickly or remain on the market for a long time.

Even with the help of the most seasoned real estate agent, if you overprice your home, no one will buy. The kind of price you settle for has an impact on the marketing plan.

If the home is listed at a fair price, it means more people may be interested in buying or making an offer sooner. Choosing the correct price is not easy so it is worthwhile that you put in more effort to do this right.

To sell your home easily and quickly, avoid these common pricing errors:

Overpricing the home simply to create some negotiating room

Many sellers assume that buyers usually offer a price that is much lower than what is listed. For that reason, they choose to overprice and leave some negotiating room, however the reality is quite different.

If you list your home higher than what the agent recommends, but this is a big mistake because buyers can easily check the internet for the right information, and therefore they may not make any offers.

Choosing an agent who offers a list price that is higher than all others

This is another common mistake. As is the case with other professions, there are some agents who excel at their jobs compared to others, there are the average agents and finally those that are terrible.

There are also agents who tell sellers that their home is worth an unrealistic amount, just to help them obtain the listing. While interviewing agents, never settle for those who offer the highest price. Research the facts and choose accordingly.

Not engaging the services of a real estate agent to do comparative market analysis

Pricing is never easy and there are many things that real estate agents consider before they offer a price. Professional agents spend time looking at available data and researching before they give a listing price.

Comparative market analysis is an essential part of the research that needs to be done correctly. The best real estate agent should be able to do this.

Overpricing just because you have time on your side

Some sellers feel that since they are not pressed to sell they can simply list the home higher than what current market analysis suggests. However, just because you are not in a hurry to complete the sale, it does not make sense to overprice.

The house may sit too long on the market and finally people may not really want to buy. These are the four pitfalls that every seller should be aware of and try to avoid as much as they can.

Tips to Sell Your Home in Orange County Before the New Year

As the year comes to an end, it’s time to see if you’ve achieved your goals for the year. It’s quite possible one of those goals are plans to move to a new neighborhood, city, or county that’s a better fit for you and your family in California. The following are some of the things to do before the New Year hits to sell your home and before new work goals take priority.

Make basic repairs
You want your home to be as attractive as possible to potential buyers to sell your home quickly. But not so attractive that you start second guessing the decision.

As you get further into the Fall season, it is a perfect time to landscape and snip the trees, clean out rain gutters, replace an older roof, and upgrade weatherstripping on doors and window frames. You should also fix any door repairs, update the lighting, and maybe paint a room or two to a neutral color if it’s an unusual color presently.

Make your home really appealing
A potential buyer will probably determine if they want to see the inside of your home within the first 30 seconds of viewing the front door. This means that curb appeal, how your house looks from the street, is among the most crucial steps you can do if you want to sell your home fast.

By simply planting some small plants or vibrant flowers near the front door can achieve this. Trim the tree branches and bushes. Take down any outside flags or personal decorations that could be interpreted as controversial.

Do a Comparative Market Analysis
If you want to sell your home pretty quick in a balanced buyers and sellers market, it has to be priced right. We have seen homes listed for sale for more than nine months. You don’t want to be that seller. Hire a listing agent to determine the best market price based on a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) and other factors of your home.

A CMA compares your home to similar homes in your neighborhood. if you’re pretty well versed in these reports and valuing properties,do one yourself and discuss your conclusions with the prospective agent, to be sure you are both on the same page.

Find an agent who knows your market
If you are in a rush to sell your home, don’t sign an agreement to sell with any agent. You need an agent who knows the south Orange County market, because prices can vary a lot depending on which city or school district your home is in. In a perfect world, you want your agent to have recent sales in your neighborhood, and/or adjacent areas.

Stage your home
Small maintenance projects and curb appeal are just a couple of ways to make your home look its very best. The profession of home staging is a strategy to make your home appeal to a larger variety of potential buyers. Staging will highlight the homes assets while being neutral. The ultimate goal is to get buyers to visualize the property as their own.

A few helpful hints are to replace personal effects with stylish decorative objects, improving the lighting by opening the curtains, blinds and cleaning the windows. Add medium to small-sized flowers and plants in large rooms. A professional stager with positive feedback would be a person you can trust and offer their expertise.

Be dedicated to marketing
As soon as you feel your home is in a position for it to be marketed to the public, it’s one-hundred percent go-time for marketing. Photos are going to be your best friend during the marketing period.

Therefore, a professional photographer is one use to take photos of the best features and highlights of your home. The appealing items such as a recently-upgraded kitchen or bathroom would stand out, a view of the mountains, Pacific ocean or park from the bedroom or backyard is nice.

Once you have quality photos of your home, your listing should be displayed on home for sale websites along with authoritative social media channels. A video tour of your home may help as well.

Choosing a Real Estate Agent in 2018

The following are ways you can evaluate a real-estate agent’s potential success to represent you to buy or help you sell your home before you engage their services.

Check references
Ask the agent to give you a list of properties they’ve sold or helped the buyer obtain in the past year, along with their contact information. Find out how long the home was on the market, what the list price was and then see how much the final contract price was.

Check their licensing status
Find out if the prospective real-estate agent has had any complaints or disciplinary actions. Simply navigate to the Bureau of Real Estate. Make sure their license hasn’t expired as well.

Pick a winner to represent you
One item that goes a long way is winning an award by your industry peers. Did they receive a “Realtor of the Year Ward” by a recognized state or local agency.

Review Credentials

Real-estate agents can specialize in one area just like engineers. The following are some professional designations to look for:

CRS (Certified Residential Specialist): Successful completion of educational courses in dealing with residential real estate.
ABR (Accredited Buyer’s Representative): Completed further education in buyer representation.
SRES (Seniors Real Estate Specialist): Fulfilled classes focused at helping buyers and sellers who are 50-years and above.

How many years of experience do they have

The CA BRE has a consumer section that allows you to see for yourself how long they have been licensed and at what companies.

Ideally, you’re looking for an agent is very knowledgeable about the neighborhood and has more than five years’ experience unless their first impression simply dazzles you and they have a support team to ensure success.

Check where the agent markets their listings

See what websites and media the agent uses to effectively market properties. Zillow and Realtor.com are top websites where should find their current listings and sold properties.

The majority of home buyers begin their search on the Internet, and you need an agent who utilizes that platform to the maximum.

Ask test questions

A good real estate agent should know about other area properties in the neighborhood that sold or are still listed. If the agent knows about a property you bring up and can provide you with some details, that is a good sign he or she does know your area, and the neighborhood.

Do You Work with a Team?

An agent who is part of a team can offer a lot of advantages. Some team members will have more in-depth knowledge of specific situations than another. Most will have broad knowledge and experience that will help in numerous situations. However, you don’t want to work with one agent one week then be tossed around to a second agent and another after that.

Would You Reduce Your Commission?

Not all real estate agents are equal; Keep in mind that around 10% of the agents do about 90-percent of the transactions. Each agent his or her own budget for advertising and marketing your property. By going with an agent who has a big budget, you might gain more exposure to a larger pool of buyers. The more buyers and bidding on your property in increases the odds of a full-price offer (or above list price).

If you’re buying a home and selling a home simultaneously, giving both transaction commissions to one agent may seem excessive. You may want to stipulate you get a full-price offer on your home and purchase the new home a certain percentage below list price.

Things That Can Go Wrong When Under Contract to Sell Your Home

During a hot real estate market, homeowners feel confident about their home’s appreciation and keep an eye out for a potential new place to buy. While it is true, a majority of homes sell routinely without problems, some sales do have problems that arise.

With that being said, the following are things that can go wrong during a home purchase transaction:

Making bad decisions based on advice from friends and family members who have no experience in the real estate industry.
Seller or buyer are not willing to negotiate.
The home inspection uncovered major issues that neither the buyer or seller are willing to pay to repair.
The appraisal report comes back substantially below the contract price.
The appraiser is unable to find comparable properties for the lender so the financing falls apart.
The buyer does not want to remove loan contingency because they have not satisfied the underwriting conditions.
The buyer’s letter was a pre-qualification, not a full pre-approval which verifies credit, income, assets and job.
The buyers are unable exit their current lease without paying a large lease cancellation fee.
The buyer didn’t lock the interest rate and does not qualify at the higher interest rate.
The closing date is pushed back due to buyer or lender errors or incomplete documents.
The title search shows liens, leased land, oil rights, etc that cause a delayed closing.
The pest and termite inspection finds the home is significantly infested.
Buyer or Seller has to abruptly go out of town and did not remember to obtain a Power of Attorney.
During escrow, the Buyer or Seller encounters a life changing event.
Someone fails to disclose pertinent information relevant to the transaction.
Buyer or Seller gets cold feet and wants to back out of the deal.
The home is not insurable due to a variety of reasons, newly designated fire zone, recent land movement, etc.
The buyer makes a major purchase on credit just before closing that exceeds the loan program’s maximum debt to income ratios.
Seller decides to not sell because the job transfer is cancelled, marriage reconciliation, and so on.
Seller is unable to locate an acceptable home they want to buy.
Seller does not let the appraiser or inspector see the home’s interior.
Seller does not have sole authority to sell property due to other owners.
Seller gives knowingly false pertinent information about the home and neighborhood to the buyer.
Seller does not sign final closing documents.

Picking the wrong real estate agent! Using an experienced, well-informed licensed agent can get you to the finish line. They understand the challenges and how to solve them. It’s important to get to good real estate agent.

Are You Really Ready to Sell in OC?

Your home is about to be listed for sale in Orange County. You did your homework and picked a really knowledgeable Realtor who is very sharp. Your home has great curb appeal. As a matter a fact, it looks so good now, you think to yourself, “why am I selling?”.

You remember all the recent straightening-up and cleaning until the inside is tip-top clean that not even a white glove will get dirty if you run it along the surfaces. You feel your home can now be on the cover of magazines.

The only question is, are you truly ready to sell your home and prepared for the next steps over the next few days, weeks and months.

People sell their homes for many reasons such as relocating for a job or loss of job, home is too small for their growing family or the home may be just too big due to family or friends moving out.

You have to determine far ahead of time if listing your home for sale is the right move for you in Orange County. Does it make financial sense? Are you fine with moving away from your friends and neighbors in South County to L.A, Riverside, or North Orange County for a job? Maybe you could still commute on the 5 or 405 freeway, or the Ortega highway to Southwest Riverside for work and simply add-on to your home or keep it as a rental?

For homeowners who are on the fence about their decision, an experienced Realtor will help you decide if listing your property now is the best choice for you personally.

Your Home is Actually a Product

When you put your home on the market, it becomes just another property for sale, not the best one as so many of us think. To the average consumer, your home is just another real estate listing. During open houses, some people will be in and out in one-minute flat while others will browse and envision your home for 30 minutes or more.

Let your agent know which features of your home will have buyers excited and which areas you wish to have less emphasis on. Never try and hide any known issues. If there are issues you know about it needs to be disclosed on a real estate legal form. Your agent will give you advice regarding this.

What to expect before you accept an offer

You should have plenty of interested buyers who want to view your home if you and your agent did a good job. You need to be ready for several home showing each day, during the day or night after work hours. This can complicate things if you have kids and pets. Don’t worry, this won’t go on for a long time.

If you are able to do this, get out of the home for that first week or two. Your Realtor should be able to take care of everything while you are away.

Once your home sells, where are you going to move to?

This is becoming a growing concern among many since there is low housing inventory in Southern California. You have to plan for your next home before you sell yours.

If you have the financial means to buy your next home before your sell your current home is always an ideal way to go. But If prior to buying you need to use the sales proceeds from your current home, you will have to either buy a home contingent on the sale of your current home or wait for your existing home to close prior to making an offer on a new home.

What do you do when selling your current home before buying a new home? A common solution is to request the buyers of your home to lease it back to you for 30 to 60 days. In a high demand market, where the sellers are in control, it can be pretty easy to get a seller leaseback when buyers are determined to win the bidding war. It can work but if the buyers are obtaining financing, the lender may have a condition they move in within 30 days of closing.

If the seller leaseback is not an option, a short term rental at weekly hotels may work as well. This type of housing situation change may motivate you buy a home you normally would not due to being in a noisy weekly hotel.

What do you do if your home is not selling?

Are you able to rent out your home, and in doing so, do you have the required down payment to buy your next home. Will the rent of your home cover all your housing costs such as principal, interest, taxes, insurance and HOA costs? Will you have property management company handle it?

Everyone’s situation is unique so having a backup plan is a good idea.