| Selling A HOME? Your Needs Come First |
| The
best way to start the home buying process in the Manhattan area is to
call Prudential Copeland & Company, REALTORS first! The process of
marketing and selling your house must match your objectives, priorities
and needs. |
| Home Selling Process |
| Selling a house typically includes many of the following elements. At Prudential Copeland & Company, REALTORS we will be your resource and guide every step of the way. |
| Pricing your Home and Understanding Market Value |
| Market-sensitive pricing can be the key to maximum market exposure and, ultimately, a satisfactory sale. The existing pool of prospective buyers determines a property’s value, based on: • Location, design, amenities and condition. • Availability of comparable (competing properties). • Economic condition that affect real property transactions. Factors that have little or no influence on the market value of a house include: • The price the seller originally paid for the property. • The seller’s expected net proceeds. • The amount spent on improvements. The impact of accurate pricing: • Properties priced within market range generate more showings and offers, and sell in a shorter period of time. • Properties priced too high have a difficult time selling. |
| Determining a Market Sensitive Price-CMA |
| An
impartial evaluation of market activity is the most effective way to
estimate a property’s potential selling price. A Comparative Market
Analysis considers properties that: Have sold in the recent past: • This shows us what buyers in this market have actually paid for properties similar to yours. Are currently on the market: • These are properties that will be competing with yours for the attention of available buyers. Failed to sell • Understanding why these properties did not sell can help avoid disappointment in the marketing of your property. A Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) is an estimated sale price for a property given current market conditions. It will encompass sales of similar properties that have sold in your neighborhood with in the last 6 months to a year. It is prepared by a real estate agent and it usually comes in report form. There is no fee associated for preparing a CMA. It gives you as our client an estimate of the property’s current value or valuation. |
| The Dangers of Overpricing |
| An asking price that is beyond market range can adversely affect the marketing of a property. • Fewer buyers are attracted, and fewer offers received. • Marketing time is prolonged, and intial marketing momentum is lost. • The property attracts “lookers” and helps competing houses look better by comparison. • If a property does sell above true market value, it may not appraise, and the buyers may not be able to secure a loan. • The property may eventually sell below market value. |
| For Sale by Owner Do I Really Need Help Selling A Home For Sale By Owner in Manhattan? |
|
When selling a home for sale by owner in Manhattan, it is all too often
a fatal mistake to look only at the selling commission. Many homeowners
find out too late that all they received was a sign in the ground, and
listed in the MLS system. There is so much more to selling a home.
There is experience drawn from past sale, negotiation of price, terms,
conditions, contract terminology, financial ability, inspection issues
and so on. So when selling a home for sale by owner, or looking at listing only by reduced commission, flat fee, or cut rate commission,... it is always wiser to look at the bigger picture. Look at the experience level of the agent that you are hiring to get your home sold. It may be smarter when listing a home that was for sale by owner to ask the listing agent a few questions. "How long have you been in business?" "How many homes a year do you sell?" "How do you intend to market the home?" "What experience do you have?" Do I really need help when selling a home for sale by owner in Manhattan? Yes, of course you do! Most Manhattan for sale by owner's do! The success rate for Sale By Owners or FSBO's has changed little over the years. Only a small percentage will be successful. Nearly four out of every five buyers will use an agent or broker to complete their transaction. Eleven percent will buy directly from a builder. Only nine percent will purchase their home directly from the previous owner. Many will sell their homes for less than market value, because they do not understand the process, and end up wasting time with unqualified buyers or contingency offers. If you came into a small inheritance, chances are you would seek the services of a tax lawyer, an accountant or a financial planner. So when it comes to selling or buying a home that is the biggest investment of your life, many people do not feel an agent is important. The bottom line is that transactions are much more complex than they seem. Real estate deals and finances have become more involved in recent years and for that reason it is important to have professional assistance. Almost every home seller dreams of bypassing a real estate agent and saving the sales commission. Occasionally, a seller gets lucky. Perhaps the seller is relocating with his company, and they’ve offered him a bonus if the employee sells the home in a short period of time. Many times, the bonus is the downfall. The seller wastes time trying to sell it themselves to keep the entire bonus. More often than not, the home sits. A lot of traffic, yet no sale? How can this be? Is the home advertised? Is there a yard sign? Is it easily found on the Internet? Well times have changed. It used to be a classified ad would bring many qualified buyers to a home on a single ad. The Internet has changed all that. Today, there are more than 30 million persons on-line on the Internet. 2 out of 3 adults over the age of 12 are on line every day! Industry studies show, that over 70% of all home purchases begin on the net. A buyer in Ohio can view the inside of every major room of a home for sale in Manhattan in full color! They can narrow their purchase and the house hunting trip by shopping and previewing homes on line. Today, even a loan can be obtained on the Internet, tax records, school reports, and credit reports. You have to ask yourself, “Do I have this exposure?” Having sold many for-sale-by-owner homes that were unsuccessfully marketed, we have noticed that a common error made when marketing their home was “due diligence.” A buyer advises the seller that they are going to get a letter from a lender within a few days, but the letter never comes! When asked for a loan letter…they tell the seller they are still shopping around for the best rates. Again, the letter never arrives. The reasons are many, and all too often the buyers are not heard from again. Were they qualified? Could they afford to buy? This can be frustrating especially if this drags on for several months. What are the reasons? Who knows? Were they self employed, did they have bad credit, were they a slow pay on credit or did they just not have the correct documentation when inquiring about a mortgage? The real answer is they did not have anyone directing the buyers to the right lender that can provide a loan suited to their particular needs. Also, many times buyers that frequent for sale by owner homes are not qualified. A good real estate agent will always have a buyer qualified before letting them in their car for an afternoon of house hunting. It is important in personal safety to be careful with potential buyers. If they cannot afford to buy a home, then what are their real motives for looking? You should remember, the only way an agent gets paid is when they successfully close the deal. They are not a taxi service. So selling a home is no longer a simple process, and getting top-dollar is especially difficult for do-it-yourselfers that don't know the process. A common mistake is that a seller often overlooks the experience, the network of agents and the connections an agent uses to make things work. They have contacts, inspectors, handymen, and relationships of many peers that have successfully worked with them before. Marketing a home to receive its best market value, prepare a legally binding contract, arrange for financing, survey, handling inspections, counters and closing the sale successfully takes experience. It takes more than luck to sell a home. There’s more to it than a planting a sign in the yard, a color flyer and placing a clever ad in newspaper. That is not even half the job. Getting it closed is a true test. How Buyers Find the Home They Purchase Homebuyers may use several information sources in their search process, but they are most likely to find the home they actually purchase through a real estate sales professional. |