How to maximize your home’s selling price, know how much you’ll get, and do it all with confidence.
In this article, I’ll make sure you know what to watch out for when you’re looking to sell your home!
Power Tip #1: Know what your home is actually worth before getting your hopes up or down.
There are a few bad ways to estimate the expected selling price of your home.
- Using Zillow Zestimate is not recommended as it’s often off by a lot.
- Looking around at other advertised prices is unreliable as well, because they haven’t actually sold for that price.
- Adding what you paid in upgrades to what you paid for the house is just the total cost of what you’ve put in, not what you can expect to get out.
For a more reliable estimate, I highly recommend talking to an agent and having them perform a thorough analysis of your home and the market around it. He or she should check the recent neighborhood sales, and take into account things like square footage, floor plan, and condition of your home vs the other homes.
This estimate is called a comparative market analysis. Your agent should do it for free (if it’s not, you should get another agent).
I highly recommend getting one done before listing your home too fast. Knowing how much your home can reasonably sell for will help you make better decisions.
For more on how an agent estimates the value of your home, please read my article here:
Power Tip #2: Know all the costs of selling your home before listing it on the market.
If your home sells for $200,000, you usually don’t keep all of it in your pocket. There’s a couple things to pay off before any of that money hits your bank account.
You should expect to pay for escrow related fees, commissions to any agents involved, and any loans you have on the house.
Ask your agent to prepare a “net sheet”. A net sheet is a broken down estimate of how much money comes in from the sale, how much each expense will be, and how much you can expect to put in your pocket. Some average costs are outlined below:
- Closing costs including escrow fees are average 1-2% of the purchase price, but can be more based on your area or the deal you negotiate with your buyer and agent and the escrow company you use.
- Agent commissions in Las Vegas average 6% total but your agreement may be different.
- So far that’s an average of 7-8% of purchase price paid in fees and commissions.
- If you have a loan, that also will get paid off during escrow.
If you know how much you’re going to realistically pay and receive from this sale, you’ll be more likely to make an informed decision and not experience regret afterwards.
Power Tip #3: Stage your home to create the best experience for your buyers.
What does it mean to stage a home?
Usually it means you’ve:
- Cleared clutter and showed off the space
- Simplified the design of your home
- Taken steps to make the guests feel comfortable when they come in
For a more detailed tips on staging, please read my article here:
Power Tip #4: Get nice pictures taken to attract the most buyers.
Why pay for professional photos? Most people think they can use a small cheap camera or their cell phone and snap some pictures. You can do that, but it’s not bringing the best bang for your buck.
Most people looking for homes online decide if they want to see a home based on the pictures. Make sure they’re top notch! Having better pictures can bring many more buyers and hopefully the right ones!
What should I do?
Use a good photographer you know who specializes in property photos, or ask your agent for some recommendations.
I usually use a photographer that costs under $75 on average and his pictures are great for bringing in more people and higher bids. You can use whoever you like, but I highly recommend you invest in good pictures.
$100 of investment can save you weeks of time and potentially thousands of dollars of increased bidding from the extra competition.
For your reference, here is my photographer who doesn’t charge you an arm and a leg to get nice pictures done:
AC Photography’s Real Estate Album
Contact Info:
Andrew M. Cheung
E-Mail: ACPhotographyLV@gmail.
Cell: (626) 822 – 8668
Power Tip #5: Make sure your agent is competent
Passing the real estate exam isn’t easy, but it also doesn’t guarantee that the person knows how to maximize your profit, help you watch for pitfalls, or make the process quick and smooth for you.
A real estate license gives a person the legal right to help someone buy and sell real estate. It doesn’t make someone good at selling real estate or worth the money.
What makes a good agent?
A good real estate agent not only knows how to sell your home effectively and efficiently, but can educate and guide you before, during, and after the process.
You don’t want the only difference in qualifications between you and your agent to be only a license.
Ask your agent to show you some of the listings he’s sold.
Ask him to explain the process involved from beginning to end.
From getting your home ready, to calculating the numbers, to getting it on the market, to handling offers, paperwork, escrow, and finally, closing, he should be able to guide you through the entire process.
You don’t want to hire someone who looks like a deer in headlights when you ask them a basic question about how something will happen.
For more information on how to pick a good agent, please see my article here.
I hope this article has helped inform you on some items to pay attention to when selling your home.
If you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact me at 702-343-2670 (Call/Text) or lengsellsrealestate@gmail.com.
Have a great day! 🙂