For Sellers
I hope to provide you with confidence that your home is priced appropriately, I will go over the marketing plan for your home, I will negotiate an acceptable offer for you, and once we have the purchase contract I will help you through the steps of title transfer, mortgage payoff, sales and property tax transfers and the other legalities of transferring the home to another owner.
Selling your home shouldn't be a stressful ordeal. Making the smart move of choosing a REALTOR® is your first step to ensuring that your investment in your home pays off. My services and experience allow you to focus on your move while I manage your home sale from our initial consultation to the closing deal, and beyond. I pride myself on repeat business and hope you'll come to understand why.
What I will do for you
Recent Home Sales
Getting the highest price
Closing Costs
- Complete a comparative market analysis that will compare your home's value to that of your neighbors. Start by requesting information on your homes value by filling in the form.
- Compile a comprehensive plan detailing all the efforts I will employ to sell your home, including Internet and local media.
- Prepare a statement that shows what you will profit after the sale of your home and outline the expected closing costs. Its important to note that many people selling their home may have over extended themselves on a second loan or home equity loan and may need to bring money to the bank to clear the homes title for transfer.
- Present your home to as many qualified buyers as possible getting your home maximum exposure.
- Market your home for sale which may include list your home in the mulitple listing service (MLS), place a yard sign in front of the property, hold open houses, advertise your for sale to neighboring communities by post cards newsletters, or other print media, add your home to the featured homes on my website,
- Help you stage your home and generate curb appeal to ensure you get the highest price.
- Assist with obtaining offers and help you in negotiating the best deal as smoothly as possible.
- Help you find your next home and answer all of your questions about the local market area, including schools, neighborhoods, the local economy, and more.
What are homes selling for on your street? Feel free to contact me to find out what neighborhood homes are selling for, free of charge, or to receive a more detailed analysis of the value of your home.
Getting the Highest Price for Your Home
Curb appeal is key and could make a difference whether people schedule a private tour or go on to the next home. Here are a few tips to increase the curb appeal of your home. Staging your home is important. Many buyers will stay in your home longer if it's staged appropriately. I have compiled some ideas to present your home in the most effective manner. You may also find articles in my newsletter helpful.
- Title insurance fees depend on the sales price of the home.
- Broker's commission is flexible and will be explored at the onset of our relationship.
- Local property transfer tax, country transfer tax, state transfer tax, and state capital gains tax are the charges that you'll pay for the privilege of selling your home. Credit to the buyer of unpaid real estate taxes for the prior or current year are variable and depend on when you close and when your taxes are due.
- FHA fees and costs are all fees are now negotiable between an FHA buyer and seller.
- Home inspections fees are in some circumstances paid for by the seller and include pest, radon and other inspections.
- Miscellaneous fees can accrue from correcting problems noticed during the home inspection.
Find out how much your closing costs could be.
Need help? Contact Leslee, I would be happy go over the details with you.
8 Quick Fixes to Increase Value
With buyers scarcer, sellers must up the ante to convince them that their property offers what many want most — top value for dollar expended. Here are eight fast fixes:
1. Buff up curb appeal. You’ve heard it before, but it’s critical to get buyers to want to look on the inside. Be objective. View listings from the street. Check the condition of the landscaping, paint, roof, shutters, front door, knocker, windows, house number, and even how window treatments look from the outside. Add something special—such as big flower pots or an antique bench — to help viewers remember house A from B.
2. Enrich with color. Paint’s cheap, but forget the adage that it must be white or neutral. Just don’t let sellers get too avant-garde with jarring pinks, oranges, and purples. Recommend soft colors that say “welcome,” lead the eye from room to room, and flatter skin tones. Think soft yellows and pale greens. Tint ceilings a lighter shade.
3. Upgrade the kitchen and bathroom. These make-or-break rooms can spur a sale. But besides making each squeaky clean and clutter-free, update the pulls, sinks, and faucets. In a kitchen, add one cool appliance, such as an espresso maker. In the bathroom, hang a flat-screen TV to mimic a hotel. Room service, anyone?
4. Add old-world patina. Make Andrea Palladio proud. Install crown molding at least six to nine inches in depth, proportional to the room’s size, and architecturally compatible. For ceilings nine feet high or higher, add dentil detailing, small tooth-shaped blocks used as a repeating ornament. It’s all in the details, after all.
5. Screen hardwood floors. Buyers favor wood over carpet, but refinishing is costly and time-consuming. Screening cuts dust, time, and expense. What it entails: a light sanding, not a full stripping of color or polyurethane, then a coat of finish.
6. Clean out, organize closets. Get sorting—organize your piles into “don’t need,” “haven’t worn,” and “keep.” Closets must be only half-full so buyers can visualize fitting their stuff in.
7. Update window treatments. Buyers want light and views, not dated, fancy-schmancy drapes that darken. To diffuse light and add privacy, consider energy-efficient shades and blinds.
8. Hire a home inspector. Do a preemptive strike, since busy home owners seek maintenance-free living. Fix problems before you list the home and then display receipts and wait for buyers to offer kudos to sellers for being so responsible.
Sources: REALTOR.org: Ernie Roth, Roth Interiors, Los Angeles; Angel Petragallo, abr, Group One, Boise, Idaho; Melissa Galt, Galt Interiors, Atlanta; Steve Kleiman, CEO, Oakington Realty, Houston; Sid Davis, Sid Davis & Associates, Farmington, Utah, and author of First-Time Homeowners’ Survival Guide (Amacom, 2007); Steve Hochman, Friendly Note Buyers, Roxbury, N.Y.; Margi Kyle, designer and spokesperson for Hunter Douglas.
2008 Color Trends
Liven up your listings using bold, vivid colors mixed with some earthy, natural tones. Paint, furnishings, and accessories are influenced by the natural environment. A few contrasting accents colors will have buyers taking notice.
Bring nature home.
Capturing the colors of the natural world is gaining traction this year with handmade, undyed, and unbleached materials. Off-white, sandy, and linen colors mixed with rock and soil colors and brownish greens are calling nature inside.
Blue hues.
The environment also is inspiring sky and water blues to come inside, even in livening up the kitchen. Be on the lookout in 2009: A deep navy blue that appears almost black and is inspired by the techno world will pop up in more homes.
Ethnic accents.
Color scheme influences from India, China, and Latin America will be evident this year. Expect Moroccan reds and glowing oranges to mix with rosy pinks, sunny golden yellows, and turquoise. For the ultimate color punch, pair them with rich browns and neutrals.
Subdue the shine.
Shimmery metallic finishes are still in, but chrome and nickel are starting to be replaced by softer shades. More homes are being outfitted with copper and bronze tones and bringing more warmth to metallic finishes.
Source: REALTOR.org: Color Marketing Group, an international association of color design professionals, which reports on color trends every year.
5 Showing Tips
1. Replace heavy drapes with lightweight sheers during warmer months to give a room a brighter, lighter feel.
2. Make the fridge smell fresh instantly with cotton balls soaked in vanilla extract or orange juice.
3. Help the home owner add new fluff to a lumpy comforter by having two people vigorously shake the quilt up and down to redistribute stuffing.
4. Shut some air conditioning vents on the first floor or basement so that more air will reach and cool the second floor. Reverse the process in winter for heat vents.
5. Resist the temptation to spot-clean walls since it will make the rest of the wall look dingy.
Source: REALTOR.org
