How to Sell Your Home FAST!

In this market, pricing the home correctly is the number one thing to do to get your home sold as fast as possible. Don't forget that you're competing with every foreclosure and short sale out there and the price your neighbor sold for 6 months ago just isn't the price you'll get now.

Before you put your house on the market, there are five tips I can give you for selling the home quickly.

1. The pre-market appraisal: Nothing is more frustrating to a Seller than getting a contract to purchase their home, going through inspection and possible repairs and then finding out that the home did not appraise for the purchase price. And since our Purchase Agreement Contract here in Tucson (and most everywhere else) contains a contingency that says the Buyers can walk away from the purchase if the home doesn't appraise at purchase price, this is truly a critical piece to examine early on to avoid any last minute gliches. Find a good appraiser and tell him or her that you're putting your home on the market and want to make sure it will appraise for the purchase price. These people really know what they're doing and it's well worth the $300 average cost. It doesn't mean that you need to start out with a price the same as the appraisal since you may want a little bit of wiggle room when the house first goes on the market. But let me be clear. I said a little bit of wiggle room and by this I mean no more than 2 - 4%. The pre-market appraisal will save a significant amount of heartache in having to re-negotiate a price or even put your house back on the market if the property fails to appraise at purchase price.
2. The pre-market inspection: Lots of Sellers make the mistake in thinking that the "little problems" that plague every resale home won't make a big difference to someone purchasing the home. They sometimes think that these things didn't really bother them the whole time they lived in the home so why would they bother a Buyer. In a Seller's market, this thinking is ok, but in a shifting market like we're seeing here in Tucson, it's important that a home be in excellent repair prior to placing it on the market. Buyers have thousands of homes to choose from and tend to want the homes that appear to be well maintained and in perfect move in condition. The pre-market inspection will identify all the little nitty things that may not be working properly in the home. It will also identify any safety issues like a lack of GFCI circuits near sinks and tubs or leaky faucets or outlets that don't work. My advice is to find a good handyman and give them the inspection report. Most of the time the cost to repair these items is no more than a day of your handyman's time. It's well worth it.
3. De-personalize your house: Buyers want to be able to imagine themselves living in their new home and may get caught up in looking at family photos or awards or other items that personalize a home. This doesn't mean you have to take the personality out of the house .... just take the person out of the house, and it will sell more quickly. Remove all photos and any items that put your signature on your home.
4. Clear out clutter: I can't count the number of times I've shown a home to a prospective Buyer that appeared 500 sq. ft. smaller due to all the clutter. Clutter just doesn't mean papers and knicknacks and toys and stacks of magazines. When I talk clutter, I'm also referring to the numerous appliances we all tend to keep on our kitchen counters, the excess pots and pans we keep in our cabinets, the walls filled with too many pictures and the rooms that have too much furniture. Take the time to go through your home room by room. De-clutter it once and then again and again until Buyer's can appreciate the size of the rooms and the extra cabinet space. Buyers will open all your kitchen drawers and cabinets and pantry. Get rid of the cans of soup you've been keeping for the last 3 years and the almost empty household cleaners under the sink. Box up everything you don't need and store it neatly in the garage. Take those shoes you haven't worn since your niece's wedding and give them to Good Will. Your home will show better and that's what it's all about.
5. Work on the Curb appeal: The last thing you want is for prospective Buyers to drive up to your home and make a quick u-turn without coming inside. Take an objective look at the front view of your home. Are there oil stains all over the driveway? Does your front entry way look welcoming and inviting? Are there dead plants in the landscaping? Spend a day ensuring that Buyers don't do a u-turn by cleaning up the front landscaping and adding some colorful flowers to the front entry way. Spiff up the front door and make sure the door handle looks new and shiny and that the door opens easily with the key. Buyers usually spent a good minute standing at the front door while their agent gets the key out of the keysafe and opens the door. A little work will make sure that their first impression is a good one.
   

I Hate My Realtor

I was sitting with a friend the other day and she and I were talking about the pros and cons of working with various real estate agents. A friend of hers had chosen a well respected local agent to list her home and was struggling with her opinion that this agent wasn't doing enough to get her house sold. After sitting on the market for 5 months, the Seller mentioned that the agent had finally decided to do an open house. When I asked some more questions, I found out that the home was still filled with clutter (including a number of personal photos) and that despite a number of showings, no offer had come in.

OK, then, so what's the problem?First of all, some houses just take a long time to sell. Perhaps they have a unique design or floorplan. Or maybe they're not in the most desirable neighborhood or located on a busy road. What I can tell you about these types of homes is that they do eventually sell . . . if the price is right. But let's say that the home just doesn't show well. Perhaps it's poorly decorated. Or filled with clutter. Or it needs new paint. Or there's an odor from the kitty litter box that just won't go away. Or there are weeds in the yard, oil stains on the driveway and dirty dishes in the sink. The closets may be overflowing and the kitchen counters are cram packed with the latest gadgets.I won't begin to try to say that's it's an easy job for an agent to give honest feedback about a home, particularly to a friend. But it's our job and any agent who avoids having these tough conversations is not only the type of friend you don't need when you're trying to sell your home. This type of agent isn't doing their job.

If your home has been on the market for some time and it hasn't sold, I know it's easy to blame your Realtor. I've often heard said, "My Realtor hasn't done her job. No open houses and she hasn't brought by one single buyer who's made an offer. I need someone else to sell this house". Now I'm not saying that all agents are created equal. But if your Realtor is properly marketing your home by creating inviting descriptions, posting great photos on MLS, showing the home to anyone who inquires about it in a timely manner, following up with agents who have shown your home, then chances are she's doing a good job and you need to sit down with her, have a frank discussion about why the house hasn't sold and consider taking her advice.

Buying a Tucson Foreclosure

While buying a bank owned property is a bit easier than buying a short sale, it still has its challenges for the agent and the buyer.

I recently represented a buyer in making an offer on a bank owned property. It reminded me of better times a couple of years ago when any listing brought in multiple offers, typically on the first day.
My first time buyer wanted to find "a deal". When a low priced listing came up in the area he wanted, we took a look at it on the first day of the listing. The comps showed us that even at full listing price, the home was a screaming deal. We submitted our offer immediately at full price with minimal conditions.
When I checked in with the listing agent the next day, she let me know that she'd received 9 other offers. She told me that the asset manager would respond with a request for a "best and final offer" the following day.

To make a long story short, it took us 2 weeks and 4 more offers to get an acceptance. The bank required the buyer to sign the dreaded standardized addendum the contradicted many of the buyer protections in our standard Arizona Purchase Contract. The Bank would do no repairs. The Bank would offer no disclosures. The Bank would warranty nothing. Scary stuff, but with 8 other ready and willing buyers competing with us, the Buyer decided that with a thorough inspection of the home, he was willing to forfeit some of the protections in the standard agreement.

You can imagine the comments he heard from his friends. "What do you mean you paid more than listing price in this market?" and "Tell the Bank to stuff it". But the good news is that the Buyer had the logic and patience needed to succeed in getting that good deal.

He's closing on the home right before Thanksgiving and despite all the hoops he's had to jump through, he's grateful that he had the fortitude to hang in there.

The Cure

No, this isn't a post about a rock band or a medical miracle. The "Cure" in real estate terms refers to Section 7a of the Residential Resale Real Estate Contract that gives a party the chance to cure a failure to perform an obligation under the Contract.I often hear the question, "Is there anything that can go wrong in this deal?" or "Are we absolutely, 100% positive that we'll close on the Close of Escrow date?". While I always wish I could answer no to the first question and yes to the second, experience has shown me that there are a number of milestones to reach contractually before both Buyers and Sellers can relax and be absolutely certain that the deal will go through.In 2005, the Arizona Association of Realtors implemented a new purchase contract which included the provision of a "Cure Period". Simply put, a cure period is a second chance to fix a problem before it becomes a breach. This eliminates any automatic breaches since the Cure Period notice is now required before declaring a breach of contract. The intent of creating this cure period was to give all parties guidelines for handling non-performance, to give parties some leverage in gaining compliance to the contract terms, to reinforce the fact that both parties must do certain things within certain timeframes (time is of the essence) and to fairly give each party a chance to rectify a non-compliance with the contract before the contract is cancelled or legal action is taken.A breach of contract is fundamentally a broken promise whereby one of the parties violates one or more of the terms or conditions of a contract without legal excuse. The remedies for a breach may include forfeiting earnest money, cancellation of the contract, forcing the breaching party to keep their promise or actual monetary damages. Many people confuse breaches with contingencies but there is a distinct difference. A contingency is an event that has to happen before a party is obligated to perform a contract. It's a condition, not a promise. Examples of contingencies are the inspection contingency, the loan contingency and the appraisal contingency. If a contingency doesn't happen, the contract automatically terminates. If a breach happens, a Cure Period Notice is required.Let's say that the Buyer has asked and the Seller has agreed to repair a pool motor prior to Close of Escrow. On the closing date, the motor hasn't been fixed. This is a breach and the Seller is contractually obligated to correct it. The Buyer should immediately deliver a Cure Notice to the Seller. The Buyer can either delay closing for up to three days to allow the Seller the chance to repair the pool motor or go ahead and close escrow. So what happens if after three days the Seller still hasn't repaired the motor? If the Buyer has delayed closing, the Seller is in breach of contract and the Buyer may proceed against the Seller subject to the dispute resolutions outlined in the Contract. If the Buyer has gone ahead and closed, the Buyer can pursue the Seller for the breach and recover the cost of repair (either in small claims court or through mediation).On the other side, let's say the Buyer decides to back out of the contract on the closing date. All contingencies of the contract have been met. The Seller must then present the Buyer with a Cure Notice. If, after three days, the Buyer still does not close escrow, then the Seller is entitled to cancel the contract and keep the earnest monies. Should another offer to purchase come in during this three day period, the Seller should be careful to only accept this offer contingent upon the cancellation of the first contract or otherwise be exposed to enormous liability.In an upcoming post, I'll explore some of the in's and outs of contingencies.