Posts Tagged with sellers

Not all home improvements are created equal. Even in a seller’s market, it’s important that homeowners make the right investments that will yield higher returns. As you guide your clients toward a profitable sale, make sure you’re an expert on the top 10 home improvement myths so you can prevent your clients from believing them.

Father’s Day is next week, and Dad is sure to get a few tools or gift certificates to a home improvement store that he’ll be itching to use, so make sure your clients are in-the-know before then!

1. Any remodeling project will add value to your home.

While many remodeling projects will add value to a home, some can be seen as a negative by future buyers. For instance, combining two smaller bedrooms to create one larger bedroom may better fit one homeowner’s lifestyle today, but it may cause the home to lose value in the eyes of a future buyer who needs the two separate rooms.

2. Buying the highest-quality materials attracts more buyers.

Installing high-end materials may seem like a wise decision, but it can backfire. For instance, using the most expensive tile in a bathroom may create an impressive appearance, but value-conscious buyers may opt for a more affordable home if the seller has over-improved compared to others in the neighborhood.

3. Adding square footage always adds value.

A better way to think about this statement is to insert the word useable into the sentence. Finished attics and basements – even if considered liveable by local standards – may not be attractive to a buyer if they are not finished to the same standards as the rest of the home.

Hey guys, is there a buyer out there that you know of that likes to play the "real estate game" and make really low offers? Or are you the "culprit"? This article may help you rethink that strategy when it comes to putting in bids for homes. Check it out:

A housing transaction, at the most fundamental level, includes one person who wants to sell and one person who wants to buy. Once the terms are agreed upon, voilà! . . . win-win.

However, if the seller is miserable with the final terms or feels like they had to settle for a lowball offer, the deal is likely to unravel or turn ugly. And if it does fall through, that causes aggravation and costs valuable time and money for everyone involved.

As a smart agent, you have valuable tools and skills to help prevent deals from falling through at the negotiating table.

Here are five facts and data points you can use to prevent lowball offers:

1. Market temperature matters.

The temperature of the market affects everything, from how buyers shop to what the “right price” is for a home. Most buyers think they know the temperature, but it’s your job to show them their local reality. To give buyers a valid idea of pricing, focus on what has recently sold in the last 60 days, rather than what is currently for sale in your market.

One way to do this is to show the percentage difference between the actual list and sale prices for the properties in your neighborhood. It speaks volumes about the current market’s activity. Comparing list vs. sale prices also provides a strong indicator of which direction the market is moving and how much less, or maybe even more, than the asking price a buyer should offer.

Check out my recent post on Trulia, “Pricing Matters: Using List vs.