Selling a home in today’s challenging market can be difficult.  Even if your home has outstanding features and you think you have the best property on the block, you need to prepare your home for sale first. Here are some suggestions to get your started:
Contact The Cromer Group,  real estate professionals, to find out what your home is worth.

Do not overprice. That is the worst mistake that sellers tend to make. Especially in today’s market, you are competing with distressed properties such as short sales and bank owned REOs. Buyers are looking for good deals. If you overprice the home, it will not sell. Other real estate professionals will show your home with the purpose of using it as a comparison to homes in the neighborhood that are well priced. Buyers will not make offers on overpriced homes because they know the sellers are unrealistic. Today buyers have so many other choices, they will make an offer on a home that is priced to sell. Your home should be listed at or slightly below the market value.

Start preparing your home for sale by cleaning, disposing of clutter and sprucing up the outside as well. The buyer’s first impressions when they pull up to the curb are very important.

You may want to consider hiring a home staging professional or have your real estate professional provide you with suggestions on how to make your home attractive to a large pool of buyers. Many times all you need to do is paint, de-clutter, rearrange or remove some furniture and add some colorful accessories.

Make repairs that pay off. If you have hardwood floors, refinish them. Replace worn carpet and paint the walls and ceilings. Fix any cracked or chipped tiles. Resurface or repaint kitchen cabinets. New faucets and sinks make the kitchen look updated. The buyers will appreciate a fresh, finished look.

Roofs should be replaced if necessary. Buyers tend to shy away from homes that have leaky roofs or need new roofs. Resurface driveways and mend fences or replace them. Also plant flowers, trim bushes and hedges, and mow the grass. Good curb appeal is important.

Today’s buyers are looking for homes in move-in condition that have updated plumbing, heating and electrical systems and need little or no maintenance with finished kitchens and bathrooms. If you plan on selling your home without making any repairs, then you will need to reflect this in a much lower listing price. Keep in mind that your home will then appeal to a much smaller group of buyers who are only looking for fixer-uppers that they can purchase at bargain prices.

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Comps are the shorthand way of saying‘comparable properties.’ Let’s say you lived in a subdivision in Palmetto Bay with 100 similiar homes and wanted to sell your home. How would you arrive at a listing price? You would look for recent transactions in your neighborhood. So if the home across the street just sold for $500,000 and the home next door sold for $455,000; those would give you a fairly accurate idea of where your Palmetto Bay home could sell for as well. Those two homes would be good ‘comps.’

This is a lot more difficult in most areas though- as most homes are very unique in Palmetto Bay. There are so many factors that could alter the value, ranging from the age of the home to its size to its interior and exterior features to its exact location. Agents such as The Cromer Group, who really know a market well can help identify and account for all of these factors. As a buyer, it is also important to consider the comps – this can give you an idea of what is a realistic offer on a home you would like to purchase and what it would probably appraise for. As a seller, this information is important for you to know because a buyer would probably need to go to a bank for financing. Your home may be listed on the market for $600,000, but the comps show the house should be worth $500,000 – in this situation, a buyer would not want to pay $600,000 for this house. They would be overpaying and it also would not appraise for financing.

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A: Although there is no 100% guarantee, your best bet is to ask for a pre-approval letter. To receive a preapproval, the buyer needs to meet with the lender and fill out the loan application. The lender then checks the buyer’s full credit report, looks for any discrepancies or potential red flags, verifies his or her employment status and income, and then, if everything looks OK, pre-approves the buyer for a specific loan amount. Serious buyers usually submit this document to the seller along with their offer, without even being asked.

Now, there is another piece of paper with a similar-sounding name, called a “pre-qualification” letter. The difference between the two? To get “pre-qualified” the buyer needs to just verbally tell the lender what his/her income and debts are. The lender then only checks a partially complete credit report. Since nothing is verified, and since there could be problems not shown on the partial credit report, the “pre-qualification” letter is pretty meaningless. Therefore, insist on getting a pre-approval letter. Sure, it’s not bulletproof, but it’s the next-best thing to being offered cash.

Have a tough real estate question you need answered? Just give us a call or send us an e-mail!

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Q: How can I be sure I’m pricing my Palmetto Bay home to sell?

Obtain current comparable estimates. If you live in a neighborhood with similar-sized homes, try to find a recent sales example and then extrapolate the price per square foot to derive a rule of thumb. Increase or decrease the estimate based upon condition, age, upgrades and other amenities. The Cromer Group will help you with this. See the chart below as well to give you an idea as to the averages in Palmetto Bay at present.

Include income potential. If the property is capable of generating an income via rental, then use the profit potential of the property to estimate the return on investment or ROI. Most investors expect an ROI at or above the safe, headache-free option of investing in Treasury bonds.

Get a second opinion. Work with a real estate agent who specializes in that location to provide valuable feedback and a second opinion.

Remember, if you expect a fast sale then search for all available properties and then plan to price your home near the bottom range of the properties currently listed and sold in the area.

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A: A Seller can retract his counter offer any time before you accept it. If you accept the seller’s counter offer, he is bound to sell you the house under the terms you agreed upon.

This being said, people don’t always do the right thing, and some sellers do try to back off for various reasons. Then the question becomes whether it is worth pursuing a legal action to enforce the contract, or if you should forget the unethical seller and look for another home. In situations like this you should consult an attorney.

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You do not need dramatic changes to go green. You can, in fact, take some small steps to green your home. All the small steps you try can add up to big eco-changes.

Give up juice boxes: Juice boxes, a perpetual kitchen favorite of kids, are not so earth friendly. Even if you can recycle them, there is manufacturing and shipping to consider. Try a reusable juice container instead.

Give up water bottles: Imagine a water bottle filled a quarter of the way up with oil. That’s about how much oil was needed to produce the bottle.  Yes, recycling one plastic bottle can save enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for six hours. But get a stainless steel bottle instead and use it for years.
Also, instead of the large 5 gallon bottles of water, try a “Brita” pitcher.

Wash your hands right: Switch out your toss-away plastic hand soap containers and purchase some refillable hand soap pumps.

Clean your coils: Cleaning your fridge coils just once yearly can allow your fridge to run 10%+ more efficiently.

Buy big bathroom items: If you do not buy bulk bathroom items (i.e. shampoo, conditioner, etc) then buy the largest size possible. This technique is especially important with items like toothpaste. If you have to buy a tube of plastic, it is better to buy the larger size which eliminates two or more of the smaller tubes.

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Total Wine

It was the classic case of “If you build it, they will come” at the Total Wine Store today in Pinecrest, Florida. Although it’s technically “The Falls’ area, the store is promoting themselves as a Pinecrest Store, probably because of the visibility of the Village name.

This Sunday morning, my husband and I decided to visit the new store to take a look. They have rebuilt a space previously occupied by CompUSA. There wasn’t a place to park. People were going in and out of the store as if it was an amusement park. We walked in and it looked like a Costco. Long lines at the cash register and people all over the place with grocery carts. There is a lady at the front putting wrist bracelets on people and handing out tasting cups. There are wine tastings set up all over the store. There are refrigerators full of wine and beer. So many selections it’s mind boggling. It was amazing! I wondered where all these people used to buy their wine!

This is a company started by two brothers opening 2 wine stores in Delaware. They are now the largest independent wine retailer in the country! They certainly seem to know what they are doing!

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Happens all the time!

Bob decides to sell his home. After living in it for years, Bob knows he has accumulated a good deal of equity. The property values have gone up, his mortgage balance has gone down, and Bob has made several home improvements that he knows will increase his home’s value. Bob also knows how much his neighbor’s home sold for last year, so Bob feels pretty confident that he knows what his home is worth. Like many sellers, Bob schedules appointments with several Realtors to discuss listing his house.

Each agent brings a sales presentation and a Comparative Market Analysis – an estimate of the home’s value. But Bob is dismayed when several agents suggest that his home is worth less than he thought!  Sure, they back up their numbers with a list of similar homes sold recently, but Bob knows he can get more.

Fortunately, an enlightened agent shows up at last. He agrees with Bob’s estimate! Heck, he even says it’s worth more! And he says he will have no trouble getting Bob that price. Excited, Bob lists his home with the PriceWizard.

Congratulations Bob, you just fell for a dubious sales tactic known as “Buying a Listing”. What Bob does not realize is that PriceWizard actually knows that Bob’s house is not worth the asking price. But PriceWizard understands that the easiest way to get Bob’s listing is to agree with Bob. After the house sits on the market unsold for over a month, PriceWizard knows that he can talk Bob into lowering the asking price. The trouble is, the longer Bob’s house is on the market, the less interest it will generate among buyers.

And after it has been on the market for too long, buyers will conclude that there must be something wrong with it, and offers will become lower and lower. Poor Bob will end up selling his house for less than he could have if he priced it correctly in the beginning. If he only listened to those Realtors who told him the truth…

Why did PriceWizard dupe Bob? For the commission – to beat the other agents who wanted to earn Bob’s business the honest way. Why did Bob fall for it?

Because he was stubborn. And perhaps greedy. So, how can you avoid falling for the PriceWizard’s trick? It’s simple – don’t pick an agent based on the price he or she recommends. Instead, choose an agent based on his or her reputation, ability, and knowledge. Someone  who knows your area, can show you a solid sales plan for listing your home, and who backs up his or her recommendations with facts. Once you pick a Realtor you like and trust, then talk about the price. An honest agent will help you get more money for your home than any PriceWizard ever could.

Falling for the PriceWizard’s trick is just one way to lose money when selling your home. Fortunately, a special report titled

The Seven Expensive Mistakes Sellers Frequently Make

reveals the other six costly pitfalls, and shows you how to avoid them. Thinking of selling your home soon? Order this report today – there is no cost and no obligation. Just email us for the report at Lynn@WeSellMiami.com.

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Here are the IRS’s top 10 tax tips for home sellers:

1. In general, you are eligible to exclude the gain from income if you have owned and used your home as your main home for two years out of the five years prior to the date of its sale.

2. If you have a gain from the sale of your main home, you may be able to exclude up to $250,000 of the gain from your income ($500,000 on a joint return in most cases).

3. You are not eligible for the exclusion if you excluded the gain from the sale of another home during the two-year period prior to the sale of your home.

4. If you can exclude all of the gain, you do not need to report the sale on your tax return.

5. If you have a gain that cannot be excluded, it is taxable. You must report it on Form 1040, Schedule D, Capital Gains and Losses.

6. You cannot deduct a loss from the sale of your main home.

7. Worksheets are included in Publication 523, Selling Your Home, to help you figure the adjusted basis of the home you sold, the gain (or loss) on the sale, and the gain that you can exclude.

8. If you have more than one home, you can exclude a gain only from the sale of your main home. You must pay tax on the gain from selling any other home. If you have two homes and live in both of them, your main home is ordinarily the one you live in most of the time.

9. If you received the first-time homebuyer credit and within 36 months of the date of purchase, the property is no longer used as your principal residence, you are required to repay the credit. Repayment of the full credit is due with the income tax return for the year the home ceased to be your principal residence, using Form 5405, First-Time Homebuyer Credit and Repayment of the Credit. The full amount of the credit is reflected as additional tax on that year’s tax return.

10. When you move, be sure to update your address with the IRS and the U.S. Postal Service to ensure you receive refunds or correspondence from the IRS. Use Form 8822, Change of Address, to notify the IRS of your address change.

These tips can be found on the IRS website at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/content/0,,id=104608,00.html

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