Hiring a Professional Appraiser When Selling Your Home

You’re ready to move out of your home, and you think you know what it’s worth. You’ve researched the homes in your neighborhood: their tax values, what they’re selling for, and their purchase history. This seems simple enough, right? But, you could be either over- or under-estimating the value of your home. This can add lots of time and expense to your selling experience. In the case which you’re selling your home, it’s best to hire a professional appraiser. This is the toughest and most important part of listing residential real estate, and there are important factors to consider.

Appraisals are never objective.

Your appraiser could, despite their best efforts, still walk into your home with a preconceived idea about it. It may be because it’s not a style home that they favor, or even that they’ve done a lot of research on your home already. Perhaps they’re not from the area you’re selling within. The idea is that an appraiser takes stock of your home, your neighbors, and even new developments in your area. They can help you and your REALTOR© determine what the best value is for your home. Most people still decide to get more than one opinion, though.

Your REALTOR© could do fine (or even better) with their own valuation.

Your REALTOR© should have a very in-depth understanding of your home before helping you establish a price point. In fact, it’s also best to get more than one opinion, and don’t be tempted to just accept the highest price for your home. Make sure you have an equal, or even better, understanding of your home than your REALTOR©.

Most buyers and their lenders will want their own appraisal.

By the time someone starts to move to purchase your home, the original appraisal might be out of date. Most buyers and lenders tend to have their own appraisals done before the purchase process begins. This appraiser will present another opinion of what your home should sell for. In this case, it is best to have an appraisal from your REALTOR© followed by those separate appraisals. In fact, potential buyers will many times try and inject the appraisal fee into the contract for the home.

The real estate market is always changing.

You could have an appraisal done one month, and then the next your home is either worth more or less than the original appraisal amount. It’s important to understand the ebb and flow of the real estate market, and to be prepared for changes in the pricing of your home, particularly during the purchase process.

 

 

Sell Your House by Thinking Like a REALTOR©

The real estate market is booming right now. In both metropolitan areas and also in Florida, home owners are realizing the growing value of not only selling a home and investing in real estate, but of understanding the thought process of a REALTOR©.

To get your home sold more quickly and for its greatest value, consider how a REALTOR© thinks and how they might go about selling your home.

Create a buyer profile. You have an understanding of the neighborhood and of who would want to purchase your home. Take stock of your neighbors and of the area surrounding your home. Are many of them young? Have there been many renovations recently? Are you in a condo or town home, and the people around you are members of smaller families?

Create a profile of the person who will buy your home so that you can market it properly. Perhaps this person will want to invest in a more modern home, with easy access to shops and places to go out.

Think about what your home offers versus others in your neighborhood. Is your home one of the only ones with a garage in the neighborhood? Do you have a pool? Updated kitchen and newer appliances? If your home is the newest and most updated on the street, then that’s something you need to market to potential buyers. Observe the area around you and share it in your photos, description, and with your REALTOR©.

Be a professional. Have a deep understanding of your “competition.” This includes other homes for sale, new condos, and updated or new developments in your area. It can even help to take a tour of those spots to understand exactly what you’re up against.

Stage your space like a professional, or talk to your REALTOR© about staging. Look at your home as though you’re the person you created the buyer profile for, and understand what your house needs to be in order to sell.

Compromise when you need to. Are you willing to spend additional money to update your home, or spend the money on other updates? If not, just price your home a little lower. This sounds counterproductive, but in reality you may not have the time or resources to be as competitive as you want in your current market. Make sure you understand your market and what your capabilities are in order to be competitive.