Every detail counts!

First impressions are everything. When you are selling your Madison WI home you have control over an important selling factor – condition. Here is a list of important improvements and staging tips that can make a HUGE difference in capturing a buyer’s interest and getting you top dollar! 

Paint

Some homes have too much color or wild colors and need to be neutralized. Some homes are too stark with white walls everywhere. Give rooms some color. Touch up paint. Make the home move in ready.

Light fixtures

Outdated light fixtures give the buyers a perception that the home needs to be updated and create the impression that bigger items like the roof and furnace may also need updating. Spending $50 – $300 updating light fixtures is a smart move.

Kitchen and bathroom hardware

Changing the knobs and handles on cabinets and drawers can make an older kitchen newer without having to replace cabinets.

Clean, Clean, Clean

A deep cleaning will make the home sparkle. Be sure to clean cobwebs in the basement, high ceiling corners and around the mechanical equipment.

Pack and organize

You are moving so don’t wait until the last minute to start packing. If you start moving things to a storage area now (or create an organized space in the basement, garage or storage shed) and de-clutter your home, it will look bigger and feel more spacious to prospective buyers. No one can do this for you so if you are overwhelmed with what to spend time and money on, hire out the repairs and cleaning and spend your time packing and organizing your home.

Remove big pieces of furniture

Again, the goal is to make the home feel bigger and spacious.

Replace Appliances

Buyers see new kitchen appliances and are immediately wowed. It is always nice to have a new water heater, but a new refrigerator and stove is a better buy if you are trying to capture a buyer’s interest.

Landscaping

The curb appeal is a huge aspect to the emotional draw for buyers. There are times a buyer is scheduled to see a home and when they drive up to the showing they decide they don’t even want to go in.

Window coverings

Updating window coverings with simple curtains can warm up the room and soften a vacant home.

New flooring

Sometimes it seems it would be easier to replace the carpeting after you’ve moved out but the initial reaction of old and stained carpet or ancient vinyl flooring can be a big turnoff for buyers. If you can’t replace the carpet at least let the buyers know in writing when they come to the home that you are willing to replace the carpet or get the carpets professionally cleaned  prior to close or provide a credit for new carpet. Changing vinyl flooring in kitchens and bathrooms can make a big difference and is worth looking into.

Staging

Talk to us about help with staging your home using our services or local experts that provide accent pieces, wall hangings and even furniture to dress up your home. Here is a great blog post about Green Designs in helping you sell.

Maintenance checkups

Have the furnace cleaned and checked, the air conditioner, fireplace/chimney and have a plumber come over and repair any leaky faucets or loose toilets (here is a list of our preferred vendors). Providing the potential buyers with these reports and receipts of a well maintained house will go a long way.

It may feel like a lot of work and even a substantial amount of money to prepare your home to sell it. However, if you put your home on the market for $250,000 and you are getting showings but no offers, you are getting feedback from the market. 

The three most important factors in selling your home are:

• Price
• Location
• Condition

Of those three factors, what do you have control over? Price and Condition. So if you aren’t getting any offers you now have a couple of options: one is to lower your price. Most likely your next price adjustment will be a minimum of $5,000. But it may mean changing the price to $240,000 (a $10,000 adjustment). Consider keeping your home at $250,000 and investing $3,000 into improvements and you’ll make more money and your house will sell quicker! 

When you first think about spending $3,000 to sell your house it sounds like a lot doesn’t it? But when you think of lowering the price from $250,000 to $245,000 because you haven’t had any offers and your house has been on the market for 60 days that seems reasonable. 

Of course it is all perception. I challenge you to consider this perception when thinking about properly preparing your home for current market conditions. 

It is never to soon to call Sara Alvarado when you are thinking about selling your home. Call 608.438.5005 or email Sara@TheAlvaradoGroup.com.

Many people are calling now to talk about listing their Madison area home at the beginning of the year. Maybe mid January. Some are even talking about selling in the Spring and requesting consultations. This is great to have such proactive Sellers willing to start preparing their house for showings so far in advance. No matter what month it is, people are always asking, ”When is the best time to sell?” The best time to sell your home is when you need to/want to/are ready to sell. Period.

How about the calls we’re getting to come and list their house NOW? Here are the Top 10 Reasons why some Sellers are Ready, Set, Go:  

1. People who look for a home during the Holidays tend to be more serious buyers. Yes, you may have fewer showings then the month of May, but you KNOW that every showing during December is a motivated, serious Buyer. Who else is out looking for homes this time of the year?
2. Serious buyers have fewer houses to choose from during the Holidays and less competition means more money for you.
3. Since the supply of listings could increase in January, there may be less demand for your particular home. Less demand means less money for you.
4. Houses show better when decorated for the Holidays. (well, sometimes. Don’t over decorate. And please, no smelly candles).
5. Buyers are more emotional during the Holidays (and sometimes more stressed out), so the quicker they find the right house, the better. That makes for faster negotiating and can mean more money for you.
6. Buyers have more time to look for a home during the Holidays. Relocating Buyers may be scheduling their holiday travel around the city they are moving to.
7. Some Buyers must buy before the end of the year for tax reasons.
8. January is traditionally the month for employees to begin new jobs. Since transferees cannot typically wait until spring to buy, you must be on the market now to capture that market.
9. You can sell now for more money and we will provide for a delayed closing or extended occupancy until early next year.
10. You can still be on the market, but you have the option to restrict showings if necessary (for example, the day you’re hosting a holiday party or the days your in laws are visiting).

If you are ready to sell and someone told you to wait until after the holidays - don’t. Contact Sara Alvarado at 608.251.6600 or email sara@thealvaradogroup.com and get moving!

The beautiful classic 2 story home at 316 Virginia Terrace in Madison WI was recently sold by Alvarado Real Estate Group to a very happy new family. A couple of the most important selling factors was the proximity to the University of WI - Madison and Madison West High School along with the very special Madison neighborhood (mature trees, close community, great parks)! And for a home built in 1926 you can imagine the charm: arched doorways, natural wood floors, wood burning fireplace, nooks and crannies, along with the spacious kitchen & a main floor half bath! 

Asking price in July 2010: $334,900 (price reduction to $324,900 in September)
Final sales price: $314,300, Sold October 2010, Days on the Market: 56, Price per square foot: $210.

For more information on selling your home in the Madison area, please contact Sara Alvarado, phone: 608.251.6600 or email: sara@thealvaradogroup.com.

Congratulations on your new home!

JUST SOLD! This 5 year new home was not easy to sell though. On paper it looks like an amazing deal: 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, built just 5 years ago and the back yard borders a large park area/soccer field all for an asking price of $169,900. But with so many homes for sale in this Madison neighborhood the objection to the floorplan was constantly noted by potential buyers along with the lack of storage. Selling a home in today’s market is more than just pricing it right. It is important to present the home in its best light and to promote it to a targeted market.

In a popular Madison area neighborhood on the Southeast side, this split level home has a living room upstairs, wonderfully vaulted ceilings, kitchen, dining area and a master bedroom and master bathroom. The lower level has 2 bedrooms a full bathroom and the mechanical room (with some space for storage). Understanding and listening to what Buyers really want takes skill and patience. What did buyers object about this great home? They want all 3 bedrooms on the same floor. They want the master bedroom to provide a bit more privacy (it was a negative that it was directly off the dining/kitchen area). Buyers want storage. They want their basement to provide storage and this home had a lower level that was completely finished which cut into storage space. Buyers also want a family room. However, when you get into a lower price range you find that buyers make concessions. The Buyers that purchased this home loved the fact that this home was move in ready with neutral and warm paint colors, nice window coverings, newer appliances and didn’t mind the floorplan. The 2 car attached garage gave it the storage they needed (coming from a rental with no garage) and the proximity to the green space in the backyard was a huge bonus for them. At a final sales price of $163,500 this home was an amazing opportunity for the Buyers. 

There is give and take in buying a home on a budget.

The Buyers love their new home. The Sellers are relieved to finally move on to new places.

And we loved making it happen. Our team of Realtors are here to help Sellers understand the complexities in selling a home right now and planning their future real estate moves. The Alvarado Group team has trained agents that specialize in helping Buyers understand what their needs and wants are in their next home and the best way to get there with the least amount of added stress to their already busy lives. We love helping our clients (and from what we hear from them, they feel the love too!), we love engaging with the community and we are passionate about a strong local economy. We don’t just have a mission, we live our mission.

We had a listing with an accepted offer of $157,000. One week prior to closing we had to amend the price to $155,000 because that is what the appraisal came in at. Result: a successful closing. Sellers were prepared for potential issues with appraisals and accepted the position they were in to adjust the price. Buyer was happy. Sellers were happy that it didn’t kill the deal.

We worked with a buyer on a foreclosure that had an accepted offer of $155,000 – the appraisal came in at $172,000. Result: a successful closing. Happy buyers. I’m not sure the bank cared.

One of our listings got an accepted offer for $274,000. It was appraised at $258,000. Result: that appraisal killed the deal. Unhappy Buyers. Unhappy Sellers.  

We are in a different market. Prepare yourself and your home properly!

Not a good candidate for an FHA loan

10 Ways to Prepare Your Home for an Appraisal:

 1.  You only get ONE chance with the appraiser. Make sure your home is ready because not only are first impressions important, but the appraisal can affect the outcome of your sale. Take this part of the home selling process very seriously.
2.  Get your home in good condition. Be sure to trim the lawn, clean out and garage, repair cracked windows or torn screens, check for leaky faucets and secure gutters and down spouts before your appraisal. Basically get your home in the best showing condition you can. No longer are the days of drive by appraisals. FHA appraisers have to complete a different set of inspection forms and if there is chipping paint, missing handrails or evidence of pests (for example), the lender may require repairs done to comply with the FHA lending regulations. Not all repair items are part of inspections – some items come up as part of financing requirements with FHA loans. Talk to your agent about what to expect.
3.  Get organized. Put together a checklist that will help you get ready for your appraisal.
4.  Be flexible when scheduling the appointment. Don’t delay it. Work with their schedule.
5. The appraiser will need approximately 30 minutes to one hour to complete the inspection phase of the appraisal process, which includes: exterior photos of the front and rear of the home and a photo of the street in front of the property; measurements of the exterior of the home, garage and any outbuildings; a walk-through inspection of all rooms and levels of the interior of the home, including the basement.
6.  Provide marketing materials and list of improvements. If your Real Estate Agent has a booklet with information about ages and dates of mechanicals, appliances and any features that add value to the home, please leave that information out for the appraiser to review. Don’t make them guess how old the roof is.
7.  Point out any amenities that may not be obvious to the appraiser: sprinkler systems, radiant floor heating, security systems, built-in vacuum, energy efficient and green features.
8.  Allow your appraiser access to the entire property, including access to any crawl space or attic areas. This is specifically important for FHA appraisals.
9.  Provide a copy of last year’s tax assessment information.
10.  The first thing appraisers look for is comparables, so be prepared and have a list of recent sales of similar properties in the immediate neighborhood. You shouldn’t have to provide this to the appraiser, that is their job. However, you can prepare yourself by asking your real estate agent to show you at least 4 or 5 comparables that are similar in style, proximity, square footage, age and number of bedrooms. Finding comparables is a balance in science and art.   

Following these steps will go a long way toward making the home appraisal process a bit easier. For more information on the appraisal process and preparing your home for sale, please contact Sara and feel free to forward these tips to your family and friends.

I love meeting with Buyers for the first time and helping them create their top 5 most important considerations. Not only is it fun to listen to people talk about their dreams and their visions for their next home, but it is an important step that MUST happen before we go out looking at houses so we can create the right search criteria. Usually the list contains things like, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, a specific area, amount of square feet, etc. But then there are times I get things that are subjective like: charming, a great neighborhood, sunny. And that creates a whole new conversation. Let’s talk about a SUNNY home…   

For Madison Sellers – IMPORTANT!

Sunny. Who doesn’t dream of a sunny, warm home? Look around your home, go through each room with your Buyer’s hat on. I know it might be the room where your youngest child learned to walk, but you need to take off your homeowner hat and get to work. You want to sell your Madison house right! You might need to address the window coverings. Here are some things I’ve learned:

- If you have blinds that are old and dusty you have two choices, 1) take them down and donate them or 2) clean them and pull them all the way to the top so no one can see them. Don’t leave your blinds closed during showings.

- Get rid of horizontal shades. They rarely do anything for the aesthesis of a room and are old and outdated.

- Use curtains to: add color or neutralize  a room, add style and update a room, give the room personality.  

Dining room curtains that add style and can help save energy when closed at night.

This is a SUNNY room that features shades and curtains.

For Madison Buyers – IMPORTANT!

Sunny. Who doesn’t dream of a sunny, warm home? Your living room bathed in natural light. All the lights are off because the sun in pouring in. Sounds dreamy? Yes, very dreamy on a crisp November afternoon. Not so much if it is July, 100 degrees outside and your air conditioner is working overtime. You are buying a home that not only provides shelter for you and your family (and just for that we are grateful) but the reality of living in a 1^st world country is that our home also becomes an extension of who we are, a safe place to come home to each day. Our home represents us. Give it style (unless of course you don’t have style, which I hardly believe).

You can MAKE IT EFFICIENT! You have the ability to spend a little time making tweaks to your home that will save you a lot each month on your energy bills. Here are some more things that I’ve learned:

- Cellular shades are amazing for keeping the cold air out in the winter and the bright sun from overheating your home in the summer. Replace vertical or horizontal blinds with cellular shades. For living areas and kitchens I prefer the light shades so when you need privacy and when the sun is too hot, you can close your shades and the sunlight can still provide excellent natural light.

- Natural light means you can turn off your lamps and energy sucking overhead lights!

- Bedrooms can either go with the lighter shades if you like the sunlight to wake you each morning, or there are room darkening shades that work wonders for keeping your upstairs rooms cooler during hot summer days.   

A charming living room that could use window coverings.

Imagine this room with the right curtains...

 

Create Energy Saving Habits

Summer habits: before you leave in the morning go through each room and close your shades and curtains. It will seem like you are leaving your home dark and depressing but this habit will keep your home as cool as possible throughout the day. Your air conditioner should be programmed through a programmable thermostat so you don’t need to remember to turn the a/c down each morning.   

Winter habits: Open your shades and curtains every morning and let the sun in for natural heating. At night, close all shades and curtains to keep the cold air out.   

Be nice to yourself and remember that it takes a while to create a habit and it won’t happen overnight. Do you unplug your cell phone charger every morning when you leave the house? Keeping chargers plugged in when not in use wastes a lot of unnecessary energy. But when you commit to creating that habit let me warn you (because it happened to me more than once) you will forget that it is unplugged at the end of the day and you will connect your phone but forget that the charger isn’t in the outlet. The next day you will have a dead phone. Incredibly annoying. I promise you, it won’t happen many times after that.   

More home energy tips here…    

Do you need shades and curtains? Yes. Well no, of course not. We only *need* shelter, food, water and love. But you may want them and they will serve the purpose of saving energy, adding personality to your home and they will help you in staging your home if you are trying to sell it. If this overwhelms you, feel free to contact us to help.  

keys to your new home

For those that are buying Wisconsin real estate now – there are IMPORTANT insider Buyers tips that you need to know about. It isn’t as simple as shopping around for the best house, writing an offer, and then moving in. You need to know what neighborhood you want to live in, maybe research schools and understand Madison’s short sale and foreclosure market. You need to learn about how market conditions locally will affect your negotiating position. It is crucial to understand the financing process and what the pre approval and loan commitment process means. We also will educate you on the inspection process and how the condition of the home can also affect your financing.

What about closing day vs moving day?

Here are the Top 3 Important Factors to Consider:

Pick a realistic and manageable closing date.

Don’t assume you can change it later. Most likely your offer reads, “Closing shall be no later than ____” and there is a date in the blank spot. You can close earlier, although all parties need to agree but you can’t close later. To close later you must amend the offer. To close earlier, you just need to coordinate schedules and it is not necessary to get an amendment signed by all parties. Sellers have complicated moving schedules as do Buyers so just remember that the closing day you write into the offer will most likely be the day you go to the title company for the closing if all goes well.

Consider Your Lender.

Your lender may be doing all they can to expedite the closing so it will happen quickly and in the timeframe you have agreed upon with the Seller. However, life is not as easy for lenders anymore either. The Buyers lender may be the cause of a delayed closing. It isn’t abnormal for underwriters to ask for more documents even days before the scheduled closing date…which can postpone the closing date. Prepare for the worst and expect delays.

Your moving date should NOT be the same date as your closing date.

If you are the Seller, try to arrange to move out a couple of days prior to closing. You can even pre sign documents at a convenient day and time so that you are not rushed the day of closing. You may ask, “Where do I go if I can’t get keys to my new house until I close on my current house?” There are a couple of creative ways to plan a different moving day from your closing day.

• Negotiate a pre closing occupancy on the house you are buying. Now you have a couple of days to move into the next house before you actually close on it. Sometimes the Sellers won’t allow this but may allow you to move your belongings into the garage. And this can be enough to create a smoother transition.
• Stay with a family member or a friend. There are times that moving on the day of closing is what ends up happening. And that isn’t the end of the world. It just takes a lot of planning and optimism.

• Negotiate a post closing occupancy on the house you are selling. If the Buyers that are purchasing your home are in a lease and have until the end of the month to move out, it usually works out just fine to ask them if you can stay in your home a couple of days after the closing date to give you needed time to move into your new home and clean out the house you are selling. Many homebuyers are agreeable to this.

As a Homebuyer, my recommendation is to give yourself a 2 week buffer in planning your move. If you are negotiating a quick close and are hoping to close in 30 days, understand up front that there may be delays so don’t plan to move on closing day. Don’t order furniture or appliances to be delivered on or the day after closing. Don’t arrange for the carpet replacement either. By assuming everything will go smoothly and you will close on time sets you up for frustration if there are delays. And the goal is to set yourself up for a smooth move – not a stressful one. If you give yourself additional time and things go well and you close on time, then you can move things up (and if not, then you wait). But it is easier to have extra time then to cancel and rearrange due to delays.

As a Seller it isn’t as easy. There are risks in selling your home in any market, and especially in today’s market. Again, there is a chance that something could go wrong the day before or the day of closing which would delay closing. As a Seller there isn’t much you can do but prepare to move and continue with your moving plans. But if something goes wrong, it is smart to have backup plans. Make sure your Realtor continues to market your home. Negotiate a reasonable amount of earnest money so that if something goes wrong, you are compensated appropriately for the time and money lost.

Madison WI real estate is not what it once was.

I know I’m not telling you anything new. The media inundates us with a ridiculous amount of doom and gloom when it comes to the real estate market. It is all perspective. There are houses being sold. People need bigger, they need smaller and they are moving out of state. As long as couples continue to marry, and as long as children continue to grow and move on with their lives, there will be a need to move to a different space. There will always be someone that wants to move South or North…you get the picture right?

Sara Alvarado, Real Estate Broker, 608.438.5005

A buyer’s market doesn’t mean that you are out of luck if you have a house to sell. It just means that you may get a better deal on the house you are going to buy then make a ton of money on the house you have to sell. You could wait until the market turns around and then get more money for your current house and pay more for your next house. That is simplifying a decision that is based on many factors.

Please call Sara Alvarado at 608.438.5005 if you want to discuss whether now is the right time for you to buy and sell.

Green Built Home

Sometimes when I start talking to a prospective Seller I get this question and it is always interesting to see where the conversation goes as we talk about the definition of green, what that means and what that has to do with whether I can help or not.

First of all, I’m a Real Estate Broker and study all things real estate which include the housing market, mortgages, negotiation, marketing, information technology, community data, property preparation/staging, buyer psychology, and local and national trends. I love helping all different kinds of people and families through the buying and selling process and I love helping to sell all different kinds of homes. So to me it doesn’t matter if your home is a ranch or a two story; if it is feng shuied or vacant; if it is beige or green. Our Madison real estate team is talented in many different ways. Our excellence in service and commitment to our passion for real estate make us a great choice for many people hiring a real estate team.  

So why do we get this question?

Not only does our team live and breathe Madison Real Estate but we are also passionate about the environment and sharing information with our clients and the community about ways we can all make a difference for our families and our planet in the homes we live in and the choices we make. The community hears this message loud and clear because it is a core value of our company. The real question is not whether I can help you sell your home because it is or is not green. The question is what is a green home?  

What is a Green Home?

This is the interesting question because there are so many aspects to green and what we have been bombarded with from the media that is gets quite confusing. In researching the definition of green I came across Michael Richmond’s work (an expert author on the subject) and found this:

“The best definition of Green refers to the health impact of what we do on living things. So Green is primarily a health-related issue. This is seen in the fact that cleaning products were the early Green issues. In fact, indoor air quality is a big factor in Green buildings. Sick building syndrome was the result of poor indoor air quality, which is the antithesis of Green.” I also found the dictionary definition includes, “environmentally sound, beneficial” (along with references to color and money).

Energy Star Home

With that, a green home could be a home with healthy indoor air quality and environmentally sound. That doesn’t really work for me. If I owned a 4,500 sq. ft. home located 15 minutes (driving a car) to where I work but had great indoor air quality and was built in an environmentally sound fashion, it still wouldn’t feel green to me. For me a green home takes into consideration the energy efficiency of the mechanicals, the system of the home, the landscaping, the location in relation to daily living, the space and how it is used for the family. It is a healthy space. It is efficient. And it takes smart choices in sustaining its green features. What is the point of having a super efficient furnace if I keep the heat set at 80 degrees all winter long? That is where our choices make a difference. A big difference.

If you are curious how our passion and additional training as EcoBrokers can help in a real estate transaction, please read more here. But if you just want a Realtor to help get your home sold or help you find a new home, then call us. We can help.

Darcy, Kathryn, Sara & Carlos Alvarado, Julie

608.251.6600, team@thealvaradogroup.com

Showing Ready Home

You’ve  picked your favorite Realtor, you’ve figured out a pricing strategy, you’ve worked for days getting your home in showing condition and now your home is officially on the market, full blown marketing has begun and your beautiful home is exposed to all the world. A big sigh of relief and then the phone rings…a showing…tomorrow? Okay! Now what?

What to expect now that the showings have begun…

The day your Madison WI home goes on the market live you will receive a link to the listing and your marketing home books will be scheduled for delivery within a couple of days. Your showing instructions were filled out with all the other listing paperwork so the showing line service knows how to get in touch with you. The showing line is a contracted service that is open 7 days a week from 8am – 8pm and available to schedule all showings and help coordinate the showing feedback.

If you’ve priced your home right (which is important to do because there is no point in price testing in this market unless you are just pretending to sell) then you should expect to get showing requests in the first week your home is on the market. If you don’t get any showings in the first 2-3 weeks then your home is overpriced or not being marketed correctly. And this happens. I have seen homes listed with incorrect area codes (mls codes are crucial to proper marketing and kind of a no brainer).

Overpricing is a great thing to do if you are trying to help your neighbor sell. If your neighbor has their home on the market (which we assume is similar to your home) and you price yours higher, the buyer will come through your home and then go tour the neighbors home and realize the neighbors’ is a way better value than yours and BAM, you’ve just helped to sell your neighbors home. Aren’t you sweet? Although after all that work staging your home, I doubt your goal is to help sell the neighbors home so please, price it right! No market testing allowed.

Back to your first week on the market…an important week. You want everything perfect and it should be. Buy the pretty flowers, turn all the lights on and please take out those plug in smelly things (it makes it seem like you are trying to cover something up).

Will I get 24 hours notice? Maybe. Maybe not. So leave your house ready for showings every day. That doesn’t mean you have to leave all the lights on every day (tsk tsk), but have it picked up and in showing condition when you leave for work in the morning. Most Realtors will give you a days notice for their showing but things happen.  A Realtor may be out with their buyers and as they listen to their buyers comment on homes they are seeing they will realize what they like and don’t like they may decide that their buyer should see your home. You want to be ready for that. However, if you aren’t ready you can say no. If you have a sick child at home, say no. Don’t feel bad saying no, your life is your life. But please try and accommodate all showings. Please. It is the only way I can sell your home.

How long are the showings? Showings are normally scheduled in one hour appointments. For example you may get a request for a showing tomorrow between 2-3pm and another one from 4:30-5:30pm. Convenient? No. But say yes to both of them anyway and then plan on being out of the house during the scheduled showing times. If it is scheduled from 2-3pm that doesn’t mean the agent and buyer will show up right at 2pm. They might come at 2:30. Or even 2:55pm But they will do everything in their power to come within that time frame. Imagine what it is like to try and schedule 10 showings not knowing how long the buyers will want to be in each house at a time, calculating travel time, etc. It isn’t easy so please be empathetic if a showing is late (or even early). Sometimes the agent will leave their card so you know they’ve been there, and sometimes they’ll forget. Sometimes the buyers will take the marketing booklet and sometimes they won’t. But it sure is a good sign if they do take one. Also, expect there to be miscommunication problems at least once while your house is in the available and showing stage. There are a lot of people involved and mistakes happen. The agent requesting the showing may mix up the time with another showing. The showing line person may write down the wrong time. Or maybe you heard the time or date wrong and then all of a sudden you have an agent at your front door who thinks they have a scheduled and confirmed showing. And you are in your pj’s. Don’t freak out. Life happens. Take a deep breath and figure out if it is realistic for you to take 10 minutes to get out of the house to accommodate the showing. If so, ask the agent to wait and kindly agree to hurry out the door. If there is no way you are letting anyone in your front door to see your wreck of a house (which we all understand), then say no. Apologize for the mix up (even though it may not have been your error), and be nice. If you get hostile you could potentially lose a willing and able buyer. If they really want to see your home, they will reschedule.

What did the Buyers think of our home? Showing feedback is pretty important and also can be very misleading. So let’s talk about this straight. First, the logistics. The showing line service will schedule the showing with you (either online or via a phone call). Once the showing is confirmed they will call the agent back to let them know they are confirmed to show your home and then the showing is entered in the system. Our office and the listing agent get an email immediately when a showing has been scheduled and we know who will be showing it. After the showing takes place an email is sent to the agent that showed your home asking for feedback. There is a email form that the agent fills out on behalf of their buyer letting us (and you) know their feedback and what their buyers thought. And there is room for open comments. You might get feedback forms that say your home is overpriced, or just right or doesn’t have a good layout. They may comment that the Buyer didn’t like the backyard (it is too big or it is too small) or the bathrooms are outdated. Please brace yourself as you read the feedback forms.

Remember these things in regards to showing feedback:

• You will get more negative feedback then positive feedback. This is because if the buyer is planning on writing an offer they aren’t going to gush about how much they love your home. That would not help their negotiating position.
• Just because all the feedback says that your home is priced right, doesn’t mean it is priced right. If your home is priced right, you will get an offer. If you have had 20 showings and your house has been on the market for more than 2 months and you haven’t received an offer than it is overpriced. Period. And the same goes the other way too. I just had a listing that had 2 new showings and 2 second showings within a two day period and we had just received an offer and another one was on its way. We got one feedback form back that said the house was overpriced. Really? Obviously not. 
• Take note of what you can change and that is it. If the buyers didn’t like the layout then they weren’t the right buyers. Don’t worry or focus on that. If the buyers comment that your home feels outdated, then you call me and we can talk about what changes you can make to update the home in a cost effective way. If the buyer comments on the landscaping, then yes, get out there and do some yard work. But if they don’t like the corner lot, then let it go.
• No feedback is feedback. Not all Realtors will send their feedback. If they showed your house and didn’t write an offer, that is feedback. Listen to it.

I think I’ve properly prepared you for what to expect and how to handle showings and the feedback you will get. But if I missed something or if you still have a question, please comment! I love your feedback.

Whether you really need to sell your home or not, I am going to encourage you to PRETEND. I know that sounds weird but hear me out. I work with people every day that are getting ready to sell, need to sell and/or have been trying to sell their home, so I know what is going on in their world (and sometimes I know too much!). You don’t need to know everything I know about this because some things you just don’t want to know (trust me on that). But there is one thing I know for sure that is so wonderful and amazing. And recently every time it has come up, I have felt like I’m keeping this secret from the world by not sharing it! So here it is: Right before you put your house on the market it looks fabulous. Absolutely amazing and perfect. And at that time, and maybe only at that time, the homeowner says, ”Oh my God, I love our house!”

That’s it. That is the secret. Doesn’t sound that earth-shattering does it? But it is. If you’ve lived in your house for a couple of years you know that there is some caulking you need to do. It’s been on your to do list for a couple of years now. And you’ve always wanted to replace the ugly brass light fixture in the front hall. You have a painting that is leaning up against your closet wall that you’ve been meaning to hang in the kid’s room and the chair in the living room would look a lot better in the family room but you just haven’t gotten around to moving it yet. Then there is that one piece of chipped trim that has been like that since you bought the house and you still wonder how it happened, but fixing it…just hasn’t happened. And the appliances are super old and need to be replaced.

I challenge you to pretend that you got a new job in (insert your fantasy destination) _______ and you are moving in 1 month. You have to get your house on the market and ready for showings in 2 weeks. Spend the next two weeks doing all of those things that you know you would have to do to market it properly. Some of it you can hire out. A handyperson (check out our list of preferred contractors) can get a lot done in 1/2 days work. But most of it you need to take some time and do. With everything else you have going on in your life this may seem silly. But I can’t tell you how many times I hear people say, “I always wanted to do that” and “if only I could have enjoyed my house like this longer.” You get my point? So many people are buying new appliances for people they don’t know. Future homebuyers are going to enjoy the fresh paint and the clean windows. You deserve to live in a home you love. So do it! Do it now!

You wanna know a secret? I create marketing materials for homes that I list and I always put together these homebooks for the buyers so they can have all the information about the home and the neighborhood. Well the home information page has a list of updates that the homeowners have done since they’ve owned it and usually it is organized by the year of the updates. Well most homes have the majority of the updates in the first year it was purchased and the most recent year (work done in preparation for the sale). Then there are some years that the poor house was neglected. So I’m always on my husband to update something. And I’m nagging him for the simple reason that I want to fill up my homebook page with updates when we are finally ready to sell. Yeah, okay, I nag him because I know things need to be updated and maintained too but secretly I’m thinking of my future homebook! (only slightly pathetic).

If you need more inspiration than that (which would be kind of pathetic) then read this blog post called Low-Stress Ways to Move House and De-Clutter Your Life by Annabel Candy who was guest blogging for one of my FAVORITE blogs, Zen Habits. Now go pretend to sell your house.  

Before Photo

After Photo