Home sellers need to determine an asking price, and buyers need to assess how much to offer and ultimately what to pay for their new home. Many of them rely on a professional Realtor for the data and analysis to help come to their decision, while others prefer to also do their own research online and rely on sites such as Zillow for guidance.
Having worked with over 1,000 local home sellers, we have seen a wide variety of attitudes, decisions and behaviors that have disadvantaged owners who were in the process of selling their homes.
There are many aspects that need to be considered in the marketing process as there is more to the sale of a home than simply putting an ad in the paper and placing a sign in front of the property.
People often do not realize the importance of the process of “escrow” when buying or selling a home. It is a concept which many people are not familiar with, especially if they have not ever bought or sold real estate in one of the 32 states which use an escrow process. Most of the states along the east coast are not escrow states, and property sales there are done through attorneys and title companies. Often buyers who are relocating to California find it confusing when they are told that hardly any transaction here is done by an attorney.
My experience has shown that a home will sell sooner and for more money if it is properly prepared. And most homes do not require remodeling or paying $20,000 to have professional “staging.”
Clearing clutter out of spaces will always enhance appeal. In some cases it will even make all the difference in succeeding or failing to sell.
“We bought our 2 bedroom home fours years ago when we were about to start a family. Now that we are expecting a second child we need to decide whether to add a room on the back, convert the garage,
Just a few years ago, less than 20 percent of home sales involved any Internet use. Now over 70 percent of California sales involve buyers searching the Internet for homes, loans, real estate agents, quality of community and schools, and for information about the purchase process.
