Selling Your House – What’s the Risk?

Are you planning to move and currently own your home?  Maybe you want to get into a bigger house because the family is growing.  Maybe you want to get into a smaller home to lower monthly payments.  Or perhaps you are leaving the area altogether.  Whatever the reason you are deciding to move- they all require selling your house.  And this requires planning.  My favorite!  Not yours?  That’s ok, let me help you get a jump start.

Depending on the status of the real estate market, you can lay out a plan for your next steps. Currently our market is booming for sellers. Houses are selling fast for asking price or even more. There are other times when this is not the case- so your home could stay on the market for months. Talk to your realtor to find out what kind of market we are currently in to get a better idea of what you may face. Once you know that, you can start this exciting, overwhelming and stressful process. And starting is half the battle, so you are in the right place. You started.

Deciding that you are moving is critical step one. It is probably the most difficult. So if you did that, you can surely handle the rest.

• Decide on a realtor: I’ve gone different ways here. I used a realtor once that I found off a flyer AND I also used my best friend once she became a realtor. What was the risk? Well picking the stranger off of the flyer with no references could have gone very bad. I truly had no idea what I was getting and if he was going to be looking out for my best interests/be responsive/know what he was doing. Luckily it worked out just fine and I even referred him to family. So even if you don’t personally know the realtor, if you can find someone that is at least recommended, that will put you in a better situation. As for going with someone you know personally – selling your home is a very large, important transaction. So although it may be someone that you are cool with and have a great relationship with- you have to analyze their work ethic and knowledge base. It’s ok to not use your neighbor’s cousin who just started real estate yesterday. They will understand, they need to understand. This is too big of a commitment to not choose wisely. Again lucky for me, my BFF is a boss babe and handled our selling effortlessly. (Feel free to reach out to her at http://www.cmanon.ironvalleyrealestate.com)

• Staging & Showings – talk about a disruption to life. When I sold my home my kids were 3 and less than 1. So rarely (never) was my house organized, cleaned and so inviting that someone would want to move in. But I knew how important it was to make it that way to get top dollar for my house. So I evaluated it – what is the risk if I don’t put all this effort into making things seem perfect – I could lose out on dinero. With that I decided to give it my all to stage the house. First I de-personalized the home by taking down all photos and pictures off the wall. Then we rented a storage unit and started to pack everything I could, for the ‘less is more’ feel. I did some minor improvements like painting and landscaping. I even hired a professional cleaner because by then mama was tired. My realtor had professional photos taken for the listing and it looked great! But there was one more hurdle to overcome. I needed to keep it this way for every house showing! Now luckily as I mentioned before, it was a seller’s market, so I only had to keep this up for less than a week. This is not an easy task that no one prepared me for. You’re expected to make the house look like no one is living there while you are still living there. I feel for those that have to keep this up for months on end.

• Market Warzone. Well at least that’s how it can feel. We had 35 showings in 5 days and ended that whirlwind with 7 offers. You get creative on finding ways to spend time outside of the home with 2 little ones and was awfully grateful I knew the garage code to break in, I mean hang out, at my brother’s house. Now it was time to make a decision on which offer to accept. Many came in over asking price, but the risk with that is they may not even have it. A buyer can offer a price you never would have imagined, which seems great, but the bank may not agree during their appraisal. At that point, if the buyer does not have the cash to make up the difference, you are not getting that price they offered. With the help of your realtor, evaluate all elements of each offer such as waiving inspections (yes this is a thing right now), timing of closing, cash deposit amount and closing cost contributions.

• House sold! Now what? If you just went through the whirlwind I described then you can have a home sold in less than a week. Which means it’s important to plan your next living quarters before you list. This could be solidifying a rental, discussion with families or buying a new home. If the market is not as hot, you will have to decide what is financially possible. Review the costs to determine if you could handle your current mortgage in addition the next location and for how long. If this is feasible then you have the flexibility to move into the next home. If this does not seem financially responsible, you could hold off on making a commitment to the next location and request a closing date that is far enough out for you to then make those arrangements. There is a risk with this as the buyer may not want to wait that long, but you have to do what is smart for you.

And you did it! Let the final packing and moving begin. A whole other adventure in itself. Change is never easy but with some thought and preparation, it can be manageable.