Real Estate Web Design

Setting the asking price

You’ve lived in your home for a number of years and now its time to sell. You think to yourself. How do I set a fair asking price?  We’ve added on, remodeled the kitchen and baths, and finished the basement into a family room. I’ve invested a lot of time and money into my home; plus, the house down the street sold for twice what I paid for my home 15 years ago. So then what’s a fair asking price if I sell my home today?

Consider what type of market your home is located in now, buyers market or sellers market? To do this consider some of the following.

Sellers Market: The ideal market to sell a home in is a sellers market. A sellers market is typically when there’re more buyers in a specific market area than homes available to buy. Buyers often compete with other buyers for homes often bidding higher than the asking price. A real hot sellers market could see multiple offers the same day the sign goes in the yard.

Buyers market: In a buyers market the reverse is true. There’re more homes than buyers and buyers often make offers well below asking price. Buyers are also willing to make offers on others homes before negotiating hoping to buy the best value in the market.

Housing inventory: To determine the type of market you’ll be selling in you’ll need to know the housing inventory. The inventory is all property available for housing in your area and includes homes listed with real estate brokers, builders, for sale by owners, through auctions and available by bank owned real estate (REO).

You can research inventory on the web. Sites like Realtor.com represents listed properties by real estate brokerage firms. You’ll also need to research for sale by owner sites as well as local newspaper or drive by yard signs to get the other homes in your market area. Some websites can give you a figure based on area selling trends, typically for a fee. Another place to get accurate information is a real estate company or appraiser. They will be looking for your business or a fee as well in most cases.

Next you’ll need to consider the amount of time each of those properties has been on the market or DOM (days on market). Real estate companies are a good source for this information. Zillow.com can also give you some idea weather prices are rising or falling. Try to compare the dom of current homes for sale today to homes that sold a few months ago. In general, if homes are selling faster than a few months ago you’re either in a sellers market or headed that way and can possibly receive a higher than asking selling price. If the reverse is true then a buyers market is what you’ll be dealing with and lower selling prices can be expected.

The last thing is new construction. If builders are building entry level housing and your home is more of a first time home buyers’ property then be prepared to sell for less than their asking price. On the other hand it may also indicate a demand for housing in that price range. Check with local government agencies to help determine your situation. If builder overbuilds they could offer big discounts to move their inventory as well.

Professionals in the business: It's up to you to seek out good advice. If you're uncomfortable with the answers you get ask for a second opinion. In the end regardless of whether you're selling on your own or through a brokerage firm it's always wise to get competent and reliable information. Ask questions if you don't understand. There are professionals that can help.

The Listing Tycoon 

Clean and Clear Clutter: Most real estate companies and/or agents have guide lines that help you polish your home. If you’re on your own the internet should provide you with ideas on where to start. You can also hire a local decorator to help present your home with popular trends that are popular today. Many relocation companies tend to neutralize bright colors with bright earth tones. Use our checklist located at the following pages: http://www.listingtycoon.com/StagingChecklist

http://www.listingtycoon.com/CurbAppealList

http://www.listingtycoon.com/ImprovementsThatPay

Photographs: A picture is worth a thousand words. In home selling it’s worth dollars instead. Buyers want to pictures of homes. Being able to preview a home on the internet is convenient, time saving and a constant reminder to a buyer that right at the same moment another buyer can be deciding to buy that very same home. Pictures can create something of an artificial demand in this sense that homes presented with great pictures are equal to a better value because urgency can be created. If your budget allows you to hire a professional do it. Professionals know how to frame subjects in a picture. Create effective lighting that sets a mood or modify contrast, focus or depth of field for a special effect. Second use as many photos as possible that represent the property with out over burdening the viewer. In other words you might not need 6 photos of your bathroom if one or two conveys all or most of the rooms attributes. Photo tours on the internet work well also. A photo tour rotates your pictures like an automatic slideshow. Buyers are more likely to watch if it requires no action on their part.

Write good ad copy: If you aren’t creative ask a friend or family member who can. Describe a lifestyle the home avails itself to. Like- Close to rolling green hills in the park for family walks after dinner. Or Take a swim in the nearby lake on a hot summer day to cool off then lounge at home under the pergola as the sun goes down. The three bedrooms a 2 baths is good information: however, I wouldn’t find that any different from the next ad with 3 bdrs and 2 bths. The important thing to think about is how your wording in an ad separates your home from competing homes in your market area.

Combine Photos and advertising: Use photos and written script in print ads, flyers or professional brochures together. Include an address or website that has a custom url that allows people to get more information about your home. Include your contact information. Again, use a website that allows people to ask questions, via email or submit their contact information to you.

Place an ad in the local newspaper: You can place a basic ad with general information about your home an include a web address url where buyers can find more information about your home. This allows you to save advertising money by keeping you ad short and to the point while allowing interested prospects to easily get more information about your home.

Make it easy for buyers to see your property: How often have you bought something sight unseen? Unless you know the company or product well chances are you haven’t. Same goes with homes in most cases. It’s important to make your home readily available for buyers to tour or visit. Be available on evenings and weekends to have your home shown. If you hire a real estate agent leave the house and let him/her do their job. Leave during the showings. Buyers who are truly interested and have questions only you can answer will be willing to wait a reasonable amount of time if the agent is unable to answer the question without you. Hold open house regularly.

The Listing Tycoon 

Reap the tax deductible rewards of home ownership!

If you’ve purchased, sold or refinanced your home in the past year, tax season is the best time to reap the benefits of being a homeowner! Take advantage of some of these tax breaks today and you could enjoy a bigger return
in April!

Mortgage Interest. For most homeowners, the bulk of your mortgage payment is going towards interest – and that’s a big tax break for you! The mortgage interest on your primary residence is fully tax deductible, unless, of course your loan is more than $1 million.

You can also deduct late payment charges as home mortgage interest as long as the payment was not late due to a specific service received in connection with your home loan. Also, if you pay off your mortgage early and incur a prepayment penalty, you can deduct that penalty as home mortgage interest (subject to the same requirements for late payments).

Property Taxes. Your property taxes - the annual taxes based on the assessed value of your property – can also be deducted. Your mortgage interest statement may list the amount of real estate taxes you paid if your taxes and homeowners' insurance went into an escrow account when you closed on your mortgage. You can also review your cancelled checks to determine your total real estate tax deduction.

Loan Points. Any points you paid to get a better rate on a home loan, are tax deductible in the year you made the purchase as long as:

• The loan is secured by your primary residence and it was used to buy, improve or build the home.
• Paying points is an established business practice in your area;
• The points are computed as a percentage of the loan principal;
• The points are clearly defined on the buyer's settlement statement; and
• You put cash into your home purchase in an amount at least equal to the points you were charged.

Loan Points on a Refi. The points you paid on a refinanced loan may also be tax deductible, however in most cases, the points must be deducted over the life of the new loan. So if you paid $2,000 in points to refinance a 30-year mortgage, you can deduct $5.56 per monthly payment, or a total of $66.72 if you made 12 payments in one year on the new loan.

Interest on a Home Equity Loan. The interest on a home equity loan may be tax deductible up to $100,000. However, if your home equity loan, when combined with your first mortgage amount, increases the debt on your home to an amount more than the property's actual value, you’ll face deductibility limits. In these cases, the IRS allows you to deduct the smaller of interest on a $100,000 loan or your home's value less the amount of your existing mortgage.

Each individuals tax circumstance is different. Check with a CPA or your Tax consultant to see if this information applies to you.

The Listing Tycoon