The Lawhead Team would like to share the latest “One Cool Thing” from CAR on safety when it comes to selling your home.

When selling your home, there are certain safety guidelines that should always be followed to keep yourself and others safe.

Valuables:

• Don’t forget to take your keys, credit cards, jewelry and other valuables form your home or lock them away for safety.
• Antique, rare or expensive home décor items also should be put away to avoid accidental breakage, or worse, theft.

Medications:

• Remove prescription medications from medicine cabinets and bedside tables.

Weapon:

Firearms, knives (including those in a block in the kitchen), and other weapons should be removed from sight and locked away for safety reasons.

Personal Info:

• Bills, invoices, credit card statements, mail and anything with your Social Security Number or other personal identifying information should be removed from view.
• Family photos and anything labeled with names also should be put away.

Showings:

• Do not let strangers into your home if they do not have an appointment.
• All showings should be officially scheduled in advance through either your Realtor®, their office or another Realtor® who represents the buyer for safety reasons.

Hazards:

• Protect yourself from a liability standpoint by making sure that driveway and sidewalks are free of ice and debris.
• Also make sure all pets are secured at all times.
• Do everything in your power to ensure a prospective buyer is not in danger.

If you plan on selling your home this year, The Lawhead Team has a recent article they found for all home sellers! Remember to call The Lawhead Team for all your home buying and selling needs.

Real Estate Agents Rank Biggest Home Seller Mistakes

A recent survey of real estate agents by ActiveRain has confirmed that there are certain things a seller should avoid if they are trying to get their home sold for the best price in the least amount of time. 

The results of this survey are no surprise to real estate agents, but sellers need to understand that eliminating as many hurdles as possible to the sale of their home will help them achieve their desired outcome.

Of the top mistakes, most are ultimately in the hands of the seller. Here are the top mistakes real estate agents commonly see made by homeowners looking to sell their house.

1. Overpriced Home – Nothing shocking here. This was far and away the most common mistake sellers make that prevent them from selling their home. 

If you overprice your home there is a pretty good chance no one is going to want to buy it. Real estate agents do not set the real estate market. A great real estate agent will suggest a price at which to list your home based on comparable homes that have already sold in the market. Overpricing a home to ‘see if you can get someone to bite’ is not a strategy employed by someone really serious about selling. Overpricing a home will lead to missed opportunities with buyers that are serious about buying in the range at which your home should be listed.

The first week during which a home is listed will generally be the time that the most eyeballs are on the home and the largest potential pool of buyers will be exposed to the listing. Setting a price that reflects the market is essential to selling! This is exacerbated in a downward trending market. Many a seller has lost thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars chasing a market down after setting a listing price that was outside what the market was willing to bear.

2. Showing Availability – It’s Difficult to Set a Showing

The chances your home will sell when buyers can’t get in to physically inspect the property are minuscule. Sellers need to understand that listing a home for sale is going to lead to some inconveniences in your normal routine. Many serious buyers may want to physically inspect a property during times which may not be convenient for the seller. Knowing this, motivated sellers need to understand that flexibility in when you allow the home to be sold could have a direct impact on the sale of your home.

It’s not uncommon for a seller to see 8, 10, even 20 homes during a showing tour with their agent. If your house isn’t on that list because you only do showings on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 4pm, you will miss out on ready, willing and able buyers. 

As a seller, realize that the more people that can see the home in person, the more chance you have to find the buyer that wants your home. 

3. Cluttered Space – Unwilling to Depersonalize or Remove Clutter

Sellers are sometimes unwilling to either make the effort, or unwilling to compromise how they live in their home during the time the home is on the market for showings. Serious sellers realize that by depersonalizing the home and removing unwarranted clutter, it allows potential buyers to more easily visualize their own things in the house.

When you live in your home day in and day out, you become comfortable with your own ‘things’. In many cases, however, your ‘stuff’ can make a room feel smaller than it actually is and in some more extreme cases, your ‘stuff’ can completely distract someone from visualizing the potential of a room. We know you are proud of your kids as the shrine in the living room displays all of their ribbons, trophies and diplomas from the last 20 years. But for a buyer, this is only a distraction. 

Many agents will make recommendations about ways to remove clutter or depersonalize your home. Some will even suggest that a professional homestager be brought it to completely maximize the space and create a setting maximizes the buyers ability to visualize their own things. The key thing to remember here is these suggestions are not personal and you may have to be a little uncomfortable so that your house puts its best foot forward.

Click here to read the other 7 home selling mistakes you don’t want to make.

The Lawhead Team is proud to be a REALTOR®, which sets us apart from those agents or brokers who are not.

We would like to share a valuable article from REALTOR® about choosing a Realtor for your home buying and selling needs:

How to Choose a REALTOR®

Not all agents or brokers are REALTORS® — there is a difference.

As a prerequisite to selling real estate, a person must be licensed by the state in which they work, either as an agent/salesperson or as a broker. Before a license is issued, minimum standards for education, examinations and experience, which are determined on a state by state basis, must be met. After receiving a real estate license, most agents go on to join their local board or association of REALTORS® and the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, the world’s largest professional trade association. They can then call themselves REALTORS®.

The term “REALTOR®” is a registered collective membership mark that identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics (which in many cases goes beyond state law). In most areas, it is the REALTOR® who shares information on the homes they are marketing, through a Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Working with a REALTOR® who belongs to an MLS will give you access to the greatest number of homes.

Using an agent and the obligations that are owed to you – An agent is bound by certain legal obligations. Traditionally, these common-law obligations are to: Put the client’s interests above anyone else’s; Keep the client’s information confidential; Obey the client’s lawful instructions; Report to the client anything that would be useful; and Account to the client for any money involved.

NOTE: A REALTOR® is held to an even higher standard of conduct under the NAR’s Code of Ethics. In recent years, state laws have been passed setting up various duties for different types of agents. As you start working with a REALTOR®, ask for a clear explanation of your state’s current regulations, so that you will know where you stand on these important matters.

The difference between a buyer’s and a seller’s broker – Suppose you sign an offer to buy a home for $150,000. You really want the property and there’s a chance other offers are coming in, so you tell the broker that “We’ll go up to $160,000 if we have to. But of course don’t tell that to the seller.” If you’re dealing with a seller’s agent, he or she may be duty-bound to tell the seller that important fact. In most states, the seller’s agent doesn’t have any duty of confidentiality toward you. Honest treatment might require that the agent warn you that “I must convey to the seller anything that would be useful so don’t tell me anything you wouldn’t tell the seller.”

TIP: If you’re dealing with seller’s agents, it’s a good idea to keep confidential information to yourself. These days many home buyers prefer instead to hire a buyer’s broker, one who owes the full range of duties, including confidentiality and obedience, to the buyer. A buyer’s broker is often paid by the seller, regardless of the agency relationship.

How to evaluate an agent – In making your decision to work with an agent, there are certain questions you should ask when evaluating a potential agent. The first question you should ask is whether the agent is a REALTOR® . You should then ask:

• Does the agent have an active real estate license in good standing? To find this information, you can check with your state’s governing agency.
• Does the agent belong to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and/or a reliable online home buyer’s search service? Multiple Listing Services are cooperative information networks of REALTORS® that provide descriptions of most of the houses for sale in a particular region.
• Is real estate their full-time career?

Read the entire article at REALTORS website: http://www.realtor.com/basics/buy/looking/realtor.asp?source=web

Just like anything in life, first impressions are very important. When selling your home, you want your potential buyers to get the best first impression possible.

• Your listing price doesn’t match your home. If the home you are selling requires some work such as maintenance and upgrades, don’t think you can just slap on a huge price tag and expect to sell it in days. The first week your home is on the market will be when it will get the most traffic. When selling make sure your home looks it’s best to give the best first impression possible.
• Your personal items are still cluttering your home. No matter how sentimental your items are, they are going to need to be taken down sooner or later when you sell. When selling your home make sure to de-clutter.
• You only have certain times potential buyers can view your home. When a new home comes on the market, potential buyers will want to see it right away. When selling, always make sure your home is available to show at anytime.
• You linger around when people come to look at your home. If you are selling, leave when potential buyers come by to look at the home. Your presence can make buyers uncomfortable and leave without truly considering it.
• You fail to mention any problems with the home. Disclose any major repairs that need to be done. Don’t let your deal fall through when selling because you have a leaky roof or your AC doesn’t work. In most cases potential buyers will hire a home inspector and these problems will surface one way or another.

The Lawhead Team would like to share some helpful tips for homeowners to make their home worth more. Keep these in mind if you are selling your home.

1. Improve the entrance of your home. Whether you landscape the outside yourself or hire someone to do it for you, good landscaping will give you the highest return on your money and will transform the exterior look and feel of your home.
2. Brighten up your front door. This is the centerpiece of your home’s curb appeal. Paint it in a striking and tasteful color or you can sand it down and stain it for an antique weathered look. Finish the look with updated lights, potted plants and new door hardware.
3. Make your front walkway pop. Install pavers or accentuate the look by lining it with lights and/or flowering plants.
4. Clear, clean and update your foyer. This is the first impression people will get when they walk into your home. Remove bulky furniture, paint it with a neutral color and upgrade the lighting.
5. Use rich colors to spice up rooms, avoiding the white or beige look. Adding color to furniture with throw pillows or painting the walls in a rich color will help to showcase your home.
6. Avoid a major kitchen or bathroom overhaul if you are ready to sell. Instead you can install new mirrors, faucets, nozzles and cabinet doors. You will be surprised how much of a difference simple changes like that will make.
7. Repaint your kitchen cabinets to refresh your kitchen’s look. You’ll be surprised at how a coat of paint will transform your kitchen or bathroom’s entire look.
8. If your home is in need, new flooring can provide a huge boost in a home’s value without having to spend that much on it. Replace stained carpet with tasteful tile or wood laminate.
9. Create an inviting backyard which encourages entertainment. Make sure your backyard looks like it is ready to entertain family and friends so your potential buyers can picture themselves there.