Here are a few things you may want to keep in mind as what NOT to do when putting your home on the market and selling it:

• “Make sure your home is painted in bright colors that stand out or drab white walls.” Don’t do this! Paint the interior of your home neutral colors in the brown and beige family.
• “Decorate my home with all my cute unicorn nick-knacks.” Make sure your entire home is tidy and organized and free of décor that portrays your personality. Remember, keep the word “neutral” in mind when selling. Any family pictures and various dust collectors on your shelves should be boxed up and kept in the garage. Remember, you are going to have to pack this stuff up anyway!
• “Potential buyers can see past the clutter”. If you are selling your home and your rooms are filled with too much stuff, box it up. Minimal décor and “stuff” in general will show your home the best. Plus, it makes your home look bigger the less you have in it.
• “The walls don’t need any TLC.” Once your start moving your furniture around and taking those personal family pictures off the walls, you will start to notice holes, cracks and chipped paint. Take a moment to patch any holes and use the paint to touch up any scuffs before selling your home.
• “Buyers won’t notice the dust.” Remember, you want potential buyers to look around and think about what great shape you have kept the home in. This means do a deep clean of all your appliances, get rid of the dust on your ceiling fans and scrub the stove.
• “No need to tidy up the closet, I’ll just close the door.” Potential buyers will be nosy. They’ll open closets, cupboards and drawers. Tidy them up when selling your home! It is also a great idea to take half of the items in your closet out. This makes your closets and cupboards look bigger than they actually are.
• “I don’t need to spend any money on planting flowers or plants outside; the new owners can do that.” The first impression a potential buyer gets from your home will be the curb appeal. Pull weeds, green up the grass and plant new flowers.

Before putting your home up for sale, it is important to make the necessary adjustments to make sure your home sells for the price you want in a buyers market.

The following are some helpful tips from The Lawhead Team on selling your home for top dollar in a buyers market:

• First and foremost, what is your home worth? It is important to find a Realtor® who works the market in the area you are looking. If you are looking at North San Diego County, The Lawhead Team can help! You can look online to see what homes in the area are selling for but remember while selling prices are public, seller concessions are not.
• Housing markets change and are different depending on the area you are in. In a buyers market what you need to find out is the demand for a house like yours in your area. What are pricing trends?
• Who is buying and selling in your area? It is important to find out what your competition is in a buyers market, who are the buyers and why are they shopping.
• Get an appraisal from a certified professional appraiser. It is important to look at your comparables as well and together they can give you a very good idea of what your home is currently worth before listing it in a buyers market.
• Is now the best time to sell? While it is difficult (next to impossible) to predict the market, you may want to decide if waiting a few months to put your home on the market may be advantageous when it comes to getting the most for your home. You also want to make sure that once you sell your home it makes sense to buy another home in the desired location you are looking during a buyers market.

California Association of Realtor’s latest One Cool Thing’s discusses how home sellers handled multiple offers.

If you were a recent home seller, how did you handle multiple offers? The average number of offers received from buyers in the last few years were:

• In 2013, 98% of home sellers received multiple offers.
• In 2012, 3.1% of home sellers received multiple offers
• In 2011, 5.9% of home sellers received multiple offers.

How did sellers respond to multiple offers on their home?

• 77% of home sellers took the highest offer.
• 47% of home sellers took the best mortgage qualified buyer.
• 39% of home sellers took the offer without contingencies.
• 23% of home sellers took the all-cash offer.
• 14% of home sellers took the offer because of the buyer’s ability to close the fastest.

Buying a home in a sellers market? One of the most important things a home buyer can do when buying in a seller’s market is to trust his or her real estate agent’s advice on the market conditions. Since buyers usually do not have an interest in the housing market until they are looking to buy or sell a home, they won’t always know how the market is moving from one season to the next.

With today’s changing market, a home buyer or sellers strategy must be flexible and they should see the guidance of a well-informed real estate agent. Call The Lawhead Team for expert advice!

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 would like to share some tips on how you can save money when you are selling your home.

1. Find a good listing agent – If you want to squeeze every dime possible out of selling your home it is important to hire the right listing agent. Check around and interview various real estate agents to find out who is going to do the best job.
2. Price your home right – The longer your home sits on the market the less it is worth according to the buyer’s eyes. Price the home in line with comparable sales and that will get buyers interested enough to see it. Go tour open houses in your neighborhood when selling your home to look for trends and note what makes one home more appealing than another.
3. Prepare your home to sell – Consider getting some work done to your home that has been overdue. It may cost some money up front but you may be able to get more back in return. Set aside a certain amount you can afford for repairs and sprucing up the home. You may want to consider hiring a home stager. If you cannot afford it, study some books on staging your home when selling.
4. Examine the fees – Make sure to study the list of fees buyers and sellers are expected to pay. All these costs are usually negotiable when selling. If the buyer is asking for 3% towards closing costs, consider increasing the sales price to compensate.
5. Close closer to the first of the month – Closing closer to the first and not the end of the month could save a lot on interest charges when you are selling your home. Keep in mind however FHA loans are excluded from this.

Have questions on selling your home? Please call The Lawhead Team, “Because Two Lawheads Are Better Than One!”

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.

The Lawhead Team came across a great article from ABC News for those who are planning on selling your home.

ABC News’ Paula Faris reports:

The country is in the midst of a home-buying frenzy with Americans feeling confident enough to take advantage of record-low mortgage rates, and the 2 million Americans currently selling their homes are looking to cash in big time.

According to the Case-Shiller house price index, home prices across the U.S. are surging — they rose 10.9 percent in the last year to highs last seen at the end of the housing bubble.

“The prices seem to be right in line for where buyers are willing to buy and sellers [looking] to sell,” Phoenix real estate agent Sheri McComb said.

ABC News’ “Real Money” team talked with the McDougalls, whose home is on the market in Phoenix, just one of a handful of cities seeing the biggest bump.

In Phoenix, prices are up more than 22 percent from just a year ago. Scott McDougall said he was optimistic about selling his home and finding a house closer to his daughter’s college.

“The market’s been so good,” he told ABC News today. “We’ve been looking at the market right now. If you’re priced right, I mean, we’ve seen houses go in a matter of days. … We definitely want to act and get into a good home soon.”

Those increased home values are equaling more equity as well — meaning that some homeowners will now be able to refinance, a move they may not have been able to make till now.

But even in a hot market, there are still ways to put more money in your pocket, McComb  said.

Here are four tips:

1. Listing earlier in the summer is better. May and June are the best months. You’ll get more money compared with listing later in the year.

2. List on a Friday. Studies have shown that a home gets toured nearly 20 percent more, which means you’ll hopefully sell it faster and for slightly more money.

3. Use a professional photographer. Sellers who did had a higher sale-to-list ratio.

4. Don’t forget the details. By cleaning out the clutter — buying a new faucet or new doorknobs as well as replacing an outdated TV — “Real Money” was able to help one family increase the value of their home by nearly $25,000.

Read the entire article on selling your home at ABC News’ website: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2013/05/4-real-money-tips-to-follow-before-you-put-your-house-up-for-sale/