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Grace
DeWeese Realtor® |
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Over the last several
years Amazing Grace
and her husband have
bought and sold over a
dozen homes. The
following are tips that
I will share with you on
principles that we
applied to have a
successful and
satisfying real
estate transaction.
We found it best to be
informed about
selling or
buying
real estate
and your next sale will
go smoothly, often
resulting in the price
you are seeking,
sometimes even more
money than you thought
just by following these
tips. |
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Tip #1 |
Deciding to Sell
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Your home is the most
valuable asset in your
portfolio of
investments. Here are
some ways to receive the
most monetary gain with
little stress.
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After you have a clear
understanding of why you
are selling your
property, hire the right
professional real
estate agent. It is
in your best interest
that the agent knows the
area. They see what is
happening in your area
and know from experience
what you can expect in
marketing your home or
land. When you interview
a Realtor, don’t
be afraid to ask them
for their marketing plan
to sell your home. |
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Tip # 2 |
Technology and
Selling Your Home
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In today’s real
estate market the
smart buyers are
shopping for property on
the internet long before
they arrive in your
neighborhood. Amazing
Grace Sells provides
a virtual tour of your
property. A virtual tour
walks every visitor
through your home room
by room, showing your
home inside and out.
Amazing Grace will
also
post pictures
of your home on the
Multiple Listing Service
(MLS) so buyer’s and
real estate agents
have world wide have
access to your home.
Your property will be
found on many other web
sites, as well as,
AmazingGraceSells.com
web site. To name a few;
Yahoo.com,
Realtor.com,
BaseGoogle.com,
PuntaGorda.com,
CapeCoral.com and
other Real Estate
professionals sites all
over Florida
using the local MLS
to sell or buy
property in Florida.
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Amazing Grace
draws buyers from all
over the world to her
web site. Your home or
property will be a
Featured Listing
in the
Showcase Properties.
This is what buyers first see
when they view
Featured Listings on
the
Amazing Grace Sells
web site. |
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Tip # 3 |
Pricing |
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What is the most
important element to
selling your home or
land. Yes, the
price! |
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There are other
important elements to
selling your home.
As you know, location
will raise or lower
your
homes value. Amenities,
view, condition & age of
home are all import
factors. But all these
values will not sell an
over priced house.
Working with a
professional real estate
agent will give you
the tools to find the
correct marketing price.
Amazing Grace
will provide you with a
lengthy
Comprehensive
Market Analysis (CMA)
which will include
sold and what has not
sold homes with similar
features to your house.
Amazing Grace will provide you
with information on what
will excite the buyers
about your home.
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An excited buyer will
look more closely at
your home than other
homes on the market.
Amazing Grace will
bring more opportunity
to selling your home
with her personal
services, such as
pointing out minor
repairs, rearranging
furniture, if necessary.
Making suggestions that
will increase your
home’s appeal to the
buyer. After all, the
buyer is an important
factor when it comes to
selling your home. |
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Unrealistic Value |
Set the marketing price
to high, guess what, you
will have the house on
the
market for a long time.
Review what a
professional Real Estate
agent has
provided you with when
setting the asking
price. If they have
given you a good
report of the market,
then trust your agent’s
knowledge of the market.
If the agent hands you a
mess of papers, with out
sufficient marketing
data, look for a
different real estate
agent, and try
again. |
This beginning stage of
listing your home at the
correct price is very
important.
Even before you list
your house, there are
agents working with
buyers that could
possibly be looking for
what your home has to
offer. If you want to
play the game “See
What You Can Get Over
the Suggested Listing
Price,” this is what
will happen. Other
real estate agents
will see your house in
the MLS, but they
will not show it,
because they are
educated on pricing and
know that it is over
priced. Also, the buyer
has educated themselves
about the market and
they will not want to
look at it. |
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Let’s turn this around
and put the house price
at the suggested market
price provided by your
Realtor. Many
Realtors that have
buyers looking for a
home with your features
will see your home on
the market and the price
is what it should be.
They call their
prospective
home buyers
and tell them about your
property. The house
sells within weeks of
listing. Now, isn’t this
less stress than an
unrealistic price? |
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Tip # 4 |
Buyer's First
Impressions
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First impressions the
buyers have of your home
is so important. I call
this the “WOW” Effect.
By this, I mean that you
want to give the buyers
the feeling they want to
own the house when they
first enter your home.
The “WOW” effect
will give buyers the
vision of actually
living in this house.
Here are some guidelines
to ensure that your home
has that “WOW” effect. |
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Interior of the House: |
Clean the carpets, make
all those windows
sparkle, fine tune clean
everything.
Corners, woodwork,
floors, light fixtures,
light bulbs, fans,
vents, blinds, window
treatments should be
dust free and clean.
Clean & Polish all
surfaces such as
cabinets, counters, tile
walls and floors,
faucets, appliances.
Insure that all
appliances work. If
something is broken or
missing, a dripping
faucet, an ever running
toilet, fix them. Paint
areas that need a new
coat of paint.
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Keep the interior rooms
in neat condition.
Closets orderly, beds
made, bathrooms clean
and neat, kitchen
counters free of papers,
medicines, unnecessary
appliances put away,
refrigerator magnets,
pictures, notes,
calendars put somewhere
else and out of sight.
Use wick air fresheners
in kitchen, bathrooms
and bedrooms. Put
yourself in the buyer’s
shoes. Look at your
house through the eyes
of the buyer. Ask
yourself, would I buy
this house? When the
answer is yes! You will
please that buyer. |
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Exterior of House: |
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Remember that “WOW”
effect for the
exterior too. Focus on
the front entry to your
home. Front door clean
or repainted, lock and
door handle working
easily or replace, entry
clean and free of bugs
and cobwebs. Remove
unnecessary clutter,
sick plants or plant
holders. Make this area
as attractive as
possible. |
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Pressure wash the house,
driveway, walkways and
clean décor lights.
Remove dead plants,
plant colorful easy to
care for plants where
needed. Remove any
unnecessary debris from
around the house. Trim
hedges. Repaint where
necessary and wash
windows. Keep yard and
greenery in neat
condition. Give your
home that new show home
glow. |
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Sometimes obvious
things are overlooked.
Clutter that you feel is
O.K. is usually not
accepted by the buyers.
The goal is to create
the image for the buyer
of them living in your
house. The more glimmer
you can create, the
closer you can reach
this goal. |
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Remove as many personal
items as possible. Rent
a storage area to move
boxes to. Try to keep
from cluttering the
house or garage with
boxes. Give to goodwill
or to your church any
items you do not want.
You can write these
gifts off your taxes. In
fact keep all your
receipts for cleaning
and repairing your house
for sale and these
expenses can be deducted
from your taxes in the
year of the sale. |
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Doing all of these
helpful hints to sell
your home, you will
create what I call that
“WOW” Effect. |
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Tip #5 |
Prepare For Showing Your
House
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Now that you have
addressed all areas and
have your home ready for
showing.
Make a list of what you
have to do when your
Realtor calls for a
showing. The
best way to accomplish
this is to create an
exit check list plan.
This check list plan
will cover the interior
and exterior of your
house. It is a list of
things you can do to
make the house ready for
that important moment.
This plan will make it
easy to verify that all
rooms are tidy, curtains
are open, lights on
where required. Add a
little air freshener and
soft music to set the
scene. Don’t forget the
outside entrance. It is
a good idea to go over
this plan with your
Realtor. They can
make suggestions on
lighting, music, etc. If
you have a pet, it is
best to have a place for
the pets to go. If
possible, take the pets
with you when leaving
the house. |
You just received a call
that a Realtor is
bring a
prospective
buyer to preview
your home. Follow the
exit plan list and leave
your home. Let the
professional
realtor take over.
The Realtor
understands the buyer
needs and will review
with
them the features of
your house. If you stay
and try to help the
realtor the buyer
could get the impression
that something is wrong
with the house. Also,
the buyer will not ask
important questions
about your home. They
feel that they are
intruding and will want
to leave early in the
showing. The best advice
I can give you is to
leave the house and let
the Realtor do
what they have been
trained to do. |
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Tip #6 |
Receiving an Offer
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you have a written offer
to consider. Your
Realtor will go over
the contract with you
and help you negotiate
for the best price and
terms. Your Realtor
will know if the buyer
has been
pre-qualified
or not. The buyer being
pre-qualified shows that
they can get the
financing to buy your
house. A typical offer
is written and should
include the following:
The amount of the offer
in the dollar amount,
deposits that the buyer
will make, their
mortgage and information
on interest and points
(if it is not a cash
offer), closing and date
of possession,
contingencies including
financing and
inspections (building,
mold, termite, etc.).
Should there be personal
items included, there
will be a list of these
items. |
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Tip #
7 |
The Big Day, Closing
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Throughout the
transaction with
Amazing Grace, I
will ensure that the
process is seamless and
stress free. When the
closing comes together
and all parties have
signed the necessary
paperwork to conclude
the offer to purchase.
Amazing Grace
will closely monitor the
process and
contingencies, being
certain all deadlines
are met and the
paperwork is in order.
The selected closing
agent (Title
Company)
will assemble the all
the paperwork from
mortgage, contract, any
contingencies in the
contract, community by
laws & deed restrictions
(if there is any), title
search, etc. They will
explain the process of
the transaction and the
cost. The title of
the property will be
transferred to the
buyer. Deeds, loan
papers and other
documents will be signed
and filed with the local
property records office.
The Seller will then
hand over the keys to
the new owner. The
seller will receive the
check! |
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