Frequent Sellers Questions

This entire section could be devoted to answering this question. But to be as concise as possible, a successful sale requires that you concentrate on five key areas: Price, Terms, Condition, Location, and Exposure.  Julie will review all these elements with you as you look to sell your home.

The best time is as soon as you decide you want to sell your home.  See Julie’s section on preparing your home and contact her to make a prelisting appointment.  Don’t miss out on potential buyers by waiting for another time of year. People are always looking for home and people are constantly relocating to the Pittsburgh area.

The strategy sounds good – but, in fact, is more likely to result in a lower price. Here’s why. The first few weeks a house is on the market is when it will have the most activity. If a house is overpriced, it has to compete with houses at that higher price level, which are almost certainly larger or have newer/more luxurious features. So the overpriced home is unlikely to attract an offer. Worse yet, those first weeks are when other real estate agents preview the house. If it’s overpriced, they may not even bother to show it to their buyers. Eventually, the seller will have to drop the price – and may end up with an even lower price because buyers will wonder why the house has been on the market so long and may factor that into their offer. Sign up for a Free Competitive Market Analysis (CMA)  for arriving at a selling price that focuses on listings and sold homes in your your local area.

“Curb-Appeal” is the common real estate term for everything prospective buyers can see from the street that might make them want to stop in and take a look at your home. Improving curb appeal is critical to generating traffic. While it does take time, it does not need to be expensive, provided you keep two key words in mind: neat and neutral. Neatness sells. New paint, an immaculate lawn, trimmed shrubbery, a sealed driveway, potted plants at the front door — put them all together, and buyers will probably want to see the rest of the house. Along with neatness is neutrality. If you’re going to repaint, stick to light, neutral colors. Keep the yard free of gardening tools and the kids’ toys. Remember, when a family looks at a house, they’re trying to paint a picture of what it would be like as their home. You want to give them as clean a canvas as possible.

First, make your house look as clean and spacious as possible. Remember, people look behind doors, in closets and drawers as well as bedrooms and bathrooms. So eliminate all of the clutter; have a garage sale and haul away all the leftovers. After you’ve cleaned, try to correct any cosmetic flaws you’ve noticed. Paint rooms that need it, re-grout tile walls and floors, remove or replace any worn-out carpets. Replace dated faucets, light fixtures, and the handles and knobs on your kitchen drawers and cabinets. Finally, as with the outside of your house, try to make it easy for prospective buyers to imagine your house as their home. Clear as much from your walls, shelves, and counter tops as you can. Give your prospects plenty of room to dream.