So now that you know what to replace and when, I am sure you are interested in knowing what your house is worth after all this work, time, energy, sweat and tears!
The best way to determine your home’s real value is by calling a good real estate agent.
So how do you find one of those? I promise I am not going to make this a big commercial about myself. But here are some facts to take the emotional out of choosing an agent.
1. Referrals. Who have your friends and family used that they LOVED? Ask around.
2. Who does a lot of business? You need to ASK the agents that you interview how many houses they sold last year. You may be shocked. Approximately 50% of the agents in our Valley sell about 5 houses a year. FIVE. Conversely, there are about 8 of us who sell more than 30. I am one of those agents. I sold more than 50 houses last year. There was only one other agent close to that. Ask the agents you interview how many they SOLD. That is where the rubber meets the road.
3. Who do you “click” with? Does the agent seem approachable; use a communication means and style that works with you? This will be super important as the process unfolds.
4. Who is most realistic? Now this may seem like odd criteria, but it is very important. Most sellers list with the agent who SAYS that they can get the most money for the house. For instance, you have two agents you interview. One says that they will list your house at $250,000 and the other says they will list it at $223,000 based on the market comps. Seems obvious that you would want to list with the agent suggesting $250,000. But is it? The questions you need to ask both agents are the same.
How many houses did you sell last year?
How many listings do you have now?
What is the average days on the market for your listings?
You may all of the sudden find that the agent who wants you to list for $250,000 has lots of listings that have been sitting for a long time, while the agent who suggests $223,000 is selling houses and getting the job done.
It is better to go with REALITY … what the comps are saying… and the agent who gets the job done and right… than to simply list for $250,000 wait for 2 months with no action, then have to reduce the price over and over to finally get it down to the $223,000 that the realistic agent suggested months before.
But what if you are not ready to sell, but are thinking of refinancing? We will look into that next time.
0 comments:
Post a Comment