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McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All rights reserved. http://www.mcgraw-hill.com
FOR SELLERS:
GET ON THE NET
More than 80% of shoppers check out home listing sites such as Realtor.com before they buy. Make sure your sales agent has at least six good photos of your home and a video tour online. "Listings with six photos get almost 300% more viewers than those with single photos," says Errol Samuelson, president of Realtor.com.
DRESS UP THE HOUSE
Everybody's watching the home makeover shows these days. Hiring a designer to spruce up your home can cost as little as $150 for a consultation, says Denver home stager Lynn Hodges. For a few hundred more, she'll bring plants, modern art, and furniture. Your sales agent will often pick up the tab.
DON'T OVERPRICE
Developer Robert Sheridan tried everything from free kitchen upgrades to financing incentives to move condos at his Lakeshore at Andersen Springs complex in suburban Phoenix. What worked: slashing prices by 10%. "People are looking over their shoulder at what their neighbor sold for a year ago," he says. "That's not the market today."
BE GREEN
Environmentally friendly features are in, especially if buyers don't have to pay for them. You can give your home a green sheen inexpensively by replacing incandescent bulbs in light fixtures with energy-saving compact fluorescent ones. Put filters on the faucets and a compost bin in the backyard.
FORGET ABOUT AS IS
Do some fixing on your fixer-upper. Replace old kitchen and bathroom fixtures, wallpaper, mirrored walls, paneling, and other accoutrements of bygone design with more contemporary looks. Paint walls taupe, not white.
FOR BUYERS:
SELL YOUR HOME FIRST
Put your current house on the market before you go looking for a new one. Properties are taking longer to sell, notes Phyllis Haber, an agent with Prudential Douglas Elliman in Huntington, N.Y. If you find your dream house before you unload your old one, "unless you can carry two mortgages, you may lose a deal."
RESEARCH COMPARABLE PRICES
To get the latest sale prices for similar properties in the neighborhood you're looking in, ask your real estate agent for recent sales data from the multiple listing service. Home appraisal sites such as Zillow.com that rely on deed or mortgage filings can be a few months behind.
BE REALISTIC ABOUT PRICE
Lowball offers turn off sellers, and negotiating from there could get contentious. Make an offer of no more than 10% below the asking price if the home is already fairly priced, says Mark Nash, author of 1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home. Then ask for concessions, such as having the seller pay closing costs.
DON'T WALK AWAY IF THE SIGN SAYS "SOLD"
New-home builders are experiencing cancellations, so it pays to keep in touch with the salespeople. Jim Widner, a general manager at builder kb Home, says a buyer in Las Vegas recently snagged a model that was in short supply after receiving a text message from a salesperson saying it was available again.
PUT YOUR FINANCIAL HOUSE IN ORDER
Before shopping for a mortgage, order free copies of your credit reports at annualcreditreport.com. Don't rush to cancel old credit cards. Having a long history can improve your credit score.
My Research
