The 9 Step System to Get Your Home Sold
Fast and For Top Dollar

1. Knowing why you’re selling and keep it to yourself The reasons behind your decision to sell affect everything from setting a price to deciding how much time and money to invest in getting your home ready for sale. What’s more important to you: the money you walk away with, or the length of time your property is on the market? Different goals will dictate different strategies.
   
   
2. Do your homework before setting a price Setting on an offering price shouldn’t be done lightly. Once you’ve set your price, you’ve told buyers the absolute maximum they have to pay for your home, but pricing too high is as dangerous as pricing too low. Remember that the average buyer is looking at 15-20 at the same time they are considering yours. This means that they have a basis of comparison, and if your home doesn’t compare favorably with others in the price range you’ve set, you won’t be taken seriously by prospects or agents. As a result, your home will sit on the market for a long time and knowing this, new buyers on the market will think there must be something wrong with your home. Do your homework. (In fact, your agent should do this for you.) Find out what homes in your area have sold for in the past 12 months and find out what homes are currently listed for. That’s certainly how prospective buyers will assess the worth of your home.
   
   
3. Find a good real estate agent to represent your needs Nearly three quarters of homeowners claim they wouldn’t reuse the Realtor who sold their last home. Dissatisfaction boils down to poor communication which results in not enough feedback, lower pricing and strained relations. Having been in the Real Estate business for over thirty years, Prudential Keystone Properties takes pride in the fact that a majority of our business is referred to us from past satisfied clients. Let us help you be another SATISFIED Client!
   
   
4. Maximize your home’s sales potential Each year, corporate America spends billions on product and packaging design. Appearance is critical and it would be foolish to ignore this when selling your home. You may not be able to change your home’s location or floor plan but you can do a lot to improve its appearance. The look and feel of your home generates a greater emotional response than any other factor. Clean like you’ve never cleaned before. Pick up, straighten, unclutter, scrub scour and dust. Fix everything, no matter how insignificant it may appear. Present your home to get a “wow” response from prospective buyers.
   
   
5. All the buyers to imagine themselves in your home The decision to buy a home is based on emotion, not logic. Prospective buyers want to try your home just like they would a new suit of clothes. If you follow them around pointing out this improvement and that, or if your décor is so different then it’s difficult for them to feel comfortable enough to imagine themselves an owner.
   
   
6. Make it easy for prospects to get information on your home You may be surprised to know that the two marketing tools that most agents use to sell homes (open houses & classified ads) are actually not very effective at all. In fact, less than 3% of people purchase their home as a result of calling on a classified ad, and less than 1% of homes are sold at an open house. Furthermore, the prospects calling for information on your home probably value their time as much as you do. The last thing they want to do is play phone tag with an agent. Make sure your agent advertises your home to as many people as possible. Don’t use one form of advertising, use many: newspapers, internet, magazines, direct mail, etc. And remember, the more buyers you have competing for your home the better, because it sets up an auction-like atmosphere that puts you in the driver’s seat.
   
   
7. Know your buyer In the negotiation process, your objective is to control the pace and set the duration. What is your buyer’s motivation? Does he/she need to move quickly? Does he/she have enough money to pay your asking price? Knowing this information gives you the upper hand in the negotiation because you know how far you can push to get what you want.
   
   
8. Make sure the contract is complete For your part as a seller, make sure you disclose everything. Smart sellers proactively go above and beyond the laws to disclose all known defects to their buyers – in writing. If the buyer knows about a problem, he can’t come back with a lawsuit later on. Make sure all terms, costs and responsibilities are spelled out in the contract of sale and resist the temptation to diverge from the contract.
   
   
9. Try not to move out before you sell Studies have shown that it’s more difficult to sell a home that is vacant – it looks forlorn, forgotten, simply not appealing. It could even cost you thousands of dollars. If you move, you’re also telling buyers that you have a new home and probably highly motivated to sell fast. This, of course, will give them the advantage at the negotiating table.