Posts tagged "Short Sale"

3 Ways Sellers Unwittingly Kill Deals

With the current state of the Real Estate market you would think that sellers would do everything they can to get their house sold.  Yet time after time I see sellers doing things that result in buyers walking away and going to buy another property.

1) Curb Appeal- Make the outside of the home desirable.  You often hear that a home has to have “Curb Appeal”, this has never been more true that in the current buyers market.  Additionally, the curb appeal has to shine through on the MLS system and in the listing photos on line.  If the home doesn’t look appealing on line you won’t even get a buyer to take the time to drive by.  If the street views of the home looks well kept and inviting, buyers will want to take the time to come and see it.  Remember you can only make a first impression once and now a days the 1^st impression is made on-line.

 2) Access to the Home – Sellers need to make it as easy as possible for buyers and their agent to set up showings.  Some sellers won’t even let their agent install lock boxes on the door.  Sellers need to adjust their schedule to accommodate showings.  Remember the buyer is the customer and there are many homes on the market, the buyers are only going to look at homes when they have the time.  Sellers should always have their homes in showing condition and have a lock box on the door so that agents can show the home while the sellers are at work. 

 3) Go Away– You’ve made it through the first two stumbling blocks now you need to make sure you are not home when the buyers come to look at your home.  Nothing makes a buyer more uncomfortable than having the seller home during a showing.  When the seller is home during a showing the buyer will rush through the home and don’t really get a good look.  The vast majority of homes that I have sold were viewed by the buyer when the seller was not present during the showing.

I would love to hear your comments and experiences on these items.  I’m sure there are other ways for sellers to kill the sale of their own properties, these just happened to be the top three that I have seen.  If you are considering selling you home visit my home seller site at www.SelMyMichiganHouse.com

Short Sales from a Sellers Perspective

I am asked daily by both buyers and sellers what a short sale is. I thought I would start with a simple explanation of a short sale and then will go on to provide a look at short sales specifically from a sellers point of view. A short sale happens when a home owner wants to sell their home and the market value is lower than the balance of the mortgage(s). This is commonly referred to as being upside down in the mortgage. There are two ways to go through with the sale of the property when the mortgage is upside down, 1) the seller can bring cash to the closing to make up the difference. or 2) the lein holder(s) can be asked to approve the sale and accept the market value as payment in full.

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