12 TIPS FOR HOME SELLERS AND BUYERS

Buying or Selling a home comprises the most expensive financial transaction most people will ever make in their lives.  Seeking a qualified professional to help you navigate the transaction successfully should always be the first step; just like any other major decision in life (surgery, business or financial contracts, setting up a trust), you should seek a qualified consultant who will listen to your needs, consider your desires, and create a plan to help you reach your goals.  Ideally, that consultant will stay by your side to keep you on track until your goal is reached!

The Susan Severson Group at Navy to Navy Homes is just such a consultant:  we work hard to achieve closed real estate transactions that save our customers time, money, and frustration. We start with the end in mind and handle all the small details to keep our customers from getting derailed by pitfalls they wouldn’t see coming if they were handling the transaction on their own.  With nearly 10 years in real estate, 4 years in downsizing services, and over 16 years in project management, as well as more than 20 hours of continuing education per year, we are uniquely qualified to be the guide you can trust to get you to the finish line on time and on budget.

Here are 7 steps for Sellers: (buyer tips follow)

1.   START PACKING

The easiest way to handle the chore of decluttering and depersonalizing your home is to start packing!  I highly recommend the Marie Kondo method of organizing (https://konmari.com/): touch every item and envision it in your new space (even if you don’t have a new space yet, I’ll bet you have an idea of what your new space may look like!).  Discard items that have no life left in them and give away the items that no longer give you joy.  Only pack the items that truly give your life pleasure.

2.   FIX WHAT’S BROKEN 

Most buyers seek move-in ready homes; of course, the exception to this rule is investors, but investors comprise a very small percentage of overall buyers.  Start with the little things:  after you’ve removed all the clutter and personal items in your home, look at your home the way a buyer would.  Are there broken outlet covers? Dings in the walls? Cracked tiles? Moldy grout? Leaking faucets?  Things that you’ve lived with for years and are just a small annoyance may be a deal breaker for a buyer with a keen eye.  I also highly recommend a pre-sale inspection of your home to avoid any surprises once you’re under contract.  An added bonus: homes that have been pre-inspected sell faster and for more money, because it immediately builds trust with the potential buyer.

3.   ADDRESS THE AGE OF MAJOR COMPONENTS

Buyers will often overlook dated interiors if a house has a new(er) roof and HVAC (heating and air) system.  Water heaters are also important, but replacement of a water heater is often less than $1,000, while roofs and HVAC can north of $10,000, combined.  In North Florida, you should have a qualified roofer walk your roof after a major storm to see if it qualifies for replacement through your insurance.  Even a year after a storm event, a roof may still qualify.  Although the replacement costs of these systems is high, the return on your investment is usually 100%.  The alternative is to deeply discount your home so that a buyer can budget to replace these systems in the very near future after they’ve taken occupancy.  Again, this is where a pre-inspection pays off; an inspector can approximate the remaining lifecycle of the home’s systems.  For example, a well-maintained HVAC can last many years beyond its recommended manufacturer lifecycle.

4.   UPDATE YOUR INTERIOR

Start with your appliances.  Buyers prefer homes with modern and CLEAN appliances.  There is no need to pay retail for modern appliances; there are plenty of outlets and used appliance stores where appliances can be purchased.  Basic modern appliances are also fine: a glass top stove (not coils) and a standard side-by-side refrigerator are fine.  A dishwasher should match the other appliances, but more importantly, it needs to be clean.  Too often in North Florida I see dishwashers that are crusted over with hard water deposits, which causes them to smell unpleasant and run inefficiently. 

I cannot overstate the value of a fresh coat of paint throughout a home.  If you have not painted your home in 2 or more years, I promise you that you cannot fathom how bright and clean your home will feel with a new paint job.

Sellers often think they should not pick new flooring for buyers; I am often asked if it would be better to offer a credit for new flooring instead.  The vast majority of buyers are looking for a move-in ready home and do not want to go through the hassle of choosing and scheduling the installation of flooring, when they are also trying to unpack a forest of boxes and get settled in.  Choosing a neutral flooring is a much wiser choice; again, fresh and clean goes a long way toward giving a buyer a great first impression.  My rule of thumb is to consider builder model homes: have you ever walked into a builder’s model and found it unpainted and without a floor covering? Builders know that the finished look sells homes.  Take their advice.

5.    UPDATE YOUR EXTERIOR

The adage “you never get a second chance to make a first impression” is vital here.  You don’t need an English garden, but your yard should be well maintained.  Trim all bushes and trees back, put fresh mulch in planting beds, edge the lawn, and keep the lawn mowed at all times.  Pay extra attention to overhanging tree limbs in North Florida; damaging hurricanes in 2017 and 2018 have made buyers nervous about trees coming down on their homes.  Get your driveway, walkways, and the exterior of your home power-washed.

    6.  INVEST IN PROFESSIONAL STAGING AND PHOTOGRAPHY

At the Susan Severson Group at Navy to Navy Homes, we provide a staging consultation for you at no cost, and we invest in professional photography on your behalf.  We also create a video of your house to give potential buyers a better idea of how the spaces flow together.  If you’ve ever jumped on Zillow or Realtor.com to look at houses, you know what I’m talking about here!  Dark, tiny pictures or pictures that give you no idea how a room is laid out are useless.  A staged home sells faster and for more money than without staging, because you’ve given the buyer an opportunity to envision how they might live in the space.  If it weren’t true, builders wouldn’t hire interior decorators to fashion the home’s interior!  And remember, 99% of buyers start their journey online, which brings us back to the one opportunity to make a first impression.  Don’t miss it! 

    7.  PRICE FAIRLY

As a Seller, your house has been your home, and it may feel like a precious pearl to you.  However, to a Buyer, it is one choice out of many.  At the Susan Severson Group at Navy to Navy Homes, we will provide a comprehensive report of the market where your house resides.  In reality, there are only three choices: price it at the top of the market, price it at the average of the market, or price it below the market average.  Those three choices come with timelines: fast, average, and slow.  We’ve analyzed your situation; which timeline fits your needs?

              7a.  DON'T FORGET TO HELP YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY!

                   You have successfully sold your home on time and on budget: don’t keep the Susan Severson Group at Navy to Navy Homes a secret!  Please leave us a 5-star review on Facebook and/or Google (copy & paste is your friend!) and give our card to 3 people you know who may be interested in discussing their real estate needs with us in the future.  Referrals are the lifeblood of our business, and we Thank You!

For buyers, here are 5 things to avoid:

    1.  GETTING A HOME PRICED OVER YOUR BUDGET

Every Realtor® will tell a Buyer that the first important step to homebuying is to get a pre-approval from a trusted mortgage lender.  And this is absolutely true!  We say the same thing here at the Susan Severson Group; it’s a waste of valuable time to make appointments to see homes you may or may not be able to afford.  However, it is equally important that a Buyer figure out what a comfortable monthly payment for your home looks like.  This is NOT the same as a pre-approval!  As a Buyer, it is possible you could qualify to buy a $350,000 home, but that doesn’t mean you’d be happy with a monthly mortgage that exceeds $2,500 a month!  And don’t forget to factor in the cost of maintenance and utilities.  Understand how you want the expense of your home to fit into your budget, and then share that information with your Realtor® and your lender, so that we can work as a team on your behalf to help you meet your goals.

        2.  FIXATING ON COSMETICS

I don’t know a single buyer who moves into a home without changing something, and that goes for new construction, too.  It is more important to look at the “bones” of the home, the age of the major systems (roof, HVAC, etc.), the neighborhood, and any other factors you’ve deemed important as a Buyer (i.e. proximity to work, walkability, school zones, etc.).  Those factors are things that are not able to be changed (location, schools, etc.), or inexpensive to change (a bad roof; although renovation loans are available), whereas paint and flooring are easily (and usually relatively inexpensive) fixed.  It is also important to not get emotionally tied to the process, as well.  This is the purchase of an asset until it is closed, at which point it’s yours to turn the asset into a home.  As your guide in this process, the Susan Severson Group will discuss your top 10 list and then help keep you on track to meet your goals.

      3.  NOT GETTING AN INSPECTION

Even if a house has been pre-inspected or is new construction, it is still prudent to get your own inspection done.  All inspectors are not created equal, and new construction is not infallible.  It is important to know what is “under the covers” of the house you are considering making your home.  If at all possible, it is a good idea to join the inspection as the report is being generated (a Susan Severson Group member will notify you of the appropriate time) so that the inspector can show you key aspects of the house that are material to its maintenance and functionality, as well as any defects that have been found.

   4.  ASKING A SELLER FOR TOO MUCH

It is important to keep in mind that 80-90% of the time, the pre-owned house being sold has been a beloved home to the Seller.  They have had pride of ownership, even if the manner in which their pride manifested may look different than how you would keep the home (i.e., not everyone is a professional designer or house cleaner!). An inspection report is not a honey-do list for the Seller to accomplish on their weekends. A homeowner often learns to live with the eccentricities of a home, and if they are minor, they can be addressed when you take occupancy.  The Seller is also going to have a net value in mind when they put the home on the market; this is the number they need to walk away from closing with in order to move on to the next phase of their life.  It’s our job at the Susan Severson Group to negotiate a deal that satisfies the needs of both parties and moves everyone forward.

    5.  HAVING BUYER’S REMORSE

If you have the guidance of a Realtor® professional from the Susan Severson Group at Navy to Navy Homes, and you have followed all advice to meet your goals that were established in our first appointment, you can rest assured that you have no reason to be remorseful about making a decision to buy a home!  We have made sure to help you meet your goals and get you a new home on time, on budget, and without frustration.

              5a.  FORGETTING TO HELP YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY!

                   You have your keys and the house you will be making your home: don’t keep the Susan Severson Group at Navy to Navy Homes a secret!  Please leave us a 5-star review on Facebook and/or Google (copy & paste is your friend!) and give our card to 3 people you know who may be interested in discussing their real estate needs with us in the future.  Referrals are the lifeblood of our business, and we Thank You!