Selling your home involves much more than just placing a "For Sale" sign in your yard and going to the closing. As a REALTOR®, we are here to help you prepare your home for sale, market your home, and guide you through the sale process to ensure you sell your home within your time frame and get the best price possible.

As your REALTOR®, we will determine the correct price range for your home, point out things you should do to make your home more appealing to buyers, and devise the most effective plan of action. Here are some of the steps we will take to sell your home:

• Review the selling process--without the technical jargon
• Perform a comparative market analysis
• Determine the list and target prices
• Market your property
• Keep communication open
• Present the purchase agreement

Factors That Affect Your Home's Sale

There are three main factors that determine how marketable your home--price, financing, and time.

Price - If your home is priced too high, you must be willing to wait much longer for your home to sell. Either it will take that much longer to find someone to pay more than the home is worth, or the market will eventually catch up to the asking price of the home through inflation.

Financing - You may not realize it, but the financing of your buyer can have a tremendous impact on the success of selling your home. Try to offer very attractive financing options. Consider carrying the financing yourself at a below-market interest rate or preparing your home for government financing. This could open the door for many buyers that otherwise wouldn't even consider your home.

Time - If your time frame is important then you must be willing to lower the price.

How Should you Prepare Your Home?

Get rid of all the clutter and make it look "show ready."  If you need help, I can recommend two resources I call upon often.  Beth Burchard of Cherry Blossom will swoop in and help you decide what's treasure and what's trash.  When she's done, I call Joan Schulz of JS Home Design to rearrange chairs, hang American flags and generally ensure that your home looks its very best.

How Much Should You Ask for Your Home?

Of course you want to get the full market value for your home. The first step to getting the best price is to determine your home's value. As your REALTOR®, we can help you set an asking price by taking the following factors into consideration:

• Your home's value may depend on recent selling prices of comparable homes in your area. After reviewing the selling prices for such homes, the price is adjusted according to current market trends.
  
• Buyers most likely look in the price range determined by their monthly payment ability and down payment. Buyers are often very knowledgeable in their price range and purchase by comparison. Unreasonable asking prices are an immediate turn-off.
  
• Inviting a potential buyer to make an offer shows that you are willing to bargain. However, if your asking price is outrageous, the buyer's offer will most likely also be unreasonable.
  
• It's necessary to offer pricing, terms and conditions that are competitive in your market. This will help you sell faster and get the full market value.