I’m thinking of moving, what do I need to do next? Downsizing or upsizing from outgrowing home.

The best place to start is to declutter your home. Give the walls a fresh new coat of paint and make any simple repairs you’ve been putting off around the house. Familiarize yourself with your own neighborhood so you have a good idea of what your home is worth and what its the competition is like. List off the attributes that make your home a unique, charming catch of a property and figure out how to play those up best.

How much is my property worth?

There are so many ways to estimate the value of your home. You can begin this process by using online valuation tools on real estate sites like Zillow and Redfin or evaluate comparable properties.

You may also use public records like property transfers, deeds of ownership, and tax assessments. These tools try to predict your home’s value based on recent sales and listing prices in the area.

Another option is to use the FHFA House Price Index Calculator, which is an easy way to see how much your house may have appreciated over time. Just keep in mind that it only looks at conforming home mortgages and isn’t adjusted seasonally for inflation.

When you’re ready to take a deeper dive into the process, why not set up a consultation with trusted experts like our very own Solas real estate agents? We are happy to assist you with a comparative market analysis, or CMA. Although CMAs are not quite as detailed as a professional appraisal, they do provide an agent’s estimate of value that will typically suffice for listing purposes.

Should I sell it myself? What do realtors cost? What is the benefit of using a realtor?

Generally, the commission to sell your home is 6%, but we sincerely believe it’s worth it. Just to put things into perspective, 91% of sellers were assisted by a real estate agent when selling their home, and the typical for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) home sold for $200,000, compared to $265,500 for agent-assisted home sales.

If that’s not enough to convince you, some of the other perks of using our Solas realtors are:

• Insider knowledge of the market
• Connection to off market properties
• Access to preferred lenders and our invaluable team, including:
  • Stagers
  • Interior designers
  • Remodelers
  • Contractors
  • Handymen
  • Photographers
• Custom marketing approach
• Ease with the contract to close process

Is my house in the right condition to sell? What repairs do I need to make before selling my house?

There’s no way to generate a one-size-fits-all answer for this question, because it’s truly a case-by-case situation for each home. Obviously, the more show-worthy you can make your home, the more it will be worth. If you have any rooms that could use a fresh coat of paint, a floor refinish, or minor cosmetic updates, now’s the time to check those off your to-do list. You do not have to complete a full renovation overhaul in your bathroom or kitchen, but their aesthetic features should look sharp and appliances should function properly. Making these easy changes can prevent your home from looking too dated.

It’s wise to enlist the help of an experienced real estate professional early on who can take a close look at your home and point out minor fixes you can make to keep potential buyers from getting hung up on small details, like fixing a broken door or filling in a tiny hole in the wall.

It’s also important to keep your home’s view from the street in mind, because this is a prospective buyer’s first impression. Curb appeal plays a major role in a successful home sale, so you may need to clean or repaint the exterior siding or freshen up the landscaping.

Although you do have the option to list your home “as is,” if you’re short on time, money, or both, homes listed as is will sell for far less than updated homes. If a buyer knows she’ll need to repair the roof and replace the AC unit immediately, you can’t reasonably expect to get the same amount of money you would for a move-in ready property. A little goes a long way when it comes to home updates.

How do I sell my house and buy another at the same time?

This is a tricky one, but there are plenty of options for this common predicament. It’s truly a balancing act that depends on the flexibility of all buyers/sellers in the transaction.

If you buy before you sell, know that this the more challenging choice. While it’s not impossible, it does require more negotiation. Sometimes, you find your dream home too early and it’s just too perfectto pass up. If this is the case for you, here are some options:

• Use a home sale contingency, which allows you a set period of time to find a buyer for your old house before you move forward with settling on your new home. If you can’t find a buyer in time, you have the option to try to extend the contract or to back out of the deal. Keep in mind that home sale contingencies are not used very frequently these days, so they’re not always practical or feasible.
• Get a bridge loan, which is a short-term loans that allow you to pay off the mortgage on your own home so you don’t have to carry that cost. Then, when your home sells, you’d use the proceeds from the sale to pay off the bridge loans.
• Keep in mind that bridge loans can be a gamble because they often come with strict terms and high interest rates.
• Keep two properties for a bit, if you can afford it. For most people, this would be a financial stretch, but it isthe safest option if you have the means to pull it off.

Selling your old home before you buy a new one is a more financially secure option, however, this option also has its cons, like dealing with the stress of moving twice within a short period of time. Some tricks you can try to make this process go more smoothly are:

• Using the settlement date to your advantage, as in trying to schedule it for the same day you close on your old one.
• Asking for a rent back contingency, which is a provision that allows you to rent your home back from the new owner from the time of closing until you’re ready to move. They can say no, of course, but it could be an appealing offer for them because it never hurts to have a little extra cash when you’re purchasing a new home.
• Finding a short-term rental or storage unit to tide you over until moving day. The most significant drawback here is the cost.

How long does it take to sell a house?

According to OK Realtors, homes stayed on the market for an average of 60.18 days before they sold in December 2018, which decreased by 0.57 days or 0.94% from December 2017.

What is the difference in a cash offer versus a loan? Which is best?

It’s no secret that debt has a bad reputation, so it’s natural to think buying a home with cash (or by putting as much down as possible) is always the best course of action to take, but that’s just not always the case. There’s a lot to take into consideration when making this choice. Here are some major pros and cons of buying a home with cash instead of a loan.

Pros:

• It eliminates the need to pay interest on the loan and any closing costs.
• It can be more attractive to sellers, too, because they don’t have to worry about a buyer backing out due to financing being denied.
• A cash buyer’s home is not leveraged, which allows a homeowner to sell the house more easily.

Cons:

• It can limit your options if other financial needs arise down the road, like major renovations or repairs.
• Mortgage interest payments are tax-deductible.

How much are sellers’ closing costs? What other costs will be incurred?

One major closing cost for sellers at settlement is the commission for the real estate agents involved in the transaction. These are negotiable and vary somewhat by market, but a typical commission is 6 percent of the sales price of the home split between the listing agent and the buyer’s agent.

Other costs to consider include:

• Loan payoff costs, which is often a little higher than the remaining balance on a loan because of prorated interest
• Transfer taxes or recording fees, which are the taxes imposed by the state or local government to transfer the title
• Title insurance fees, as sellers usually pay the owner’s title insurance premium
• Attorney fees
• Liens or judgments against the property
• Unpaid homeowner association dues, prorated property taxes and homeowner association dues
• Possibly termite inspection and remediation
• Home warranty premium
• Repair bills (or a credit for repairs for items found during a home inspection)
• Cosmetic repairs or improvements needed to beautify and prepare home for sale

Do I need to stage my house if it’s vacant? Who pays?

There are pros and cons that come with each option. On one hand, it may be easier to sell a staged home because you can set the stage for what buyers see, and the more vividly the can imagine themselves actually living in the home, the more comfortable they’ll be buying it.

Staging the home often makes for more aesthetically pleasing listing pictures, and having quality pictures is arguably the most impactful measure you can take to sell your home.

Another benefit of staging is that it lets you show the usefulness and value of smaller of oddly shaped rooms.

The main two disadvantages of staging a home are time and money.

How accommodating and available do I need to be for showings and open houses?

It all boils down to your response to this question: How serious are you about selling your property? The more ready and willing you are to have frequent showings and open houses each day, sometimes multiple times a day, the more quickly you’ll sell your house. Plain and simple. Your goals and availability will help us determine how we should proceed with showings and open houses.

Do I need a professional photographer? Who pays for that?

In this fast-paced digital age, high-quality professional photos are an absolute must. This is a benefit Solas Real Estate gives our sellers to help put your property’s best foot forward and make a solid first impression. These days, buyers and sharp and savvy. They won’t even give a property the benefit of the doubt if the photos are low-quality or nonexistent. This is not an area where you can or should cut corners.

What is the best time to sell my house?

Anytime is the perfect time to sell your home with Solas, but traditionally, spring and summer time are considered the best times to sell your home.