Are you thinking of selling your SF home and wondering how to get the most from your investment? These 5 strategies are sure to boost your return and ensure you get the highest price possible:
Hire a negotiator, not an auctioneer. It is an amazing time to sell a home in SF. Record low home inventory, record low interest rates and record growth in bay area employment have created a near perfect market for sellers. Most homes sell for far more than the list price. In fact, a common practice among real estate agents is to “list low and let it go” creating a multiple offer, competitive bidding process to encourage buyers to pay more. But setting up an auction and taking the highest price submitted is where most agents stop. It is at this moment that an expert negotiator can take your competitive bidding process to the next level. If you have multiple buyers wanting your home, why wouldn’t you give each of them the opportunity to bid even more to win? Just because a buyer guessed wrong at what it might take to win the first time, doesn’t mean she can’t or won’t spend more if given the chance. Hire the agent who wants to get you ALL of your money and will make the 11th hour effort to negotiate for your bottom line.
Price your home for competition. In San Francisco, about 70% of homes currently sell for more than the list price. That means that most buyers are looking at homes that are priced for LESS than they can actually afford, with the understanding that they will likely need to spend more to get what they want. Your list price, therefore, is an important aspect of attracting the right buyer for your property. It can also be a powerful marketing tool to drive interest and competition. In the hands of an experienced agent, a competitive bidding process can be something you can easily use and control to get the highest possible price a buyer will pay for your home.
Purge, paint, stage, polish! Taking a bit of time and money up front to properly prepare your home for market will make a world of difference to your bottom line. Decluttering and removing personal items will help buyers see the potential for their lives to unfold in your space. Add a fresh coat of paint in a modern, neutral color and hire a professional home stager to install furnishings that speak to the right buyer demographic, and your home will be met with excitement when it hits the market.
Cast a wide net with “full-exposure” marketing. Some home sellers are lured by the promise of an “off market sale,” where an agent helps them skip the effort and expense of purging, painting and staging their property and simply reaches into her network to find a willing buyer. But while this seems like an easy way to sell your home and save on prep costs, it can be detrimental to your bottom line. Forgoing a full marketing plan that exposes the home to every buyer and agent in the market place can mean forgoing your best possible buyer – the one who will pay the highest price! When selling such a significant asset, hire an agent who wants to do ALL of the work and get you ALL of your money.
Use your disclosures as a negotiation strategy. It is imperative to fully disclose all known material facts about your home to prospective buyers. But just making a list of repairs and past issues can miss important items that may not even be known to you. Taking the extra step to hire a professional property inspector to go through your home and create a written report allows you to provide a comprehensive picture of your property to buyers. And by providing this information up front, buyers will have more confidence in the condition of your home and may write stronger offers. They also will be less likely to find surprises during their own investigations, which could lead to costly negotiations once in escrow. Disclose early and thoroughly to protect your bottom line.
If you’d like to learn more about how I can get you the highest possible price for your home, please call me at 415.217.9479. Here’s to a successful sale in 2018!