Realtor advice

[peggyfromwastate]

So... Starting to freak about the impending Big Move. We are trying to sell our house, the market isn't horrible here but if your house isn't move in ready it is bad. And if your house is overpriced it's bad.

I'm just wondering if we should meet with realtors before we paint/ purge extra stuff or should we freshen up the place before we meet with realtors? I was thinking we would get the painting and purging done first, then meet with realtors and take into consideration their recommendations at that point. After taking care of the obvious stuff.

?? This is so scary...

[weeniegeniewife]

My suggestion would be to have your Realtor do a quick walkthrough of your house to give you a list of what improvements they suggest. You can do what is feasible and move forward with listing it. This is what we did last year when we sold our rental house.

[Meenah]

I don't know if this is doable these days, but the first house I sold (1980s) I specified a higher % to the selling agent!

[houseelf]

We had a realtor come over the fall before we sold our MN townhome. We thought we had a few projects to do. She told us that we didn't need new window treatments (they were outdated) but highly recommended a new garage door because of the curb appeal. You never really know what made the difference, but we sold it in 14 days. I hope that the same happens for you.

[SuzySunshine]

I called 3 realtors, told them our situation and that I wanted staging/project suggestions when they came over. I was upfront about the fact that I was interviewing more then one agent, in this market, they need the business as badly as you need to sell your house. I made notes of the staging/project suggestions all 3 of them made and then I decided on an agent and called her a few weeks later to let her know that we'd be going with her. At that time we established a time line for when projects needed to be done, when pictures would be taken, etc.

Good luck!

[diggitydot]

We're planning on doing something similar. Several friends have used the same realtor in town to fantastic results. By "fantastic", I mean full priced sales within a matter of a few days in many cases. I don't care if she's sacrificing small woodland creatures to make her realty voodoo magic work, I'm on board.

We'll have her come over to check out the projects we have planned (complete remodel of one bathroom that desperately needs it, some cosmetic changes in the kitchen, yard work, etc.), and get an idea of what else she'd like done to help sell and establish a timeline.

[peggyfromwastate]

Thanks for all the tips-- we were thinking of using the neighbors landlord (who is a realtor) bc the neighbors don't keep up their house and the front yard and random boxes of crap they stack by the front door might detract from crib appeal. Idk how she is as a realtor- she was very professional when I contacted her about an issue I was having with her tenants. She responded right away by email, gave me her private home phone and cell, took care of the problem with the tenants, etc. I was impressed by that.

[peggyfromwastate]

Lol I mean curb appeal but crib appeal works too. Kinda catchy.

[ladymoreta]

I like it!

[HouseofWool]

Might be the push needed to get the neighboring house cleaned up.

[alison]

I actually think it is unwise to go with a party that has a personal interest in what your house sells for!

[peggyfromwastate]

Really Alison? Why?

[alison]

Really Alison? Why?

I would rather keep things strictly neighborly. If you go with another townhouse owner as your realtor, s/he has an interest in who moves into your house. Yes, every offer has to be presented to you, but I wouldn't trust the neighbors that I have to sell my place without putting their interests above mine.

[peggyfromwastate]

Even though she doesn't live in the neighborhood? She is the landlord. Interesting thing to think about I know that if I ask the neighbors to clean up they would tell me *gfy* and if I ask the landlord to tell them to clean up she might not bc what's it to her.

Does the curb appeal affect this a lot? Most of the hood is fairly neat and tidy. Next door isn't Terrible just has some stuff in the front. Eyesore and against hoa regs

[Pollyanna]

I would say that how your neighbors keep their property most certainly will effect your selling price. The possitive about the landlord being your realtor is it is actually in her best interest to get a high price for your home because in will increase the value of hers thus making it more likely that she will get her renters under control.