What These Three Penalties Can Teach You About Selling Your Home
Categories: Chattanooga Real Estate News, For Home Sellers, Home Maintenance
by Jay Zuckerman, Guest Blogger
As August rolls around, Chattanooga residents love to say, it’s “Football Time in Tennessee.” All the local high schools are
going through Two-A-Days in the warm summer sun. The Chattanooga Mocs are preparing for their opener against the University of Oklahoma… and most Scenic City denizens are ready for SEC play to start. NFL Fantasy Football magazines cover shelves at the bookstores and the Scoop’s David Israel is already looking ahead to the 2009 NFL Draft when his Miami Dolphins will likely have the Number One pick… again.
Any coach will tell you that one of the keys to winning any football game is to limit penalties… Much like football, you must not commit these three penalties when selling your house.
#1 Interference: When a Realtor brings a potential buyer into your house or holds an Open House, do not commit “interference” and remain in your house. Buyers cannot visualize themselves in your home if you and your family are around. Most buyers are uncomfortable to share what they do not like about the house with their Realtor if you are there. Finally, your favorite features of the home that you can’t wait to share with a buyer may not be what they are looking for. You may love your large backyard where you can practice chipping golf balls. However, your potential buyer sees that backyard and doesn’t want to have to mow an area that large once a week. So go out and visit some friends, eat at a nice restaurant, or go to the movies and catch The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. On second thought, don’t. That’s two hours of my life and $12 I’m never getting back.
#2 Holding: Let’s be blunt. It’s a buyer’s market. The supply of available houses exceeds the demand. Buyers have leverage in making an offer. If your home is listed at $350,000 and a potential buyer offers $339,000, you need to seriously consider the market. Do you want to risk “holding” on to your house when other homes in the Scenic City have been listed for 12-18 months? Your first offer might not just be your best offer, it may be your only offer.
#3 False Start: Make sure you don’t commit a “false start” and list your home on the market “as-is” too soon. There could be cost-effective renovations you can make that could provide a net profit when your home sells. For ideas, watch HGTV, visit HGTV.com, or consult a Realtor.
Choose “Coach Hodes“ & The Scenic City Team to guide you through the difficult process of selling your house. Our winning percentage in the Scenic City is unrivaled.
This entry was posted on Monday, August 18th, 2008 at 11:12 am and is filed under Chattanooga Real Estate News, For Home Sellers, Home Maintenance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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Congrats on winning the carnival this week!
Andy,
Can’t tell you how much I appreciate this. In my ’spare” time I am a high school football official and everything you say is right on. Wonder if clients would pay more attention to penalties if I wore my uniform when doing that open house? Ummmm, I’ll have to think about that one.
Congratulations on the Carnival.
Michael
Michael-
Thanks for the comment on my guest blog.
I like your idea.
Sideline warnings may be appropriate for those who HAVE to stay in their home for the open house.
You’re a saint for reffing high school football. I couldn’t take the vitriol from some of the head coaches without taking my penalty flag and throwing it in their face.
Then again, I lived in Texas where Prep Football is life or death. Hopefully, it’s not as bad for you.
What a fun article! Brought a smile to my face; and you brought up some great points.