Page 38 - Flathead Beacon // 5.27.2015

38 | MAY 27, 2015
REAL ESTATE
MONTANA LIFESTYLES
New Construction Competition
FLATHEADBEACON.COM
As you place your home on the market, don’t forget to look at the competition in your marketplace to help determine a price for your house. Some home sellers have found that while they have a “newer” home, the even newer homes (i.e., just built) have created havoc on the sale of their “previously owned” model.
First of all, home sellers need to analyze what’s going on in both the resale and new-home market as they place their house up for sale. Whether it’s a hot or cold market, the properties in pristine condition will always sell quicker and for the highest dollar. It’s just commonsense and human nature. If offered a $5 bill fresh off the press or one that is mutilated, muddy and ink-stained, most people will go for the new dol- lar bill instead.
If you find yourself up against new properties, look at following these steps to maximize your sell- ing possibilities.
1. Check out the condition of the new house. What you find may either depress you or stimulate you to ac- tion. New carpet, freshly painted interiors and im- peccable decorating is what you’ll find and have to take into account when preparing your home for sale. Come back to your house and walk through it as you just did at the new-home development. Where should you start? Get to painting, replacing old flooring and decorating down (meaning make it more vanilla) so that buyers can visualize how they would decorate the home if they owned it.
2. What terms are you up against? Is the builder offer- ing decoration choices? Free finished basement or deck? How can you compete with that? Can you of- fer up front a decoration allowance of $5,000? This might be more advantageous than dropping the price outright. Hang on to your price, but give the buyer an incentive to work with you in decorating the house the way they want it.
3. Get serious about the trends in your market place. Your local real estate market is exactly that – a mar- ket. The Realtors don’t control the prices – the buy- ers and sellers do. If home prices are falling it means buyers are holding off on the higher prices they face. If prices are escalating there’s not enough inventory to meet the demand and buyers are willing to move on up on the offer. While you may have done a lot to your house, those hours of labor and tender care rare- ly mean more money. It’s primarily what the buyer is
Adding a fresh coat of paint to your home’s interior can make your home easier to sell in a competitive market. FOTOLIA
willing to pay for it, regardless of the amenities.
4. Check out the curb appeal. What can you do to seri- ously spruce up your exterior? A lot of buyers simply drive by and get the brochure out of the sign box if the house doesn’t wow them right from the start. Build- ers know this and have the model with all the up- grades outside – flowering plants, fresh mulch, great facades, good looking grass. What can you do to make your exterior look fantastic. One way to get ready to
sell your house is to plan out a few months in advance. A drab yard can be replaced within one growing sea- son if appropriately cared for.
Always remember – the way you sell a house is not the way you live in it. Buyers want new, clean, fresh and unstained. For the highest price and terms possible, give them what they want.
Submitted by the NMAR PR committee
Are you missing out on an
UNDERSERVED Lakeside market?
Newly constructed medical/professional space available at the Lakeside Town Center!
Call DAVID FETVEIT ~ 406-249-1764
LAKESIDE
TOWN
CENTER
Anytime /Anywhere
First Aid & CPR Classes
No Minimum Student Requirement
♥ Thorough ♥ Economic ♥ Efficient ♥ Convenient
406.249.2051
Your location or ours!
anytimeanywherecpr.com
[email protected]
American Heart Association and Red Cross Certifications