Four Questions to Ask Before Selling a Home

By CRISTIAN DAVID | Special to the Palisadian-Post

The spring selling season is here, and now may be the best time for you to list your home.

However, selling your primary residence can be a very emotional process. All of your memories have been accumulated within the walls of your home—the joy and laughter of your family members during the holidays, those you have welcomed into your home during significant times like the birth of your children or grandchildren, and the loss of those dearest to you.

For many of us, letting go of these memories can be daunting and, yes, emotional.

There are many reasons people sell their homes. The sooner you start the process, the more informed and well equipped with the right sales strategies you will become.

The very first questions I ask sellers when they consider selling their home are very simple: “Why are you selling?” and “Why now?”

When you sell, you must consider the motivation before starting this process. Where will I move? Can I afford to sell now? What will I “really net” at the end of the sale?

There are a lot of costs associated with the sale of your home, and it’s important to be well informed of the costs associated with selling to avoid unpleasant surprises.

Ask yourself, “Do I need or do I want to move?” This may be an obvious one, but many people confuse their needs and wants when it comes to selling their home.

Now that you clearly know why you need to sell your home, the next step would be to look at your home through the eyes of other potential buyers. That may be easier said than done, because not everyone will appreciate your taste in home design.

While truly stylish and bold, not all potential buyers may appreciate your eccentric design ideas, when you chose to cover your foyer’s ceiling and walls with a vividly patterned and colored fabric, and upholster your front door with patent leather. You want to make your home marketable and allow others to see themselves living in your space after they purchase the home of their dreams.

Staging the interior and exterior of your home, landscaping the grounds, and drastically improving your curb appeal are at the top of the list when factoring in the budget for listing your home. If your home is smaller in square footage, but large in acreage, smartly staged homes can add much more value to your home.

Sotheby’s International Realty recently listed and sold a property that had been previously sitting on the market for more than six months. After the listing expired, our firm was hired to exclusively market that same home. We worked with a different home stager and photographer who, together with our agent, helped create more of a family feel for the home. The house was sold within a month to a family who also fell in love with some of the staging pieces.

Here are four questions that I suggest you ask these specialists before hiring them to market and sell your home:

1. Should I be on or off market when selling my property? Off-market—or “pocket”—listing platforms have become quite popular. We have been working with many buyers who are in high demand for “pocket listings” only. These are the more educated buyers who have been price-watching the market and are fully familiar with the current (lack of) inventory. Your real estate agent and their company may have access to a large database of such buyers and investors hunting for the best off-market deal.

There are many reasons why you should list the property on the market, mainly due to the property’s ability to be exposed to even a larger pool of buyers. And there are many innovative and alternative reasons why your property should be off market. Whatever the reason may be, your real estate agent should counsel you on what the best option would be for you and your circumstances.

2. What are the agent’s and the firm’s strategies to marketing my property to fully maximize my exposure to the highest number of potential buyers? In order to sell your home, you need to market the home. Find out what the agent’s marketing philosophy might be and what are they going to do after they take the listing.

Choosing the right brand is paramount because they will back you with the best positioning on the market, locally and globally. The company’s reputation and brand heritage, coupled with the agent’s ability to attract, influence and negotiate with qualified buyers specifically for your home, are secondary to nothing when it comes down to selecting the right firm for your property.

3. What are some of your most relevant stats, such as selling versus asking price ratio? The first stat to check is the list-to-price ratio, which is the final sale price divided by the most recent listing price, expressed as a percentage. When the percentage is over 100 percent, the agent’s homes sell for more than their list price. This percentage is important because it helps sellers determine if the agent is knowledgeable and is not inflating the price just to obtain the listing.

An equally important factor is the agent’s listings’ longevity on the market. The average number of days on the market reflects the agent’s ability to price appropriately, as well as effectively market the property.

4. What happens if the agent will have to be on the seller and the buyer sides? When you hire an agent, you expect them to work for you. However, some agents might be representing the buyer as well, which means it’s a good idea to ask what happens if your agent ends up on both sides of the deal.

Although it may not automatically be a conflict of interest, many clients end up feeling like they don’t know whose interest the agent is really looking out for. What’s important is that the agent is well versed with these types of transactions, able to walk you through their protocol for such a scenario and that the fiduciary responsibility is equally distributed to achieve a win-win situation for all involved. Otherwise, things can get stressful and heated.