How To Protect Yourself From The Coming Financial Crisis - 7 Tips To Get Your Home Sold Now

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

How To Protect Yourself From The Coming Financial Crisis
7 Tips To Get Your Home Sold Now (posted with permission from: http://www.saneramblings.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=217&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30&sid=45c5f35d309dd40894d79a1c543eb0c0 )

Home values are dropping fast and the foreclosure lists are rapidly growing, if you must sell, these 7 Tips will help you sell your home now and at the highest possible price. I offer them to you as a 32-year real estate investor.

7 Tips To Get Your Home Sold Now:

1) Price To Sell.
This is by far the most important tip. Vast numbers of sellers are holding out for yesterday's prices and their properties are not selling as inventories quickly soar. In a falling market dropping record amounts each month, don't just sit there. Ask your realtor for a comparative market analysis and then price aggressively low. If you owe more than the market will pay, ask your lender to do a "short sale" forgiving the difference. It's crucial to get your property sold now before it's worth less.

2) Make It Pretty Outside.
This is the buyer's first impression. Fertilize your lawn, plant colorful flowers, paint where needed and get rid of clutter.

3) Make It Pretty Inside.
Paint where needed using neutral colors and fix or replace damaged fixtures such as broken tiles, worn toilet seats, discolored mirrors and pitted electrical plates.

4) Make It Sparkle.
Clean the carpets, drapes and walls, polish chrome and metal fixtures, get rid of pet odors, moldy scents, spider webs and dust bunnies and wash the windows.

5) Light It Up.
Use bright lights throughout the house, it has a psychologically uplifting affect and most people are turned off by dark and dreary.

6) Move It And Lose It.
Store most of your furniture. It makes the home feel bigger.

7) Use A Knowledgeable And Dedicated Realtor.
Visibility is crucial. Select a realtor who will advertise your home and promote it to other realtors so that prospective buyers know about it. You also want your realtor to work the long hours necessary for showings when buyers want to see the property and to effectively present your home's key features. And you want this person capable of doing the follow-up necessary to conclude the sale.

This will be the most severe real estate crisis since the Great Depression and these 7 Tips will get your home sold now.

http://www.saneramblings.com

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Number Eight: Some landscaping.

Mow your lawn. Make it green. Prune the bushes. Trim the hedges. Pull the weeds.

[NMDemDist2]

2. I sold at the peak of the bubble (thanks to DU) but I worked my @ss

off getting the house ready.

It sold the first day it was in the paper.

here's a link of how it looked when we were ready to show, fully 2/3 of my 'stuff' was packed out in the shed.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=287x2872

[Celebration]

37. wow, the kitchen countertops!!

Looked great.

[NMDemDist2]

38. they were brand new and not a color I would have picked

but they were better than the old pink ones

:rofl:

[dysfunctional press]

46. here's how our house looked when we were showing...

it's mostly empty because we had already moved to the new place that we had purchased before we got this one on the market.

http://www.goeverson.com/goeverson_v1/index.html

[lamp_shade]

3. More on Item 6)

Pack up and store away all the family photos, the knick-knacks, the "collectibles"... all the personal stuff. Remove nearly everything from table tops and kitchen counters. Take down all but a few pictures and wall-hangings. Minimize... minimize.

[NMDemDist2]

4. exactly! Makes the house look bigger and lighter n/t

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

5. These Tips Are All Layman, Obvious, And Seen Practically Weekly In Some Real Estate Section Of A

newspaper.

Nothing new there at all.

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

6. OK...but some might find it helpful...

..And there are other tips that might help people, if you look over the whole post, which began in November, over here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3703138

Thanks for posting (and kicking)

:-)

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

12. Oh Settle Down Francis.

They were all generic. The author of the article was making it like he has some huge tips to give based on his years of experience, but then what followed were the exact same cliche tips that I read practically every week in some real estate ad in the paper. There was nothing new or helpful compared to what can be found in 2 seconds flat with a google search, or that can't be seen repeatedly in the paper. That's all I was commenting on. It was like the author was taking credit for tips that have been around for ages and are as generic as they come. Big deal. Don't get your panties all in a bunch.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

15. Your comment was completely unneccesary...

as was mine, since it had no chance of reaching your closed mind.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

19. 99.9% Of All Comments On DU Are Unnecessary. Man, You Really Need To Settle Down Francis.

Comments are comments. They're not like, ya know, here to change the world or somethin. Almost every response in every thread serves no more of a purpose than for one to simply speak their opinion. Try and get a grip sometime, or a hobby, or something.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

22. My grip is fine, Gomer.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

24. Use Some Vaseline Before You Chafe Yourself.

[elehhhhna]

30. OMC, you're kinda bunchy lately. What's the problem?

[dionysus]

49. What The Hell Is Up With Showing Up In Threads Just To Insult People?

:shrug:

[fl410]

25. Here's a way to determine whether those "points" were worth a few electrons:

Just reverse them:

1) Price To Sell.

Price it at the highest amount you think it could ever possibly achieve.


2) Make It Pretty Outside.

Don't worry about the appearance, buyers know and love a "lived in" look.


3) Make It Pretty Inside.

Leave some dirty dishes in the sink; everyone knows a completely clean house indicates anal-retentive idiots live there.


4) Make It Sparkle.

Do not waste money on cleaning, it will just get dirty again.

5) Light It Up.

Avoid bright lights which can damage the eyes of prospective buyers and make defects easier to see!

6) Move It And Lose It.

Make sure there is wall to wall furniture, it makes the place look homey.


7) Use A Knowledgeable And Dedicated Realtor.

Have your Brother-in-law Earl handle the sale for you, he'll do it for a couple cases of Coors.

[helderheid]

17. Actually, speaking as a Realtor, you'd be surprised how many agents don't tell their clients this.

I lost a listing because I required my client to do all of those things. She listed with another agent, over priced, and the place was a wreck. That was months and months ago and it's still for sale (imagine my shock).

[AlCzervik]

28. but most agents know this already, i was an agent and then i staged homes.

and i think most sellers also know that they have some work to do, it's all a matter if they are willing to do so.

When i sold my house in Texas i staged it myself and priced it right and sold it within 4 days of it hitting the market, the key thing was the price, i listed for a little under what i thought i could get and that generated multiple offers over the asking price.

[helderheid]

48. It SHOULD be obvious. It isn't always, and I've seen evidence in my market of that more often than I

should.

[elehhhhna]

29. they're cliches to you & me but have you looked at homes lately?

People clearly need this advice.

[The Doctor.]

16. There are some things

that are better taken out on line.

No one gets a pass forever, but sometimes people just need to vent online where they can do little harm.

[Bluebear]

20. Some things AREN'T news.

[El Pinko]

43. So?

Jeez...

[pitohui]

7. what an impressively useless list of suggestions

don't these "writers" ever get tired of insulting people's intelligence

what kind of bullshit "tip" is "use a realtor?" or "make it sparkle" (a nice way of saying, clean your fucking house, dumbass)

if you want to put some content on your site to attract traffic, stop already with the junk, garbage content, everybody knows this stuff already

you have to have something new or real which obviously this person doesn't

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

9. Mr. Kazan began warning his readers 8 months ago, about the financial crisis...

...we find this country in now. He does not charge a fee for his advice.

If you find it useless, that's fine. Some may be helped by it.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

14. Exactly.

[mnhtnbb]

8. I had a broker/manager in the real estate office where I worked

in SoCal in the late 70's who always said "your house is a virgin on the market only once".
That means price it right! Give it sex appeal! You have to create the feeling that buyers will say
when they walk in the door, "I want it."

[spinbaby]

11. I'm so glad we don't have to sell now

I so feel bad for those of you that do.

[helderheid]

13. As a professional Realtor, I wholeheartedly concur.

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

18. Thank you!

I see you have kept the king Lemur as your icon, too.

:-)

[helderheid]

21. I almost thought I wrote the OP!

:rofl:

[dysfunctional press]

23. if there's a coming financial crisis coming, why would i want to sell my home?

where shall i live?

[fl410]

26. Buy a furnished SUV, they're selling for cheap.

:rofl:

[dysfunctional press]

35. my neighbor has over $100K worth of parked vehicles he's paying loans on...

a hugh motorhome that's been used 4 times in 3 years, and a big ol' ford expedition that he can't even use as a trade-in.

[elehhhhna]

31. The suburbs of Houston: still cheap, high employment, easy living.

[dysfunctional press]

32. i can't think of too many places i'd rather not live in than houston...ick

been there. done that. NO THANKS.

besides, we have a very small mortgage that will be paid off by the end of next year- why would i want to sell...?
that was my question.

[elehhhhna]

45. no reason -- you'd be silly to sell now.

[El Pinko]

44. If I was in a bubbly area like CA, I would...

...and move to somewhere cheap, since I can telecommute.

In fact, that's exactly what I did do, in 2006.

Homeowners and homedebtors who live in areas that never got bubbly probably ought to stay put.

But people in bubbly areas should probably think about selling and getting what they can while the getting's good.


A 400K house in Miami today will be worth $200K in 2010. Watch.

It's already happened to a degree in the CA burbs, and Vegas & Phoenix...

[dysfunctional press]

50. we kind of did that...moved from the northside of chicago to one of the outer burbs.

we sold our place in the city for 425,000(paid 130,000 11 years earlier) and bought the place we're in now for 325,000- and it's got an acre of land...we have a HUGH garden and were able to get a beautiful black lab. i didn't feel right about having a dog with the limited yard in the city.
i can also live pretty much anywhere and still get my same paycheck.- i don't telecommute, but i am disabled- permanent and total, with a badly arthritic spine.

[DailyGrind51]

27. Throw in a plasma screen TV, maybe a BMW for the driveway!

And, offer to fix the potential buyer up with your hot unmarried sister/brother. Or, quicker yet, take your keys and your title and give them to the first person who walks by with "Hey, pal, it's all yours. Good luck!":sarcasm:

[mrreowwr_kittty]

33. So where do you live after you sell it? nt

[DailyGrind51]

52. Thank you!

And, after you wind up practically giving your house away, what can you really do with what is left after closing? If the housing market turns around, will you regret the panic sale of your greatest asset?

[cobalt1999]

34. Sell the house!?!

Dumb idea in a financial crisis. What will you have then? A pile of money that devalues faster than the house would? Add in the additional cost of renting and you'd really be in the hole.

[dysfunctional press]

36. we'll be paying off what's left of our mortgage by this time next year...

i can't think of too many things dumber than dumping it at this point, in this market.

[symbolman]

39. Be sure to rip out any "extra" copper tubing and sell that..

the appliances are worth something too, sell those while you wait for foreclosure, along with any fixtures..

Keep the van, soon enough you and most of your neighbors will be living in a "van, down by the River.." (courtesy of Chris Farley on SatNiteLive) :)

Anyone want a house at a great price in Hawaii, PM me.. I'll give you a deal, the DU'r Rate :)

[HCE SuiGeneris]

40. Swap for one in AZ?

:evilgrin:

[symbolman]

41. My wife Loves AZ

Though she said that she'd have drive her car with oven mitts on at times :)

Interesting, but I doubt we could do the financing switch, and of course it would depend on the value of the house there.. A total dump here can't be had for less than 370K.. :)

Maybe we could PM some pics and figures? :)

[El Pinko]

42. I don't think it is going to be a "crisis", it's a correction to sane prices.

House prices have long been an average of 3X the local annual income. They are merely in the process of reverting back to that trend, now that the speculation and irresponsible lending is being wrung out of the system.

Prices are still extremely high compared to historical trends, so I think it's a great time to sell, unless maybe you are in one of the real foreclosure epicenters like California's central Valley cities.

Aside from that exception, I would not "wait for prices to rebound, because not only will they fall back to trend, they will probably overshoot and go even lower - that is a typical pattern with speculative bubbles. It will be many years before prices even get back to that trend line. If you are waiting for 2006 prices to come around again, you will be waiting a long time, barring hyperinflation (not entirely out of the question...)


The crisis is not in real estate. What is happening in real estate is what SHOULD happen. The bubble never should have been allowed to happen by the august Alan Greenspan.

The crisis will be the fallout to the economy as people come to terms with living with paychecks that haven't risen in decades, and no longer being able to tap into funding sources like flipping and home equity loans to maintain an artificially high standard of living.

[dysfunctional press]

47. CraigsList is a GREAT place to advertise your home- but DO NOT use "buyowner.com"

if you house can sell on buy owner- then it can easily sell itself anyway.

if you want to avoid using a realtor to save on the commission, and have the time to do the work yourself, there are plenty of realty companies who will get your listing on the mls for a small flat fee and NO commission. the one we used had a $250 flat fee that got your house in the mls. buy owner doesn't do that- they will put your house in the mls- but then they take a percentage of the sale, like a regular realtor.

BuyOwner.com is a complete rip-off. we had friends who found out the hard way- STEER CLEAR.

[Common Sense Party]

51. This would have been good (if obvious) advice nine months ago.

Now it's a bit late. You may do all these things and still not sell for many, many months. Why not?

People aren't looking. Not very many, anyway.

People can't get loans.

People are worried about keeping their jobs and (hopefully) getting out of debt.

You may have better luck renting it out for a while.

Obviously, this depends on the local market...