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Essential Kansas City Home Selling Preparations
10 Important Steps to Take Before You Sell Your Kansas City Home
There are important steps in Kansas City that most home sellers should take before listing a house with an agent. Every bit of prep work you do helps you get the most return from your investment. The Dowell Taggart Team will work with you to develop a plan that fits you. If you need help searching for the REALTOR that will fit your needs and wants, we have prepared a
comparison worksheet
for you. Most sellers find that it is best to get their REALTOR involved at the beginning of the move rather than the day before you decide to sell. Better planning typically results in better results for you. Here are the Nine Basic Steps to prepapre yourself in selling your home.
1. Get Pre-Approved for a Home Loan
We’ve known sellers who signed a contract to sell their house before they knew if they were qualified to buy another. Either their financial circumstances had changed since their last purchase, and they could no longer qualify for a loan, or they weren't able to sell at a price that allowed them to buy the type of replacement house they wanted. They ended up renting or buying something that was far from ideal.
Before you decide to sell the house, get pre-approved by a lender you trust and research the housing market in the area where you wish to live so that you have a good idea how much it will take to buy a replacement. Look at a worse case scenario. Be prepared for surprises. What happens if you sell for less than anticipated or the car breaks down?
Start looking for two types of real estate: houses that seem to match the one you'd like to buy and houses that are similar to your current home. How do the two categories compare in price? Can you handle the difference if you're planning a step up?
By talking and having open communications with a reputable mortgage officer, you’ll be more prepared. If you need a referral for a mortgage officer, feel free to contact the Dowell Taggart Team. We have a list of mortgage professionals and we would be more than happy to match a mortgage officer with your needs.
2. Check Your Mortgage Payoff
Call your lender to check the payoff for your current home mortgage. You'll need the figure to complete Step 6.
Give your current mortgage company a payoff date 2 months in the future. Don’t forget some mortgages have fees if they are not paid off by the end of the month or are paid off too soon.
3. Determine How Much Your Home Is Worth
Determine your home's fair market value. A professional real estate will usually help you determine value as a courtesy, but you might take it a step further and have an appraisal completed on your home. Remember that buyers determine actual value. Real Estate agents give an estimated value. Sometimes real estate agents over inflate home values to earn real estate business. Use logic and get second opinions. The Dowell Taggart Team will present you a comparative market analysis. A comparative market analysis compares will help you determine the best price to list your home for sale. Remember, listing too high, will probably be harmful. Your home maybe on the market longer and it might sell for much less than expected.
4. Estimate Your Costs to Sell
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Real estate commission.
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Attorney, closing agent and other professional fees.
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Excise tax for the sale.
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Prorated costs for your share of annual expenses, such as property taxes, home owner association fees, and fuel tank rentals.
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Title insurance, courier fees and seller concessions.
The Dowell Taggart Team work on transactions every day and can give you a very close estimate of seller closing costs.
5. Estimate Costs to Buy a New Home
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Calculate moving expenses, loan costs, down payment, home inspections, title work and title policy, paying for a new hazard insurance policy--all expenses related to buying a home.
The Dowell Taggart Team will use an estimated costs from your lender and add fees that lenders don’t add like home warranty and inspection costs.
6. Calculate Your Estimated Proceeds
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Deduct your mortgage payoff from your home's fair market value.
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Deduct your costs to sell from the remainder to get an estimate of the proceeds you will be paid at closing.
Will your closing proceeds cover your costs to buy a new home? If not, do you have cash or other funding to make up the difference?
You may want to keep your cash assets and look at 100% financing. Contact your lender and run over some financing scenarios.
7. Make Necessary Repairs
Make all needed repairs unless you want the house to be regarded as a fixer-upper. We’re not referring to cosmetic updates--just items in need of repair. Anything that's obviously broken gives potential buyers a reason to offer you a lower price, especially if it's one of repair or cosmetic issues that worry buyers.
The Dowell Taggart Team will preform an inspection on your home and will make suggestions on repairs. Remember, the buyer and you view repairs differently. A very personalized wall color may appeal to you, but may turn off 75% of the potential buyers. Older carpet may only take $1500 to replace; however, a buyer may calculate that it will take $5,000 to replace. Is it worth to do these minor repairs to net more money and sell in a shorter time period? The Dowell Taggart Team will guide you through this step and make cost effective suggestions. The Dowell Taggart Team also has a team of professionals that can generally complete repairs at a much lower costs.
8. Get the House Ready to Show
Most houses need at least a little sprucing up before they are shown to potential buyers. Enhance the curb appeal, freshen up some walls,
sparkling clean windows, highlighting focal points in rooms and de-cluttering rooms are essential if you want the house to appeal to buyers. The Dowell Taggart Team will make suggestions to sprucing up your home. We will walk you through your home and show you the things buyers like and we’ll work with you in overcoming the things that buyers dislike.
9. Get Psyched Up to Let People In
If you're listing with a real estate agent, they’ll ask you to leave when the house is shown. Why? Because lurking sellers make buyers nervous--they don't feel comfortable inspecting the house when they feel they are intruding in your personal space.
Unless there's a valid reason for it, don't ask your agent to be present for all showings, because that requirement can be the kiss of death for showing activity. Other agents want privacy with their buyers and they don't usually have time to work around your agent's schedule.
Make the house accessible. That means it should always be ready to show. Many agents won't bother showing a house that takes 24 hours to get into. Putting restrictions on when your home can be shown, typically results in less showings. Also, canceling a showing and hoping the buyer’s agent shows later, typically doesn’t happen. The buyer’s agent is showing many home and they are trying to show many homes. It’s hard to work around the seller’s schedule and typically the buyer’s agent replaces your home with another home to show.
If you have the opportunity to get a second showing, make sure your home is in pristine condition. Vacuum the carpet, open the shades, take out the trash, wash the dishes, and pick up the toys and so on.
The Dowell Taggart Team has an extensive 200+ step marketing program to help get your home sold for the highest dollar. Our goal is customize our marketing program to help you net the most amount of money possible in the least amount of time. Checkout our plan and compare, you’ll be happy that you did!
Compare Kansas City Realtors
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