Archive for the ‘Getting Ready to Sell’ Category

Prudential Real Estate Ranked Highest for Seller Satisfaction in J.D. Power and Associates’ 2010 Home Buyer/Seller Study

(Columbia, Missouri) – Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services, a Prudential Financial, Inc. [NYSE: PRU] company, and Prudential Vision Properties announced that Prudential Real Estate ranks “Highest Overall Satisfaction for Home Sellers Among National Full Service Real Estate Firms” in J.D. Power and Associates’ 2010 Home Buyer/Seller StudySM.

 
The study measures customer satisfaction of home sellers and buyers with major national real estate companies. Overall satisfaction is determined by examining four factors for the home-selling experience: agent (44%); marketing (30%); office (15%); and services (11%).

 
Among home sellers, Prudential Real Estate scored highest on a 1,000-point scale and received particularly high ratings from customers in the marketing and agent factors. This is the second time in three years the Prudential Real Estate Network ranked highest in seller satisfaction. The Network also ranked highest in 2008.

 
“This distinction underscores the satisfaction level and consistency of our network through challenging times in our industry,” said Jim Mallozzi, chairman and CEO, Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services. “Affiliate to affiliate, our sales professionals are the local-market experts who market and price homes right, while providing attentive service. The more you know us, the more you love us.”

 
Added Earl Lee, president, Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services: “The Prudential Real Estate Network already enjoys one of the highest average selling prices in the industry. And, this prestigious J.D. Power and Associates designation demonstrates that our sales professionals are representing their customers with distinction.”

The team at Prudential Vision Properties works hard to exceed the expectations of its clients – sellers and buyers alike, explained Jody Calvin, broker/owner, Prudential Vision Properties. “In today’s market, our clients require all the expertise and service we can offer – and by leveraging Prudential’s brand strength, its broad product and service offerings and its effective Internet marketing programs, we provide sellers with the exposure they need for their homes.”

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• Consider comparables. What have other homes in your neighborhood sold for recently? How do they compare to yours in terms of size, upkeep, and amenities?
• Consider competition. How many other houses are for sale in your area? Are you competing against new homes?
• Consider your contingencies. Do you have special concerns that would affect the price you’ll receive? For example, do you want to be able to move in four months?
• Get an appraisal. For a few hundred dollars, a qualified appraiser can give you an estimate of your home’s value. Be sure to ask for a market-value appraisal. To locate appraisers in your area, contact The Appraisal Institute or ask your REALTOR® for some recommendations.
• Ask a lender. Since most buyers will need a mortgage, it’s important that a home’s sale price be in line with a lender’s estimate of its value.
• Be accurate. Studies show that homes priced more than 3 percent over the correct price take longer to sell.
• Know what you’ll take. It’s critical to know what price you’ll accept before beginning a negotiation with a buyer.

For more information or tips, call Prudential Vision Properties at 573-449-6200 to speak with a real estate expert without any obligation or cost. You can also email your questions to info@PrudentialVision.com (email responses usually come back within the hour)

By Kim Coleman

You’ve made the decision to sell your home. Even if you’ve sold a house before, this process can be daunting because it is a major financial transaction that involves many steps from selecting a sales professional and marketing the home, to negotiating with buyers and finally receiving funds at the closing. Yet, the home-selling process doesn’t have to be intimidating if you know what to expect. The process can be divided in nine steps.

Step 1: List your property with a real estate professional. Select someone who is knowledgeable, listens carefully, and with whom you feel comfortable. Interview at least three real estate professionals. Use their listing presentations to compare their preparation and professionalism. Don’t base your selection solely on selling price or commission. It’s probably best to avoid working with someone who promises you the moon—in this case, an unrealistically high price—then has to make price reductions until the property sells. Instead, focus on marketing plans, service and past results.

Step 2: Establish price and time frame. Determining a fair asking price is crucial in this market. Price the property too high and it could languish on the market. Of course you could always decrease the price later, yet you’ve lost potential buyers. Your real estate professional can help you determine true market value based on a comparable market analysis, which will include recent home sale transactions as well as homes currently on the market. Supply and demand, craftsmanship, amenities, condition and any special circumstances can also impact price. For instance, a relocation move might necessitate a quick sale.

Step 3: Develop and implement a marketing strategy. To get the most exposure for your home, you should have a marketing plan with clear objectives and an outline of specific resources to be used. Your plan should include a mixture of conventional and online marketing to optimize your reach to potential buyers.

Step 4: Get Your Home in Show Condition. Remember, you only get one chance to make a first impression. So make sure your home is in tip-top shape inside and out. Eliminate clutter and remove personal items. Refresh the paint, clean the carpets and make minor repairs. Keep the grass trimmed and add color to your landscape. You may also want to consider hiring a professional to stage your home. A home in move-in condition is much more attractive to buyers in a competitive market.

Step 5: An offer is submitted. Once your home is on the market, a buyer will make an offer through his/her real estate sales professional. The buyer’s sales professional will present the offer to your representative, who will promptly relay it to you and help you evaluate the offer.

Step 6: The negotiation process begins and eventually an offer is accepted. One of the most critical roles played by your real estate professional is in the negotiation phase. Negotiations over the terms of a home-purchase contract can be extremely sensitive. The process of offer and counter-offer may go on until parties arrive at an acceptable contract, which can go very quickly or take days, even weeks.    

Step 7: Buyers submit a loan application and home inspections are scheduled. Most often, the loan approval is contingent upon a satisfactory appraisal and various inspections.

Step 8: The loan is approved and the closing process begins. Once the buyer’s home loan has been approved, preparations begin for the closing. The closing, also referred to as settlement or close of escrow, is the final step toward completing the sales transaction between the buyer and seller. During this process, your sales professional will funnel all the necessary closing documents to the escrow agent. This may include the deed, mortgage, tax receipts, a Certificate of Occupancy and other documents. A final walk-through will also be scheduled. Once the escrow agent receives the paperwork and the funds pertaining to the sale of the property, the escrow is closed.

Step 9: Time to move!

Of course this is a simplification of what is otherwise a complex transaction. As you are going through each stage of the process, look to your real estate professional to provide guidance so that you feel comfortable every step of the way.

Prudential Vision Properties can be reached at 573-449-6200. Prudential Vision Properties is an independently owned and operated member of Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, Inc., a Prudential Financial company. Equal Housing Opportunity.

In today’s tired housing market, a home inspection can wake up buyers to what “as is” really is and give them a negotiating edge that could lead to cash or repair concessions.

For sellers, a home inspection serves as an anti-haggling tool and keeps the dickering down to a roar.

An inspection is also for new homes, given new home defects aren’t just incidental.

It’s also a good tool to use to assess a home’s integrity after a natural disaster, including flooding, an earthquake, a wind or rain storm.

Finally, a home inspection by home owners who aren’t listing their home for sale can let them know every few years what maintenance or upgrades they need to perform.

It’s always a good time for a home inspection.

For $350 to $500, a professional home inspector will review the major, visible and accessible components of the home and provide a detailed written report rating each element. Typically included are the heating system; central air conditioning system; interior plumbing and electrical systems; the roof, attic and visible insulation; walls, ceilings, floors, windows and doors; the foundation, basement and structural components.

The inspection isn’t intrusive and it may not include swimming pools, septic tanks, and other systems that require an inspection by a specialist.

The objective report should include detailed information in a way that allows the customer to make informed decisions about the findings.

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The inspection also can be a learning opportunity for the buyer or seller who should attend the inspection. The inspection is an opportunity to see the inspector demonstrate systems and to get acquainted with necessary maintenance chores.

The inspection also sees through the veil of misleading staging and other cover-ups and it can help buyers uncover building permit and code violations.

Sellers can likewise use the inspection to determine what they need to do to put the home in competitive shape or price it fairly to sell as-is.

While a home inspection, purchased by the buyer or seller or both, is more common than it’s ever been, too many home buyers skip the process.

That’s especially true for new homes, but they also need a once over. There could be subcontractor issues missed by the contractor as well items missed by the local jurisdiction’s harried building inspector. Read the rest of this entry »