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Selling Your Home? Know Your Market.

Regardless of where you are in your decision to sell your home, "decision" is the key word. Prepare
to make lots of those. And pretty fast.

Your realtor should be a valuable and trusted resource for you, guiding you along every step of the way. Still, nobody likes to feel in the dark when it comes to selling their home. Having a little background knowledge will give you more confidence as you navigate the waters of your home sale.

To that end, here are some tips and resources as you get ready to list. (If you have any to add, let us know in the comments section.)
  • Keep up with your local market and national trends.
    Do you know of a Metro stop coming your way in the near future? Or a shopping complex? Depending on your flexibility, knowing of imminent developments could impact your home's value and help decide your timeline.

    Simpler yet, just monitoring homes for sale in your neighborhood can be eye-opening. How many are there? How much traffic is going through? How long do those "For Sale" signs stay up?

    For more general, "trendy" type of information, the news section on Realtor.com can be a good resource. 
  • Talk to your realtor throughout the entire process.
    Especially if this is your first rodeo, your realtor should take time early on to educate you about the process--what to expect, how things will work, etc. You'll have plenty of questions along the way, too. I always stress this point: your realtor should be someone you feel comfortable reaching out to with your questions and concerns.
  • Research your neighborhood on Zillow.
    Look up properties for sale in your area and check out the photos to see how the houses are staged, how yours stacks up, etc. (Try not to feel bad about doing this. Chances are your neighbors will be doing the same once yours is listed. It's the techie, less intrusive version of the "curious neighbor" at an open house.)
Source: LighterSideofRealEstate on FacebookNote: Zillow provides a "Zesimate" of your home's worth. Everyone checks it, and that's fine. But keep in mind that the Zestimate is computer-generated and based on an algorithm that very often totally skews a home's actual value--sometimes high; sometimes low. (The same is true for all of them--Trulia, Realtor.com, etc.) It really takes a manual evaluation to get an accurate figure.
  • Tour model homes.
    Model homes are staged by professionals. Even if the house looks nothing like yours, you can get some good staging ideas walking through one.
  • Look at before-and-after images of staged rooms.
    Seeing what was versus what it looked like after staging might give you some ideas of a) how important de-cluttering and staging is, and b) how to prep your own rooms. Here are some links for before-and-after pics:
    - Google Images
    - Clutterfly
    - A couple of houses my wife and I renovated: Clifford Ave. and Four Seasons
It seems like most people enjoy doing this kind of "homework". And it makes for great conversation fodder. (Real estate is one of those universal topics that people seem to like to talk about. Definitely better than talking about the weather!) So, between the online research and the model home visits, hopefully you'll have some fun along the way. 


Ready to Buy or Sell Your Home in NoVa?

Contact The Norris Realty Group!
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