When thinking about selling, your first instinct may be to look up your home’s value on the internet. However, determining an accurate value for your home is much more than just looking up your home’s Zestimate®. In fact, if you look on Zillow’s website you’ll see that not only do their valuation estimates tend to be off by more than 20%, but they also state that “there is no substitute for having a local real estate professional provide you with a traditional comparative market analysis (CMA).” In our experience, there are three major influencing factors that need to be considered when evaluating a potential market value for your home, which include a full analysis of the following:

1. Recent Sales Activity – An analysis of recent sales activity, also known as a traditional CMA, is the strongest indicator of what a current buyer and seller are willing to contract for a successful closing. But, provided timing and changing market conditions, a CMA is always the beginning indicator of potential market value.
2. Identify Influencing Factors – There are numerous factors to consider when selling your home that can influence buyer demand, including your home’s condition, a buyer’s willingness to make a purchase, and the price that a buyer is willing to pay for a particular property. Properly identifying these factors will help a home seller determine how to best leverage them through the sale of their home in order to fine-tune their home’s potential market value.
3. Marketing & Pricing Strategy – Probably the most overlooked factor that will impact your home’s market value is the implementation of a comprehensive marketing and pricing strategy. The asking price and presentation of your home will affect whether a homebuyer will view it above or below the value of competing homes for sale.

Having a sales strategy that accounts for all three major factors will ensure a successful sale as well as the likelihood of maximizing your home’s final sales price. As experienced real estate professionals, we will assist you in determining which factors matter most for your home’s unique situation and how to best leverage them in order to achieve optimal results.

Professional real estate service fees, also known as real estate commissions, are negotiable and vary across the industry averaging upwards of 6.0% of the sales price. This fee is traditionally incurred by the seller, payable at the closing of the transaction, and is split between the listing agent and the agent representing the buyer of the property. The portion of the fee retained by the listing agent (the agent representing the seller) will cover their professional services fee, marketing expenses, real estate related supplies, and other various service-related expenses incurred by the real estate agent during the sale of the property.

At NextHome, our agents are innovative and not tied to industry traditions. We understand that real estate commissions can be a large expense when selling, so our agents will help craft a sales and marketing strategy that works for your specific circumstances, charging a professional services fee that justifies their time, effort and results, ultimately providing our clients with more choice and convenience than by traditional means of the real estate industry. We’re passionate about saving our clients both time and money through the expertise and professional services that we provide.

I would say it’s three things…1.passion, 2.strategy & 3.execution.

First, we realize how a home is perceived by prospective buyers will ultimately determine its value, so we are passionate about creating marketing collateral that is highly appealing through immersive print and digital media such as professional designed and printed property brochures, narrated property tour and lifestyle videos, interactive 3D models and professionally designed promotional property websites. And we do this for every home we sell because we know that telling a good story, and showing a home in its best light are key to generating higher interest levels amongst those looking to purchase.

Second, after selling thousands of homes across Silicon Valley, we have learned that a successful sale always starts with the right strategy which is why your NextHome agent will follow a proven 7-step process for selling your home. Beginning with a full home evaluation, they will assist you in determining the right course of action to take from specific cosmetic updates, to the final staging touches, all deliberately intended to affect the outcome of the sale.

And third, our goal is to provide our clients with the convenience of a turn-key listing experience, so we have assembled a team of supporting real estate agents, staff members, local service providers and marketing professionals to assist in the coordination and execution of our sales strategy. Because, we know that creating distinct differentiation between the home’s that we market for sale not only provides our clients with a clear advantage over their competition, but also leads to a more predictable sales outcome.

Home shopping is both visual and emotional. Buyers are searching for a place to build a life, a family and memories, so the overall property experience from the street view to the back of the home, and every detail in-between will greatly impact their decision to make an offer. At a minimum, decluttering and removing old, damaged furniture would top the list, closely followed by painting the interior and exterior, cleaning or even replacing flooring, updating interior lighting, and landscaping updates. But determining how much you’ll need to do will be specific to your market and its current conditions.

Developing a comprehensive plan for preparing your home for sale is one of the most critical steps to take in the home selling process since the appearance of your home will directly impact the maximum dollar you can get in today’s market. As part of our Lifestyles Listing Services, your NextHome agent will be able to assist you in implementing the right course of action depending upon the condition of your home, its location, and current market conditions. Plus, our agents can even manage and oversee our team of industry leading professionals, consisting of interior designers, contractors, painters, landscapers, and many more, in the design and transformation of your home.

Are you familiar with the expression, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression”? Well, when selling a home, first impressions from curb appeal to interior cleanliness are key to grabbing and keeping a potential buyer’s interest, and working with a home staging professional can ensure that your home’s best features show in their best light.

Home staging can create focal points, highlight features important to buyers and most importantly, will set your home apart from the competition.

Home staging can seem like a hassle and changes your home from the comfortable, relaxing space it is now, to a more formal show environment. While the cost and process might be daunting, staged homes, in any type of market, sell faster and for more money. On average, a staged home sells 88% faster, and for up to 17% more according to a recent study by the National Association of Realtors®.

Simply put, “no.” Although moving out while your home is on the market will definitely make your life and the selling process much easier, especially if you have children and/or pets, you certainly don’t have to move out if you don’t want to. Many home sellers make the decision to temporarily relocate when their home is listed so they don’t have to worry about keeping it clean and show-worthy for buyers. But, we also work with many sellers that choose to live through the listing phase of their home sale, and you can too. We’ll even provide supportive services including the screening of would-be showings and a blueprint for how to prepare quickly for visitors.

You don’t have to sell first…it all depends upon market conditions and your financial situation. The path of least resistance would be the reverse, which is to purchase your first home, move into it, and then take your time preparing your old residence for sale. Of course, this is not always possible due to financial constraints, market conditions, or life circumstances, so often having to simultaneously sell while also purchasing is the only way to proceed. However, this path is filled with many opportunities for things to go awry quickly, so having the right professional to guide you through this process will be hugely beneficial.

The best advice we can provide would be to meet with a NextHome Realtor® at the time you’re just beginning to have thoughts about making a move-up into another home. During your consultation your agent will help evaluate each phase of your relocation, from determining probable value for your departing residence, financing options for your purchase, identifying your likely target neighborhoods for your next home, and finally, recommending the best timing for your purchase and sale. No matter what your circumstances, the sooner you choose to contact a NextHome agent to discuss your real estate plan, the better the strategy and the better the results you can expect.