"You want to list my Wellesley MA Home for what?!!"

 Have you ever heard that exclamation before?  I'm sure you have at some point, and unfortunately it does happen.  But why does it happen?  The answer is simple, but more difficult to accept.  This is why it is so important that you hire an experienced Wellesley real estate agent to advise & guide you in the selling of your Wellesley home.  When you list your  home For Sale, your agent will know the market conditions and how to correctly identify the "listing price" for your home.  He or she will not have the emotional attachment to your home that you do, and  and therefore will be able to be an unbiased judge of the homes value and worth in today's housing market.  While you may not like the price you are hearing, have faith in the person you chose to represent you & your home.  When you overprice your home it will be dangerous for several reasons, but the biggest (and simplest) is...IT WON'T SELL!

In addition to not selling when you've overpriced it, you've really stacked the deck against you from day one. Selling your home can be an emotional roller coaster.  What your home means to you and how you imagine it, needs to come to terms with the real world and the current real estate market.....and that is no more apparent than in pricing.   Everything you are doing at this point is looking at the home to "list" and sell.  That may seem apparent, but it's much harder than it looks. You must take the emotional strings out of the way. You may cherish the color, flooring, or some other "prized possession", but none of that matters, it's simply black and white.  You are looking at it objectively just to list and sell.                                                                                                                                                           

Just "because you paid a certain amount for your home", or because "it means so much to you", is a sure fire way to stall the successful sale of your property.  Buyers also aren't going to care if you "need to get a certain amount for your home in order to buy your new home".  All the new buyer cares about is paying a fair market value for your home and that there aren't any hidden surprises that are going to come up later in the home inspections. Nothing will blow up in your face quicker than an OVERPRICED PROPERTY!  

You are free to list your home for any price you choose. However, any exceptional real estate agent will tell you that overpricing a home can lead to serious problems. Some of these include:

1. *Scare off Buyers- You don't want to miss out on an ideal buyer by pricing yourself out of their category. Rely on the expertise of your Real Estate agent and their knowledge of the local market so that you can maximize your exposure on the market and with buyers while still getting the best price for your home.
2. * Too much Time on The Market- When a home is priced too high it ends up spending far too much time on the market.  If a buyer decides to put an offer in on the property that offer takes into consideration the amount of time the property has been sitting idle on the market.  Therefore it has a negative effect on the property.
3. * Home Price Appraisal Issues- If you have overpriced your home, and a buyer has agreed to pay the "overpriced" price, you still have to pass the Home Appraisal. If the Home Appraiser comes back with a Market Value that is noticeably lower than the price the buyer is offering, the bank is likely to deny the buyer a mortgage.  Leaving you looking for new buyers.

Best advice....Stay realistic on the home pricing.  Seek out a great real estate agent and listen to his or her advice for pricing your home.  Many good agents will advise you to list a little lower and encourage a bidding war, than to risk all of the problems that would come with listing too high.  Stay realistic with your pricing and you will achieve your ultimate goal of selling your home;  in the shortest amount of time AND with the best possible price.

We've all heard the old adage....."walk a mile in someone else's shoes", but how can that apply to getting your home ready to put on the Wellesley & Metrowest Boston Housing market and showing it to potential buyers?  Easily....you need to start thinking as a "Home Buyer", and not as a Home Seller.  Here are a few tips to use before welcoming potential Buyers to your home:

1. Have a Friend Pre-Listing Party. Yes, that's right, invite a few of your trusted friends over, crack open a bottle of wine and go room to room with a notepad.  Have them objectively look at each room and give suggestions as to what they would change, or would be a red flag, if they were to seriously look at your home as a potential buyer.                                                                   

2.  Next...Consult a Great Real Estate Agent!  Run your list of fixes, the ones you have accumulated in your your pre-listing party,  by your agent and find out which ones are worth the fix for the money, or not. Your agent will also go over your Homes Value and develop a personalized marketing plan with you.

3. De-Clutter!  I know, we've said this over and over again.  But it bears repeating because it's so important.  Let's take a closet as an example:  Taking 1/2 of your clothing off of a closet rack and shelves, then neatly reorganize what is left. It will make your closet look much larger.  Another area....extra furniture.  Extra furniture usually get's shoved to the corners of a room.  Instead, rent a storage unit and take out a large majority of the furniture so that you can stage each room to take advantage of the size, space and nuances of that room.  

4. Think Neutral.  Now, We're like everyone else, We love pops of color throughout the home and  think a home feels a lot warmer and cozier with color.  But if you're putting your home on the market, you need to go neutral. It is hard for a potential buyer to envision themselves in a home that has "you" written all over it.  Neutral colors paint the picture of a blank canvas which gives your potential buyer the feeling that they can create their own painting or oasis of a home.

5. Clean out your garage.  We are all guilty of using the garage for storage, but trust me, your buyer wants to know that their vehicles are going to be able to fit in the garage.  Again, even if you need to rent a storage unit, get out all those boxes, and seasonal supplies that are not in use.  Make it clean and ready for vehicles.

6. Make sure Hardwood Floors are gleaming!  People in general love hardwood floors, but nothing is worse than looking forward to seeing a home with hardwood floors and finding a home with dull, scratched hardwood....... that you know you'll have to spend time and money to refinish!   A simple soapy wash followed by a rejuvenating floor polish will do wonders to make your hardwood floors look like new....and only cost around $50!

7. Restore your natural stone, tile and grout. If your bathrooms and kitchen tiles have lost their luster you may want to look into getting them refreshed.  Professional restoration services are available in most cities and are relatively cheap compared to a complete renovation, and can make your kitchens and bathrooms look new again. Well worth the money involved since these two rooms are the top two rooms of importance in a home search.

Local home improvement stores have trained personnel and many classes available to train you in many of the techniques to restore what you have in place in your homes today versus having to do total renovations.  Utilize their expertise to help make  the preparation for your selling process go smoothly and quickly.