Any creative ideas for selling a house? (Smyrna, Vinings: fit in, for sale)

[sweettea1]

We've decided to bite the bullet and put our house on the market. Yeah, yeah, I know it's a terrible time. But we really need to move to be closer to work so we're willing to do what it takes to sell or rent.
Anyone have any creative ideas on selling a house? We're in Smyrna/Vinings so it's a great area but there are so many for sale I want to rise above the competition!
thx

[Merin]

Do you watch all those shows with tips on selling houses? This should be very helpful. Also you are going to have to price it very competitively.

[spacelord75]

Price. Price. Price.

Price it to sell, if it's really important to move. You can play the waiting game, but consistently you will see what amounts to a waiting line of homes in a particular neighborhood that go according to price. Buyers are afraid to buy right now b/c they don't want to feel stupid if the market ends up being twice as bad a year from now, so they are looking for the best deal. Unless you have some amazing location, yard, or historical significance to the home, there is very little differentiation and the buyers will go for the lowest home. To be honest with you, right now is the best time to sell unless you are willing to wait 5+ years. Prices will probably be lower a year from now.

Whatever you do, learn from my mistake and do not buy a house before selling your current home. It is the most brutal experience ever and the stress will wreak havoc on your psyche.

[sweettea1]

I hear ya. Will look at all of this. We do have a killer backyard though!
Thanks

[Beena]

Think like a buyer. Price. They can re-paint it themselves. What they want right now is a bargain price.

[bayarea-girl]

Try renting out your place or doing the lease purchase thing that is big in GA. This really isn't the time to be selling right now. I agree with the previous responses about pricing your property. But what ever you do DON'T do work yourself unless you are an expert and make sure the house is spotless. If you spoke or have animals change the carpet(s). Or say that you do owner financing. If some only qualifies for the 1st loan but can't for the 2nd maybe you could try caring them for a year or so.

[JennySells]

It can be a tricky time selling your home - we have found that using the internet has drawn a lot of traffic to listings. Putting it out there on every site imaginable (we even use uTube), blogging, etc. has been a huge hit!

[atlantagreg30127]

HGTV's "Designed To Sell" show is your friend.

Full episodes online: Designed To Sell Full Episodes : Home & Garden Television

Also on this page in the lower-right, see the "Home staging dos and don't" list: Designed to Sell : Real Estate Solutions From Home-Staging Experts : Shows : Home & Garden Television

Yes people - I watch HGTV. So sue me.
_________________________

As a side note, don't dismiss Craigslist. It's free, and even though you get some nutballs, I've heard of people getting buyers from it, too. You will want to set up a free gmail or yahoo email address just to use for the replies to your ad. People who are legit on Craigslist browse through LOTS of ads, so make sure yours is well worded and stands out, be honest in the descriptions, and add as many GOOD quality photos as it will allow you (not crappy cell phone pics, etc), including that back yard in the pics.

Also, it might sound like overkill, but a friend of mine went out and bought a prepaid cell phone JUST to use for the house he and his wife sold. Their first time around, they listed their home and cell phone numbers and got calls at ALL hours (as late as midnight and as early as 6am!). At times the calls were so numerous they couldn't even eat dinner without the phone ringing. When then decided to relist their home, they went down to Sam's Club and got a prepaid cell phone for something like only $29 and loaded it with some minutes. That way, they weren't giving out their personal home or cell numbers in ads, they could turn that particular cell off at night without having to turn their main ones off, and could carry it around everywhere if they wanted because it was so small. They did wind up selling their home, and at only $29 but a few bucks for air time, they just passed the prepaid phone off to a neighbor's kid once they were done with it.

[IntownHomes247]

Originally Posted by sweettea1

We've decided to bite the bullet and put our house on the market. Yeah, yeah, I know it's a terrible time. But we really need to move to be closer to work so we're willing to do what it takes to sell or rent.
Anyone have any creative ideas on selling a house? We're in Smyrna/Vinings so it's a great area but there are so many for sale I want to rise above the competition!
thx

There are no magic bullets. This is an epic buyer's market. On the plus side, if you're buying a new home, you'll get to take advantage of that epic buyer's market yourself, and if you're moving intown you can get a killer deal on a house that was priced out of sight just a couple of years ago.

Best advice:

1. Get a REALLY GOOD real estate agent. This is a terrible time to sell FSBO. Make sure your agent has a VERY AGGRESSIVE marketing plan that focuses on internet marketing. At a bare minimum, s/he should provide -- completely tricked out listings on FMLS and GaMLS with as many photos (shot by a professional) as are allowed; a professional virtual tour (not a do-it-yourself tour); and a showcase listing on Realtor.com (multiple photos, expanded description, highlighted headlines). This is a bare minimum of what you need but it's more than most agents offer so make sure you get details about your agent's marketing plan up front.

2. Get your house in perfect condition. Pre-inspect it. Fix anything that needs fixing. Clean it thoroughly (and then clean it again). De-clutter. And consider getting at least a consultation from a professional stager. It's generally less than $200 and they'll tell you what you need to do to make it show as well as it can.

3. Price it to sell. Forget about "what you really need to get out of it" -- the market couldn't care less about what you think you need to get out of your house to make it worth your while. (Just as you, as a buyer, won't care what the seller of the house you buy thinks he needs to get out of it.) Look dispassionately at the market. Find the MARKET value of the house to find your price. Then, if you don't get an offer within 3 weeks of it hitting the market, cut your price by at least 5% (tiny price cuts do nothing and leave you constantly chasing the market).

Basically you need to look at all the comparable homes for sale around you. Make sure yours looks better than the competition and is priced AND marketed better than the competition so that yours will be the next one to sell.

Good luck!

[LoufromNewYork]

I think what everyone has said here so far is right in line with what you should be thinking when you're selling a home. It's not yours anymore, you want someone else to buy it from you and make it theirs. In doing so, you want to consider all of the little things because they will distract someone that is looking at your house, no matter what the price is.

I'd argue that price here isn't the issue because time and time again people pay "too much" for a given house, in a given area. You don't want to price it absurdly out of whack, but if you've taken better care than others, have upgrades, or other special features don't sell yourself or your home short.

-You want to immerse people looking for your home with details. Look throughout the house, get an inspector, have friends and family look at your home. Have them point out things that they feel are distractions. You don't want your home to be too personal (paint colors, furniture-wise) and you want to make sure little things are covered (caulking, chips, nail pops, dings scratches, etc)

-Take as many pictures and videos of your home as possible. Setup a blog through Wordpress or Blogger and post them there. Post the images on photo sharing sites like Flikr, post the video on Youtube. Consider using Postlets which will blast a "listing" of your house across 20 of so websites for FREE. Get a yard sign or get a box for the yard so people can take information with them. Whether you have it listed with an agent or not, there is no such thing as too much marketing. You want to be everywhere someone looking for a house would look (Craigslist, Kijiji, Oodle, Backpages, .etc)

-S.T.A.G.I.N.G!!! - Learn it, live it, and you'll love the results. People want to see how their stuff would fit into your home. If you aren't sure about how well your home is staged get a professional to come and offer advice, you probably don't need to buy anything. If HGTV can do it for $2000, you could probably take $500 and make a big difference.

-It's cliche, but location is key. If you are near things that you love, you should also promote that, when I moved into my new house, I was afraid I wouldn't be close to a supermarket, but someone told me that a new one would open up soon. Two months later, a new Publix was 5 minutes away and I love where I live even more now.