High Speed Home Sale

Six Simple Steps & Three Magic Words To Instantly Sell Your House For Top Dollar In Any Market

Erica Alston

Published by Lulu.com.

ISBN: 978-1-4303-2187-3

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission from the author or publisher.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and the author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

Contents

Chapter 1 (Introduction) ……………………….…5

Chapter 2 (Getting Started) …………………...…15
Clean-up Checklist ………………...…..23

Chapter 3
(Should You Use A Realtor Or Go “FSBO”?) ….33
Reasons To Go “FSBO”…………….…33
Reasons To Use A Realtor…………...... 35

Chapter 4 (Inspections & Appraisals) ………..….40

Chapter 5
(Marketing & Advertising) …………….………..42
Signs……………………………………43
Classified Ads………………………….44
Bulletin Boards/Posters……………..…44
Magazines……………………..…….....45
Brochures………………………..……..46
Internet Ads…………………..………...49
Open Houses………………..………….49

Chapter 6 (Staging Your House) ………………...51
Depersonalize………………………….56
Minimize...…………………….……….57

Cheerful……………………….……….57
Let There Be Light………….…………58
Make It Inviting……………………….58
Make It Comfortable………………….59
Appeal To The Senses………………...59
Clean Is The Key Word……………….60
Beautiful Bathrooms…………………..60
Fantasy………………………………...61
The Great Outdoors……………...... 61

Chapter 7
(Open House Success) …...... 64
Open House Safety Tips……………….65
Parking & Curb Appeal………………..67
Show Your Stuff……………………….68
Pleasant & Inviting…………………….69
Contracts & Forms…………………….69

Chapter 8 (The Sellers’ Open House)…………....71
Be Prepared For Questions……………..75
Common Questions…………………….76
Exit Interview…………………………..79

Chapter 9 (The Sellers Find A Buyer)…………...83

Chapter 10 (Our Special Program) …...... 85
Be Unique……………………………...86
No Negotiations,
No Price Reductions…………………...87
Top Dollar Offers……………………...87
Maintain Full Price……………………88
Sell As-Is………………………………89
Unlimited Pool of
Potential Buyers……………………….90
Easy Pre-Approval…………………….92

Chapter 11 (Six Simple Steps) ……………….97
Step One……………………………98
Step Two……………………….....103
Step Three………………………...105
Step Four………………………….117
Step Five………………………….124
Step Six…………………………...139

Chapter 12
(Frequently Asked Questions) …………………149

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

If you’ve ever sold or attempted to sell real estate before, you know firsthand how stressful it can be to have your property sit on the market for months with no prospect of a sale any time soon. With this book, you will learn how to sell your house instantly and for full value in any market. We’ll get started by making sure that your house looks its absolute best before it goes on the market. That way, it can attract as many potential buyers as possible. When the house is ready to go on the market, you will have it professionally appraised to determine the best list price. Then, you will list your home for sale and officially launch your marketing campaign. From there, you can put our unique strategy to work for you to attract more potential buyers than you would have ever thought possible.

The appearance of the house is extremely important when it is on the market for sale. With each potential buyer who sees your home, you only have one chance to make a good first impression. You want to do everything you can to impress everyone who sees your home because anyone has the potential to become your buyer. So, step back and take a good, hard, objective look at your property. What kind of shape is it in? Imagine that you are a home buyer on a house-hunting trip and you are seeing your house for the very first time. What do you think? You need to decide how much time and money you can afford to invest into sprucing up your property.

When it is time to officially put the house on the market, you need to decide what the asking price is going to be. In order to make that decision, you need to know how much your house is worth, and at what price similar homes in your area are selling. Using our special strategy, you will be able to price and sell your home for maximum value. You will not have to reduce your price to attract potential buyers. Nor will you have to make any unnecessary concessions in order to close a sale. The offers will be pouring in—full price offers. You will select the best offer and close the sale. It really is that simple.

Once you have priced your property and put it on the market, you need to make sure that it gets plenty of exposure to as many potential buyers as possibe. The more exposure you generate for your house, the faster you are going to sell it. You need an aggressive marketing strategy to create a ‘buzz’ about your property. Armed with a full arsenal of marketing tools and techniques such as: lawn signs, classified ads, bulletin boards, posters, brochures, etc, you will launch your campaign to generate maximum exposure to attract hoards of potential buyers to your property like a magnet. Let’s not forget the power of the almighty Internet. With just a click of a button, your property can be listed in any nationwide database. This means that your property will be instantly accessible to every single house hunter out there.

Once you have generated a good amount of publicity for your property listing, you will have started to receive phone calls and perhaps a few visits from realtors who want to show the house to their clients. That is when it is time to hold your first open house.

Good planning and timing are important elements of a successful open house. Your property should be looking its absolute best whenever you have a showing. Aside from the appearance of the house, there are other preparations that need to be made before you invite the public in. Make sure that all of your promotional materials are on display in a prominent area where potential buyers can pick them up on their way in. Be prepared for any questions that you may be asked which are not answered on your flyers or brochures. You never know when a casual showing could turn into a contract for a sale. So, it is a good idea to have copies of forms and contracts on hand in case someone makes an offer on the spot.

The reason you will be bombarded with full price offers is simple; your property listing contains three magic words that will attract potential buyers to your property like a magnet. Those three magic words are the highlight of our special program. With our special program, you will not be limited to just at a narrow segment of the population as your pool of potential buyers. Instead, the unique strategy employed by this special program maximizes the exposure that you receive for your property. There are probably millions of people who would like to own their own home instead of paying rent to someone else. They do not own a home because they cannot afford a large down payment, or because they do not qualify for conventional financing. By using our special program, you will have expanded your pool of potential buyers infinitely. In other words, if you use our special program, just about anyone who wants to buy your home could probably do so.

Our program makes it easy and painless for just about anyone to buy and/or sell property fast. If you are a homeowner with a house for sale, this means that you do not have to worry about your house sitting on the market for a long time. Once you decide to follow our special program you will be confident in the knowledge that your house will sell quickly and easily. If you are an investor or a “flipper,” you will be able to move more properties and make more money in less time than you ever thought possible. With our program, your properties will sell fast and for top dollar. Realtors can use our program to sell more properties faster; and earn bigger commissions on each sale.

People who are selling property are not the only folks who can benefit from using this program. Buyers can benefit from the use of this program too. If you are trying to buy a property, this program can help. It will broaden the spectrum of the properties that you have to choose from; and it will make it quick and easy to buy the one that you want.

Now, I want to introduce you to our fictitious homeowners: Rick and Lisa Sellers. Mr. and Mrs. Sellers own a home in a nice (fictitious) suburb called Sellersville. Rick has a middle management position in a large corporation. Lisa put her career in advertising on hold to be a stay at home mom. They have two small children. When Rick is offered a lucrative job promotion, he and Lisa are ecstatic. It is a fantastic opportunity that will mean a lot more money and a greater standard of living. The job is located in California. The whole family is excited about moving and they can’t wait to go to California.

Rick’s company really wants him to relocate as quickly as possible so he can get settled into his new position. Rick and Lisa have already flown out to California on a week-long house-hunting trip. They found the house that they want to buy. Everything is happening so fast! They are hesitant to commit to any purchase deal because they still have to sell their house in Sellersville. Should they decide to proceed with the purchase of the new house in California now? What if the Sellersville house has not sold in time for the closing on their new home purchase? They cannot afford to get saddled with two mortgage payments.

John and Carol Neuhouse, the owners of the house that the Sellers want to buy are in a similar predicament. They are building a new house. The closing date for the purchase of the new house that they are building is set to occur in about three months. They don’t want to be stuck with two mortgages any more than Mr. and Mrs. Sellers do. So, the Neuhouses are in just as big a hurry to sell as the Sellers are.

This three month window of time makes Rick and Lisa hopeful that maybe this deal could work. They figure if they really work hard to aggressively sell, maybe they could have their house sold in three months time. Rick and Lisa need a foolproof plan to make sure that their house sells fast so that they do not get stuck with two mortgage payments.

We’ll have a bird’s eye view as Rick and Lisa make their foray into the process of selling their home instantly and for full price. You will be right there with them step by step through the entire process from the first day of cleaning and repairs straight through to the first open house. Experience first- hand how to prepare for and manage a showing. Learn to negotiate with potential buyers and prepare all of the necessary paperwork to sell your house instantly and for full price. Let’s follow along as Rick and Lisa Sellers begin their journey.

CHAPTER 2

GETTING STARTED—

ENHANCING CURB APPEAL

When Rick and Lisa decided to buy the Neuhouses’ home in California, the first thing they had to do was to make sure that their own house was in marketable condition and get it on the market as soon as possible. They went outside to get a curbside view. They took a good objective look at their property from the street so they could see what their potential buyers would see.

The Sellers’ property is actually in pretty good shape. The driveway was recently sealed. The sidewalks and the front porch are all free of any chips or cracks. “It’s not so bad,” Lisa said, “It just needs a little sprucing up.”

“Yeah,” Rick agreed, “We’ll just give the shrubs a good trimming and go over the flower beds a little bit. Do a little edging.”

“The windows could use a little cleaning,” Lisa said, “And maybe we could give the outside of the house a quick rinse, huh?”

“Sure, I’ve got a power washer in the garage. We can hustle and get this done over the weekend.”

When they went inside and looked around, Rick and Lisa realized that they really did not need to spend very much money to get their house in shape. A few hours of work is all it would take to get their house ready to be put on the market. All of the walls were painted in neutral colors. The carpets were very well maintained. The kitchen is very attractive and the appliances are all sleek and modern. “I don’t think we’ll have to spend a lot of money to get this house on the market,” said Rick, “We just need to do a little bit of clean- up work.”

“Yeah, we need to get rid of some of the clutter and junk we’ve got laying around. Rearrange the furniture and do a little spring cleaning. Maybe we can do a little touch-up painting here and there, nothing major.”

“I bet if we can get a couple of friends to come over and help us out, we can get everything done this weekend. What do you think?”

“I think we can do it. I’m going to go make a few calls and see who is available to help us out this weekend.”

“While you’re doing that, I’ll put together a quick checklist of everything we need to get done this weekend.”

The things that Rick listed on his weekend checklist are all of the things that you need to pay attention to before you put your house on the market. Do not waste a lot of time and money on any unnecessary repairs or renovations. You want to focus on making sure that your home is attractive and appealing to potential buyers. Your goal is to make sure that your home has curb appeal.

The term "Curb appeal" is commonly used in real estate to describe everything prospective buyers can see from the street that piques their interest enough to make them want to stop, come inside, and take a look. Improving curb appeal is critical to generating enough attention and exposure to attract plenty of potential buyers. While it does take time, it does not have to be difficult or expensive to get your house looking its absolute best to impress your potential home buyers. Just make sure that you keep two key words in mind: neat and neutral.

When preparing your home for the market, the general rule is to spend as little money as possible. Feel free to make relatively inexpensive upgrades to your home, such as replacing old beat-up door knobs and fixtures that look dated. Avoid undertaking major renovations like remodeling the kitchen or bathroom unless it is absolutely necessary. Make sure that you are confident that whatever work you are going to do will increase your profits. Whatever repairs or upgrades you do undertake, be certain that you are not overcapitalizing the property. In other words, do not spend more money on the renovation than you are likely to profit from the sale itself.

It is a good idea to seek professional input about any major changes that you plan to make. That way, you can be certain that your proposed changes will add value to your property. It would be an utter waste of time and money to construct a new fence or to build a deck in the backyard if it will not increase your resale value.

Neatness sells. It is the basic details that make your property look fresh and sharp. Make sure that your home’s exterior is bright and clean. Rick started by power washing the exterior to remove built up dirt and grime. Power washing is a quick and easy way to brighten up your home’s exterior to make it look new again. If the paint and siding are in good condition, power washing is also a cheap way to avoid spending money on painting. To complement the bright, clean house, Rick and Lisa went to work on the front lawn. They already have a pretty good looking lawn that was professionally landscaped a few years ago. Everything just needed to be sharpened up. The lawn needed to be cut, raked and edged. The shrubs were trimmed, and fresh mulch was added to the beds. The driveway had already been resealed a few months ago. When they were finished, they had an immaculate lawn, picture-perfect shrubbery, a newly sealed driveway, and potted plants at the front door. When you put all of those attributes together, you have quite an impressive package, and drive-by shoppers will certainly take notice. They will probably want to stop and come in to see the rest of the house.