Colorado Springs Vintage Homes Blog
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Don’t make these 3 Mistakes when selling your home
Avoid these 3 mistakes when selling your Colorado Springs Home
If you would like some other helpful advise on selling your home, please feel free to call Kathy at 719-287-1049, KTorline@msn.com
1. Do your homework before setting a price.
With 6,403 homes currently for sale in the Colorado Springs area, it’s all about the price.
Find out what homes in your neighborhood have sold for in the past 6-12 months, and research what current homes are listed for sale and for much. Your Colorado Springs Realtor should be able to find and compile this information for you.
Also, research which homes have not sold and which homes got withdrawn from the market. These are often the homes that were priced incorrectly and/or marketed correctly and did not sell. Essentially the market rejected these homes.
It’s important to take time to analyze all of the information you can about the market.
2. Maximize your home’s potential to get top dollar.
Each year, the big corporations in America spends billions on product and packaging design. Appearance is critical when selling your home. (The pictures tell the story)
Your home is a product that you are selling to home buyers; and they 6,403 other houses to choose from.
3. If possible, don’t move out before you sell.
Studies have shown that it is more difficult to sell a home that is vacant because it looks abandoned, forgotten, and simply not appealing. Buyers may assume that the seller has already purhcased a new home home and may be highly motivated to sell fast. This will give the buyer the advantage at the negotiating table.
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Kathy (719-287-1049) KTorline@msn.com
Why didn’t my house sell? Part II
Top 6 reasons homes don’t sell — Part II
Related Articles:
- A tech savvy realtor can help sell your home
- The pictures tell the story
- Real Estate Agent or Realtor? What’s the difference?
- What is the MLS?
- It’s a shame
One of the most frustrating experiences that can happen to Colorado Springs home sellers is when they hire a Listing Agent and the house they are trying to sell sits on the market for months and months.
This experience is actually more common than you’d expect. It’s an awful experience for the Colorado Springs home seller.
Price is certainly the most important factor in selling a house; it trumps all other factors. But, there are several other reasons that your house may not have sold, here’s Part II of my list.
4. The flyers were cheap or they weren’t accessible to buyers
Remember the saying that perception is everything. A poor quality flyer on cheap flimsy paper will reflect poorly on the house; it can subconsciously make a buyer think it’s a cheap house. Black and white flyers do nothing to show the interior of your house; color flyers are the best option.
5. It was too hard for buyers to make an appointment to look at your house
It should be as easy as possible to show your house. The showing instructions should be clear, and the Showing Service should be available 7 days a week, 12 hours a day. Many Buyer’s Agents and buyers will look at 12 to 15 houses in one day, especially when they are from out-of-town. Hence, you want to make every effort possible to make your house easy to show with very little restrictions on the showings. Appointments with a couple of hours notice are fine, but appointments that require 48 hours notice can make the house impossible to show.
6. No Home Book in the house
When buyers are previewing your house, they want something they can turn to for answers. A Home Book is the solution, as it typically includes information about schools, HOA’s, covenants, local parks, and information from the assessor’s office.
Also, buyers will want to know about the condition of the house; when was the roof put on, how old is the furnace, are there any drainage problems? A copy of the Seller’s Disclosures and Square Footage Disclosure can also be placed in the Home Book or next to it.
If you enjoyed reading this article, why not Subscribe to be notified of the next one?
Kathy (719-287-1049) KTorline@msn.com
Preparing your home for a home inspection – Advice for Sellers
Time to get ready for a home inspection
I’m booking yet another home inspection for a client next week, hence the idea for an article about what sellers should do to prepare for the inspection.
To start with, most sellers get a little bit nervous when the home inspection is scheduled. As many people know, a home inspection can make or break your Colorado Springs Real Estate sale.
Although there’s not much that can be done regarding the unknown, there are a few simple tips that can make the home inspection 
process a bit more pleasant:
- Clean up! This may sound simple, but the first thing a seller should remember is that a home inspector’s first impression of your home can create an impression in his or her mind. A clean house, for example, evokes a feeling that the homeowner takes pride in his or her home and that basic maintenance has been taken care of.
- Connections! Leave utilities and water connected, even if the house is vacant. A home inspector will need access to the water, the gas and the electricity to test your home’s appliances, furnace, hot water heater, air conditioner, etc. Read the rest of this entry »
Seller’s need to make it easy
Interested in selling your home in Colorado Springs?
Then make sure it is easy to show
Related Articles:
As I’ve been out showing many many different properties to a variety of clients I’m working with; I’ve realized what a 
difference it makes in how easy it is to show a home. There are some days that I’ve showed 10 – 15 properties to potential Colorado Springs home buyers , which means that I’m picking out the appropriate properties, organizing them by the area, and then putting them in to some type of logical order to show. Sounds easy, but it takes some work to get it organized correctly.
When a Colorado Springs home owners puts their property up for sale, they have many options in choosing an agent to list their house. I have many listings of my own; and usually get asked the same questions from potential sellers; and most of the time it has to do with pricing and marketing. But I’ve never had a seller ask me about the process of how buyers and buyer’s agent’s will make the appointments to see their house.
I’ve had some recent experiences that makes me realize what a difference “the ease of showing” can make. Essentially the easier it is for a house to be shown, the better chance a seller has of getting more exposure for their house.
Here’s some of my observations:
- Showing Services are my favorite service for showings; as they are professional, open 7 days a week during extended hours. (Of course, I am biased, as I use a Showing Service).
- My second favorite …………. Many real estate companies in Colorado Springs have you call their office directly, and most of them are open 7 days a week. My suggestion to sellers, don’t pick a realtor and a real estate agency that only answers their phones M-F; 8-5pm.
- My least favorite ……… Read the rest of this entry »
