Here is a list of four steps to selling your house for top dollar by David Bach. His thoughts:
1. Find Out What Your House Is Worth . To get a more accurate sense of your home's worth, look at local real estate listings (often searchable by neighborhood, house size, and price on local realtors' Web sites) for a sense of what houses of similar size, condition, locations, and amenities are going for in your area.
2. Make It Look Pretty and Smell Nice Before the Sale. In the beginning, it always comes down this: How does the house look from the curb when the person drives up (assuming you aren't selling a condo in a building). Studies have shown that simply repainting a house is the best investment you can make when reselling. If your home has synthetic siding, a good power washing may be able to help it shine like new again.
3. Research a Sales Method. There's more than one way to sell a house, and some methods leave more money in your pocket than others.
4. Consider renting out your house instead of selling it.
I have bought/sold several houses in the past 15 years and from what I've learned, this is pretty good advice. In particular, I think #2 is where most people fall flat. I've looked at houses that were disasters (both inside and out) and there was little chance anyone would want them at a decent price. But, if you looked past the clutter, you could see that the house actually wasn't that bad -- it just needed some TLC
Such a situation occurred with us on our current house. The previous owners had moved out and the house had been on the market for a few months (so we knew they were anxious to sell). The basement had "cat litter smell" going on, the walls needed a fresh painting, and the yard was a semi-mess. But I could see the potential. We negotiated a price $20,000 below market price, then put $15,000 in new paint (Inside and out) and carpeting in it before we moved in. It looked TOTALLY different and much, much better. Since then, I've upgraded the yard (including a rose garden in front -- the envy of all the neighborhood ladies) through the years. I'm not sure what it would sell for now, but eye-balling what like places in our neighborhood have gone for recently, I think we've done fairly well.
All this said, the most important issue when buying a house is to use a reliable formula that makes financial sense. And whatever you do, don't let a bank tell you how much to borrow. Determine for yourself how much house you can afford.
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