Selling a Home in Chattanooga TN

If you are trying to sell your home there is really only two considerations:

1. Realizing the most equity in your property i.e. getting the best price.
2. Selling your home in the least amount of time and in the most efficient way possible.

How to Sell Your Home in Chattanooga

In order to do both of these things, there are a number of items to take into account:

1. Probably one of if the most important considerations is selecting a real estate agent.

-Per the National Association of Realtors (NAR):
FSBOs accounted for 10% of home sales in 2011. The typical FSBO home sold for $150,000 compared to $215,000 for agent-assisted home sales.

– Remember this is your livelihood so you want to select the best agent available. So generally it is not the best practice to select an agent just because they’re a friend of a friend unless you know one of the best in the industry.

– When it comes to selling your home, you must understand your agent’s plan for marketing your property. Arguably the best marketing means is a dominating web presence since, according to the NAR, nearly 90% of home buyers begin the search for their new home on the internet. Of course there are other means to market you home such as mailers, magazines, newspapers, and flyers, but if you want an edge on the exposure for your home, selecting an agent with a dominant web presence including a top ranking website and one that is tech savvy and can place adds for you on as many national real estate sites as possible.

2. If you want to sell your home in a reasonable time frame, it must be priced to sell. This means that your home must be priced based on what has recently sold in your area and should priced in the better 25th percentile of comparable homes that are currently for sale. If you home is not priced well all other efforts no matter how diligent will likely be in vain. Likewise when pricing your home, you should try to think like a potential buyer and take as much emotion out of the equation as possible when it comes to pricing. Search similar homes as a buyer would and pick the top Chattanooga homes for sale that you would want to view. If your home is not in the top 5 to 10, you will likely want to make an adjustment.

3. If you want to sell your home for top dollar, it has to look its best. Buyers will discount their offer based on cleanliness, excessive clutter, or anticipated repairs or remodeling. If you are considering doing some remodeling, consult with your agent to make sure that the benefit will outweigh the cost. Also make the home easily viewed to be as buyers potential home meaning buyers do not want to make your home theirs. So make it easy to for them to view the home as their home not yours. So take down the majority of your family pictures and personal items and just leave enough to keep your home homey.

4. Make your home available to showings as much as possible. Granted you do not have make your home available on at 10:00 on a Sunday night, but the availability of the your home is key. Generally 9-6 any day of the week will be sufficient. However if a qualified out of town buyer who is ready to pull the trigger needs special accommodation, I would recommend considering it.

5. Do not be present for the showings. Just like removing personal items, you want to take you out of the equations so to speak. Buyers are fickle and frequently make irrational decisions and you do not want them to exclude your home or make a lower offer because of a preconception of you. If is a last minute showing it is not unreasonable to ask the buyers agent to call when they’re on the way, so that you can leave.