“Home sellers need to beg, borrow or steal--okay, not steal, but
certainly beg or borrow--that extra $500 or $4,000 that they need to create
their own home-sale stimulus package to get their home sold faster," says
EnergizedSeller.com President Dan Eason. "The home seller's stimulus
package--unlike the federal government’s--pays for itself."
Selling a house can be extremely challenging today due to market
conditions that haven't been seen since the late 1980s. That's why home
sellers are flocking to the EnergizedSeller.com social networking website to
learn how they can increase their home value.
“Sellers are realizing they have to work harder to make their home stand
out and look better since there are so many other homes on the market,”
Eason says.
Sellers can stimulate the sale of their home by investing in the most
valuable asset most of them own.
“We don’t know what return we’ll get from the national stimulus package,
but with a proper home selling stimulus, they'll get a return that will be
more than their initial investment. And once their home is sold, this
stimulus shouldn’t leave any new debts," Eason says.
The cost of preparing a home for sale is typically much less than the
average price reduction that's offered on homes that aren't prepared.
Sellers should do whatever they can to make cost-effective improvements to
their home. An investment of $500 to $4,000 can stimulate the sale of their
home, help get the home sold more quickly and help protect against price
reductions.
Here are EnergizedSeller.com's top seven home selling tips for home
sellers who want to stimulate the sale of their home:
1. Hire a Good Realtor. The national median home price dropped 15 percent
in 2008 (National Association of Realtors) and the median days on the market
increased to 100 days in January (Altos Research). A home seller needs to
gain every advantage they can in today’s market, and finding a good Realtor
that comes highly recommended is important when marketing a home.
2. Hire a Home Stager. A recent study by HomeGain showed that staging a
home for a sale generates a return on investment of 343%. The average cost,
depending on the market and needs, is $403 to $584 and can be as little as
$150.
3. Clean and De-clutter. Cleaning a home isn't much fun, but a clean home
is crucial to a fast sale. A recent EnergizedSeller.com survey found that
Realtors around the country picked cleaning as the top task they wanted home
sellers to focus on. Additionally, HomeGain found that an investment in
cleaning and de-cluttering generates a staggering 578% return. Cost: $0 to
$500.
4. Rent a Storage Unit. Savvy sellers remove extra furniture and
household items to make their home seem larger. The return on investment is
the perceived value of extra square footage. Cost: $100 to $500.
5. Hire a Handyman. Sellers who paint, repair, install and do whatever
else is necessary to make their home move-in-ready will get a great return
on their investment. Cost: $200 to $2,000.
6. Improve Curb Appeal. For the second year in a row the Remodeling Cost
vs. Value Report (www.costvsvalue.com) showed that exterior remodeling
projects return the most money as a percentage of cost. Cost: $200+
7. Utilize Free Home Selling Tips. There are a lot of free web sites with
good home selling tips. For example, EnergizedSeller.com offers advice on
more than 40 different topics related to selling a house and staging a home.
Sellers who implement as many of these suggestions as possible can get
tremendous returns.
About EnergizedSeller.
EnergizedSeller,
www.energizedseller.com , is a social networking community website for
home sellers, Realtors, home stagers, home improvement contractors and other
professionals who are involved in home sales. The website addresses the
tremendous need that home sellers have for common sense information that
will help them get their home ready for sale. The website offers practical
advice and specific answers to home sellers' questions on how to improve
their home to maximize their home property value and sell it as quickly as
possible.
