First Things First for Selling Real Estate in St Cloud
Here are the first few steps to listing your home for sale. Do not discount the importance of Step #1. Ultimately, many of you who read this post shouldn't go beyond step #1 at this time.
1) Do a very honest assessment of why you are moving. If you don't have a lot of tangible reasons, you probably shouldn't be moving right now.
2) Get different CMAs (Competitive Market Analysis') from at least two local real estate professionals. Even if you know a friend of the family (or whatever) is going to list the home, hear someone else's pitch. They might give you some advice that you, and your agent, wouldn't have thought of on your own. Also, if you have a friend or family member that is a real estate professional but they don't live in the area, get them a referral for the business and work with someone locally. Your friend/family member will probably thank you.
3) Price your home realistically in order to sell. That appraisal that you had done just a year ago is not accurate anymore. Also, note that your biggest competition isn't your neighbors, it's the lending institutions trying to unload their foreclosures.
4) Hire a stager and get your home looking its best. If you can't find a real estate professional that is willing to do it for you, pay for it yourself. The money you spend will be saved in the time it takes to sell your home. I put hiring a stager here, but honestly, you should think about having this done even before you get a real estate agent's opinion on the value of your home.
5) Negotiate with your head, not your heart. While you might not make as much as you aniticipated in selling your home, you will probably more than make up for it in the purchase of your new home.
Do you have some other pieces of input that you think would be valuable to potential sellers of homes in St Cloud MN? Post your advice, lessons learned, or whatever here for everyone to review.
Jason Tangen, GRI - Real Estate Broker Associate with Edina Realty in St Cloud MN
www.StCloudEdina.com - Search Homes for Sale on the St Cloud MLS
JasonTangen.EdinaRealty.com - Search for Open Houses in Central MN
