Chuck Adkins - Selling your home in 45 days or less: a guaranteed guide to a quick sale in any market

Y ES, IT IS POSSIBLE and even probable to sell your home within the next 45 days!

After the downturn in real estate in 2008, many sellers became discouraged. They read the newspapers and turn on the local news and the messages they receive are less than optimistic. I am here to tell you that your home, any home, can be sold in the next 45 days. Here is the basic premise for accomplishing that task.

To achieve what many people will tell you cannot be donethat is, to have your home under contract and sold in the next 45 daysyou will use a basic plan that involves the following steps:

Understanding how a buyer will look at and assess the condition of your home and what you must do to get your home in excellent condition for the buyers to view.

Becoming a student and then a master of real estate concepts, terms and contracts. In other words, you must know and understand the rules of the game.

Staging your home and property to their fullest potential.

Choosing the correct team to help you implement your plan for completely conditioning, staging and marketing your home.

I have spent many evenings over the last 20 years sitting at kitchen tables talking to sellers about their homes. After a brief tour and some discussion about structural improvements that have been made, I talk with the owners about their motivations for selling and their price expectations. At some point during the conversationtypically when I am in the middle of my listing presentationthe inevitable statement pops up. I am not going to give this house away, I am usually told, regardless of what neighborhood, demographic, age group, or socioeconomic class with which I am working. Man, woman, married couple, family it does not matter who is behind the words, but they are bound to come out at every single listing appointment.

The idea of not giving away a home is downright pervasive to a home seller and understandably so. For many individuals and couples, a home represents the bulk of their investment portfolios and their life savings. All of that money is wrapped up into a single, neat package called a home. That is a tough pill to swallow when it comes time to sell, particularly when the expectations of the seller do not match market realities.

You may think you gave it away but you may have won after all

Cynthia and Sam had purchased a home at the peak of the market in late 2006. There were life changes, first twins, then the loss of a job that led to their decision to sell the home and rent for a few years. They were motivated sellers. Sam had a good friend Tom who was a Realtor who prepared a CMA and looked hard at the supply of homes on the market. The supply was growing each month at a time when buyers were becoming ever more scarce. It was obvious they would have to put the home on the market at a price less than they had paid. When the first offer came in, it was lower than the asking price, but Tom negotiated on their behalf and the home was eventually sold for a price of 11% lower than they had paid. Both Cynthia and Sam were understandably upset with their first real estate venture ending in a loss. But after another five years had passed, the home sold again, this time for 25% under the amount they had accepted. It was only then that they both thought themselves to be fortunate to have listened to Tom.

No one wants to give away their life savings; no one wants to give away their most valuable asset. Complicating the challenge is the fact that most homeowners are also psychologically attached to their homes. Maybe their children were born there and took their first steps in the backyard. Maybe a deceased parent or spouse spent time at the dwelling, which represents happy memories and good times. Regardless of the individual situation, there are always ties that bind us to our homes.

And now it is time to move onto another place; perhaps downsizing is the goal. This is a typical motive for empty nesters that no longer need five bedrooms and three bathrooms to accommodate their family size. The kids are off at college (and commanding a new chunk of the checkbook!) and maintaining so many square feet is no longer necessary or practical. Maybe it is a job transfer to a new city or perhaps it is time to move up into that new neighborhood that you have had your eye on for years. No matter what is driving you to sell, it is clearly time to move on and put yourself in the sellers seat.

At the center of that decision is a key ingredient: your homes sales price. In the real estate industry we use a term Fair Market Value or simply, FMV, to pinpoint the amount of money a buyer will be willing to pay for a specific property.

Now, FMV sometimes loses its true meaning in the real world. For example, the buyer may be willing but not able to buy. Lets say she really wants a home, but cannot afford one right now due to a poor credit score. She is holding her prequalification letter from a lender, but the amount she can actually afford to borrow is not accurately reflected in that letter. In another situation, the seller may be willing to sell but unable to do so because of a significant financial lien against the property (which would have to paid off before the property could be transferred to a new owner).

What does it mean? FMV is the amount of money that a ready, willing, able, knowledgeable, and unpressured buyer will pay to a ready, willing and able, knowledgeable and unpressured seller.

In todays market, the issue of financing is often the deal breaker between a willing, ready, and able buyer and a seller. Perhaps the applicant gave the lender or mortgage broker incomplete or false information that was in turn used to generate the prequalification letter. At some point during the approval process all of that information must be verified. When the red flags go up, the buyers chances of getting financing go down.