Table of Contents
For Bob and John
Jack, Jessica, Maddie, and Julie
Introduction
This book is about getting your home sold in any type of market. We show you how, through strategic thinking, to understand real estate as well or better than many of the professionals working in the business. You will be able to directly apply what you learn here to the sale of your home. You will sell it successfully and will minimize your stress while doing it.
We will also guide you through all of the stages of a sale, discussing what truly motivates buyers and specifically what gets you top dollar for your home.
Selling your home is not just about hitting all your marks and completing checklists. What its really about is the understanding of the process and the people involved in it. There is a huge element of psychology in the sale of real estate. Knowing how to use it your advantage is what makes you more money than another seller who does not. Were going to teach you how to do it.
Part 1, Getting Ready to Sell, is a comprehensive guide to all the decisions you need to make and the things you need to do before you put your home on the market. It starts with creating a plan of action and then screening and hiring the best Realtor that you can find. You may have decided to sell your home on your own, without the aid of a professional. We have dedicated an entire chapter to selling a FSBO (For-Sale-By-Owner). The two most important things you must do before you put it on the market are to price it properly and stage it well. These two things are of paramount importance.
Part 2, Its Showtime: When Your Home Is on the Market, talks about how your home will actually be put on the market, how to manage showings to your homes greatest advantage, and the power of the Internet for maximum exposure. Also in this section are some very important chapters for getting top dollar. We discuss buyer behavior patterns in both a rising and falling market as well as devoting an entire chapter to selling your home anywhere, anytime, and in any type of market. There are also some special kinds of sales that we address in Part 2: estate sales, relocation for a job, selling income-producing properties, and flipping homes. While the basic approach to marketing these homes is the same as any other, they have their own special set of considerations and challenges to deal with.
Part 3, Negotiating and Closing the Deal, is all about keeping the deal together, which is as important as receiving the offer in the first place. After all, what good is a fabulous offer if it never makes it to the closing table? We will show you how to scrutinize and evaluate an offer before you accept it, how to negotiate, and what happens at an inspection, the final walk-through, and the closing table. Well show you how to calculate your profit and reduce your liability. And weve concluded the book with all the ways to make packing and moving simple.
On a personal note, we hope that you enjoy reading this book as much as we enjoyed writing it. We feel strongly about every single chapter and hope that they give you all the information and guidance that youll ever need to sell a home.
Extras
Weve added a few helpers to define terms used in the main text and to provide you with additional tips and warnings. Youll find these located in boxes throughout this book.
Trick of the Trade
Through the years in which weve been practicing real estate, we have picked up a million tips and tricks to make things easier, better, stronger, and worth more. We share them all over this book and hope you find them as useful as we have.
definition
There are so many terms and phrases associated with a real estate transaction, and they can be confusing. Youll know them all after reading this book.
Seller Alert
These are our version of red flags. Their purpose is to warn you about anything that requires extra care, safety, or precaution.
Acknowledgments
Wed like to thank our families for being instrumental in the writing of this bookmostly our husbands, John Gentile and Bob Severance, whose love and support made it all possible. Our children: Katies little Jack; Nancys Jessica, Maddie, and Julie, who were all supportive in so many special ways. A special thank you to our literary agent, Janet Rosen, at the Sheree Bykofsky agencythe catalyst for it all. Without her tremendous support and guidance, this book would not exist.
Wed also like to thank some of our professional friends who gave of their time and advice so generously: Tom Conk (CPA), David Rubenstein and Joanne Cabe (mortgage brokers), Melanie Factor (attorney), Kate Pruim (home renovator), Dan Casella (Gomans Moving Company), Charles Mabee (May-Pan Moving), Roy Scott and Deborah Campbell (our brokers), and our friend Jay who gave us our start in the real estate business.
Thank you to our parents, Jerry and Marge Rubacky and Bill and Gloria Lawrence. And finally, to the others whose feedback was so appreciated: Maggie Chess, Anthony and Donna Gentile, Carol Garcia, Jerry Rubacky Jr., Susan Kempton, Maryanne Rubacky, Frank Pita, Frank Rubacky, Susan Severance, Sandy Neville, Barbara Lawrence, Nora Keefe, Denise Brown, Maeve Walsh, and Mike Rubacky.
Special Thanks to Our Editors at Penguin
Wed like to thank the editors of The Complete Idiots Guide to Selling Your Home for all the ways they guided, collaborated, and inspired us: Mike Sanders, Michele Wells, Ginny Bess Munroe, Kayla Dugger, and Amy Borrelli. Every suggestion and edit made the book better.
Trademarks
All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be or are suspected of being trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Alpha Books and Penguin Group (USA) Inc. cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.
Part 1
Getting Ready to Sell
If you are thinking about selling your home, you have some big decisions to make and things to do before you actually put the house on the market. If you take the time to go through these steps, not only will you be more knowledgeable and in control than you ever thought you would be, but you will make a lot more money than you expected to, as well. You can actually increase the sale price of your home by making some strategic moves through good planning.
The decision to sell a home begins with a thought or an idea in your head. Making it a reality and a success depends on how well you plan it out and then how well you execute. We help you to do both.
In Part 1 of this book, we cover everything that should happen before you put your home on the market.
