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Sellers Guide  |
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Listing Your Property For Sale When you list your property for sale with CENTURY 21 Oglethorpe Realty Company, it becomes accessible to the MLS System. The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is a service of the Savannah Area Board of REALTORS® open to any broker who is a member and chooses to participate. Simply put, the MLS is a computerized network of more than 200 participating real estate offices in Chatham, Effingham, Bryan, and surrounding counties. Through on-line computer terminals and MLS Books, photos and information on properties for sale is quickly disseminated to more than 700 cooperating REALTORS®. When a seller signs an exclusive right to sell listing agreement with a REALTOR®, one broker is appointed as the agent of the seller. He or she is given the exclusive right to sell the property with an additional authority and obligation on his or her part to distribute the listing to other cooperating brokers in the Multiple Listing Service. The advantage to a seller under this form of listing agreement is that all the members of the MLS are offering the property to prospective buyers. When a property is listed for sale, it goes through three phases of processing. First, the required information is entered in the MLS computer and is instantly accessible to all the REALTORS® who have access to the computer system. After the listing is entered into the computer database, the property will appear in the MLS books, complete with a photo.
Performing a CMA is the surest and safest way to ascertain the highest market price for your house. The quickest, easiest and most reliable way to fairly price your house is to have your REALTOR® do a Competitive Market Analysis (CMA) of your home, comparing it to other houses in your neighborhood in terms of square footage, amenities and relative age. Through the Savannah Area Board of REALTORS®' computer systems, your REALTOR® has access to all this information. In the Savannah market, it is most common to search for comparisons within six months to a year. Performing a CMA is the surest and safest way to ascertain the highest market price for your house. It is crucial to be on target because any pricing error will be costly. Overpricing your home will cost you time -- the time it sits on the market and the time away from your new home and responsibilities your old house demands. It will also cost you money -- the money you must spend maintaining the old house in selling condition. If you are planning to sell your house, check with a REALTOR® first. A REALTOR®-performed CMA is the best way you can be, and remain, competitive in today's market. The most obvious comparisons are done in terms of square footage. The equation is simple: more square footage, the higher the price. Of course, this is not always accurate. The quality of construction materials (name-brand windows, doors, fixtures, etc.) can greatly influence the price of a house, as can quality and age of a home's service systems (heat, air, etc.). Often, comparisons are further drawn in terms of amenities the home may offer. These include the quality and number of kitchen appliances, bathroom conveniences (whirlpools, double showers, bidets) and the quality and number of "systems" a home may possess: sound, security, lawn and the like. One of the most important comparisons has to do with the age of your house. Given the increasing appetite for more amenities and systems, it is difficult for homes older than just a few years to compete against new construction. Of course, since new homes are usually located a distance from urban centers, older homes often have a significant advantage in terms of that paramount consideration in real estate: location. Finally, the condition of a home is also of great importance. Two identical homes in similar neighborhoods -- one lovingly maintained, the other neglected -- can command significantly different price. Listing Your Property For Sale With CENTURY 21 Oglethorpe Realty Comapny The Listing Agreement The most widely used listing agreement in the Savannah Area market is called the "Exclusive Right To Sell Contract." Developed by the Savannah Area Board of REALTORS®, it is an agreement between a seller and a real estate broker to sell real estate. The agreement is between the seller and the real estate company. All real estate companies have one Designated Broker, who by Georgia law is responsible for the operation of the real estate company. That's whom you're making an agreement with when you sign the listing.
An affordable price, quality and size top the shopping list of items buyers want in new homes, according to a recently released survey. A recent magazine survey of more than 700 U.S. households currently in the market for a new home indicated the following were the top criteria buyers used to choose their new home:
According to the magazine's experts, what these survey results mean is that homebuyers today are going back to basics. That is, they value a home's quality and affordability more than they value its amenities. That doesn't mean, however, that homebuyers suspend their personal preferences when shopping for a home, as the results from the second portion of the survey indicate. In part two, respondents were asked what would make homebuyers consider moving to a new home. The answers:
In other words, a heart-shaped tub and space in the garage for a workbench might sway homebuyers who already like a home for its price and quality. But, they're not going to be the deciding factors if someone doesn't feel they can afford the home. It is a consideration to bear in mind when pricing your home for sale. For help in finding a high quality, affordably priced home that suits your fancy, contact CENTURY 21 Oglethorpe Realty Company. We will do our professional best to make all your house dreams come true.
Quick: How can you make your home a better investment? If planning to sell your home and you had only enough money for one improvement, which would give you the greatest return? A new kitchen? A new bathroom? Landscaping? Finishing the basement? Painting inside or out? Will any of these improvements pay for themselves in raising the value of your home? The answer(s) might surprise you. Here, in order of their cost recovery or return on investment, are the top ten improvements you can make to your home in preparation for placing it on the market (all costs are based on professional labor):
2. Exterior painting 3. Central air Surprised? Among the least expensive improvements, these three traditionally offer the highest pay back rate--over 100 percent. In short, every penny you put in here comes back to you directly in a higher resale value for your home, not to mention your own comfort! The exterior and interior painting (new carpet was included as well) are not only improvements but almost necessities if you are planning to sell within a year. New carpet gives a fresh look to every room, while the "curb appeal" of most houses dramatically improves with every new coat of paint. Other improvements translate less directly into higher values. These include skylights (about a 40 percent return), new windows or doors and energy upgrading (including caulking, weather-stripping and new insulation) - about a 45 percent return. Interestingly, nationwide, fireplaces did offer a good pay back (near 90 percent), but not in Southern Georgia .
5. Kitchen facelift 6. Furnace replacement 7. Landscaping New countertops, flooring, appliances and cabinets can really help improve the look and feel of almost any kitchen. Likewise, the addition of shrubbery, trees, bushes and flowers, privacy fencing, and walkways really spruces up a home. Replacing a forced air furnace with a high-energy forced air furnace will actually save you money by reducing your heating costs significantly. And a new bathroom (toilet, vanity, tub, etc.) is never a bad idea. Each of these improvements offers almost a 90 percent return on your investment. Be careful with the kitchen, though. One can easily spend much more here than is required, or recoverable.
These are generally high-ticket items, costing in the range of $5,000 to $7,000. Each of these improvements offers close to an 80 percent return on your money. In other words, you may recover almost 4/5ths of your investment in these upgrades in the increased value of your home. If you want your home to be a good investment, you must maintain that investment to achieve the highest market value when it comes time to sell. For more information on the changes, large and small, you can make, contact CENTURY 21 Oglethorpe Realty Company.
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