Fixing your home up to sell it

Video By Franklin TN Homes for Sale

The next question is from Jimmy in Nashville. He says…

“I spent over $5,000 on my garage recently on built-ins and a new floor. My agent says that kind of improvement does not increase my home’s value; is that true?”

Jimmy, I’m sorry but it doesn’t. One of the things that you need to remember with this kind of improvement – a pool, or a sun room, or things like this – is that they don’t necessarily add value, but they do increase your ability to sell the property. If a buyer has narrowed their search down to yours and one other home, and your house has this additional factor, then that’s probably how they would go if the homes are equal.

Unfortunately, so many times when a sales person is selling a particular item to someone, they are making claims that they’ll get their money back for it and that doesn’t always happen; sometimes you only get 10-20% on the dollar. So remember when you make that kind of improvement to do it for your own benefit and the added personal value.

Next is a question from Shelby of Hendersonville who asks…

“My agent has done an open house once a month for 6 months and our home still has not sold. What can we do? We can’t lower the price any more!”

First of all, it’s important to understand that the open houses don’t sell homes. Unfortunately many people think that they do because there are so many going on all the time. In fact, an open house is truly an outside effort on the agent’s behalf to look they are doing something proactive to sell the home. According to the National Association of Realtors, there is a 99% chance that someone walking into an open house will not buy that house. Hopefully they are not just a nosey neighbor and they are really a buyer; that’s why agents are doing open houses. But hear the frustration and really what it comes down to is a price issue.

If you’ll send me the information for your listing, I’ll be happy to look at it with a second set of experienced eyes to determine if something is missing. A lot of times someone can inadvertently miss something in a listing that can keep it from being visible or apparent to the consumer out there. I am not trying to solicit anybody else’s listings; I just want to provide an additional set of eyes to try and help you get your home sold.