Selling your Woodland Park CO, Divide CO, Florissant CO home should not be a stressful ordeal! Making the smart move of choosing a REALTOR® is your first step to ensuring that your investment in your home pays off. My services and experience allow you to focus on your move while I manage your home sale from our initial consultation to the closing deal, and beyond. I pride myself on repeat business and hope you'll come to understand why.
What I will do for you
Recent Home Sales
Getting the highest price
Closing Costs
As Your Agent, I Will:
- Complete a comparative market analysis that will compare your home's value to that of your neighbors.
- Compile a comprehensive plan detailing all the efforts I will employ to sell your home, including Internet and local media.
- Present your home to as many qualified buyers as possible getting your home maximum exposure. This includes posting your home's availability on many websites including MichaelHarperRealtor.com, Craigslist, and its very own website! We work every day at getting your home viewed by buyers through high search engine placement on Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL, and Netscape.
- Help you stage your home and generate curb appeal to ensure you get the highest price.
- Assist with obtaining offers and help you in negotiating the best deal as smoothly as possible.
- Help you find your next home and answer all of your questions about the local market area, including schools, neighborhoods, the local economy, and more.
Recent Home Sales
What are homes selling for on your street? Feel free to contact me to find out what neighborhood homes are selling for, free of charge, or to receive a more detailed analysis of the value of your home. I specialize in Woodland Park real estate, Divide real estate, Florissant real estate, and greater Pikes Peak Region real estate so I am in touch with Colorado real estate values in real time!
Getting the Highest Price for Your Home
Curb appeal is key and could make a difference whether people stop and take a flyer, or drive right by. Here are a few tips to increase the curb appeal of your home. Staging your home is important. Many buyers will stay in your home longer if it's staged appropriately. I have compiled some ideas to present your home in the most effective manner.
Closing Costs to Expect:
- Title insurance fees depend on the sales price of the home.
- Broker's commission is a full-service fee and will cost anywhere between 5% to 7%.
- Local property transfer tax, county transfer tax, state transfer tax, and state capital gains tax are the charges that you'll pay for the privilege of selling your home. Credit to the buyer of unpaid real estate taxes for the prior or current year are variable and depend on when you close and when your taxes are due.
- FHA fees and costs are all fees now negotiable between an FHA buyer and seller.
- Home inspections fees are in some circumstances paid for by the seller and include pest, radon and other inspections.
- Miscellaneous fees can accrue from correcting problems noticed during the home inspection.
Find out how much your closing costs could be.
Here's a recent industry article that may help you as think about selling your home:
How the Serenity Prayer Applies To Selling a Home
It is totally within your power to guarantee that your house will sell even in the current market.
How you ask? Let’s look at the simplicity of the famous Serenity Prayer and apply it to selling a home in today’s real estate market.
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.”
Accept the things you cannot change
The two main reasons that the housing market has slowed is:
1. the current unemployment situation
2. what unemployment and a struggling economy has done to consumer confidence
As an individual homeowner there is no way for you to impact either of those two situations. The best think-tanks in the country are struggling to discover solutions.
Have the courage to change the things you can
There is not a vacuum of buyers in the market. There is a vacuum of homes a buyer in today’s market will purchase. Let us explain: could you sell your home today for $1? … $1,000 … $10,000? Of course you could. There are plenty of buyers in the market for a home they consider priced correctly. You have to decide what the correct price is for your home if you truly want to sell. If you want your house sold you must list it at a price a buyer will pay for it. Not a buyer from 2006 but today’s buyer who has plenty of homes from which to choose.
It will take courage to sit with a real estate professional and honestly decipher the true value of your home. If you want to sell, you must have that courage.
The wisdom to know the difference
We all realize that the economic situation will take some time to correct. If we want to wait for prices to return to 2006 levels, we will probably have to wait for 5-7 years.
Look at the reason you decided to sell in the first place and decide whether the extra money you would get from the sale is worth that wait. Is money more important than being with family? Is money more important than your health? Is money more important than having the freedom to go on with your life the way you think you should?
This is where your wisdom must kick in. You already know the answers to the questions we just asked. You have the power to take back control of the situation by pricing your home to guarantee it sells. The time has come for you and your family to move on and start living the life you desire. That is what is truly important.
Call me today to discuss how this information can help YOU sell YOUR home.
Office: 719-687-1715 Cell: 719-963-6971
5 Things Sellers Must Require of a Real Estate Agent
by Steve Harney on June 22, 2010 ·
Are you thinking of selling your home? Are you dreading having to deal with strangers walking through the house? Are you concerned about getting the paperwork correct? Hiring a professional real estate agent can take away most of the challenges of selling. A great agent is always worth more than the commission they charge just like a great doctor or great accountant. You want to deal with one of the best agents in your marketplace. To do this, you must be able to distinguish the average agent from the great one. Let us help.
If I were hiring an agent to sell my home today, I would require they:
1. Tell me the truth about the price
Too many agents just take the listing at any price and then try to the ‘work the seller’ for a price correction later. Demand that the agent prove to you that they have a belief in the price they are suggesting. Make them show you their plan to sell the house at that price – TWICE! Every house in today’s market must be sold two times – first to a buyer and then to the bank.
The second sale may be more difficult than he first. The residential appraisal process has gone through a complete overhaul in the last twelve months. It has become more difficult to get the banks to agree on the contract price. A red flag should be raised if your agent is not discussing this with you at the time of the listing.
2. Understand the timetable with which my family is dealing
You will be moving your family to a new home. Whether the move revolves around the start of a new school year or the start of a new job, you will be trying to put the move to a plan. This can be very emotionally draining. Demand from your agent an appreciation for the timetables you are setting. I am not suggesting that your agent can pick the exact date for your move. You just want the agent to exert any influence they can.
3. Remove as many of the challenges as possible
We are still in a market which heavily favors the buyer. With buyer demand steady at best and inventories of homes for sale climbing, the buyer can feel that they have all the power in the negotiation. It is imperative that your agent know how to handle the challenges that will arise. An agent’s ability to negotiate is critical in this market.
Remember: If you have an agent who was weak negotiating with you on the parts of the listing contract that were most important to them (commission, length, etc.), don’t expect them to turn into Superman when they are negotiating for you with your buyer.
4. Help with the relocation
If you haven’t yet picked your new home, make sure the agent is capable and willing to help you. The coordination of the move is crucial. You don’t want to be without a roof over your head the night of the closing. Likewise, you don’t want to end up paying two housing expenses (whether it is rent or mortgage). You should, in most cases, be able to close on your current home and immediately move into your new residence.
5. Get the house SOLD!
There is a reason you are putting yourself and your family through the process of moving. You are moving on with your life in some way. The reason is important, or you wouldn’t be dealing with the headaches and challenges that come along with selling. Do not allow your agent to forget these motivations. Constantly remind them that selling the house is why you hired them. Make sure that they don’t worry about your feelings more than they worry about your family. If they discover something needs to be done to attain your goal (i.e. price correction, repair, removing clutter), insist they have the courage to inform you.
Good agents know how to deliver good news. Great agents know how to deliver tough news. In today’s market, YOU NEED A GREAT AGENT! You need Michael Harper or Michael Harper Real Estate right here in Woodland Park, CO!
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