Maximizing Your Price In Northern Nevada

Maximizing Your Price in Northern Nevada

It’s Spring in Northern Nevada and you’ve decided to sell. What do you do to get the most out of your property? Start by putting your Buyer’s hat on and look at your home from a Buyer’s perspective. As you analyze your home consider the following three categories for the deficiencies: 1. Selling Condition, 2. Market Condition, 3. Enhanced Value.

Selling Condition means you’ve met or adjusted to have the home in minimum Selling Condition. If you have a multi-patched roof your home is lacking here. Other items to fix just to achieve Selling Condition can be the removal of debris on your lot, broken window seals, plumbing leaks, etc. If you are selling short don’t worry about it, the Buyer and lender will adjust the sales price for these deficiencies without cost to you.

Market Condition is simpler, mostly involving cleaning and decluttering. You’ve naturally got many personal touches around the house, it is, after all, your home. The Buyers aren’t coming to judge your lifestyle, they want to see how theirs will work in your home. Take down the family pictures and box the knicknacks, you’re moving anyway. Empty your overstuffed closet or they may think its smaller than it really is. Its Spring, you can pack up your winter clothes. Likewise, if your kitchen drawers are stuffed with used-once-a-year gadgets they’ll think the kitchen is too small. Declutter.

Clean well. Nobody wants to live in a dirty house even if their lifestyle is such that it will be dirty soon after they move in. They want to live in their own dirt. Remember to clean the outside, too. That is your first impression and you want it to count the first time. Should you stage your home professionally? Good stagers do wonders and can yield great results, but they come with a price. Is your price point such that you can absorb their cost and profit from it?

Getting your home to Selling or Market Condition will add value, but there are times when you can Enhance Value. This can get tricky. Are you better off putting in new carpet or giving an allowance? Should you give an allowance or reduce the price? When you consider any change, or addition to sell your home question whether it will get you a higher sales price. If not, don’t do it. Your home will sell by its features, location, character and … price. Price sells more than anything else in this market. If you put money in a remodel be sure to figure what it will return. There can be a great return, but if you are trading dollars, don’t do it. Your agent can help you with your analysis.

Our Advice: You can spend months or longer getting your home perfect, but what is perfect to the Buyer? We’ve seen lovely homes in great shape that the Buyer is going to “gut”, do a major remodel on. Keep your eye on your objective. What are you going to do after you sell? If you are buying elsewhere will you lose a buying opportunity while you take the time to try to get a little more out of the home you are leaving? Selling? Ready…Fire…Aim! Get it ready and get it sold!

An increase in either rates or prices can affect your next purchase and offset any gain you may have worked for.
When it comes to choosing professionals to assist you with your real estate needs … Experience is Priceless! Lisa Wetzel & Jim Valentine, CDPE, SFR, RE/MAX Realty Affiliates, 775-781-5472. carsonvalleyland@hotmail.com, www.carsonvalleyland.com
.......................................................................................................................................
Other Recent Blog Posts About Real Estate In Northern Nevada …

Vacant Lot Myths … Northern Nevada Land

You Really Don’t Have to Be A Jerk! … More Tales From The Trenches!

1576 East Valley Road, Gardnerville, Nevada … The Crown Jewel of East Carson Valley

Lisa Wetzel and Jim Valentine are the authors of this blog. Lisa, Jim and Jessie are experts in Carson Valley , Carson City and the tri-county area of Douglas County , Carson City and Lyon County. Call our team anytime at 775-781-5472 or 775-781-3704. To Search for Homes go to: Carson Valley Listing Book or visit our website at www.CarsonValleyLand.net or www.CarsonValleyLand.com

Measuring Square Footage

Measuring Square Footage

Homes in Northern Nevada are generally sold on the basis of Square Footage. In other areas emphasis is put on “rooms”, how many rooms are in a house. We feel that can be misleading as room sizes differ with the property. You can have different sized bedrooms or dining rooms offering dramatically different utility of the home. The total Square Footage under roof, however, gives one a good idea of the extent of the living area improvements. If there is enough minimum square footage the Buyers can look at the floor plan, how the home is laid out and how it will work for their intended use.

With square footage being so important, it is critical to get accurate measurements. This can be easier said than done on some properties where the property can be measured by the Assessor, Agent, Owner, Appraiser, or Buyer and you may end up with five different measurements. The difference isn’t always in the math, it can be a sag in a measuring tape, a fraction that is treated differently, a mistaken interior garage wall location determination, etc.

Understanding how a home is measured is critical. All measurements are from the outside of the house. When determining Square Footage the agents are seeking to establish the “Living Area”. Living area is space intended for human occupancy, a definition which helps to understand why there are minimum height requirements, requirements for a finished interior, that it be directly accessible from other living area, and that it be heated by a conventional, permanent heating system.

It sounds simple, but there will be discrepancies on how a tape measure is read, conversions from inches to decimals, how to treat a bay window (to be included it must have a floor and a height of 7 feet according to some standards), and bonus rooms over garage with sloped ceiling (slope can’t meet the floor, height at least 5 feet, at least half of room with minimum height of 7 feet), and second story of a two story open foyer (should be excluded from square footage – is good cubic footage which applies to utility and aesthtics, but not square footage.) Beware, too, of above and below grade value differentiation, separate guest quarters being included in the main dwelling Square Footage, and the “bonus” room language. Commonly called a bonus room because it isn’t a family or living room and is extra Square Footage of good utility, a bonus. It is not a true “bonus”, however, as in “something in addition to what’s expected”- you are paying for it.

Our Advice: It is important to understand this as in our area Square Footage is second only to Location as a contributing factor in making a home buying decision. Not only does Square Footage assist in the preliminary determination of a home meeting a Buyer’s space needs, it also provides an easy means to estimate a home’s value using comparable property sales. Make sure you understand where the Square Footage you are relying on came from. Many local agents use Assessor’s Office figures when listing properties. Those were measured by professional appraisers and are usually accurate unless the home has been modified. If the size is being determined from plans understand that the as-built product can differ from the plans. One should always measure for peace of mind.

Confused? Hire an appraiser to measure, not appraise, your home. Have some fun – measure your home and do the math. See how close you get. Good luck!

When it comes to choosing professionals to assist you with your real estate needs … Experience is Priceless! Lisa Wetzel & Jim Valentine, CDPE, SFR, RE/MAX Realty Affiliates, 775-781-5472. carsonvalleyland@hotmail.com, www.carsonvalleyland.com