Home Selling, Real Estate (Residential)

7 Tips In Pricing a Home

7 Pricing Myths to Stop Believing If You Ever Hope to Sell Your House (also in selling land and business)

  1. You always make money when you sell a home

Sure, real estate tends to appreciate over time: The National Association of Realtors® estimates that home prices will jump 5% by the end of 2017 and continue rising 3.5% in 2018. But selling your home for more than you paid is by no means a given, and your return on investment can vary greatly based on where you live. This always depends on if it is a seller’s market or buyer’s market.

  1. Price your house high to make big bucks

I know what you’re thinking: “Hey, it’s worth a shot!” But if you start with some sky-high asking price, you’ll soon come back to Earth when you realize that an overpriced home just won’t sell.

While the payday might sound appealing, you’re actually sacrificing your best marketing time in exchange for the remote possibility that someone will overpay for your home.  And this can lead to problems down the road (as our next myth indicates).

  1. If your home’s overpriced, it’s no big deal to lower it later

Sorry, but overpricing your home isn’t easily fixed just by lowering it later on. The reason: Homes that have lingered on the market for months—or that have undergone one or more price reductions—make buyers presume that something must be wrong with it. As such, they might still steer clear, or offer even less than the price you’re now asking.

Price your home appropriately from the beginning for your best shot at having a quick and easy sale.

  1. Pricing your home low means you won’t make as much money

Similarly, sellers are often leery of pricing their homes at market value. But as counterintuitive as this seems, this strategy can often pay off big-time. Here’s why: Low-priced homes drum up tons of interest, which could result in contingencies in favor of the seller.

  1. You can add the cost of any renovations you’ve made

Let’s say you overhauled your kitchen or added a deck. It stands to reason that whatever money you paid for these improvements will be recouped in full once you sell—after all, your home’s new owners are inheriting all your hard work.

The reality: While your renovations might see some return on investment, you’ll rarely recoup the whole amount. On average, you can expect to get back 64% of every dollar you spend on home improvements. Plus that profit can vary greatly based on which renovation you do. It all depends if you are adding to the original value of the home or if it is maintenance (like if I were fixing kitchen countertops that needed to be fixed).

  1. A past appraisal will help you pinpoint the right price

If you have an appraisal in hand, from when you bought or refinanced your house, you might think that’s a logical place to start to price your home. It’s not!

An appraisal assigns your home a value based on market conditions at a specific date, so it becomes old news very quickly. In fact, lenders typically won’t accept appraisals that are more than 60 days old.

  1. Your agent might overprice the house to make a bigger commission

Don’t even go there, while it’s true that an agent’s commission is based on the selling price of a house, the disparity will end up being negligible.  For example, the difference in commission between a $200,000 house and one that’s $210,000 is about $150. No Realtor is going to lose a sale for the sake of a couple hundred dollars.

Gardening & Landscape, Shade Trees and Shrubs

One Tough Shrub

Are you are looking for a shrub that easy to grow, drought tolerant, winter-cold resistant, and mostly insect, rodent, and deer, that comes in a variety of leaf and flower colors?  Sounds impossible, try the ninebark (Phyysocarpus-genus)

 

Commonly named for the attractive, exfoliating bark of the species, growing ninebark shrubs is simple. Learning how to grow a ninebark bush successfully is primarily in the location and soil you choose. The Physocarpus ninebark, a North American native, prefers neutral soils.  I grow 6 different varieties on the north and west side of the house without any troubles.

Growing Ninebark Shrubs

Though the Physocarpus ninebark family is small, ninebark shrub info indicates there is a cultivar for every landscape. Most ninebark shrub info varies on climates that support growing ninebark shrubs, but most agree the Physocarpus ninebark and newer cultivars do well if planted in USDA Zones 2-7 (we are in zone 4).

Learning how to grow a ninebark bush includes the proper location and correct planting of the ninebark bush. Dig a hole as deep as the container holding the shrub and twice as wide. Make sure the crown of the ninebark is even with the top of the soil surrounding the planting area.

After planting, fill in with backfill taken when digging the hole. Gently fill in around the roots to make sure there are no air pockets and water well until established.

Physocarpus ninebark shrubs like a sunny to lightly shaded location. With correct ninebark shrub care, the species reaches 6 to 10 feet in height and 6 to 8 feet in height, however, there are smaller varieties that can be found.  Allow room for the well-branching shrub to spread out when planting in the landscape, as ninebark shrub care does not necessarily include heavy pruning.  These shrubs are very easy to prune to keep in-bounds.

Ninebark Shrub Care

Established ninebark shrubs are drought tolerant and can thrive with only occasional watering and limited fertilization in spring with a balanced fertilizer as part of ninebark shrub care.

Pruning for shape and thinning inner branches will likely be all that is necessary to keep growing ninebark shrubs healthy and attractive. If you prefer, renewal pruning to a foot above the ground can be included in ninebark shrub care during dormancy every few years, but you’ll miss the excellent winter interest of the ninebark’s peeling bark.

Some cultivars of the shrub are smaller and more compact. ‘Seward’ Summer Wine reaches only 5 feet and displays reddish purple foliage with whitish pink flowers in spring. ‘Little Devil’ reaches just 3 to 4 feet around and in height, with deep burgundy foliage to accent the pink blooms.

Ninebark ‘Burgundy Star’ (Physocarpus opulifolius) and Hardy Hibiscus

 

Home Selling

What to Fix Before Selling Your Home

As you consider what to fix or change before listing you home, consider your market. In a buyers’ market, you’ll likely need to do more work and improvements to help your home to stand out from the many others for sale. In a sellers’ market, you still want to put your best foot forward but with fewer homes on the market, you face less competition.
The Consumer Housing Trends report found that sellers who fetched above list price tackled expensive and messy renovation projects before selling, rather than passing them on to buyers. These sellers were about 50 percent more likely to modify the home’s floor plan or finish off a basement than the average seller. Approximately 20 percent were more likely to renovate a kitchen or repair a roof, and 8 percent more likely to complete a bathroom upgrade.

Kitchens
Some obvious kitchen to-dos if you chose to: Replace that 20-year-old refrigerator that doesn’t match the other appliances. Fix the grout around the sink. Install a new faucet. If your countertops are damaged and need to be replaced, go for granite. Despite what you’ve heard about it being out of fashion, it still brings in buyers and money. Freshen the room up with a new subway tile backsplash.

Bathrooms
According to a mid-range bathroom remodel is one of the easiest ways to get the most return for your money. Mid-range means about $3,000 to replace the toilet, light fixtures and maybe add a new or double sink. A bathroom remodel of this type results in a $1.71 increase in home value for every $1.00 spent on the project. Some other quick fixes: Refinish your cabinets, change out mirrors, and upgrade hardware and lighting.

Curb appeal and landscaping
Want to make a great first impression on home shoppers? Start with cleaning up: Washing windows and walkways, trimming bushes and trees, mowing the lawn. Landscaping in front and back can pay off in a quicker sale and higher price. Tidy up garden beds and add colorful pots of flowers to make your home look well-loved.
Is your front door looking weathered? Replace it, or at the very least paint it. A new mailbox can pack a big visual punch and replacing your house numbers can freshen your home’s look. Check here and here for more ideas.

Painting
Nothing makes your home feel fresh and well-cared-for than a fresh coat of paint, inside and out. And it’s one of the best investments you can make as you prepare to sell. This is one job where hiring a pro might make sense, especially if you want to list soon. Painting is labor-intensive, involving lots of prep and ladders, and it can take weeks.
Outside, it’s smart to keep your color scheme simple and neutral. You want your home to stand out from your neighbors, but not because it’s purple. Reserve bright colors for your front door.
Inside, a neutral palette and simple finishes will give the new homeowner a fresh start. A nice white ceiling also makes rooms seem bigger. Here’s some help for picking your paint colors.

Floors, nooks and crannies
Is your flooring worn or dated? This is a case when a significant upgrade could make sense. Hardwood floors can be refinished and will add value to any home while engineered hardwoods can be a cost-effective alternative. Removing old carpet is another simple way to freshen your home especially if you have hardwood floors beneath.
Other improvements can help your home appeal to buyers: Improving your attic space, refreshing your entrance, replacing your garage door and updating siding.
And a few inexpensive, last-minute touch-ups can make a difference. Just remember that some improvements are likely not worth the money (beware of swimming pools!), so if you’re in doubt, ask your agent what’s driving sales in your area.
And make sure to tell your agent about improvements that might not be obvious: New wiring or insulation, energy-efficient windows, new plumbing or sewer lines that are not obvious. These improvements may be worth including in your listing description and worth calling out to the bank’s appraiser.