Haymarket Condos / Buyer – Seller Tips

DC METRO REAL ESTATE

Serving the Real Estate needs of the communities of Manassas, Bristow, Haymarket, Warrenton, Gainesville and Culpeper  in Northern Virginia


Dave Scardina  
Broker / Owner

703-829-SOLD

866-909-0900

Haymarket Condos / Buyer – Seller Tips

5 Steps To Sell Your Haymarket Home


Selling your Haymarket home is a process that involves five basic steps. These steps are Preparing the Home for Sale, Finding a Buyer, Qualifying the Buyer, Negotiating the Terms, Handling all the Details needed to finalize the sale. If you list your home your real estate agent takes responsibility for each step. If you sell on your own, it is your responsibility to complete each step.

Preparing to Sell Your Haymarket Home


Experienced agents know what puts prospective buyers off when they view a home, especially Haymarket. For example, when buyers find dirty dishes in the sink, notice offensive pet odors or spot obvious stains suggesting a leaking roof they begin to devalue the property. Some buyers may decide to pass on the house completely while others may think about making an offer way below the asking price. So, a good agent’s first step is to help the homeowner see the house as others will see it and take care of problems.


Haymarket. How Much Should You Offer?


Or more precisely, what does the seller owe on the property. If a seller owes $400,000 on the Haymarket real estate he or she is not likely to welcome an offer for $350,000. If you want to negotiate price, make sure you don’t waste your time negotiating where there is no room to budge.

Even if the loan is high, if the seller is in default there is a possibility of a short sale as many lenders will reduce the loan balance in order to move the property. Most lenders do not want to foreclose and manage homes and the Haymarket market is no exception.


Haymarket. How Much Should You Offer?


Comparable sales figures is a good guide for homeowners who are pricing their Haymarket and a good guide for prospective buyers. Make sure you compare homes that are similar to the one your are considering...the same neighborhood, the same size, the same condition. Also, make sure you compare sales within the past six months.

Ask your REALTOR for a comparison of the list price and sales price of comparable Haymarket sales. This information may give you a trend and a guideline for your offer. For example, maybe homes in the area have consistently listed for more than they actually sold for. If that is the case, find out what percentage of reduction occurred. Use this information as a basis for your offer.


Bitten by the Haymarket Home Improvement Bug?


Unless money simply isn’t an issue, the financial implications of remodeling are definitely something to consider. When it comes time to sell your Haymarket home, the new buyer will usually not pay for over-improvements. This means that if you have the smallest home in an area of larger, more expensive homes, home improvements may make very good financial sense. However, if you already have the largest, most expensive home in Haymarket, more improvements may make you more comfortable but may not bring you a good financial return. You may find that it is financially wiser to sell and move to a different home that already has the features you want to add.

Bitten by the Haymarket Home Improvement Bug?


Money isn’t everything however so that if the most important consideration for remaining in your Haymarket home happens to be the school where your children attend or the proximity to your work or to a particularly attractive recreational opportunity then remodeling may be the best option. On the other hand, if the idea of having your Haymarket house torn up for weeks at a time makes your blood run cold, it really doesn’t matter how much money you might make turning a fixer-upper into a model home. You will be far better off selling the home you have and moving to a home that better fits your needs.