Selling Your Home

What NOT to fix if you're thinking of selling your home? So the first thing I'm always going to recommend is that you have a professional agent who is active and working in the market come take a look at your home, before you start making any repairs, or corrections, painting, etc, etc, because they are going to be able to put that to-do list into perspective for you. I do it all the time. After you have your agent come and put some things in perspective, that's going to really help you narrow down that to-do list. But here are a few things that you want to keep in mind, as you're maybe making the to-do list to discuss with your agent. Wipe the slate clean of all those vanity fixes things that you always wanted to do but never got around to. We always wanted to hang this fantastic chandelier, or maybe you wanted to put wallpaper in the bathroom. The new buyers do list is probably going to look different than yours and if it's just a cosmetic fix, and it's not actually repairing something, you probably want to just leave that up to them. Determine if you're going to recoup the cost of the repairs or corrections or improvements that you're thinking of doing. Because often you're not going to get the ROI from that item that you would hopefully get. So this is again, where it goes back to having a good agent that's going to help you narrow that list down. Sometimes you really are going to get a great ROI from switching out your faucets, your lighting in your bathroom, or maybe putting on a new coat of paint. If you're looking at retiling a whole bathroom or doing a total renovation of your kitchen, just to sell usually the ROI is usually not going to be there. Don't worry about items that are easy to remove like curtain rods or blinds, things like that, often just taking them down is going to be enough, you're not going to necessarily need to replace that whole situation. Doing a pre-inspection sometimes it's nice, it gives you an idea of what sort of condition the kind of underpinnings of your home are. But if you know that you've always had an outlet that just never worked, you don't necessarily need to fix that before you sell. Odds are that's going to come up on an inspection anyway and sometimes leaving those inspection items up to the potential buyer is going to be a better idea than fixing a list of 10 things before you sell only for their inspector to come up with 10 more. Obviously, if there are major issues, you want to take care of those. You don't want to have faulty electrical, faulty plumbing leaks, roof issues, or things of that nature. If you can solve those before you put it on the market, solve them. And if you know that they're there before you put it on the market and you can't afford to solve them, you definitely need to disclose those to the buyer before you make that transaction happen. Finally, you probably don't need to repair cracks in your driveway, cracks in your sidewalks or patio, or things like that. Unless they are really really big major deterrence or safety hazards, you are probably fine to leave those alone. And just as my father would say, leave it for the next guy. Hopefully, those things help you as you're putting together that list before you talk to an agent. But don't forget, having a licensed agent who actually works in the market and knows what your market is doing, take a look at your home before you start making that list or making those improvements is going to make a huge difference. So make sure that you're not doing things that aren't going to give you a return on your investment or that are just going to cost you a lot of work and not give you any money in return. As always, if you're in the Richmond area, I'd love to talk to you. I'm happy to come to help you determine what things to tackle in your home. I don't care how well maintained or poorly maintained your home is there is always going to be a list of things that are going to help you sell and market better to get you the most amount of money and that's what I'm here to do.

So you want to buy or sell a house, but you need a little breathing room and you don't know how you're going to work, the timing of that whole situation, especially in this market, what do you do? One way that we often handle these logistics of literally moving targets with closing dates, times moving trucks, people moving in people moving out is with a possession by seller or possession by purchaser agreement. But what are those? You may have heard that term, and sometimes the possession by the seller is actually called a rent back. That's our common vernacular for that document, or that situation. And it's called a rent back because basically, you as the seller are renting back your house after you close and the purchaser actually owns it. We do have another thing called a possession by the purchaser. That is very, very seldom used, because there are a lot of risks involved in letting a purchaser move into your house before you are actually close as you can imagine, they move in and they start putting wallpaper up or demoing the kitchen, and some reason, their deal does not close and you're stuck with whatever they did when they were in your house and you're also kind of stuck with them in your house, and you may accidentally become a landlord. We don't use those very often. The way that the possession by the seller works is literally just like the way you would rent a property. So you own the house, you know, you're going to close on, say the 10th of the month, but you need to stay in for an extra week or two, we're going to have a whole document that's basically a rental agreement where the purchaser closes, and then you're going to be renting that house back from them for the next week or two weeks, whatever. There is usually a deposit just in case you damage anything while you're moving or getting all your stuff out. And you are going to have to cover that if that happens. There's generally a per diem amount as well. So if you go past that, say, you're supposed to close on your new construction, this is one where sometimes the closing dates don't really line up the way we want them to say you're closing on new construction on the fifth of the month. And that's when your rent back ends on the house that you're leaving. But the builder isn't ready until the 10th, so you may have to pay extra, then for those additional days that you stay, or you may just have to beat it because sometimes the agreement was you're going to be out on the fifth and sometimes that's just what has to happen. All of this can get really confusing and sound really confusing. In reality, it's not that confusing, but a lot of it goes back to having a plan before you put your house on the market before you write the contract for the house that you fall in love with making sure that you sit down with your agent and kind of plan out that whole scenario. Sometimes hard when you're really emotional about this process or you're looking at all the other moving parts, but the times and the dates and all of that good stuff really get important, so having that plan is really key. I'd love to explain to you how that might work for you, so just give me a call send me an email, send me a message, and let's set up a time to chat.

Who pays for what in a transaction, seller addition? When you think about closing costs, as a buyer, there are lots and lots of fees that add up. But let's talk a little bit about if you're selling your home, what are you going to have to pay for, because it's not all just give me the money at the end of the day. So in the market that we're in, now we're seeing relatively little in the way of repair costs. So one of the big things or one of the big unknowns, perhaps when you're selling your home is if the buyer has an inspection, and they are able to ask for repairs, and you agree to do those repairs, what those are going to be costing you. And that can depend largely on what needs to be done, if the buyer wants, you know, is demanding that they be done. And who does it, what the repair is all of that stuff. So that is one of the biggest things you want to budget for if you know that your HVAC is in rough shape and that that is going to be something you have to deal with, you want to make sure that you've stocked a little bit of money away, or some contractors will let you pay at closing from your proceeds after your home sells. But ask them first because many of them don't. After you get through that you're really only going to have to pay for the termite wood-destroying insects, whatever you want to call it, a lot of people just call it the termite report, but it is a wood-destroying organism report. And what that means is you're going to have to pay for and arrange or your agent will arrange for a pest control company to come in, do an inspection, make sure there's no termite damage and here in central Virginia, it is very wet, it is very humid, we've got a lot of that sort of thing. So hopefully, you've had a contract all along as you've owned the house, and there's no issue. But once they come in, they're either going to give it a clean bill of health, or they're gonna say you need treatment, which almost always costs between 750 and $1,000. And heaven forbid repairs. And that can range. You know, depending on the repair, go nuts. You can spend all sorts of money on that. But as long as you've got a clean bill of health, that Wood Destroying Insect, wood destroying organism, the report should only cost you about $100. That is going to be required for the sale unless it was waived in the contract because it is a provision of the contract that we have our boilerplate template contract here in central Virginia. Your biggest fee though as a seller is going to be the Commission's because they do come out of the proceeds at the end of the day. So whatever you pay your listing agents, and from that whatever goes to the buyer's agent, that's going to be your largest amount. At the settlement table, you're going to pay that you're going to pay that wood destroying organism fee, and then you're going to cover the attorney fee or settlement agent fee for them to prepare the deed. There are some taxes because of course the city, the county, the state, they all want a little bit of paint and you know little bit of the action. But overall, with the exception of the Commission's your closing costs as a seller are going to be relatively low. Not a whole lot that goes into there if your house is in good condition. If you have any other questions about what it's going to cost to sell your home, what it's going to look like at the end of the day, and how much you're going to end up with, then give me a call. I'd love to talk to you, help you look at the numbers, break them down, and see if it is a good time for you to sell and what you're going to end up with at the end of the day.

Well, you've heard the saying "no news is good news," but really, there's not a whole lot of news, and depending on your perspective, of course, not much is that good. What a bummer that sounds like. I know, I know. But let's unpack it a bit. Despite interest rates sneaking perilously close to 8%, which is a 23 year high, it is STILL a seller's market. While the rates have certainly sidelined some potential buyers, the fact remains that we are still in a nationwide, regional, and local housing shortage. Basic laws of supply and demand are in play in the market, with more buyers than sellers, causing prices to continue to rise even with the increase in rates that would normally slow the price increases. (As it is, prices have increased 4% year over year) The hardest hit buyers in the market are obviously those first time buyers and/or buyers in lower price ranges. There are simply not many homes in the $150,000-$250,000 range to be had right now. In fact, I had a client write an offer (not a bad offer, either) on a home that was listed at $150,000 last week, and the listing agent let me know that they had 63 offers. SIXTY THREE. I knew they'd have a lot, but I was gobsmacked by that number. One reason for the shortage, as I know I've mentioned before, is the fact that nearly 85% of homeowners have rates below 5%, and unless they really need to sell, it's not terribly tempting for them to sell and move into a higher rate mortgage. Now, if you have owned your home a while, have great equity and no mortgage, it's still an absolutely terrific time to sell. While we are still seeing lots of multiple offer situations, we're also seeing homes that need a bit of work or that don't show well, sit on the market a bit longer than they would have even a few months ago. So while it is a good time to sell, I cannot overstate that having a great agent who will help you prep your home to sell, market it well, and commit to following up, is worth its weight in gold. Putting in that extra work will not only get you more money, but actually get your home sold in a reasonable amount of time. In this market, the "half baked" listings, or those priced too aggressively, are the ones that are sitting for longer, getting lower offers with less favorable terms, and having to make price reductions to get it sold. I hear your, "But what if I'm a buyer? Should I just give up?" No! But, if you're buying, I definitely have some tips- Broaden your parameters. Yes, sometimes you need to reduce your expectations. Maybe that chef's kitchen isn't in the cards right now, but you can find a home in your "perfect" neighborhood, with less "done" and more potential. Check into loan programs and grants that may offer you downpayment and closing cost assistance. They're out there! If you're stuck on that higher budget home, look into things like rate buy downs that will lower your rate for the first 3, 2, or 1 years. Run all your numbers, though, and please don't jump into the situation that works now but can be a nightmare later! Remember that especially if it's your first home, it doesn't have to be your "forever" home! Getting your foot (or toe!) in the door of the market is still a lot easier than waiting, when prices will definitely be higher (and rates may be the same or higher). It's much better to buy less house and keep your lifestyle than overcommit and end up house poor. Building equity (for most people, at least) is still better than paying rent! How can I help you meet your real estate goals to get you where you want to be? I'd love to answer any questions you might have about buying or selling, and help give you the tools you need to get there. Let's talk!  

So what do I do with my dog or my cat or my ferret or my bird or whatever if I'm getting ready to show my house? Your pets themselves. The physical beings. Make sure that you either have your, especially dogs, make sure that you have them created or in a comfortable spot where the potential buyers can actually see the home, but your animals are not going to be underfoot, scaring people, potentially running out the door, or anything else. My best advice, give them to a friend or family member or board them for a couple of days, at least when you first start the showing process. Get the dog hair off of everything. If you have pets that make a mess, or you've got dog toys, or cat toys, or giant cat towers everywhere that are distracting for a potential buyer, get those out of the way. Do a deep clean. Get the evidence of your lovely fur babies out of the way so that people can make an objective decision on their own. I'm going to go back to that same thing from number two and reiterate the cleaning. Lots and lots of people will run the vacuum and think that's good enough but I'm telling you a deep clean will really make a difference and get away some of the smells that we sometimes as they say become nose blind to. That goes to the backyard too. Trust me nobody wants to take a look at their potential new backyard and find that they have stepped on something on the way back into your house. That's not good for anybody. Trust me. If you're thinking of selling following these tips are really going to help you get your home on the market if you do have pets. It will make it easier for people to see your house for people to show your house and for your pets to not have to deal with strangers coming in all the time. If you have any more questions, I'd love to help you get your home ready and your pets ready to make the move that you want to make.  

So believe it or not, even in this market, pricing is incredibly important. And if you're wondering why your house has been sitting or why a house hasn't gone off the market that you've been seeing over and over in your search, if you're buying, it is price, it is literally always price. When I was a pretty new agent, I remember sitting in the office, and there was an agent who had a listing that hadn't sold very quickly. And this again, was a long time ago when things didn't fly off the market like they do now. And she was asking everybody to take a look at her listing and see if they could tell why it hadn't sold. And even brand new, I said, I think it's the price. I think you need to drop the price. And she was indignant that it was not the price that it wasn't always the price. But, if you really think about it, think about you having a great house in a great location, but the condition of the house is rotten - price. You have a weird house in a great location, in great condition, what's going to move it - price. If you have any combination of those factors, and one is off, those are generally things that you can't change, or you can to some degree condition, yes, you probably don't want to totally renovate a house if it's got an unusual floorplan. So price is going to be a factor. And obviously, location, location location is something we say for a reason. And that's because it can't be changed, but what can be changed, is always the price. So this goes back to having a consultation and walking through with your realtor when you are starting to think about selling so that doesn't mean if you say I want to sell my house in September, that's when I want to sell that's when I want to move. You should be in a perfect world at least calling your agent a couple of months before so that we can come through, walkthrough, and tell you, Hey, you're going to get more bang for your buck if you paint, if you replace the front door, if you do a little landscaping. All of those little things can improve the condition which can maybe maximize an unusual floorplan and make it seem more livable. So if you're curious about what you might need to do to get your home ready for sale, or if you know you're going to want to sell your house in a couple of months I'd love to talk to you just give me a call. Reach out and let's set up a time to chat and I can walk through and give you a to-do list that will help you get more money for your home because it really is always price.

But won't I have to pay capital gains tax if I sell? This is one of the most frequent questions I hear. And I hear it from literally all ages, all demographics, everything. Capital gains taxes are some of the most confusing aspects of selling a home and everybody seems to have a slightly different interpretation. What are capital gains taxes? First of all, very simply, it's a tax that the IRS takes on the sale of an asset. So if you've made a profit on the sale of an asset, that is going to be taxed, just like your profits from anything else will be. Long-term is if you've held the asset for more than a year. Short-term is if you've held the asset for less than a year. Obviously, short-term gains are going to come into play if you're flipping a house, but let's just talk about regular home ownership. Selling a house, short-term gains are going to be, even if it's your primary residence that you haven't lived in for a full year, you're going to take what you paid what you can sell it for, but then you're going to subtract those things that you added or changed. And that's going to be your gain. You're only paying tax on the profit. So consult a tax professional, but that's just going to be taxed as part of your regular income, just like you made money on anything else. Long-term gains are paid on any home that you've owned for more than a year. Now, that's going to include your primary residence and a rental property, second home, that sort of thing. And again, I'm going to tell you to consult a tax professional, because I am not a tax professional. Long-term gains become a little trickier because there is an exemption for your primary residence. And I'm not going to get in the weeds here, but that exemption is going to be basically $250,000 if you're a single individual, and $500,000 If you're a married couple filing jointly. So if you have lived in your home as your primary residence for two of the last four years, you are going to be exempt from those caps for the sale of your primary residence. But what if it's not your primary residence, it's a rental property a second home, or something like that there are different tax rates based on your income for those capital gains, again, consult a tax professional, I'm not one, but those rates are gonna differ based on your income. And if you're in a lower income tax bracket, like you make under $43,000 a year, you're not going to pay gain at all. But the long and short story is capital gains are not as scary as they seem. And just make sure you have all the information before you're putting your house on the market. So if you're curious about selling your home, I'd love to talk to you more about the actual sales process. But I am going to tell you to consult a tax professional if the gains and the tax on them are something that concerns you. If you need a good tax professional, I know lots and I'm happy to refer you as well.

When you're getting your home ready to sell, not all dollars are created equal. Obviously, you want to be doing maintenance all along as you're living in a home. So things like maintaining your house and maintaining the exterior of your house. But when we're looking at getting a home on the market, even if it's six months from now, there are some things that you're going to have to put money into that are not going to feel like the high ROI you would like them to be, I'm going to list a few of the maintenance and then I'm going to list a few of the high ROI items that you can do. A balance of those is gonna give you a really good outcome when you go to sell. So here are my top four in each category. Trees and yard. You want to make sure that your trees are not dead, they don't have dead limbs, they're not hanging over the roof, they're not hanging over your driveway or shed or garage. Because as soon as somebody sees a dead tree or a tree that's threatening the house, they're going to add that to their list of projects. And right now, when people are adding to that list of projects, they're not necessarily coming in at a lower price where they would negotiate. Often they're just backing right out the door and getting in their car to get to another house that seems like less work. Plumbing and electrical is the number two and probably in my opinion, the most important. Make sure everything flushes that your outlets work, lights work fans work, and that things look like they're in generally good condition. Your systems. Your HVAC, your water heater, and any sort of systems you have, really need to be in good working order too. Finally the roof. Make sure you don't have any roof leaks, make sure that there's no debris on your roof, and that it doesn't look stained or damaged. And certainly that it's not damaged so that buyers feel really solid when they come in and get excited about the things that you have to offer. Rather than making a list of things that they feel like they need to do. Here are some of the things that add value very definitively. do a little bit more to that landscaping. Make it actually look good. Put mulch down, plant some shrubs, that type of thing. That generally returns about 100% on your investment. That is just a no-brainer. The minor kitchen remodel. So that may be painting your cabinets and maybe just adding new appliances. Maybe it's just putting on a new countertop. It doesn't mean gutting redo the whole kitchen. But that minor kitchen remodel has an ROI of about 98%. Ideally, you do this a few months before you move and you actually can enjoy it as well. A minor bathroom remodel. Same thing. it actually has an average ROI of about 102% anything that gives it just a little extra update a little extra pizzazz, brings it into 2023. You're gonna be in good shape on those. And finally, did you know that you can get a 90% ROI on just replacing your front door? Make sure that you're not only focusing on those ROI things, you're also focusing on the things that are going to negatively impact you if you don't do them. I always will take the time to come to visit your house, and make sure that we've got a solid list that's prioritized other things that you should do when you're getting ready. And that means call your agent, ideally me, before you're even really ready to sell. Six months away, four months away, so we can get all those things done to give you the highest net result possible.

Summer is here, and that normally means a dip in activity for the real estate market, but over the last few years, "normally" is a term that we've all sort of tossed out the window. (I'm sure you know what I mean.) If you're wondering where we are in the Metro Richmond market, here's a little snapshot of what's going on right now, as we dive into summer... As of the end of May, the average home's sales price was $455,408. For a little perspective, that's up from $428,999 in April of this year, and $435,893 in May of 2022. This despite the fact that interest rates are up by over a full percentage point year over year, and of course, lots of predictions that home values would tank. Those predictions didn't amount to much, since the tight market of the last few years has, in fact, just gotten tighter. Why? There are a few reasons- we are in a legitimate housing shortage, as many builders either stopped or slowed building any type of housing units after the bust of '07-'08,  whole new buying pool has dropped into the market in the past few years, and with interest rates rising, there are loads of people sitting in their home with a 3% rate not even thinking about selling and having to buy at more than double that rate. Ugh. I know. Frustrating (to say the least) turn of events! That shortage of inventory means that while last year (2022) seemed like the craziest ever with homes selling on average at 107% of the asking price, we've only dropped down to 104% a year later, with much higher interest rates. The average days on market in the Metro Richmond market is only slightly higher than a year ago. In May '22, homes were on the market for 12 days, and now it's 17. But remember, that's the AVERAGE. The median is exactly the same, at 6 days. My thought, though, is that that is a muddy data point. Many homes lately are going on the market with delayed showings, often going on the market on Wednesday, with showings starting Thursday, and offers being reviewed on Monday or so (or some combination of similar days). In other words, "sold in one day!" is often not happening, as showings run for a set number of days, with a deadline for offers. What does all this mean for you? At the risk of repeating myself, if you're thinking of selling, it's still a great time. With so few homes on the market, your odds of selling very quickly are great. And while you'll definitely maximize what you get for your home if you do some work like staging, painting, and repairs, you'll likely still be able to sell easily even if you don't have the time or money to do those things. (So if you have a house you've been wanting to sell, but don't want to "put the work in" to get it done, NOW is a great time to put it on the market!) If you're looking to buy, this is a market where having a great buyer's agent can really put you ahead of the pack. There are lots of ways to "win" a home in a competitive situation without giving away all of your money and peace of mind, but it definitely takes planning and strategy right now. If you're thinking of buying or selling in this market (or anytime), I'd love to  help you get where you want to be. Let's talk!         *Information here is based on numbers from ShowingTime/Market Stats, and CVRMLS **Numbers are for the Metro Richmond area only

It is a good time to buy? Is it a good time to sell? What's the market doing? These are just a few of the questions I always get asked as a realtor. Didn't answer your questions? Let's talk! DM me on Instagram @cindybennettrealestate or via my website at cindybennett.net.