beautiful til e fl oor. Complete bath remodel. Hardwoo d fl oors, new double pane windows. Great fenced yard, covered rear patio.” It was being fought over at $924,000+. Meanwhile, a comparable traditional single-family home a couple of blocks away, had the same 3 bdrms/1 bath, approximately 1,248 square feet, built in 1955. It sold for $868,000. Th at’s enough o f a diff erential (some $56,000!) for the owner of th e fir st home to pay the cost of his real estate agent’s commission and pocket some pro fi t. Frankly, that commission was money well spent, because hiring the real estate agent and following the agent’s sales plan made all th e diff erence. We’ll talk more about that as we move through this book; however, it was the advising, planning, staging, pre-marketing, marketing, negotiation, and professional know-how that sealed the deal. THE BASIC HOME SALES PROCESS Let’s begin with a practical examination of what the home-selling process is and how it works. We’ll examine how listing prices are determined and look at various ways that a listing price is set. I will discuss online valuation, professional appraisal, and the great bene fi t of a Current Market Analysis (CMA) by a REALTOR®. I’m also going to drive home the importance of the seller’s time, e ff ort, “sweat equity, ” fin ancial investment, and working as a team with a carefully selected real estate agent. It’s not a hire-me-and- you-are-done transaction. To get the most money for your house, you’ll have to invest in touch-ups, improvements, staging, keeping the grass cut, and many other items. Just as important, you’ll want to focus on the
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