After several weeks of discussion with your family, you have made the decision to sell your clean, comfortable home in a quiet cul-de-sac in Huntsville, Alabama. That’s the easy part. Now how do you sell a home in Huntsville?

 Read Article »

Selling a Home in Huntsville

Someone Out There Wants Your Home

Whatever kind of home you have, it is exactly what someone out there is looking for. Whether it has lots of square footage and vaulted ceilings or cramped quarters and a cracked foundation, someone on this earth is looking for YOUR house in YOUR town, and is ready to pay at or close to the full market value of your home (what is a market value? Read on). The only exception to this is if your house has been condemned, infested with killer African bees, or been recently occupied by someone with the Plague, in which case there may not be a buyer anywhere. Let us assume, however, that your home is livable.

Get Into the Home Selling Zone

There are, nevertheless, things you can do to make your home more appealing to a broader group of buyers. This requires that you get into the Home Selling Zone, a phrase I just made up right now. It basically means, now that you have decided to sell a home in Huntsville, you are going to consider the house no longer yours and not get attached to having it look a certain way or used for a certain purpose. For example, you won’t insist on selling it to a family with no pets because you couldn’t bear to see dogs dig up your roses. And, you won’t mind changing the paint color in your living room from fluorescent green (which works GREAT for you) to a more neutral color like beige, so that more potential buyers will be able to picture their own furnishings in that living room.

Decide to Use an Agent

A small percentage of people are successful at selling their own homes. When someone chooses this route, it is usually because they have the time and energy to market their own home, negotiate with buyers, and handle all the necessary paperwork. The advantage to selling your own home is that you don’t have to pay a commission to an agent, which can be anywhere from 3-6% on the sale price of your home. The disadvantage, of course, is everything I already listed that you have to do yourself. It is wise to employ the services of an experienced real estate attorney to help you draw up the paperwork, since they are legal documents, and to make sure those papers comply with state law. Some realtors will also provide home selling counsel for a flat fee, so that you can seek advice but still sell on your own.

If you decide to use an agent to sell a home in Huntsville, you will have to pay the agent a commission once your house has sold. However, he or she will:

• Be able to help you determine how much your property is worth (the fair market value).
• Advise you as to the best asking price for your home, based on current market trends in Huntsville. You can, for example, ask for more than your home is worth if there are more buyers than houses available and a lot of them express interest in your home.
• Point out small changes you can make to your home and landscape to make it more appealing (or even more valuable). Some of these recommendations may be to repaint walls, organize your garage, or if you have the budget, put in a lawn or update appliances.
• List your home in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), a database that will then be accessible to agents and buyers all over the country who want to help you sell your Huntsville home.
• Handle ALL the legal paperwork on your behalf, and explain every single word in each document so that you understand thoroughly what is going on.
• Perform all kinds of other services. My mother’s agent, for example, arranged for house cleaners to clean her house for her, since she was struggling with a husband with advancing Alzheimer’s Disease. Agents only get paid if you sell your house, so most of them are willing to bend over backwards for you.

Raid Your Library

This article is just a summary of what you should do to get ready to sell real estate in Huntsville, Alabama. The next step is to educate yourself so that no one, not an agent, a buyer, or a well-meaning but misinformed relative, can cheat you out of the best deal, give you false information, or do something unscrupulous or illegal without your knowing it. There are many excellent and detailed books at your library that will arm you with money saving, sanity preserving knowledge.

Now you are ready to sell your home. You are in the zone, you have chosen an agent or sale-by-owner project, and you have read up on the entire home selling process. Your next step is to either call up an agent (after checking with your state’s Realtors association to make sure he or she is currently licensed) or order a sale-by-owner kit that will give you all the paperwork you need. You are well on your way to being able to sell a home in Huntsville, Alabama.

A REALTOR® is a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS®