What in the world is going on with rates? WHEN will we see them go down? Even though historically, rates around 6 & 7% are still low, it doesn’t feel that way when you’re locked in on a 3.75 and wanting to sell, does it? I firmly believe rates will go down, and WHEN THEY DO, you’ll want to be the first to know, because there will be a short period of time when OTHERS DON’T KNOW, and this will be the PRIME TIME to sell. Why? Because as your neighbors all find out, supply will rise to meet demand, which means less steeply-climbing prices. CALL ME NOW to get on the HOT LIST so you can BE THE FIRST to know when rates fall!
# 1. DECLUTTER!
You will love the way it feels to live in your home without all of the useless stuff you have collected over the years. Someone else can use it, and you will feel much clearer and more agile of spirit when you have around you only that which you use. This is the part of the process that ALWAYS takes longer than sellers anticipate, so by getting it out of the way now, you'll be ahead of the game.
#2. TAKE CARE OF DEFERRED MAINTENANCE
We all have those lists of things to do that we have not done. Squeaky door hinges, loose locks, dirty windows, funky closet doors, broken window panes. The list goes on and on. Get started on this list now. Keep it simple and achievable by tackling one or two things a week. You'll be surprised how soon you have it all done, and how good it feels to experience yourself as someone who gets things done, instead of who puts things off.
#3. GET FAMILIAR WITH VALUES AROUND YOU
Here's a useful tip on this one. If you call your favorite Real Estate Agent (hopefully that's ME), we can put you on an automated mls search, so that comparable properties near yours will be automatically emailed to you.
#4. BEGIN THE LOAN APPLICATION PROCESS
I know, it's way too soon for that! After all, you're only looking. However, the sooner you see your credit score, the more quickly you can take care of any stragglers there that you'd forgotten about or weren't expecting at all. You can also geet familiar with the way banks calculate debt-to-income ratios and pay off or down any debts that may hinder your ability to borrow funds sufficient to get the home you really want.
#5. ALERT YOUR AGENT TO YOUR PLANS
This does two main things. It puts you on our radar, so that we can keep you informed of the best time to sell. You'll want to be the first to know, for the reasons I mention above. We can complete a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) and have all of the other important steps (inspectors, photographers, marketing team, etc.) queued up and ready to go.