Some Basic Selling Ploys Can Help to Stop Foreclosures

Isn’t it time to give the home owners facing and trying to stop foreclosures a helping hand? So much advice is available (often for free) out there for first time buyers of foreclosures, but what if the home owner has never prepared to sell a house before. As the old hands at it will know, it can be a disruptive experience, time consuming and frustrating. Imagine how much more difficult it will be for the owner selling to avoid foreclosure in a cold market.

What is more difficult for the first time seller of a home she is in danger of losing when the lender calls in the collateral?
• There is no money for essential repairs,
• Little has been done for some time to spruce up the house,
• Pride will play a part, but most will know instinctively that explaining the true circumstances leading to selling will lower the offer price,
• She desperately needs the help of a realtor but knows this means less in the hand to cure the default and get a fresh start.

Here’s some great advice I have accumulated in the past that helps the mindset. Once you have made the decision to sell, it’s no longer your home; it becomes your “property”, an asset you should realise at the best possible value. That goes a long way to remove emotion and have you thinking positive.

You have to have the right attitude about how to sell smartly when all traditional housing (as opposed to actual foreclosures) for sale around you has been for sale for months. From bitter experience you know prices are moving down. After all, you tried unsuccessfully to refinance.

Forget about what the property has cost you, how much you paid for alterations or additions, think only of comparable values in your immediate neighborhood. Comparable means in size, construction, amenities, and state of repair! When prices are trending down, houses that will sell first price ahead of the down curve. You don’t have the luxury of time; your debts are mounting. Price now for the next 3 months rather than list, discount, then list again meanwhile not getting a soul to show to.

Before you make the big decision as to whether paying commission to a realtor is most likely good value anyway, think about all the inexpensive ways you can give your property some curb attraction, something to give a good impression as the potential buyer comes to the front door. Have a thorough clean up and out of clutter and junk, from the entrance to the laundry, outside and in the closets inside. Find the pennies to pay for lawn mowing, and fixing dripping faucets.
Cleaning is so important and sparkling windows and washed down paintwork costs so little yet adds so much to appearances. Not to mention the aroma and the attitude.