Medford, MA Homes for Sale – Deb on the Web » selling a house

Real Estate Sellers’ Seminar

DebOnTheWeb — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:59:31 +0000

Are you thinking about selling a piece of real estate or selling your home and moving up but have questions about today’s market? Please join me for a free seminar and get your real estate questions answered.

When: Wednesday, September 29th from 7:00 – 9:00 PM
Where: Medford Fire Station 5
Zero Medford Street (at the intersection of Medford Street and Main Street)

Each spring and fall I team up with a local real estate attorney, John Masciarelli, and we offer a free seminar to the public to help educate people about what to expect if you decide to sell your property. John and I discuss marketing, the legal aspects of selling, current market conditions and leave plenty of time for your questions.

Learn What To Expect In This Market When Selling Your

* SINGLE FAMILY HOME * MULTI-FAMILY * CONDO * INVESTMENT PROPERTY

John Masciarelli, A local real estate attorney and I will discuss:

Foreclosures and Short Sales
How Do We Determine Value?
Can I Sell My Property Without Paying Capital Gains Taxes?
How Do We Prepare Our Home For Sale?
How Do We Sell Our Investment Property With Tenants?

For those who pre-register: we will review the most recent sales in your area. Sign up by September 28th by calling (781) 446-9720 or reserve your seat below.

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Outstanding Liens When Selling

DebOnTheWeb — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:26:47 +0000

When you are selling a home, you need to give the buyer “a good clear record and marketable title”. What that means is that all previous liens must be paid off or discharged before the buyer takes ownership of the property. Real estate contracts allow you to use the proceeds of the sale to pay off the outstanding liens.

Problems can occur when a seller pays off a mortgage but the discharge (the paperwork from the bank showing that the loan has been paid) is not recorded at the Registry of Deeds. This happens a lot when people refinance. No one thinks any more about the discharge until right before the closing. With bank failures and mergers, it’s quite possible that the bank that held your previous mortgage might not be in business. That makes it even harder to track down and obtain the discharge.

If you’re thinking of selling, you can go online to the Registry of Deeds to see what liens are oustanding on your property.

Most title problems related to discharges of old mortgages can be cleared up in a few days, but there are the odd cases that can take weeks to straighten out. Save yourself a headache down the road. If you refinance, make sure that the release for your old mortgage is recorded at the Registry of Deeds.

Sellers Can Skip The Closing

DebOnTheWeb — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 14:52:15 +0000

If you’re selling a piece of real estate in Massachusetts, you don’t need to physically attend the closing. This can save you time if you’re in the midst of moving into your new home, or just free up extra time in your schedule. Follow these 3 steps and you can skip going to the closing:

Sign the deed in advance transferring ownership to the new owner. Your signauture must be notarized. The deed is the only paperwork in Massachusetts that must have your original signature.
Give a limited power of attorney to someone who will be attending the closing. Your real estate attorney is normally the best person to handle this. They will then sign the rest of the closing documents for you.
Give your attorney a copy of your drivers license. This proves you are you to the buyer’s bank and the closing attorney.

That’s all there is to it! Some sellers do choose to be at the closing, but realize that it’s a choice, not a necessity in Masschusetts.

Make Your House Showing Friendly

DebOnTheWeb — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 17:21:32 +0000

I’ve been trying to show a house for sale in Medford. The listing agent is a good agent. I’ve worked with him before and I respect him. Unfortunately, in order for this house to be shown, he needs to meet buyers and their agents and “escort” them through the house. 3 times my client and I tried to schedule an appointment to see the house but he couldn’t meet us. I’m not blaming him or his schedule, we’re all busy. The issue is the very idea of accompanied showings. Do you think the seller knows that showings have been turned down because his agent is busy at the time a buyer wanted to see the house?

So how can you put your house for sale and make it as easy as possible for buyers and their agents to see your house?

4 Ways To Make Your House Showing Friendly

Leave the house for all showings. Buyers need to feel comfortable opening the cabinets and closets. They need to try the house on for size and don’t feel comfortable doing this if the seller is home.
Make sure the house is ready to show each morning. Pop the dishes in the dishwasher and make the bed. A last minute showing can be a great buyer.
Use a lockbox. Gone are the days when real estate agents will pick up keys at the listing agent’s office. I’d rather have the keys securely at your house.
Use a showing service to schedule showings on your house. My clients always know which agent is showing their house when and have the ability to confirm all appointments. We can block times that aren’t good for showings so that agents can see the time frames that are bad before they try to schedule a time with their client.

The easier your house is to show, the better chance you’ll not only find the right buyer, but they’ll also have the time and space they need to try the house on for size and want to make it their own.

Scents, Smells & Selling A House

DebOnTheWeb — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:28:58 +0000

There’s an old saying in real estate “If I can smell it, I can’t sell it”. If your home has strong unpleasant odors, you want to eliminate those smells so a buyer won’t literally turn up their nose at your house. However, some people like to use scented candles, potpourri or other plug-in, stick-up artificial scents. I was in one house last week and was greeted by something that smelled almost but not quite like fresh baked cookies. Something was a bit off in the smell. There were no cookies in the oven – it was a scented candle. The nose knows real aroma from fake scent.

I’ve seen home sellers overdo it where each room has a different aroma. The heavier the scent, the more buyers will think you are trying to cover up a nasty smell. You also want to keep in mind that many people have allergies. The Misty-Meadow-After-The-Rain scent that you find very attractive could set off a sneezing fit in a buyer looking at your home.

When you’re selling a house, my recommendation is to clean the house and open the windows to air it out rather than use any type of artificial scent.

4 Ways to Sabotage Your Sale

DebOnTheWeb — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:52:52 +0000

I may not be on late night TV, but here’s my list of the

Top 4 Mistakes To Avoid When Selling Your House

Setting Your Asking Price Too High – Many times sellers feel they can “always come down” and “this way the buyer has room to negotiate” but the reality is your property has the best chance of selling and for the most amount of money in the first 2 weeks that you are on the market. The buyers who come to see a house when it first comes on the market are the people who have been looking for a while and are ready to buy, they just need to find the right house. Attract these people by making sure your house is priced in line (or slightly better) than your competition.
Making It Difficult to See Your House – Most buyers are excited by the purchase process. A great way to squash their enthusiasm is to make your house hard to get into. Be flexible about showings and use a lockbox to help ensure that your house gets the maximum amount of showings.
Pop Quiz: Where’s the best place for you to be while your house is being shown?
Answer: Anywhere except in your house! Give buyers a chance to try the house on for size.
Not Decluttering – We all have piles and “stuff”. Before you put your house on the market, have a yard sale, sell items that you won’t be taking with you on CraigsList or make someone’s day and give the items away for free on Freecycle.org. Help buyers envision themselves living in the house by decluttering and removing your personal photos.
Waiting on Repairs – There’s an old saying in the real estate field “Buyers and agents only know what they see, not the way it’s going to be”. Rather than telling people that you’ll be doing some repairs prior to the closing, take care of any necessary work before you go on the market.
Avoiding these 4 mistakes will help make your home selling experience go more smoothly.

Why Didn’t My House Sell?

DebOnTheWeb — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:28:56 +0000

When you put your house up for sale, you start making plans for your move. But unfortunately not every house sells. It’s like throwing a party but no guests show up. In the current real estate market in Medford, Somerville and the surrounding cities, there are many reasons why a house doesn’t sell. Sometimes it is the condition of the property, sometimes it’s the price or it could be how the house was marketed.

You need to understand today’s buyer and make sure that your marketing mix reaches them. Newspaper is dead. Why would anyone read a few cryptic lines like “3BR, 1.5BA Col w/hdwd flrs, c/a, gar” when they can see a full photo tour and description online? Some buyers prefer photos, some prefer a video (especially younger buyers). You need to make sure that your property is getting this full exposure.

If you’ve had your house for sale without success, take my Why Didn’t My House Sell Quiz and get some insight into what went wrong or listen to my Why Didn’t My House Sell Podcast to learn more.