"JUST MAYBE" This is Good Advice for Home Sellers

So it's time to move! Time to sell the old homestead!

Wow, maybe you sensed it was coming. Obviously the home is now too small for your growing family. Or, maybe it is too big now that the kids have grown up and moved out. Or maybe it is too small because the kids have grown up, moved out, had their own kids and now there is more family than ever!

Maybe it's time to move, because you want different schools for the kids. Do the In-Laws need a suite that your current home does not provide?

Maybe the company has transferred you (Congrats! You knew a promotion was coming your way). Or maybe, the company has downsized you (Bummer! You sensed a let-go was coming your way).

Maybe you want to be closer to your employment. Maybe it's because GAS WILL SOON BE $500 a gallon (maybe that's an exaggeration). But as a result of that, maybe you now need a home with a home office and you will have to start home schooling the kids.

The whys for why people move are endless, don't you agree? The procedures to best make that move happen should not be endless. Having a home on the market for 2 plus years is ENDLESS! (So the homeowner of a vacant home told me today when inquiring about my home staging services.)

Needing to move is generally not a "maybe". Some choices you make to sell the home should not be a "maybe, if it doesn't sell" choice either. So, if your home is sitting on the market and you are trying to sell it by owner or using a less than a full service agent...

Just maybe, you could have done something different

Just maybe... You could have used a REALTOR®

Just maybe... You could have priced the home competitively according to the Realtors advice

Just maybe... You could have hired a professional home stager

Just maybe... You could have had a V8 (that wouldn't have helped)

Instead the decision was made to try and sell the home by owner at the wrong price, with no agent and no home stager. 2 years later... hmmm, maybe that was the wrong choice!

Here in the Atlanta area of Georgia, the Realtor will cost you about 6% of your sales price. Assuming you have the average home; that would equate out to 6% of $287,000; according to GAMLS; or $17,220. Had you chosen to use the consultation of a home stager, that service would have been approximately $250 to $500 while you were still living there and the stager could work with your furnishing to best display your home.

It would have cost the average home seller under $18,000 from their equity to sell this home 2 years ago.

Today, according to GAMLS, the average Atlanta home is valued at $263,000. That is a decline of $24,000. Ouch! The good news is the 6% real estate commission is now only $15,780. Home staging will cost the home seller more now that the home is vacant and furnishing and accessories will need to be rented.

2 years later and now the math is really ugly. It will still cost the average home seller about $18,000 from their equity to sell this home, and they will walk away from the closing table with $24,000 less in their pocket than if they had sold 2 years ago. And then there are the 24 monthly house payments they have made to the lender. Some went to equity; but more went to interest.

I know this isn't the story for every market, every seller, and every situation; but it's a real one here in Atlanta. I find it quite concerning to find so many people not making the wisest choices possible when it comes to marketing their largest assest. Posting a property for sale on e-bay and craig's list does not qualify as "Marketing".

There are thousands and thousands of Realtors to choose from and quality home stagers are bountiful, as well, in most every market.

Home Seller's please note: these professionals are there for a reason...

Just maybe, Realtors and home stagers are there because they are an industry necessity.

The necessity to professionally market a home is more than "Just MAYBE"

How folks live in a home is their business, how folks present the home for sale is my business!

For tips on how to prepare your home for sale and information on staging a home in Atlanta, visit the web site of PEACHTREE HOME STAGING or call us at 770 595-8809. You can also send Karen an email.

Peachtree Home Staging is a proud APPROVED Business of the Greater Atlanta Better Business Bureau.

Article Source: http://www.activerain.com/blogsview/553826/Is-Your-Listing-An