Dont be Tempted by We Buy Houses (Updated)

Do you want to sell your home right away? Don't be tempted by "We Buy Houses" or "Sell Your House in 9 days for Cash" ads and billboards.

Savvy real estate investors run these ads and put up posters looking for sellers under duress. These investors want to make the money you earned for holding your home. Investors only want to pay you up to seventy percent of the (low end) market value. Many investors who studied late night infomercial real estate scams want you to be their bank and carry the financing.

You do not need to be at the mercy of these scavengers. Selling you home is stressful enough without worrying about getting a fair price.

As a real estate investor who looks for distressed houses with desperate sellers, I give you the following tips for getting fair market value for your home quickly.

For Sellers with No Money to Spend:

Start at the street and clean up the weeds
Remove dead plants and trim overgrown limbs
Plant brown spots with cuttings of ground cover from friends
Remove empty pots and containers or fill with cuttings
Wash the windows
Inside, take down tatty window coverings
Pack personal effects: family photos, memorabilia, magazine piles
Open window coverings, let the sunshine in
Air your home out
Get rid of excess furniture, especially pieces with holes
Hold a yard sale and use the money to buy flowers
After a thorough purging and cleaning, your shining home is ready to sell!

For Sellers with a Little Cash:

Spend your money wisely on enhancements that boost net proceeds
Freshen paint
Fix everything you possibly can
Use Design and Marketing Psychology to stage your home

Redecorating your home and adding upgrades for the potential buyer's profile brings you the greatest return for your money. Then, you retain your equity and sell your home at full market value to a motivated buyer.

(c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.

Professor Jeanette Fisher, author of Doghouse to Dollhouse for Dollars, Joy to the Home, and other books teaches Real Estate Investing and Design Psychology. For more articles, tips, reports, newsletters, and sales flyer template, see http://www.doghousetodollhousefordollars.com/pages/5/index.htm