Real Estate Tip: Let It Go!

Getting the House Ready to Sell

Disconnect Your Emotions

When conversing with real estate agents, you will often find that when they talk to you about buying real estate, they will refer to your purchase as a "home." Yet if you are selling property, they will often refer to it as a "house." There is a reason for this. Buying real estate is often an emotional decision, but when selling real estate you need to remove emotion from the equation.

You need to think of your house as a marketable commodity. Property. Real estate. Your goal is to get others to see it as their potential home, not yours. If you do not consciously make this decision, you can inadvertently create a situation where it takes longer to sell your property.

The first step in getting your home ready to sell is to "de-personalize" it.

Real Estate Tip: The Home With No Name

Make Your Home Anonymous

If there is a new home sales tract near your home, go visit. It doesn't matter what size the homes are. What you will find are some wonderfully (but sparsely) furnished homes that anyone could live in -- with the emphasis on "anyone." They are anonymous. There may be a baseball glove in the boy's room, but no family photos on the walls. There may be "personality" - but no person.

The reason you want to make your home "anonymous" is because you want buyers to view it as their potential home. When a potential homebuyer sees your family photos hanging on the wall, it puts your own brand on the home and momentarily shatters their illusions about living in the house themselves.

Put away family photos, sports trophies, collectible items, knick-knacks, and souvenirs. Put them in a box. Rent a storage area for a few months and put the box in the storage unit.Do not just put the box in the attic, basement, garage or a closet. Part of preparing a house for sale is to remove "clutter," and that is the next step in preparing your house for sale.

The Fundamentals: It's The Palisades, Remember.

You can’t turn on the TV, pick up a newspaper (remember those?) or read a blog like this without being bombarded with doomsday scenarios about the real estate market. Indeed, after a recent episode of CNBC’s Mad Money with Jim Kramer, I found myself switching to the Weather Channel half-expecting to see a forecast of grey morning skies and late afternoon falling locusts.

Most people’s approach to home buying is done so out of necessity. They need to be close to work, school, or family. It’s “what I can afford.” Is it? Or, is it what I think I can afford? With those “necessities” in mind, buyers will ascertain a comfortable price range (right, Countrywide?) and then go about the business of measuring those budget restrictions against areas that meet their criteria. They will do their research and the informed buyers will contract an experienced agent at their side. Yes, here comes the self promotion: consider that professional realtors with experienced companies have the tools to devote hours of time to thoroughly know the market, inventory and trends. Further, according to the National Association of Realtors, 82% of all home sales are done with Buyer/Seller/Broker contracts. These are agent generated and closed transaction sales.

So when The Los Angeles Times recently reported that inventory in L.A. has increased by 23.3 % since April 2007, somewhere out there is probably a place you will be able to call home, especially if you’re willing to be flexible with your “necessities.”

Imagine a different mindset. Think lifestyle. Think long-term value. Think location. Remember the fundamentals.

Think about this difference: most people live in the Pacific Palisades not because they have to; they live here because they want to. For many the decision was not about working there, although the commute to most Westside business centers is well under the average daily commute for the Southern California work force. It was not about schools; private schools are well within the reach of many, although our Palisades elementary, junior high and high schools are all California Distinguished Schools. It’s about the close proximity to the Pacific Ocean, beach air, family-friendly living, and the ability to walk to tons of local restaurants, shops businesses and houses of worship. Plain and simple: it’s a highly coveted lifestyle that has made the Pacific Palisades one of the most desirable neighborhoods in the country… perhaps even in the world.

But these benefits are more than mere postcard fodder. They are the basis of a sound, secure investment strategy in a largely unstable national real estate market. There’s a reason that Forbes magazine named the Pacific Palisades one of the nation’s “Blue Chip” neighborhoods, meaning areas in which homes have either held or increased their value over the last two years as they have over the last 17, despite the recent downturn in the market. In fact, on that same Forbes list, the Palisades trails only Miami, FL in terms of overall price growth since 1990. While the median price of a home in Los Angles has dropped 11.8% since the end of December 2007, the Palisades has enjoyed 37.6% increase in median price over the same period. Additionally, despite lenders tightening their belts after the sub-prime fallout, lenders are much more inclined to loan money to people purchasing real estate in the Palisades because these lending institutions know the short supply, high demand and value as a long-term asset.

For both buyers and sellers alike, the Palisades remains a shelter in an economic storm, one which will continue to yield return on your investment throughout times of prosperity and times of struggle. You just have to step over a few locusts to get here.