Madam, it's pronounced "FIZZ-bo."



















FSBOs usually overprice their homes.












Do a market analysis.




















There's no home that won't sell. Really.








The top payback item is your furnace.











Look for increased salability + highest per centage payback












It's the kitchen and the bathroom.












The best areas to remodel.































There are several things you can do to update an older home to fetch a higher sale price.















The art of the deal.
























Hardwood floors are hot!




























You stopped smelling your dog years ago. Trust me: a visitor can smell him.
















Smear a little vanilla oil on a few light bulbs






Remove all your family photos and mementos-- it might keep visitors from visualizing the house as theirs.

Some of you who are seeking home improvement loans may be planning to put your home on the market. You're remodeling your home just to increase its salability and its resale value. Smart. But which rooms in the house will get the most return on your investment? And when it finally comes time to show your house, what inexpensive things can you do to help get your best price?

Quick advice about FSBOing it.
It's true that home sellers can save a ton of money going it alone without a Realtor. Realtors commonly charge 5 or 6% of the sale price of a home. 7% is common in some areas.

6% of a $200,000 home, for example, would be $12,000. Keeping that $12,000 in your own pocket is enough to entice many of us to "FSBO" it-- or "for sale by owner". (It's pronounced "FIZZ-bo.")

Realtors, however, do provide valuable services. FSBOs rarely have the means to advertise as widely as real estate brokers. Advertising is often the single most important factor in home selling. Then, your being available on demand for showing the home can be difficult. And holding the necessary open houses every weekend may be impossible for you. Finally, having a professional at your shoulder to steer you through the legal pitfalls and all that paperwork can be a welcome service.

But those willing to do everything themselves can save a bundle.



The number one mistake FSBOs make.
Before we get into ways to increase the sale price of your home let me talk about the number one mistake that FSBOs make. They overprice the home.

Unless you live in a crazy real estate market like the Silicon Valley area then your home just won't sell as quickly if it's overpriced. Sounds elementary, but it's a common affliction.

It's easy to see why FSBOs overprice. We all have a lot of emotional baggage tied up in our homes. Our home is our palace. And our home is often the biggest investment we'll make. There's a lot of money at stake.

Just make sure that you do what Realtors call a "market analysis." Keep track of how much other homes in your immediate area are selling for. Find out what comparable homes are selling for. Try to separate your emotional attachment to your home from the sale price. Be realistic. If you really need to sell rather quickly, just remember: I told you so.

Here's how to get started.
For our purposes there are three ways to help get the best price and to sell quickly:

• remodeling
• updating
• setting the stage.

Remodeling.
Actually, there's no home that won't sell. Don't think so? Think about it: is your house next to a railroad track? Reduce the price. Have a gaping 4 foot hole in the middle of the living room floor? Reduce the price.

The point is, you don't have to remodel-- as long as you're willing to reduce the price! But there are some things you need to know before you decide to take a price hit on those 1950s era kitchen cabinets and the orange shag carpet.

The home improvement item that gives you the most payback for your investment is the heating system. You should easily recoup your investment. But don't think about replacing the furnace unless it's approaching 15 or 20 years old. This is of course a general rule. (And you should always get your aging furnace inspected before each heating season!) Winters in Michigan where we live can be interminably gray and brutal or interminably gray and milder. (I'm a southern gal, and this stuff gets old.) Your heating system may last longer if you live in the south or wear out quicker in a cold climate.

Let's concentrate our remodeling dollars on areas that are immediately visible to the prospective buyers. Focus on what they see when they make the tour of your home. Improving those areas will increase your home's desirability--or salability, and at the same time pay you back more money than you put into the improvements. That's the smart way to make sure your home sells well, It's not that you're trying to make money back on your remodeling-- you're aim is to increase salablity.

Happily, it's often the cosmetic (read cheaper) fixes that can give you the highest per centage payback. And well chosen inexpensive improvements that you can do yourself can also enhance the look and feel of your home, increasing its salability.

Which rooms in your house are buyer hot buttons?

The two most important rooms in your house are the kitchen and the bathroom. If any remodeling is to be done, do it there. The return on your remodeling costs will be probably equal your investment. Don't waste your time remodeling the kids' rooms or putting in a pool. (On the other hand, if most of the other homes in your immediate area have pools or decks, then it's appropriate to consider adding them.) Ask a Realtor familiar with your area if it would really make a difference in salability and what your return on investment would be.

Generally, here's the consensus on the best areas to remodel, in descending payback value:

add new heating system -- 100% payback
kitchen -- about 95%
add a bathroom -- 92%
add a family room -- 86%
remodel bathroom -- 77%
add a fireplace -- 75%
add new air conditiioning system -- 75%
build a deck -- 73%
remodel home office -- 69%
replace windows -- 68% to 74%
build a pool -- 44%
install or upgrade landscaping -- 30% to 60%
finish the basement -- 15%.

Interestingly, the highest per centage payback is for minor kitchen remodeling (a $2,000 to $8,000 investment). Major kitchen remodeling (from $9,000 to $25,000) will net you less!

You can find a more thorough chart of average cost vs. average return at the excellent MSN Home Advisor site.

Updating.
The first rule of remodeling and updating is, if you elect to remodel, to repaint or re-carpet in neutral colors that are acceptable to everyone. Now's not the time to have a creative inspiration.

Here are several things you can do to update an older home to fetch a higher sale price:

• make dark rooms lighter and airy by repainting them in fresh light colors. Stay with neutrals and warm undertones. Off white is safe anytime.
• re-carpet badly worn or style-dated carpet with neutral colors, medium pile-- no plush or sculptured. At the very least, get it professionally shampooed. If you're really, really, adamant about not buying new carpet, we'll talk about how to handle that issue with prospective buyers in just a second.
• plant flowers and do a little inexpensive landscaping at your front entrance. First impressions!
• repaint or refinish the front door. Look for other signs of wear or damage on the sidewalk and front porch..

If your carpet is worn or very dated but you don't want to replace it, a good tactic is to make the issue a "deal sweetener." First, make sure the old carpet is scrupulously clean. Then when the bargaining process finally comes around to the condition of your carpet say, "I'm sure that any new owner would want new carpet, so I'm prepared to mark down the sale price of the home by $2,500" (or whatever fits your case). "That way you can choose your own color." Now, don't blab out first thing when the prospects walk through the door that you'll knock off $2,500 for the carpet. Or when you were first thinking about putting your home on the market-- for goodness' sake-- don't reduce it by $2,500 to allow for the buyer having to replace the carpet. You just lost $2,500. Remember, any situation like that is a deal sweetener, and deal sweeteners are by definition last minute. Be a horse trader.

This selling tactic works just as well if you don't want to replace other features like outdated kitchen cabinets, or a new bathroom sink and tub.. But I'm here to tell you, you're better off investing the money on remodeling visibly outdated kitchens and bathrooms. Any Realtor knows you'll make you money back two or three times over at sale time.

Hardwood floors are hot right now. Because of the upkeep costs of natural hardwood floors many owners of older homes just carpeted over them. We live in a village of older homes and that's how we found our floors. The beautiful oak woodwork was painted over too. It's not going to be cheap to refinish the floors, but you may get more than your cost back at sale time. And nicely refinished natural hardwood floors are stunning. Talk to a couple of Realtors and find out just how much newly refinished natural hardwood floors will add to your home's sale price. Again, make sure your compare similar homes in your immediate area.

Here's a caveat for do-it-yourselfers: unless you've done it before, don't make this one your first floor refinishing job. The sanding equipment is difficult for newbies to manage, and you could be left with glaring unsightly gouges in your floors. The "edging" machine that sands the corners and edges of floors is particularly a bear to wrestle around. I'd go with a professional on this.



Setting the stage.
Now we come to the cool little details that can add to the emotional experience of the visitors to your home. You've heard the saying, "don't sell the steak-- sell the sizzle." That's what we're going to do. Here are some of my favorite tricks:

• you stopped smelling your dog years ago. I know we have to be careful about that at our house with our Brittany Spaniel (actually half Brittany, half squirrel. What a dog!). Trust me-- a visitor can smell a dog in the house. Clean the carpet and the upholstery.
• Put your dog or other pets somewhere else when the visitors come
• shut the garage door to hide the junk
• open the drapes
• turn on all, yes, all the lights
• if you have a fireplace, have a cozy fire going (unless, of course, it's not seasonal)
• remove clutter, especially in the kitchen
• bring fresh baked bread (or cookies) out of the oven just a couple of minutes before visitors arrive
• have a place setting of cake, coffee, cloth napkin and silverware on the counter for a homey look
• if no baked bread or cookies are available, just smear a little vanilla oil on a few light bulbs (turned on)
• empty corners don't look good; place living plants there (they're cheap and you can take them with you after the sale)
• boil cinnamon on the stove prior to visitors coming
• open a board game on a table for a homey look
• remove all your family photos and mementos. I mean nothing unkind toward your family-- just that it might keep some visitors from subconsciously visualizing the house as theirs.

If, after reading this last section, you've grasped that much of homebuying is an emotional experience, you're right. If you happen to get an emotional buyer, you're in luck! An emotional buyer will fall in love with a certain aspect of your home, say a fireplace or the view. He or she will focus emotionally on the ambiance and experience rather than the economic transaction. But If you get an engineer or an accountant, he/she will probably ignore the ambiance and focus on price and the nuts and bolts. This is not a slam on those professions-- it's just a truism gleaned from years of observation.

Another reason to emphasize remodeling and decor is that women will surely notice it, and it's the women who most often sway the decision as to which house to buy.

Helpful hint... you can learn a TON of interior decorating tips-- and often on the cheap-- from HGTV (Home and Garden Television) on most TV cable networks. Frankly, I'm a shameless addict of their many good shows.

Just remember that all those little things that can enhance the experience of your home at showing time will work wonders on most people to some extent. Take advantage of those little tricks to help you get a better sale price for your home!

Just one last thought.
You may not be able to accompany every buyer all the time when you hold your open house. Visiting families may have rambunctious children-- or that spouse could be a thief. So pick up and hide away all your valuables and breakables.

I hope these hints will help your home selling experience be a pleasant one. Happy FSBOing!







Jackie Wall is a former real estate agent.



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Copyright © 2000 Jackie Wall. All rights reserved.
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