Buying and Selling Real Estate: Ten Tips

Summary: Buying and Selling Real Estate: Ten Tips - gives tips on how to best buy and sell your home to get the best deal.

Real estate is changing hands in ways that make headlines. Whether you're a buyer or seller, here are some tips to help you make the best deal. BUYING: So you want to buy a house? In this market? Are you nuts? Actually, it depends on where you are. You could be very shrewd right now if you pick the right spot, the right pricing trend and bid aggressively. It requires homework, homework, homework. Example: My wife scoured a market, screening 90+ houses. We eventually found a fixer-upper for $162K. We offered $160K the same morning it was listed. They took it on a handshake. One year later-with no improvements!-we sold it for $208K. For those of you without a calculator, that's a 30% return on the investment. And you can do it, too. Here's how: 1. Pick a growing area. This is essential. Yes, it's hard to predict economic cycles and which metropolitan areas are going to prosper over the next year or so. However, if you read the business pages regularly, you'll have a much better idea of where to buy/invest. 2. Learn the market. This is also essential. You've got to know what's out there, what houses are going for and how to spot a bargain from the overpriced. When you find your bargain, you probably won't have much time before the competition gets wind of it. So you must be ready to make a solid offer right away. 3. Make your offer contingent upon a thorough inspection. There's nothing worse than buying something with plenty of infrastructure problems. They'll cost you time, money and aspirin. If you discover only a few problems, try to get the seller to lower the price to counterbalance the flaws in the property. They often will. 4. Finally, recognize that you will not likely land your first prospect. Therefore, be patient and be prepared to keep looking until you find the right house that makes good economic sense for you to purchase. Follow the above four tips and you'll do better with your property investment. SELLING: What to get the best price for your home? Just follow these six tips: 1. Everything (usually) looks better in brighter light. So let the sun shine in. Open curtains and blinds and turn on lights in all the rooms. 2. Fix up those little things. Oil or WD-40 those squeaky door and window hinges. Tighten any loose door handles. Replace broken shutters, fix leaky faucets, etc. 3. Deodorize! Nothing turns off a potential buyer than a "funny" or unpleasant smell. You've heard of the bake bread or cookies in the oven trick