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Tips for buying, selling a home
Posted: 05.14.2012 at 9:05 PM
Updated: 05.15.2012 at 4:55 AM
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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- The housing market can be stressful, but a few simple tips can make the whole ordeal much easier.

Joe Clement and Karsten Museaus are two realtors with 34 years of experience each. The two shared tips on what can make or break a sale.

Clement, who works for RE/MAX, said making it feel like home can be a huge pull for buyers.

"When you walk in, what's it feel like? Does it feel like home or is it just another house? Is it a cold feeling? You'd be surprised, in the winter around here, how many people have a vacant house they're trying to sell, and they don't have the heat on above 50," Clement said. "Guess what the buyers do? They walk through real fast. They leave."

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Clement also suggested making sure there's natural light by leaving curtains and blinds open, keeping overhead lights on, having a 'natural' smell like cookies, brownies or bread and keep music playing in the background.

Museaus, a realtor for Keller Williams, suggested keeping counters and rooms free of clutter.

"Too much stimulus overwhelms [the buyers]. They can't see the house. They'll see your stuff: your personal pictures, your odd colors, perhaps your wacky colors. They'll see all the clutter, if you have a lot of clutter," Museaus said. "[Women] won't see the counterspace in the kitchen because you've got too many things there. You've covered up the walls with so many paintings, they can't see the wall space so they can put something that's furniture there. You've got so much big furniture everywhere, they have to maneuver around and even if it's a great floor plan, they've defeated their own purpose."

When it comes to pricing, Clement said it's not uncommon to receive a low-ball offer, but not to be offended by one.

"It's a buyer's market, it's going to stay a buyer's market for a while, and you just have to understand, you are lucky that you're getting an offer, even if it's low," Clement said. "There's so many homes that sit on a market for a year or whatever, two years, and they don't get any offers."

Museaus said while it might seem counter-intuitive, pricing your house at the lowest you're willing to sell is actually a good pricing strategy.

"If you start [high] and your competitors, a few of the houses that might be of equal value are [lower], what are you doing at that point? You're making the other guys look good," Museaus said. "They're going to go to your house and say, 'nice house.' Then, they're going to go to somebody else's house and say, 'better deal. Let's offer on those.' Is that your goal? No, it's not."

He suggested setting the price, knowing you won't negotiate any further down.

One of the ways you can receive higher offers is to spend a little money on small repairs, to make sure buyers don't haggle the price down because of small dents and dings, Museaus said.

"Without spending a lot of money, take care of the dings that are obvious. The obvious things that somebody would have to fix when they walk in. You might be used to it as a seller, you don't notice it or you think, 'oh they can fix that,'" Museaus said. "Trust me. They can't."

The good news for sellers? Selling a home usually means buying a home. Museaus said, even if you have to give in a little on the cost, you're likely to get a steal as a buyer.

"What the left hand taketh on the sale because it's a buyer's market, and you feel like you're not getting what you wish you could get. The right hand will giveth back when it's your turn because then it's your turn to be that buyer and get the good deal," Museaus said.

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