Before You Sell Your Central Florida Home, Think “Garage Sale!”

As soon as you begin to plan to sell your Central Florida home, you’ll soon find one thing everyone agrees upon: the need to de-clutter. But where to start? For any home that’s been lived in for years, it’s easier said than done. Most of us shrink from even thinking about what goes and what stays. But one way to wade into the project is to force the issue by picking a date and (now that you’re committed)—holding a garage (AKA ‘yard’) sale!
For garage sale neophytes, there are a number of tips that veterans agree upon. Here are six that top most lists:
  • • Inventory as if you are serious. That means making a list of each of the major items you will be offering, then placing a price tag on each. A very general rule of thumb is to price most at 25% of what you may have paid for items that are in “like new” condition—but that is only a guideline. 
  • • Tables—beg, borrow, or steal as many folding tables as possible (maybe the stealing isn’t such a good idea). But most people don’t like to keep bending over to inspect items—and experts say they don’t value them as highly, either.
  • • Advertise. Use any local Central Florida free media, social media, and, beginning a week in advance, put up strategically placed, easy-to-read announcement posters. Don’t forget to include the date, day, and hours (4 to 6 hours will be sufficient).
  • • Set up at least a half-hour before the sale begins. The most serious customers are likely to be “first in.” 
  • • Get small change: lots of it. If you will be offering a number of pricey items, it could be worthwhile to invest in one of the many mobile gizmos that allow you to accept credit cards (like Square, PayAnywhere, or PayPal Here). If you go that route, practice with a few dummy transactions. On Sale Day, you won’t want your attention distracted with unfamiliar technology. Which points to the last tip:
  • • Get help! Enlist friends and family to share in the fun…and prevent pilferage!

Yard sales are a time-honored way to recycle the usable stuff we all accumulate. It’s also a way to fast-track the clutter elimination process that leads to success when you are preparing to sell your Central Florida home. And when you list with me, you can bet I’ll have “coming soon” fliers ready to pre-market your home at the sale, too!          
Prepared by James Williams, Realtor; Office Manager; and Top Producer at REMAX Premier Properties. He focuses on helping sellers and buyers in the Central Florida Market www.HomesInMyOrlando.com James has served as a Board Director at the Osceola Association of Realtors ‘15 - ‘18, and as a State Leader for Florida CRS - Certified Residential Specialist ‘15 - ‘18. Contact him at 321-402-6261 or jaw3remax@gmail.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Central Florida Homeowners Calculate Rate Cut Benefits

When interest rates were cut after the Fed’s July meeting, the press was quick to point out that not every homeowner would benefit from the move. As Bankrate.com noted in its lead article How the Fed’s Interest Rate Decisions Affect Mortgage Rates, “the majority of Americans won’t be affected.” That’s true—for the moment. But for some Central Florida homeowners, by last week, the immediate effects constituted good news. The Bankrate commentators touched on some of the traditional brain-teasing economics behind the effects (“there is an inverse relationship between bond prices and yields”)—but the practical repercussions were more straightforward. Mortgage lenders reacted with rate cuts, so: • Benefits flowed to the “winners of the rate cut”—some home loan borrowers with adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs). • Also benefitting were those using home equity lines of credit (HELOCs). • Current fixed-rate mortgage holders may be able to cut their mortgage payments via refinancing.
Read more

For Central Florida Neighborhoods, 4 Features Warrant Scrutiny

  Every serious house hunter is aware that the Central Florida neighborhood surrounding any house has a significant effect on its ultimate value. It follows that the future of a neighborhood will have a measurable impact the future value of the properties in it. Part of the reason not much emphasis is given to this factor is the difficulty of gauging a neighborhood’s future prospects. That’s especially true for homebuyers who are new to the area. Yet there are ways to scrutinize neighborhood characteristics for indications that augur well…or which point to a future which might not be headed in the right direction. Here are four such factors: 1. Incomes . Strong average household incomes are indicative of more than just the current bankrolls of the neighbors. Higher incomes are good bellwethers for households likely to maintain attractive landscaping—and to make future renovations to their properties. 2. Home price histories . For properties currently listed in the same neighbor
Read more

Central Florida Homes for Sale Prospects—the Straight Scoop

  It never ceases to amaze: the way media news briefs can state a set of facts that, despite being literally accurate, leave listeners with a mistaken impression. For local homeowners making up their minds whether the timing is right for putting their own Central Florida homes up for sale, this last week provided a fine example. One newscast in particular would seem to be off-putting. It’s true that when measured against the same period a year earlier, the national home sales levels had been weak. That made the one news blip that came over the satellite radios in many Central Florida autos all the more convincing. Listeners might have concluded that throughout the country, potential home buyers were staging a disappearing act. That kind of discouraging news could well put a damper on those contemplating putting up their own Central Florida homes for sale. The real estate item was the final one in Friday’s on-the-hour news, which repeated hourly. The announcer’s voice del
Read more