4 Things You Have to Know Before Selling Your Home in San Gabriel…
Selling your home is one of the biggest decisions you will likely make in your life. Aside from marrying someone… It’s typical that homeowners like yourself will do extensive research to ensure they are not leaving any stone unturned. Afterall, it’s your hopes and dreams for the future that you have on the line. As well as a couple hundred of thousands of dollars depending on where you live. Point case is you want to make sure you are covered from all angles and you are being proactive about what you decide to do. If you live in San Gabriel, I’d like to share with you something I’ve learned over my years of experience as a realtor. So here are the 4 things you have to know before selling your home.
Using Local Agents
The city of San Gabriel is split into 3 neighborhoods, South San Gabriel, North San Gabriel, Central San Gabriel or San Gabriel Village. The importance of a local agent comes in knowing the distinct differences between all 3. Each neighborhood caters to a specific buyer audience, information that becomes extremely important when you have to market the home to specific buyers. Not to mention that homes in areas like North San Gabriel can have vastly varrying price ranges just by street location. It’s also about knowing what is going on in the neighborhood. Any realtor can look at statistics and come up with baseline numbers, however the real value in a local agent comes in being able to communicate to buyers just how great the neighborhood is, or simply what may be happening to the neighborhood. There is a wealth of knowledge that is absent when you decide to work with a realtor that doesn’t specialize in this city.
By not using a local agent, and perhaps going with a family friend that specializes in a different city, you put your home’s equity at risk. As a homeowner, the only thing that you can directly contral that affects how much money you walk away with is which realtor you choose to work with. You would be doing yourself a disservice if you do not choose a hyper local agent for the job of selling your home. At the end of the day it’s about your property and how much you walk away with, it’s not about trying to make your realtor friends or past realtor happy.
Overpricing Dilemna
San Gabriel is one of the most desirable cities to live in, especially North San Gabriel. There really is something for everyone, from the types of homes, to the variety of cuisines, and even the boba, San Gabriel just seems to be able to cater to everyone. You would be surprised to find out that this however would be the downfall of a lot of sellers in this city. Since San Gabriel has so much to offer, homeowners tend to overvalue their home and overprice when they go onto the market. Overpricing your home is one of the fastest ways to lose money as a seller. It prolongs how long it will take for your home to sell, it will most likely require you to do a price reduction at some point, which nobody likes, and it might even cause your home not to sell at all. Once your home has been on the market, multiple price reductions, and hasn’t sold, it becomes extremely difficult to sell afterwards. You’re almost stuck in the home unless you are willing to do a major reduction in price, which most sellers aren’t. Overpricing has caused way too many sellers frustration and it can all be solved by pricing relatively lower or at market value when selling.
The Important of Pre-sale inspections
This is bonus step that is almost always overlooked by sellers, and it costs them hundreds of thousands of dollars. A pre-sale inspection is simply hiring a home inspector to look at your home and give you a report, before you go onto the market for sale. The primary reason for doing this is to find out exactly what buyers will complain about when they either tour your home or go into escrow. By prepping in advance, you can either decide to do any necessary renovations upfront, or at the very least provide the report to buyers for free. This not only pre-qualifies the buyers as you filter out the looky-loos, but gives the buyer more confidence in actually putting an offer on your home as they can already see a baseline of what repairs need to be done. For something that costs anywhere between $300-$500, the return you get from a pre-sale inspection is ridiculous. If there were anything sellers should be doing more, it’s this.
Your Neighborhood is Sought-after...
San Gabriel ca in general is highly desirable. The niche neighborhoods inside of the city can be ever more sought-after. Unfortunately this can get to the heads of homeowners and eventually lead to their ultimate failure in selling their home. Very easily, this overestimation of the value of their neighborhood ends up in the seller overpricing their home. It can very often make sellers grow a grudge or distrust against realtors that try to communicate the property’s actual market value. While your home sits in a very nice area in the entire San Gabriel Valley, the best way to ensure that your home actually sells and sells for a fair price is by taking a step back and being very analytical. Ask your realtor to see the comps in the area, don’t do them yourself because you’re not trained to do them correctly and it can lead to false expectations. Rely on guidance and price reasonably.
FAQs
Should I stage my house before selling?
You should absolutely stage your home before selling, if your goal is to net the most amount of money. I wouldn’t recommend staging however if your home is not well maintained or is in need of repairs.
Do these rules apply only to San Gabriel?
Absolutely, everything mentioned in this article is virtually universal to any other market. Especially in the San Gabriel Valley or LA County.
Should I make upgrades/renovations before selling?
It always depends on your situation, but generally small upgrades are considered a good investment. You will find that larger renovations on the home do not net you as much money as you may expect. A general rule of thumb is if the home is maintained then small renovations are okay, however if the home is in bad need of repairs then it makes sense to have a major rehab.
📍 Final Thoughts from a Local Realtor
As much as we all love to do our research only, there truly is nothing better than speaking to a local professional.
Especially when it comes to real estate, you can learn as much as you want about your market, but no home is like your home and you never know what special rules may apply to you.
If you’re worried about making a commitment, just be upfront with a realtor and ask for that advice & guidance. At the end of the day you’re the one who loses out if you don’t get out there and ask for help from the professional.
Have questions about specific neighborhoods, I’d love to help.
