What if Your House is Overpriced? Here are some tips how to figure that out!

Spring is here, and now that the snow melt down you may have started thinking about putting your house on the market.
You have a lovely home, probably have lived there for many years, put a lot of effort and time into it, and updated it. So it probably makes sense to price it accordingly.

Then the question is: do you want to price your house aggressively and possibly get multiple offers, that will raise the price of the house, or do you want your property to sit on the market for a year or so until someone decides to buy it, and also because the house is on the market for long, the offer will be nowhere close to the asking price.

Whatever is the answer, the fact is that whether it's a buyer's market or a seller's market, all homebuyers have one thing in common: they don't want to get ripped off.

 You the Seller might think "We can always come down on our price"

Have you been shown the history of an overpriced home that eventually sold? It goes from overpriced, to market value, and then down to a SOLD price that is under market value.

Or "There will be no room left to negotiate the asking price, I will be taking a loss!"

Some home sellers are afraid to price their houses aggressively, because they don't want to leave any money on the table, and also, because later on when it gets to negotiating an offer, they are thinking that there will be no room left to negotiate the asking price.

But a Real Estate Agent has no control over the market, by only doing their marketing plan.
If buyers don't see the value of the house in the asking price, they will usually not even bother putting an offer. So don't waste your time worrying about a low offer some time in the future, when you are deciding on your house price, because first, the customers who shop online must pay attention to your house, like what they get for the price, then go check it out on a private showing and then you would have to think about closing etc.

Or maybe you are just thinking "We could try it for a couple of weeks?"

A BAD mistake, thinking you can go back in time! You're overpricing your home during the period when your best buyers show up, then lowering it after they're gone. It's like having a dinner party on Saturday and having the caterers come on Monday.
The first month of your listing period is the most crucial because that's when your buyers will come with their highest and best offer.

So by pricing your property right at the market value you actually create more interest and more activity for your house, especially online - where all the buyers nowadays start looking for houses.

There are couple ways to know if the price you have on your mind, might not be the same as what the real estate market is offering for your house right now:

1.  Meet with your local real estate professional.
The best way to get a quick estimate and also some tips on how to prepare your house to go out on the market contact your local real estate agent.
I work in Illinois, everywhere in Chicagoland area, but focusing on Barrington, Palatine, Lake Zurich & surroundings. So if you somewhere around these towns, give me a call and I will gladly do an estimate on your home and help you figure out how it should be positioned on the market.



2. Check what your neighbor's houses sold for.
A great way to get a general idea of what is the average price range in your subdivision, but keep in mind that every house is unique, starting with its location, so neighbor's house might not always be the best comparable for your property.





3. Very low activity
Depending on different areas, but if your home is already listed, and there is no activity on it, meaning you barely get any showings, although on internet you see that people are still checking out your house, that would be another indicator that the price of your property is likely to be high above market value.




Hope this article was helpful for you, and wish you good luck in the home selling process!

Wishing you the best,

Diana Matichyn

Wishing you a great Easter Sunday filled with candy, family and faith!

Happy Monday! About Saturday..

Happy Monday!

Today started here in Chicago with unbelievable snow. Yes, it was such a beautiful winter wonderland, but only if you are staying inside! :)

Weekend recap: had 2 open houses on both Saturday and Sunday, that turned out so great! I love doing open houses for our clients because it's such a great way to attract everyone in the neighborhood and hear their valuable feedback about the property and what features they like the most.

Let your neighbors choose their neighbors!
I Invite the neighbors where I host an open house - turn it into a block party! That creates opportunities for your neighbors to sell your house to prospective buyers and for your neighbors to invite house hunters they know who have always wanted to live in the area.

On Saturday was just such a beautiful sunny day, perfect for visiting an open house! So I hosted one at 431 East Diane Drive in Palatine. Such a great ranch home!
Had signs at all entrances and exits to the community and had traffic come from all over!

Here's a quick video from the open house

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZbTfQwumTo

And here's the tour of the house

Get to the 800+ Credit Score Club With These Tips!

Unless you have lots of cash stacked up under your mattress or in your bank account, you will need a good credit to get a loan. Any loan, but especially a mortgage loan.

Credit helps lenders to immediately see the borrower's responsibility for paying their debt on time.

In the USA 90% of lenders use the FICO score, which is between 300 and 850.
For a conventional loan, the minimum credit score that lenders would consider comfortable to accept is 720.

According to www.myfico.com a credit score of 620 versus 720 on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage of  $300,000 could cost approximately $110,000 more over the life of loan. Now I don't know how it is for you, but this is a lot of money!

So when you decide you want to make a large purchase like buying a home, it would be smart to consider repairing your credit score. Especially if there are couple things you can do yourself, for free!

Follow these tips to better your credit score and get a better interest rate:

• Keep a track of your payments and your credit score.

Being late on a payment will hurt your credit for about 3 years, or less if it's up to 30 days one time late payment. That's why I recommend using one of the apps that remind you of your due date on each credit card.

Also, it would be a good idea to constantly keep a track of your credit score. Once a year www.annualcreditreport.com lets you view your credit report for free.

• Use your credit cards lightly.

Maxing out your cards can hurt your credit score even if you are paying them in full each month. What's typically reported to the credit bureaus and calculated into your scores, are the balances reported on your last statement. Experts recommend using up to 40% of your total credit limit.


If you have been a good customer to your lenders, you could do two things:

• Get a bigger credit limit!

Different banks have different poli
cies, but generally if you have been with a bank for some time, and haven't gotten your credit limit increased, chances are you could double your credit limit!

• Request a "goodwill adjustment" from your bank

Your bank might agree to simply erase that one late payment from your credit history (usually you would have to make a request in writing).  Be persistent. If they refuse to remove the late payments at first, remind them that you have been a good customer that would deeply appreciate their help. Most creditors receive calls within a call center, if the representative refuses to make a courtesy adjustment on your account, call back and try again with someone else. Persistence and politeness pays off in this scenario. 

Hope these tips help you improve your credit score and get the best deal on the interest rate on the purchase of your new home!
For any questions you have, or for more information, please contact me, I'm always happy to help!!!