From the Star Ledger – July 4, 2009 (Written by ARA Content)

The proposition of selling a home is getting better with each passing day according to a recently released report from the National Association of Realtors.  If you need to sell your home,  a few smart strategies can help you increase your profits.  A number of real estate pundits and pointing to the recent decline in home inventory and the fact that interest rates have increased on the 30-year fixed mortgage as a positive endorsement of a healthier housing market.

Joanne Sebby, a licenced real estate broker in Chicago, and operator of a local Two Men and a Truck moving franchise believes she’s benefiting from what could be the start of a real estate “Bloom,” if not a full “boom.”  “Bargain hunters are beginning to make moves on homes that are still way undervalued” Sebby said.  “The key for sellers is to get creative in marketing your home’s offerings so you can become one of those homes that get a look, and hopefully sell your house ins a reasonable amount of time.”  While the real estate outlook is the best it’s been in recent memory, home loans still are more difficult to come by and home values are down an average of 20 percent, according to the NAR.  It’s likely that if you are selling your house today, you’ll likely do so at the cost of higher profits that your may have realized in healthier markets.  Regardless, Sebby suggests there are a number of creative ways home sellers can mitigate their losses on the sale.

“Most home sales involve some service-oriented companies such as moving companies, carpet cleaners, painters or other services,” she said.

Sebby suggests sellers need to think of their bottom line when selecting service companies in order to maximise profits on their home, and consider pitching in to keep cost down.

“Determine what budget you have to work with and to be up front with the people providing you with the estimates,” Sebby said.  I’ll often counsel people who call our moving company to maybe box and label everything themselves, or have all the boxes collected in the room closest to the front door.”