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The first step to selling a house in Queens is knowing how much the property is worth.

This valuation is very important because it helps you and your family plan for the next steps with a realistic sale price expectation. You can go about this in one of following two ways:

1) You can hire an independent appraiser to conduct an appraisal for you (this typically costs about $300-$400).

or

2) You can have a local Realtor come by and tell you what the property is worth (typically free of charge).

If you decide to go the Realtor route, make sure you get at least two opinions because some agents are more thorough than others. Either way, this should give you a good idea of the value.

Note: “Appraised Value” is different from “Market Value” so the objective is just to get an idea of the appraised value. Ultimately you won’t know the true “market value” until you hit the market and open the bidding up to all interested parties.

This is your first step in knowing how to sell your house in Queens NY.

1. Clean up your daily / personal clutter in the kitchen, closets, storage spaces and some furniture qualifies as clutter. Don’t take ‘cleaning up’ your home personally, as it’s all about enabling the buyer to become attached to your home as you detach from it.

2. Fix up the interior by painting rooms that need it and fixing things buyers might encounter. Things to consider are the surface quality of the ceilings and walls, as well as the carpets and floors. If in poor shape, these can reduce the perceived value of your home. Also eliminate odors, fix any plumbing problems, and clean up the windows and doors.

3. Fix up the exterior so that it looks good, including yard work. And touch up the entrances so they look charming and appealing. When painting – go with neutral colors – this is not for you, this is for them.

4. Listing Agent works for you. They may also represent buyers, but ultimately they are working for the seller.

5. Beware brokers who ‘buy’ a listing by promising a higher sales price. Study the price analyses given by the brokers to see which makes most sense.

6. The listing contract specifies the obligations of the broker in terms of expected price range, seller’s commitment to sell the home and what’s included or not included in the sale, and the process for resolving disputes.

7. Marketing your home is done through other brokers, for sale signs, flyers, print and online ads and open houses. This advertising rarely results in a direct sale, as most sales are made by clients realtors have already been working with who likely responded to an advertisement on a home already sold. These pools of buyers become the real buyers of the next available properties.

8. Showing your home should be done by the broker and you shouldn’t be there because it generally makes home buyers feel like intruders. Turn on the lights as much as makes sense to brighten the home. Do not use fragrances, as it will cause buyers to suspect you’re masking something odorous. And empty the trash hours before the buyers come to see the home. Keep the home tidy, as nobody wants to tour an unkempt home.

Six of the 10 most seller-friendly residential markets throughout New York City for 2018 are located in Queens, according to a new real estate report.

Flushing was flagged as the No. 1 seller’s market for 2018 in StreetEasy’s Trends & Data report, published on March 8. In this neighborhood, residential properties spent an average of 52 days on the market in 2017. Approximately 11.4 percent of properties saw price cuts while on the market.

Coming in at No. 2 was Woodhaven, where 6.9 percent of properties on the market saw price cuts. Properties in this neighborhood spent an average of 56 days on the market and there was a 100 percent sale-price-to-list-price ratio, indicating buyers are buying at initial asking price.

No. 3 on the list was another Queens neighborhood: Kew Gardens Hills. Approximately 20 percent of listings in this neighborhood saw price cuts while on the market and properties spent an average of 61 days on the market.

The following Queens neighborhoods also placed on the top 10 list:

• No. 6: Glendale
• No. 7: South Jamaica
• No. 10: Briarwood

Seller’s markets are those with “a lower index value, where homes are less likely to see a price cut, sell more quickly and have sale-price-to-list-price ratios closer to or exceeding 100,” according to StreetEasy methodology.

Queens did not make the same impact on the buyer friendly market where the only neighborhood to make it to the top 10 was Long Island City.

Link to report: https://streeteasy.com/blog/best-home-buyers-and-sellers-markets-nyc/

The median home price in Queens rose to $546,000 in February.

This is a decrease of 0.2% from January, and an increase of 14.9% compared to February of last year. The median home price has increased by approximately $71,000 since last year. Specifically, Queens real estate market report March 2018 shows that:

• Queens residential home prices are up 7.3%,
• Queens Condo prices are UP 6.7%, and
• Queens Coop prices are UP 17.2%

compared to February of last year. Over the last 12 months, the median home price in Queens is up about 12.3%.

In January, the average home price for Queens real estate were as follows:

• Average sale price for a 1 family home in Queens was: $714K
• Average sale price for a 2 family home in Queens was: $890K
• Average sale price for a 3 family home in Queens was: $1.12M
• Average sale price for a 1 bedroom condo in Queens was: $440K
• Average sale price for a 2 bedroom condo in Queens was: $605K
• Average sale price for a 1 bedroom coop in Queens was: $257K
• Average sale price for a 2 bedroom coop in Queens was: $303K

 

Queens Home Staging Tips, by the Queens Home Team at Neal Modi | Remax Frontier. Need help? Feel free to Contact Us anytime.

It is clear from watching real estate shows, that home staging sells. It doesn’t necessarily make or break a sale, but it can certainly result in more or better offers. Preparation is key, and when it comes to staging, it always helps to sell property quicker and for more money.

Question: How far do you go and what is the most cost effective way to go about the home staging process in Queens NY?

What we like to do is suggest low cost, manageable staging tips which can help the house look better in the photos and show better during viewings. These little tips can make a huge difference, and if you take the time to do a little preparation, you can pretty much guarantee that the return on your investment will be there.

Below is a list of common staging tips that we recommend to our seller clients. Most of these are free or low cost, the main investment will be your time. If you have any questions or would like some expert advice, feel free to Contact Us anytime.

1. Do not personalize
Buyers need to picture themselves in the house you are trying to sell – not you. Remove as many pictures and personal items as possible so the buyer is not distracted. Allow the buyer a chance to see the house for themselves and (or) their family.

2. Maximize
Declutter and maximize the space in your home as much as possible.

Closets packed tight with all your clothes make a place looks like it lacks closet space. You may consider temporarily storing the overflow offsite or have a clean out session prior to listing the house. Also clear closets of unnecessary clutter, and organize to maximize the amount of open storage space you are showing off to potential buyers. Use boxes stacked together to hold and hide the clutter.

Bedrooms should appear to be a place of relaxation and comfort, with a clear purpose. Remove anything (office furniture, power strips, etc) that might take away from the central purpose of the bedroom.

Adding a few decorative items creates a focal point to the room, especially at eye level on top of dressers.

3. Clean and Sanitize

This is by far the easiest and cheapest way to stage your home and add value to it. Sometimes using a cleaning company can make the properties show 10 times better.

Clean your refrigerator, sink, inside of your oven and declutter the kitchen.

Bathrooms and kitchens are essential spaces in the home and, therefore, are often the places where potential buyers are either won or lost. If you do any repairs or minor improvements to these two areas, the return on your investment will definitely be there. Consider doing things like fixing bathroom tiles, changing paint to neutral colors, upgrading a vanity, or repurposing old cabinets can make a world of difference.

4. Add a modern touch

Nearly all homes could benefit from some updating. If someone feels that the home is dated, they will reflect that feeling in a lower offer.

Consider simple changes like swapping out gold fixtures for nickel or chrome. Sometimes a home is completely dated so modernizing it is not realistic, in these cases the other steps become much more vital.

Consider modernizing dated cabinets. They can be touched up and repurposed for a very reasonable cost.

Replacing brass or wooden hardware with brushed silver or stainless steel is an effective way of updating dated cabinets as well.

5. Choose neutral colors and settings

Color can make or break a buyer’s interest in your home. You may love that blue wall, but all the potential buyers sees is a great deal of painting in their future.

In our experience, painting is by far one of the most inexpensive ways to quickly change the look and feel of your home.

Dining room – Set the table, this creates points of visual interest in a room that can easily be boring after depersonalizing and decluttering.