When selling a senior’s home, a good realtor can make the difference between a stressful experience and a profitable, positive experience. But finding the right realtor is not always an easy task. And finding someone who will keep your senior loved one’s best interests in mind can be especially challenging.
We’ve compiled some tips to consider when selling a senior’s home.
The Benefits of Using a Realtor
We are living in the Age of the Internet, which can lead some people to believe that they can avoid the cost of hiring a realtor and sell their home using the computer. While selling a senior’s home or your own home on the internet might seem to be money-saving, there are actually cost-effective benefits to hiring a realtor.
- Staging. Realtors are experts in understanding what home buyers are looking for when browsing for a new home. There is a well-honed craft for reorganizing your home in order to sell it, called staging. There are plenty of tips out there for staging a home, but using a realtor can save you the time and stress of trying to do it yourself.
- Understanding the current market. The housing market is constantly changing on both a national and local level. If you’ve lived in your house for 30 plus years, the market is most likely not as you remember it being when you were looking for a home. A good realtor will have a solid understanding of the current housing market in your neighborhood.
- Proper valuation. Many people get very emotional about selling their homes. Because of that emotional connection, it can be difficult to be impartial about picking the right price for your home. When you hire a good realtor, they have the ability to be more objective about choosing a reasonable asking price for your home.
Choosing a Senior-Friendly Realtor
When selling a senior’s home, who better to hire than a senior-friendly realtor? According to the National Association of Realtors Senior Real Estate Specialists are highly specialized realtors, “qualified to address the needs of home buyers and sellers age 50+.”
In addition to helping you figure out the valuation of your current home, Senior Real Estate Specialists will also assist with the marketing strategies, provide insight on how your property compares with other properties in your neighborhood, and will try to sell your home quickly and for the highest possible price.
Senior Real Estate Specialists can also assemble a team to help you through the transition of moving. This “team” might include movers, landscapers, stagers, attorneys and mortgage brokers to help minimize your stress levels and maximize time management.
Their special skills help “clients look at the big picture, factoring in financial issues and current and future care needs, to ensure that each client arrives at the best decision about selling a property and finding a new home.”
Managing a Move to Senior Living
If you are using a Senior Real Estate Specialist to sell your home because you’ve already decided to move into a senior living residence, they can also work with you on navigating the emotional rollercoaster that comes along with downsizing.
We also invite you to Subscribe to our Indiana Senior Living blog to have helpful resources delivered to your Inbox each week.