Whether you are relocating, sizing up, sizing down, or seeking to receive return on your investment, selling property is a crucial half to the real estate industry. Selling a home in the Phoenix metropolitan area is competitive and often requires more than just putting a sign in the yard and waiting for offers.

Here are tips and suggestions to get the best deal and get your home sold in a competitive market this season:

Embrace the Seasonal Market: Arizona's real estate market heats up during the cooler months between October and April. If you would like to list your home between May and September, remember to keep the house comfortable. If the temperature inside is comfortable, a potential buyer will be more likely to spend time in the home and be left with a positive memory. However, if the temperature inside the home is uncomfortable, the opposite may happen. If you are selling your home from out of state, installing Wi-Fi controlled thermostats can be worth the small investment so you can cool the temperature in the home before showings and raise the temperature again after showings, keeping homebuyers happy and your electricity bill lower. (Note: Just remember that in those summer months, it has been reported that once the interior temperature reaches over 80 degrees Fahrenheit or 26.5 degrees Celsius, your HVAC system will have to work harder to cool the house down.)

Spruce Up Your Curb Appeal: First impressions matter. How do the garage door, landscaping, sidewalks, light fixtures, and mailbox look? Is the patio/porch clean of debris and uncluttered? Also, does the exterior paint color give an accurate representation of the style that the homebuyer will find within the house? Although interior photos are often widely available for buyers to view online, if the interior is modern contemporary grays but the exterior is more traditional beiges, it may send a mixed message. You want the first impression to be as good as the final impression. A good first impression does not require a big budget. An expert real estate agent will be able to offer suggestions for improvement based on their experience with homes that have successfully sold in the area. Make your home look like the dream home that someone has been looking for!

Highlight Energy Efficiency: Energy efficiency is a big deal in Arizona. Does your home have updated insulation, energy-efficient windows, good seals around the doors, and a good HVAC system? These are often important to homebuyers, especially homebuyers who intend to live in the home. These items are also likely to be found on a home inspection. So, if you are able to make preparations or repairs in advance then a homebuyer may be more likely to make an offer and stick with it after the inspection period is over.

Leverage Local Expertise: Work with an experienced local real estate agent who understands your specific area. Each zip code and neighborhood in the Phoenix metropolitan area has its own vibe, and you want a real estate agent who has their finger on the pulse of that specific market. Their expertise can help you set the right price based on your circumstances and what is most important to you. An agent with experience will also have an idea of the negotiation strategies that will be important to homebuyers in the current market. Last year’s market is not today’s market, and next year’s market will likely be different from today’s. So, hiring the right agent is important for effective marketing, keeping yourself and your interests protected, and staying visible to homebuyers.

Price it Right: Competitive pricing is crucial. Overpricing can result in your home sitting on the market longer, while underpricing might mean that you lose out on potential return on your investment. Some things that you need to know while selecting the price for your home are related to comparable properties (comps) that have recently sold (aka success stories), that are currently for sale (aka your competition), and that didn't sell (aka warning examples). You will also need to decide for yourself personally and your circumstances whether speed or price is more important to you. Finding the right price to sell your home is a balance between the current market value and your circumstances, but in the end one must be more important than the other, even if only by a tiny margin. Also, knowing whether it is a seller’s market or a buyer’s market will help you identify how much leverage you have in pricing and negotiations.

Harness Technology: In addition to the time-tested and proven methods of print advertising, technology has taken the real estate industry to a new level. High quality photos, virtual tours, interactive floorplans, twilight photography, aerial photography, and so much more are available. Not each type is necessary for every property, so ask the listing agents you are interviewing to sell your property about the types of photography they utilize and how their marketing on the big housing search sites (ex. Zillow) is unique. The tech-savvy listings stand out!

Be Prepared for Inspections: In Arizona, thorough home inspections are standard. In a buyer’s market, expect requests for repairs. Any repairs that you know need to be done should not be deferred to see if they show up on an inspection report. Why? Because Arizona requires sellers to complete a disclosure form, which means you will have to disclose known problems anyway. So, making the necessary repairs in advance signals to buyers that the home is cared for. That can ease their worries and make the difference in whether they choose to make an offer on (or proceed with a sale) on your property.

Organize, Depersonalize, and Declutter-ize: If you want someone to buy your property, they have to be able to see its value and maybe even see themselves living there. That is much harder for them to do when overcrowded spaces make rooms feel small or personal items around the home remind the buyer that the home belongs to you - not them. So, clean out the closets (because people open every door), limit the number of decorations on surfaces, and temporarily put away the family photos and refrigerator magnets. Inexpensive art pieces can be purchased at local stores to fill the gaps where perhaps these things left a void. If your home has low ceilings, do your ceiling fans use the drop-down rod unnecessarily? That can make the ceiling feel lower and the room feel smaller. So if the drop-down rod is not necessary, maybe it could be taken away. Your home does not have to look like a show-home or like nobody lives there, but it does need to give the future owner a clear view of the size and space without being distracted by other things.

As you leverage the use of a local real estate expert, you will likely have more questions and they will likely have more suggestions for you (in fact, they often do) based on your specific home, neighborhood, and circumstances. But, these are some basic suggestions to help you sell your Arizona home at market value. If you would like to learn more about the current real estate market and how much your home can sell for, call Jeff Barchi with RE/MAX Fine Properties at 602-558-5200. He is widely regarded and ranked as one of the best real estate agents in the Scottsdale area, and is within the top 1% of all agents nationwide. I am confident that Jeff's 25+ years of experience can help you achieve your real estate goals.