Check out the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ejj5-ZyrsYo&feature=player_embedded

As Realtors, we tell sellers all the time to look at their homes with buyer’s eyes. What does that mean exactly? When you are selling your home, walk through it with a critical eye. Pick out and point out every flaw, imperfection, or anything that does not show well in your home. Sellers should also be honest with themselves about other critical factors that influence a buyer’s decision like location, size, features, and price. Is this easy to do when it’s your castle? No way. Do most sellers do it? No way. A good real estate agent representing you on the sale of your home should do it for you. Moreover, let the agent know it’s ok for him or her to be candid and honest with what they see and the information they know to be true about your neighborhood. Sellers should seek the truth, want the truth, and let the agent know its ok to communicate it. Use a buyer’s eyes to position your home against the competition. Specifically, take a critical look at these five areas: condition, location, size, features, and amenities.

Take each category and begin asking yourself these questions:

1)  How is the condition of my house? Is it pristine, ready to move in, without flaw, or does it need little touch ups or a lot of fix up? How would my house compare with the others for sale in my neighborhood? If you don’t know, have your agent take you to see the other homes in the neighborhood. Bottom line, if you want to sell your home and sell it quickly, you better be in the top 3 or 4 when it comes to condition.

2)  Location. How does my home compare in location to the others? If your home is the only one in the neighborhood that’s for sale that backs to a greenbelt and is at the end of a cul-de-sac, you may be the lucky winner. At the very least your home would rate #1 ahead of all the others in the location category.

Buyers also evaluate very closely the size, features, and amenities. Next week, we’ll tackle those three categories and find out how your home rates in a buyer’s eye.

Dan Polimino is a Realtor with Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty. He can be reached at DPolimino@fullerproperties.com and www.coloradodreamhouse.com/denverpost

Last week, we began to take a look at a hot topic these days in real estate and that’s appraisals. We are seeing more and more people making solid offers on homes only to find out two weeks later that it did not appraise for the asking price. There are many reasons for this and if you would like to re-read part one of this series, you can, at www.coloradodreamhouse.com/denverpost

Last week, we spent a fair amount of time talking about what buyers can do to protect themselves in the asking price versus appraised price dilemma. This week, I want to pass along some information for sellers to protect their homes from appraising well below the asking price.

Tip #1) Understand and be realistic about what is the market value of your home. I know what you want to sell it for, but remember, there must be comparables in your market to justify it.

Tip #2) Don’t look at comps that go back farther than 6 months. In a rapidly changing market, appraisers are going to be first looking at sold comparables in the last three months and properties that are under contract. Looking at comparables from 12 months ago is an extinct barometer.

My business partner, Gary Lorhman, and I started a policy in the beginning of May when the new Home Valuation Code of Conduct rules came down from Fannie May and Freddie Mac. We simply made a decision to meet the appraiser representing the buyer at every one of our listings that was under contract. At that meeting, we would greet the appraiser, tell them about the special features of the home and hand them the comparables which we used to price the home. That’s it, no more and no less. To date, our system has worked 100 percent. Every one of our properties that we have sold on behalf of our clients has appraised for the sale price. It’s important to point out to people that HVCC does not prohibit a realtor from speaking to an appraiser and providing information on comparables. I’ve found that sellers and agents have been scared into thinking that a conversation with an appraiser would land them in the big house. Not true, so be smart, price it right, and make your homework available to appraisers.

Dan Polimino is a Realtor with Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty. He can be reached at DPolimino@fullerproperties.com and www.coloradodreamhouse.com/denverpost