HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — There are mainly two reason someone considers selling their home. "There are really two categories of reasons why people sell their homes. and one is life changes," Zev Freidus of ZFC shares. "They need to downsize, upsize, relocate. and then, you know, the other category would be people trying to time the market and that's, you know, a completely different set of motivating factors."
No matter what category you find yourself in, start by working on appeal. "I think you have to focus on things that will just help it show better," Freidus shares. "Even if you know, for example, that the new buyer is probably going to tear the house down, for example, or you know, they're going to gut the house, they're going to renovate it. It still helps to make it show better because if nothing else, it gives in a visual or, you know, image of what it can be."
Before you begin there is one mistake to avoid. "I think the one mistake people make is they spend money on the property to try to make it more sellable, but they don't always get a return on investment for that improvement," Freidus explains. "Meaning if you spend $20,000, you get 10,000 more for your home, that was a mistake. So, you have to focus on it a little different than when you're spending money on your home for yourself, when you're making improvements solely for the purpose of selling it, and you really have to look at it through a different lens, and that is how much more am i going to get for the house for this?"
Once you get it ready, hire a realtor. "We are trained to do what's called a comparative market analysis or a CMA, and that is where we look at similar homes in the neighborhood that are sold and at what price and then we do the adjustments to account for the differences between those other homes that have sold in your area," Freidus explains. "You know, yours might have a pool did there and vice versa. you know, you do all the math of what all those differences are worth, and you come up with a number based on actual sales and then have other similar homes."
Lastly, when selling, Freidus says that first impressions are everything. "You only get one chance to make a good first impression. So, we use a professional, get it right the first time, and get the job done."
About the expert: Zev Freidus began his real estate career in Boca Raton, Florida over 20 years ago. Long before the mass migration from the northeast, in the mid 90’s Zev had the vision to begin investing in residential properties in Boca. In 2005 Zev founded Boca Executive Realty with the mission of combining innovative technology with superior agents to become Florida’s most respected and trusted residential real estate brokerage. Over the coming 10 years he led the company through a period of hyper growth, which culminated in 2014 by selling a controlling interest in the company to a private equity group and rebranding as BEX Realty. In 2021 Zev launched ZFC as a full service boutique residential and commercial brokerage, specializing in real estate across the entire state of Florida.