Before you sell your home-do this

<<>> If you’re thinking about selling your home here’s what you want to do. Find out what your home is worth and refinance. Take the money out of your home and put it in the bank. Next, list your home. I’ll tell you why in a minute.

I appraise two or three homes a year when the home owners are trying to sell their home. Usually, the home has been on the market for six months or so and they are trying to pull money out to pay down their bills. One or the other lost their job and now they simply ran out of money.

When you don’t need the money, when you’ve lost your job or when your spouse lost their job, the bank won’t give you your own money that’s stuck in the form of equity in your home. I know it’s not fair, but that’s the way it goes.

This is the number one reason why you want to refinance your home before you list your home. If you have equity in your home, pull the money out and put it into a savings account. This way, when you list your home and it does not sell when you thought it was, you won’t need to go back to the bank and ask for more money. At this stage of the game, you probably will not get as much money as you want.

If you think your home is worth $190,000 and you list your home for six months, but it does not sell at this price, guess what? Your real estate appraiser will conclude that your home will not sell for $190,000.

So fix up any cosmetic items or any items that need immediate repair to bring your home up to average condition. Take out your equity before you list your home, hire a good realtor and market your home like crazy.