 Personal finance PowerPoint presentation to do before calling a real estate agent. Get ready to get financially fit by practicing personal finance. Most of this information can be found at Investopedia. Six things to do before you call a real estate agent, which you can find online. Take a look at the references, resources, continue your research from there. This is by Michael McClone, updated July 23rd, 2021. Six things to do before you call a real estate agent. So what do you need to do? What's the prep work before you take that step in the process? Ideally, if you're looking to call an agent, you should have the necessary financial considerations covered and be ready to show your home within weeks. So you're ready to go. You're ready to show the home. It could take time to get to that point. This takes time and depending on the shape of your home and your finances, it could take a lot of time. First impressions are vital in real estate. So don't risk a weak interest to the market before you consider who your agent will be. You need to cover the following steps. Number one, get pre-approved for a mortgage before you contract a real estate agent. Your first step is to learn what mortgage options are available to you. Many factors affect the term price interest rate of your mortgage. And any one of these factors will determine the home you can afford. Also, note that being pre-qualified for a mortgage is not the same as being pre-approved. While both processes involve analyzing your debts, income, and assets, only a pre-approved involves an official mortgage application. Number two, study the market. The mortgage for which you are pre-approved will dictate the price range of homes you should research. So once you have the idea of the mortgage that you can get pre-approved, then of course that can have an impact on the price range. You also want to be considering your own personal calculations and budgeting needs within this process, as well not dependent on the financial institution for your budgeting process, but trying to get pre-approved for what you can get pre-approved for or be access to the line of credit that you can and to do your own marketing or budgeting for that. But if you are also selling, you will need to know the market for homes similar to yours in your area. So you could be in a process where you're selling as well and then purchasing possibly a new home. Keep in mind that while you can research real estate ads online and in print, you will only learn the asking prices. A real estate agent will show you how long homes have been on the market, any price reductions, and most importantly the closing prices. So clearly more and more of this information is becoming available with online applications, but the real estate agent of course has more experience and possibly more resources with this kind of information. While it's important to research the market, don't fall in love with any properties just yet. So clearly you want to be able to walk away from any kind of property that you can, even if you really like in the property because you don't want to get too emotionally involved into one particular thing so that you can be nimble as you go through the market and make the best decision. There's a strong chance that the property won't be around by the time you're ready to buy, especially if you have to sell your home first. Subject to sale offers or as they say in the real estate industry, yeah, but offers have less chance of being accepted by the seller than offer that has its finances in order. So in other words, clearly if you're selling a home and then you're going to move into another home, then the idea would be of course, well I'm going to sell my home, I'm going to have the money, and then I'm going to purchase the next home. But obviously that interplay is less attractive to the seller of the home that you're buying because they would be more attracted by you having the money upfront. You're ready to go, you're ready to roll, and so if you were competing with someone else, then obviously the seller would be leaning towards the person that's going to pay them first, probably the most upfront, the most cash possibly, and then who could get access to the money the fastest and with the least amount of hurdles. Number three, declutter. Most of us have seen enough episodes of trading spaces to know how to stage a home. So obviously you see these kind of shows on the television and whatnot, so we want to make sure that we do the decluttering process of the home, make it look as big and expansive as we can. But did you know it's important to impress your real estate agent too? So we also want to make a good impression on the real estate agent preparing your home for an open house before a visit from an agent will help the agent to see the full potential of your home and allow him or her to better market the property. So even if it's a subconscious type of thing, when the agent comes into the home, we want the agent to feel invested in the home, feel good about selling the home, and want to be able to list it as positively and as highly as possible to get the sale. Pack away extra shoes and coats, so clearly we're going to get the clutter away, the decluttering process. Having these out in the open suggests a lack of closet storage space. So if you've got stuff on the floor, it might say, well, you've got no other place to put it. That's why it's on the floor. It also just kind of makes the place look a little bit smaller, less open. So remove any personal effects people want to imagine themselves in your space and pictures of your family reunion will quickly shatter the daydreams of prospective buyers. So you might have some decorations in the house, but maybe not the most personal decorator type of item. So it's more neutral to anybody that might be looking at it. Clear off your fridge, a clutter of alphabet magnets, postcards, and receipts will ruin the perception of an organized and peaceful home. So all the stuff on the fridge is kind of nice. It's kind of neat, but it's also pretty cluttery looking and again quite personal in nature. You want to have it kind of neutral, clean kind of look for it. And again, I think that also just makes it look kind of open, more spacious. So move out excess furniture. The more open spaces your home has, the larger it feels and more space allows people to imagine very, very possibilities for your home. So the furniture can look good, give you a cozy feel. But clearly if you have too much furniture, then it looks more cluttered or it looks less open. The goal is to have it look as spacious as possible, as big as possible, so people can imagine whatever they want in there and thinking that they have enough space to fit, whatever they want to fit to fit. So number four, clean. When it comes to selling your home at clean toilet, it will go a lot further than you might think. So obviously even a subconscious effect on these kind of things will have an impact. If you look at a dirty home, it could be a beautifully structured home and everything like that, if it's dirty, it's going to have an impact. A tidy home shows pride of ownership and suggests the place was maintained and cared for. So it's just like when you purchase a car, that prior person's maintenance of the car and or home is going to have an impact on how long it's going to be lasting. If you get the impression that it's not been cared for, then it's more likely that you're going to have issues, maintenance and whatnot in the future. For instance, the appearance of your entrance is just as important as any part of the interior. Make sure your mailbox, doormat and trim are all pristine. Light shades and features are our heavens for dust or havens for dust and insects. And while you may not notice them in your day to day, investigate home buyers may be put off by your by your shoddy housekeeping. So if you've got light kind of things there, then clearly the dust might be something that you don't notice on a day to day type of thing. Some people really do notice that kind of stuff and it could have an impression on them. So spotlight windows will let will let in more light and allow people to enjoy the view. So clearly if you can put more light in the house, that also makes the house look a little bit lighter, brighter, open, more spacious. Consider replacing the furnace filter to improve the airflow in your home as well as the quality of the air you breathe. Finally, the bathroom should be immaculate besides the obvious areas like the toilet, tub and tiles and an ancient rule of bathroom etiquette becomes paramount. Keep the toilet seat down, keep the toilet seat. All right, that could have a subconscious impression as well. So it should be immaculate in the bathroom. Number five, repair, replace and refinish. Many longtime homeowners become accustomed to retrofit repairs and dated or deteriorated features. For example, make sure to patch and paint the walls. So clearly if there's blemishes on the walls, if there's holes in the walls, it shouldn't take too much expense to be able to patch and paint the walls and that can have a big impact on someone viewing the home to get the impression that the home is being taken care of. Painting in neutral colors will help people imagine themselves in your space. I think blank canvas and an unblemished wall will reinforce your care for the home. So if you're going to paint the home, typically you're trying not to generally make a bold statement about your personal opinions about the paint of the home. You're generally going to paint it so you give it that blank canvas and try to make it look as open and spacious as possible. So you're generally going to have those blank canvas kind of colors, those lighter neutral type of colors you would expect. Also, evaluate your curb repeal. Is your lawn mowed and weed free? The front of your home is the true first impression for most house hunters. So make sure your exterior is top notch. If you have an older home or are concerned about hidden surprises, you can have a pre-sale home inspection done so you can tackle repairs before buying or canceling bids. At the very least, you'll have an estimate of the cost of repairs so prospective buyers know what they are getting into. So even if you're not going through the repairs, you can have an idea of the repairs that are involved that won't give the impression, the same kind of impression that you would like for them to feel that the home has been taken care of so that they have an idea that the maintenance has been there and so you possibly have less maintenance costs in the future, but you can at least say, you know, I'm aware of these kind of things. I've looked into these particular things and here's an estimated cost of what it might cost to get those things picked up. Number six, scout potential agents. Don't just hire the first agent that appears in your Google search. So clearly, the top of the search, we know that Google gets paid oftentimes so if it's got a little ad thing next to it, then that might not be the best way to go. Take the time to shop around and find the agent that is suited to your needs. You can start by asking for referrals from people who have recently moved so clearly you can talk to friends, you can talk to people that have recently moved, possibly in your area, you would like an agent that is qualified and that also knows the particular area that you are looking into and there are several online resources for ranking and reviews realtors. So that's a great tool these days because the online tools, you know, nobody has direct control over them so you get these referrals that can be a good useful tool. So you also want to look for an agent that is familiar with selling homes in your area. So don't just say, well, they're qualified, they're an agent. Well, are they working in the area that you want to be in because real estate is local? So as they will be experts on pricing your home appropriately, as well, an agent with a lengthy experience in the real estate business will have a large network of contacts to help advise your home and find you a new one. So they might have a big contact list which could be useful. Remember, these agents will be taking as much as 7% of the closing price. What? Of your home. So make sure you are hiring someone who is prepared to work hard. So that is a substantial fee depending on the home price, but whatever the home price, typically substantial. Bottom line, so as with any major sale or purchase, your first step to selling or buying at home involves homework and preparation. It's up to you to make your home appealing before you hire an agent. Remember, even the most skilled and experienced real estate agent will fail unless you receive an offer and demand won't be high for your home if you fail to follow this list.