For Sellers

Selling your home shouldn't be a stressful ordeal. Making the smart move of choosing a REALTOR® is your first step to ensuring that your investment in your home pays off. My services and experience allow you to focus on your move while I manage your home sale from our initial consultation to the closing deal, and beyond. I pride myself on repeat business and hope you'll come to understand why. A list of my clients who have used my services can be found on this page. Feel free to email or call them for their opinion.

What I will do for you

Recent Home Sales

10 Tips to Sell Your Home

Getting the Highest Price

Closing Costs

Why Have an Appraisal?

What is the Difference Between an Appraisal and a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)?

Recommendation People

More useful information is available in Essential Tips. If you need any help with the terminology in this website, feel free to consult the Real Estate Glossary .

As Your Agent, I Will:

Complete a comparative market analysis that will compare your home's value to that of your neighborhood.

Compile a comprehensive plan detailing all the efforts I will employ to sell your home, including Internet and local media.

Present your home to as many qualified buyers as possible getting your home maximum exposure.

Help you stage your home and generate curb appeal to ensure you get the highest price.

Assist with obtaining offers and help you in negotiating the best deal as smoothly as possible.

Help you find your next home and answer all of your questions about the local market area, including schools, neighborhoods, the local economy, and more.

Want to know more? Read 10 interview questions for Michael Keller.

Choosing a Realtor

Recent Home Sales

What are comparable homes selling for in your area of the city? Request a FREE Comparative Market Analysis from me. This will show you what similar houses over the past 3-4 months have SOLD or are pending for. It is price that make selling a home possible. In order to find that one person who wants your house we need an accurate listing price.

View the Average Sales, Closed Sales, and Active Listings graphs?

Ten Tips to Sell Your Home

You may think that your house is perfect just the way it is, but a prospective buyer may not see it that way. to give your home "curb appeal" and make it more attractive to buyers, there are some tasks you complete before you place that "For Sale" sign in your front yard.

Many of these suggestions are simple, common-sense items; other will require some time and investment. but you'll reap the rewards when a buyer walks into your house and exclaims, 'This is the home I've been waiting for!"

If your home needs to be painted, this is the time. The interior paint job should be fresh and clean and in a single, neutral color throughout. This is not the time to experiment with lilac walls in the bedroom. The same goes for the exterior. Don't forget shutters and windows. If your home has vinyl or aluminum siding, be sure it's clean. Moldy, dirty siding will tell a buyer that your home has not been taken care of properly.
The green shag carpeting still gracing your floors should be replaced. Old, matted carpeting will be a detriment to your home selling. Real estate agents all have a dozen stories of a home that sat and sat on the market until the old carpeting was replaced. Then, it sold immediately. If you have hardwood floors under old carpet, tear up the carpet to expose them; today's buyers love hardwood floors.
Make a list of all those little repairs you've let go. Then fix each one. The whole in the screen, the loose doorknob, the doorbell that doesn't work and the leaky faucet must all be repaired before buyers start looking at your home.
If your home's appliance, like the dishwasher, oven, refrigerator and washer and dryer, are old and outdated, it could pay to replace them. Buyers do not want to be faced with the possibility of having to replace appliances upon moving into a new house. Shiny, new appliances already in place will be a big selling point.
Clear your house of clutter and debris. Get rid of piles of old newspapers and magazines, the old clothes that don't fit, the closet full of small appliances that don't work, dust-filled collections of knickknacks, etc. Clean, open spaces make your home look bigger to prospective buyers.
Clean out closets so that they appear more spacious. Closets are an important feature to today's buyers so you want yours to looks as roomy as possible. If they're still too cluttered after cleaning them out, remove items you don't need now and put them in storage.
Minimize the amount of personal items and mementos in your home. Prospective buyers want to imagine themselves living in the home. Dozens of family pictures and your grandchild's finger painting cluttered on the refrigerator will make them feeel that they're invading your home, rather than inspecting their future home.
Clean your house tp to bottom including walls, floors, furniture and tabletops. Everything should be sparkling clean when a buyer makes that all-important first visit. Don't leave dirty dishes in the sink, crumbs on the counter or laundry stacked in the bedroom.
Take a long, hard look at your home from the street. Does it have curb appeal? Is it warm, inviting and well-kept? Make sure by mowing the lawn, weeding garden areas, trimming unruly bushes, resealing the driveway and sweeping the porch.
Pay particular attention to your front door. Repaint it if necessary. Polish the doorknob and knocker and clean the glass and screen door. When a buyer waits at the front door to enter, make sure he or she sees that your home way cared for lovingly.

Getting the Highest Price for Your Home

Curb appeal is key and could make a difference whether people stop and take a brochure, or drive right by. Here are a few tips to increase the curb appeal of your home. Staging your home is important. Many buyers will stay in your home longer if it's staged appropriately. I have compiled some ideas to present your home in the most effective manner.

Closing Costs to Expect:

Title insurance fees depend on the sales price of the home.

Broker's commission is a full-service fee and will cost 6%, 3% each going to the seller and broker of which the Realtors receive half.

Selling Realtor receives 1.5%

Buying Realtor receives 1.5%

Selling broker receives 1.5%

Buying broker receives 1.5%

Local property transfer tax, country transfer tax, state transfer tax, and state capital gains tax are the charges that you'll pay for the privilege of selling your home. Credit to the buyer of unpaid real estate taxes for the prior or current year are variable and depend on when you close and when your taxes are due.

FHA fees and costs are all fees are now negotiable between an FHA buyer and seller.

Home inspections fees are in some circumstances paid for by the seller and include pest, radon and other inspections.

Miscellaneous fees can accrue from correcting problems noticed during the home inspection.

How to calculate buyer's or seller's escrow fees.

Why Would a Person Need A Home Appraisal?

There are many reasons to obtain an appraisal with the most common reason being real estate ad mortgage transactions. Other reasons for ordering an appraisal include:

To obtain a loan.
To lower your tax burden.
To establish the replacement cost of insurance.
To contest high property taxes.
To settle an estate.
To provide a negotiating tool when purchasing real estate.
To determine a reasonable price when selling real estate.
To protect your rights in a condemnation case.
Because a government agency such as the IRS requires it.
If you are involved in a lawsuit.

What is the Difference Between an Appraisal and a Comparative Market Analysis?

Simply put, the difference is night and day. The CMA relies on vague market trends. The appraisal relies on specific, verifiable comparable sales. In addition, the appraisal looks at other factors like condition, location and construction costs. A CMA delivers a "ball park figure". An appraisal delivers a defensible and carefully documented opinion of value.

But the biggest difference is the person creating the report. A CMA is created by a real estate agent who may or may not have a true grasp of the market or valuation concepts. The appraisal is created by a licensed, certified professional who has made a career out of valuing properties. Further, the appraiser is an independent voice, with no vested interest in the value of a home, unlike the real estate agent, whose income is tied to the value of the home.

Recommendation People For You To E-mail/Telephone

These are buying and/or selling clients that W. Michael Keller has permission to utilize as recommendation contacts. Feel free to contact any of them regarding their experience with the 24/7 Full Service Realtor, W. Michael Keller.

Mike and Paula Hollingworth	mike@mchollingworth.com	991-9733
Rex & Leslie Stahly	rstahly@earthlink.net	448-2051
Charles $ Alexandra Hagedom	sanhag22@comcast.net	475-0360
Jeff & Sarah Pollock	jeffpollock@comcast.net	536-7913
Dick & Patty Thiel	dickthiel@comcast.net	443-9170
Mike & Tammy Mangas	tmangas@rockwoodclinic.com	838-3165
Nathan & Melissa Thompson	twothompson@hotmail.com	624-8296
Ryan Biesen	ryan.biesen@redlion.com	701-9906
Larry Blount	lmroadrunner@cox.net	520-393-7808
Pat Smitamorn	psimitamorn@comcast.net	509-570-6233
Truong Bui	cyberbui@yahoo.com	509-534-0242
Lonnie Brotnov	I_brotnov@yahoo.com	928-607-4882