Depending on the house, neighborhood, and local housing market, selling a home can be a tricky and sometimes frustrating process. For example, if you price your home too high, it can sit on the market for months without any offers. However, if you price it too low, you can end up feeling like a buyer got the better deal. Luckily, there are some tactics that can help you sell your home faster and often, for more money than you might expect.
1. Improve your home’s curb appeal to make the best first impression
When it comes to selling a house, you only get to make one first impression on buyers. That first impression comes from your home’s curb appeal (or lack thereof).
Try sprucing up your home’s exterior with brightly colored flowers and/or attractive shrubs. Keep the grass cut and the lawn looking good. Make sure that your windows and gutters are clean. If the paint on your house is starting to chip, give it a fresh coat of paint. If your home’s exterior looks dirty, you might want to power-wash it.
If you have a lot of lawn furniture, consider whether prospective buyers will find it attractive or junky.
2. Focus on quick fixes over extreme makeovers
A good real estate rule of thumb is that sellers should typically avoid investing lots of money in home upgrades before putting their houses on the market. That’s because you have no idea whether buyers will like those upgrades or not. Therefore, you could just be wasting your money – while hurting your home’s potential selling price.
A better way to spend your money more wisely is to make quick repairs and easy upgrades that are more likely to give you a better return on your investment. For example, if you have things like leaky faucets or broken light switches, make sure that you have them fixed. If your curtains look dirty and worn out, you can replace them with new, inexpensive curtains that will look more attractive.
Instead of spending thousands of dollars to re-carpet your entire house, hire a cleaning company to clean your carpet if it looks dirty.
3. De-personalize your home
Another tactic that can help you sell your house faster is to help buyers imagine themselves living in it. That is why you need to de-personalize your home as much as possible. If you are still living in your house, try to remove at least one-third of your personal stuff and put it in storage. Put away family photos, personal keepsakes, and memorabilia. Arrange your furnishings in a way that maximizes the use of the space to show off your home’s floor plan.
You might even want to hire a professional home stager to help you stage your home for real estate showings.
4. Find a good real estate agent
Sometimes sellers decide they want to try to sell their house without hiring a real estate agent. For instance, they might not want to pay a sales commission. However, hiring a realtor can help you sell your home faster, as well as maximize its selling price.
For example, a realtor will likely have a list of buyers who might be interested in your house. Furthermore, they can help you during the negotiations when it comes to countering offers from buyers. If you don’t have a lot of negotiation and/or real estate experience, it might be helpful having a professional who will work hard to get you the best price for your home.
5. Hire a professional real estate photographer
In addition to finding a real estate agent, you need to hire a professional real estate photographer to capture the listing images. A professional photographer will make sure your property stands out on the MLS and third-party listing sites, like Zillow.
A real estate photographer has several skills that allow them to capture the perfect shot. They understand composition, exposure, verticals, and how to tell a story through images.
It’s likely that your real estate agent is a few steps ahead of you and already has a photographer in mind. If they’re in the market for a provider with high-quality images, easy online scheduling, and flexibility, refer them to Virtuance.
6. Price your home competitively to attract more offers
Lastly, many sellers start out by pricing their home well above its value. Oftentimes, their house will sit on the market for months before they eventually slash the price by huge percentages. However, a smarter strategy is to start out by pricing your home competitively. That way you will attract more interest from buyers, and get more offers. Done right, you can end up with multiple buyers in a bidding war, potentially pushing your home’s selling price well above your original listing price.
For example, if your home’s value is $250,000, you might consider listing it for $225,000 to make it stand out to buyers looking for a good deal. A bidding war could push the price up past the home’s estimated value in any case.
Furthermore, working with a good real estate agent can help you find the right listing price for your house that will attract the most interest.
In short, if you want to minimize the time that your house sits on the market while maximizing its selling price, then your house must create the best first impression on buyers. Carefully invest your money in quick home repairs and upgrades that will get you the most return on your investment. De-personalize your home to help buyers envision what it would be like to live there. Hiring a real estate agent can also help you sell your house faster and for more money. Don’t forget that your listing price is an important consideration as well.
