Selling your home?
Here are a few tips and tricks to make your sale a little smoother.
Tips for Selling Your Home
Whether you’re selling in a buyer’s or seller’s market, selling your home can be stressful. Week after week of showings require your house to be presentable at all times, not to mention the hassle of vacating at a moment’s notice. If you have pets or children, that stress is multiplied. But buyers will be most interested in your home the first few weeks it’s on the market — so you need to hit the ground running and sell before your listing grows stale. To sell a home quickly, it needs to show well, be marketed well, and priced correctly.
Declutter and Remove Personal Items
You might think the easiest way to declutter your home is to shove everything into the closets. This is not always the best idea. Anyone who tours your home is going to check out the storage spaces, and find disorganized, overstuffed closets this only shows evidence that your home is lacking in storage. One idea to help is a small storage unit to store the things you won’t need while your home is on the market. A portable unit, can be transported to your new home, making moving day a cinch.
Make Small Upgrades to Your House
Don’t go overboard on major remodels. Chances are, you won’t get your money back. Instead, focus on small upgrades, particularly in the kitchen and bathroom, where you’re most likely to see a return on investment. A new sink and cabinet hardware in the kitchen, or light fixtures, shower curtains, and hand towels in the bathroom, are inexpensive but can instantly transform your space. Rather than splurging $30,000 on a full kitchen remodel, ditch your unmatched old appliances and spend $3,500 on a new stainless steel appliance suite. Small upgrades can have a big impact.
Amp Up the Curb Appeal
Curb appeal is everything. Your home’s exterior is typically the first thing a buyer sees in person and on listing sites. If it doesn’t look good, a buyer won’t even consider looking at the interior shots. Tidy up your yard by trimming and shaping hedges, refreshing mulch, and edging the lawn. Consider pressure-washing your house, walkways, and driveway, or even adding a fresh coat of paint to your trim and shutters. Flowers, particularly near the entryway, add a hint of color, making your home feel alive and inviting.
Staging and Photographing Your House
Staging of some sort is necessary on almost every home, no matter how beautiful it is. Have a friend or relative and your agent walk through the house with fresh eyes to offer their perspective on decluttering and ideas for basic decorating/staging. Your buyer’s first impression will be the listing photos. Buyers start their search on line and decide which houses to look at based on the photos. Studies show that homes with more than six listing photos online are twice as likely to be viewed by buyers.
Remove Your Pets
During showings remove your pets and all their gear including food/water dishes, litter boxes, toys, beds ..etc. A perspective buyer should not even know a pet lives in the home if you can help it.
Promote Your House Yourself
Don’t leave all the marketing up to your agent. Do your part to get the word out about your home by using your personal social media accounts and sending the listing page to family and friends. You never know what friend of a friend or distant relative may be looking in your neck of the woods! You may even consider spreading the word about your home in your neighborhood.
Brighten Up Your House
A dark or poorly lit home feels damp and depressing. Brighten it up by using natural and artificial light. Get the highest wattage light bulb for that light fixture, and it will instantly brighten up the room, When you leave for showings, turn the lights on and open curtains and blinds. A fresh coat of paint can also brighten a room. A deep cleaning will also help brighten baseboards, windows, and light fixtures.
Find the Right Real Estate Agent
Don’t hire a real estate agent just because they’re also a die-hard fan of your college football team or they’re from your hometown. What really matters? A track record of sales that proves they know how to sell your house fast. You should make sure your agent promotes their properties online. Make sure they take professional photos and includes a variety of photos on their site and social media.
Price it Right
Sellers often think they should start the asking price high and lower it alter if the house fails to sell. But that can result in a slower sale. If the price is too high many buyers will stay away assuming you’re not serious about selling and unwilling to negotiate.
Sell Your House at the Right Time
Spring and summer are typically known as the best time to sell your home. If you can wait until then to list, you should consider it. But be forewarned that increased inventory means spring and summer buyers can afford to be pickier — so make sure your home is in tip-top shape and priced right.
Give it a Good Clean
If you’re able to bring in a professional cleaner or cleaning company, now is the time to do it! A tidy home is visually pleasing and appealing to buyers, but a clean home allows people to focus on the home itself rather that the state of the home.
A clean living space tells prospective buyers that the home they are looking at is well cared for and a solid investment. Clean baseboards, floors, and windows also allow the space to appear brighter, more open, and larger in some cases.