Selling your home can be a stressful experience if you don’t know the best way to ensure it is sold quickly and for the highest price. Considering the amount of money at stake, sellers should take proven steps that guarantee the results they want.
Below are some tips you can use to make the process both profitable and efficient.
1. Hire an experienced and competent real estate agent with a track record for success.
One of the most important decisions any home seller makes is to choose a real estate agent who will get results. A few questions that any seller should ask an agent during the interview process should include asking about the realtor’s experience in their geographic area and how many homes they have sold in the previous year.
Are they more of a listing agent or a buyer’s agent? How will the agent advertise your home to drive traffic to it? Will a professional photographer or videographer be hired for marketing purposes? Do they have a list of trustworthy contractors they can call on to make quick repairs for a reasonable price?
Some red flags to watch for are new agents with little experience. Experience and expertise is what you’re paying for when you hire them. Agents with little experience in negotiation can cost you thousands of dollars.
Ultimately, you are paying an agent thousands of dollars for their expertise and ability to sell your home. If you don’t get answers that satisfy you in the interview, then you need to keep interviewing other agents until you find one who has a track record for success.
2. Stage your home to increase the price and shorten the length of time the home is on the market.
Staging is a common practice used by smart home sellers and agents who realize how emotional the home buying process is. Nothing is more personal than a person’s home. That is why a purchase decision is driven by sentiment and emotion as much as by practical concerns. There is a logical reason why professional house flippers and real estate agents hire staging experts to sell homes fast and get the price they want.
Decluttering your home is the first major step sellers must take as they prepare the home for showing. It makes sense to throw away as much as possible. In some cases, it may make sense to rent a storage space to store your extra stuff.
3. Complete home upgrades that are likely to pay off at the closing table and bolster the selling price.
Some home upgrades cost money up front and return very little at the closing table, while other renovations pay off in a big way helping to sell your home for a higher price that justifies the expense. At the top of the list for improvements that pay off is garage door installation. Two other home improvement projects worth considering are the replacement of your front door and a minor bathroom or kitchen remodel.
4. Focus on improving the curb appeal of your home.
When a prospective buyer does a driveby of your home, will they like what they see? The answer to this question has to be a resounding “yes” if you hope to sell your home fast and for a good price. If necessary, repaint the front of your home and replace or fix a front door that detracts from the appearance.
Landscaping can turn a boring house into an inviting home. Simple and inexpensive fixes can make an enormous difference. Shaping up overgrown bushes and planting a few flowers in the front yard adds color. These simple efforts can transform your home into an attractive home sweet home for a lucky buyer.
How does your mailbox look? Is it crooked? Does it need paint? Replace or repair it if necessary. Buyers are quick to assume that if you don’t keep that mailbox looking good, then the rest of the home is probably subpar too.
Don’t forget about the sidewalk or siding of your home. Do they need to be pressure washed or repaired? If so, then it makes sense to do this. Buyers notice everything. Far too often, a prospective buyer will pull up in front of your home and decide not to go inside if they don’t like what they see at first glance.
Don’t forget to keep the yard cut. During the summer months, it might be important to cut the grass weekly to ensure that it never looks shabby right before the next cut. Under regular conditions, a little grass growth just before the lawn service arrives is no big deal. But, that practice is not acceptable when selling your home. At all times, the home must look its best.
5. Make minor repairs to your home so that it will show better.
Before you put your home on the market, it is time to make all those little repairs on your “Honey Do” list. Cracked windows, closet doors that don’t close all the way and any other little problem spots that are likely to sour a potential buyer should be addressed immediately. It is important to remember that the buyer has other options and rarely relishes the idea of moving into a home that is in bad shape.
6. Clean your home from top to bottom.
Once you have decluttered your home, it will be easier to clean. There is no substitute for cleaning your home thoroughly. That means doing more than you might do on a weekly basis. You have to clean everything. That means all the closets, the garage, the attic, the basement and the refrigerator.
Depending on your ability to address that type of big project, many sellers turn over this type of cleaning to professionals who can tackle a deep house cleaning and finish up in a reasonable timeframe. People who do this all the time know all the shortcuts and have the best equipment to tackle even the biggest, most challenging jobs.
7. Brighten up your home with lots of light.
A dark, dingy house will leave a bad impression. If you’re lucky and your home naturally gets a lot of natural light, be thankful. Be sure to open up drapes and blinds so that the light floods in. Turn lights on before a showing.
If you are less fortunate and have a home that does not benefit from a lot of sunlight, then be sure to add a lot of lamps and lighting to brighten your home up.
8. Paint dingy or dirty walls.
Paint is cheap. Don’t be afraid to repaint interior walls to brighten the place up. It is amazing how new paint can transform a home, making it appear fresh and clean.
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