Tips For Selling My Home Faster: What I Need to Know

Tips For Selling My Home Faster:  What I Need to Know
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With a crowded market of homes for sale, you might thinking, “I could use a few tips for selling my home faster.” Well, the good news is that there are things you can do from the beginning to the end of the home buying process that can help set your home apart from others on the market, and ultimately help you sell it faster. In this article, we will discuss the factors most-often considered by those looking to purchase a home, and how you can make sure your home meets all of their expectations!

Price

Most people start the search for a new home online - either by themselves or through a real estate agent who has sent a listing of homes they can look at. Therefore, one of the most important factors to selling your house quickly and people finding it online is properly pricing the property. When buyers are searching for a property to purchase, one of the criteria of their search is the price of the home. The price is in groups, so sometimes it is better to price just below a round number to get into a new search group, like pricing 199,500 rather than 200,000. A good real estate agent will look at the comparable properties sold in the same area and suggest a proper price to ask. It is important to price your home realistically, and not be tempted to overvalue it because of sentimental reasons.

Pictures and Description

It helps to have pictures and a strong description of your property online. Many house shoppers will skip by properties online if they do not have pictures or if the pictures are unappealing. The description is also important. It should highlight the positives and not bring unnecessary attention to the negatives. Be sure to mow your lawn, trim the trees and hedges and clean up the house before the pictures are taken to give a good first impression of your property. Rely on your Realtor’s expertise. Ask him or her, “Do you have any tips for selling my home?” Faster sale results are good for everyone involved!

Curb Appeal

Once a buyer has decided to visit your property, it is important to have everything in perfect condition to make a positive impression. The first thing they see when they drive up to the curb is the yard, landscaping and overall appearance of the house. If you do not have time to properly care for the yard yourself, then it can help to hire a company to mow the yard weekly or every two weeks. There should be no rotting wood on the house and the paint and siding should be in good repair. Some agents will do a drive by of the house with potential buyers and if they don’t like how the house looks from the outside they will never go inside.

Continue reading on page two for the second part of “Tips for Selling My Home Faster.”

Tips for Selling My Home Faster - Continued

Keep the Inside Clean and Attractive

If the potential buyers like the price, description and the outside is appealing then they will go on a walk-through of the house. The first sense when someone walks into your house is the smell. If you have pets or young children then air fresheners, air filters or candles can help keep the smell from putting people off. Some people will walk into and out of a house in a matter of seconds because they are repulsed by the smell. You might not even notice it yourself if you are used to it.

If people ask their Realtor, “Are there tips for selling my home faster,” the response is likely to be “Keep your house picked-up and clean!” It is the very next thing people notice when walking through a home for the first time. The flooring and walls should all be clean and clutter should be picked up. If you are unable to keep the house clean on a regular basis you might consider hiring a cleaning service while trying to sell the property. The house should have furniture in it to be staged, but should not be cluttered with excess items. You can put extra furniture and property in storage to keep the clutter down, which makes the house look more spacious. Finally, the room colors should be neutral. You might have a favorite color, but other people might not like it, and be turned off by it. A neutral color gives a good impression and allows for people to imagine their own colors in the house, rather than be turned off by your colors.

Negotiation

Hopefully these tips will entice a potential buyer to like the house enough to put in an offer on the house. Try to not take the offer personally, and rather look at it as a business deal. Some people take a low offer personally and just reject it, rather than make a counter offer. Remember that there are several ways to make an offer more attractive, such as offering to pay closing costs or adding appliances like the refrigerator to the deal. An experienced real estate agent can help in constructing a counter offer. If you are looking to sell your home faster, it is better to take an offer that is a little lower than you would like rather than sitting on the house and payments for the extra time it takes to sell.