If you’re planning to sell your home, there are several things you can do to streamline the process and help your home to sell more quickly. When we sold our last home, we had an accepted offer within a week. The home, although it had many great features, was nothing spectacular in terms of upgrades or special features. In fact, it was quite plain on the decorating front.
So why did our home sell so quickly? There were many factors: the location was great, and that helped a lot. However, there were other things we did that made the difference between a quick sell and a long ride on the market.
How to Sell Your Home Faster – Get the Repairs Done
Little or big, few potential home buyers wants to walk into a house and see that there’s work that needs to be done right off the bat. Just get an estimate from a local contractor. This shouldn’t be too much trouble because, according to the experts at Mechanicsburg roofing, “you should never be charged for an estimate.” In order to prepare your home for optimum sale-ability, fix those leaky faucets, replace anything that’s broken, and do any other repairs that are obvious needs or that will be picked out by an inspector.
The one exception: if something needs replacement but is a bit more on the expensive side, like, say, a window needing to be replaced that is still functional, you may be able to get away with not replacing it, but instead, factoring in cash back at closing for replacement or negotiating the sale price down a bit to factor in replacement cost?if the issue is something a potential buyer brings up. The take away: get all of those little repairs done, especially if you can do it yourself, so that the house looks “move in ready” to any potential buyers.
Stage Your Home Well
There are many companies or interior designers that one can hire to have their home staged for sale. We, being students of Home and Garden TV and avid Internet searchers, staged our home on our own.
First, we took down all personal items such as pictures, etc. The rule according to experts? “No eyes”. This, interestingly enough, includes stuffed animals. Apparently when potential buyers see “eyes” they feel as if they are intruding in someone else’s house and therefore have a harder time seeing their own family in the house.
Second, we de-cluttered. All closets and cupboards were thoroughly cleaned and organized, and “extras” in the furniture department were removed to storage, sold or given away. The goal is to have just enough stuff in the house to make it look inviting, and yet still lived in. We also spent a small amount of money on accent pieces that would dress up the home a bit, and had the carpets and two sofas professionally cleaned as well to give the home that extra sparkle.
Give Your Yard Curb Appeal
The yard is the first thing potential buyers will see when they drive up to your home, so it’s important to make a good first impression.? When getting your home ready to sell, make sure the lawn is cleaned up and trimmed, and that any bushes or flower gardens are trimmed and spiffed up as well. Make sure outside lights are in good condition, or replace them, and be sure to have cleaned the windows for an extra sparkle.
Do Your Own Research
Even if you’ve got a great and trustworthy real estate professional working for you, do your own research on the houses selling in your area as well. Use Zillow or a similar site to see what other homes in your area are selling for, and to find out which types of homes are selling quickest.
Be armed with the information you need to make your home as sale-worthy as possible and to make sure your realtor is pricing the home right, displaying the right features on the online listing, and so on and so forth.? Be your own best advocate for selling your home to make sure you get top dollar and to make sure the home sells quickly.
No matter what your home’s situation is, you can help to speed up the sale of your home by staging it properly, making it move in ready and working with your Realtor to price it right.
Have you ever sold a home before? What are your best tips for selling it faster? What do you like to see in a home when you’re looking to buy a house?
Photo courtesy of: American Advisors Group
Wise Dollar
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Great tips! Whenever I look at houses I always check the bathroom thoroughly. Having a clean one is a sign for me that the previous owners took care of the house well.
LOL, that’s funny – I’m the same way! There’s something about a clean bathroom that says “I’m mature and responsible. 🙂
We have sold three homes together and I think the biggest key to our success was staging. We made sure to have minimal clutter and personal items around the house so people could envision themselves in the home. We also had smooth jazz music playing in the background and always made sure a nice smelling candle was lit.
Smart idea about the music and candle. We always had classic music playing. Anything soothing will set the mood.
I will definitely advocate for a clean house and it being well staged. I had listed my condo several years ago for sale and it was sold in less than 7 days. The realtor told me that every visitor remarked that the condo looked warm and inviting. Maybe it helped that I always left cookies on the table 🙂
Smart idea! We set out a bowl of mints. Any kind of welcoming touch like that goes a long way.
Good tips Laurie! I haven’t sold a home, but on the buyer’s side these all make perfect sense 🙂
You’ll sell one one day, I’m sure, Kayla, and then you’ll know exactly what to do. 🙂
Perfect timing! Thanks Laurie! You know, I knew about the pictures and personal stuff, but I never heard of the “eyes” thing. I do have some favorite little stuffed animals on my desk that my son has given me over the years. They make me feel all cozy when I’m on the laptop, but I will (sniff) put them away for the next showing. Thanks again, Laurie! 🙂
Don’t worry, you can take them back out when the visitors leave, Kay. 😉
Love this post! We plan on starting to do little things around our home now so that when we put our house on the market that it will sell as fast as possible. I am not looking forward to the process at all.
That’s a smart idea, Michelle. Starting now means there’ll be less to do when it’s truly go time.
I love the tips to do the little things. It doesn’t take a lot of time or money. Fair or not, when I look at a home that’s a bit dirty, has obvious small repairs…I just assume there are big issues, too.
As someone who has purchased several homes, it really annoys me when homes are not CLEAN. It doesn’t take that much effort to clean things up, and it can be downright gross when you don’t. Cleaning a home can make a world of difference!