When selling your home, it is paramount that you are able to sell it for the most money possible. Another goal will most likely be to sell it within a specified timeframe. You may not have the luxury of waiting for six months to a year before your home is sold. That is why a little market research and help from a local Realtor® will go a very long way in achieving those goals.
Here are the top 4 tips for getting your home sold quickly and for the most money.
1. Pricing your home to sell for the most money
This is by far the number one decision you will make that can affect how quickly and for how much your home sells. Any home in any condition can sell in any type of market if it is priced appropriately. There are a few different things to consider before landing on the best price to list your home for.
Comparable homes that recently sold in your area
Looking at what other similar homes located within 1 mile of yours have sold for in the past 90 days will tell you a lot about market value. Don’t forget to take into consideration the differences of features and upgrades between your home and the comparables. For example, A home in your immediate neighborhood has a pool and sold for $600,000. Your home is an exact model match and is in the same condition as that home, but does not have a pool. It is a safe bet that your home will not sell for more than $600,000.
Competition
There is a good chance that there will be several other similar homes for sale in your general area at the same price point as your home. If there are a lot of similar options for a small pool of home buyers, it will be important to price your home competitively. If your home does not have many other homes competing for the same pool of buyers, you can price a little higher. This simply comes down to ‘supply and demand’.
Market Trends
When pricing your home for sale, you will want to research buyer behaviors for the past six months in your local market. It will be important to know if prices are going up or down. Are prices moving in either direction rapidly? You will also need to consider how quickly homes have been selling. Knowing these trends can help you greatly when coming up with an initial listing price.
2. Preparing your home to sell
When marketing and showing your home to prospective buyers, you will want to appeal to as many of them as possible. The best way to do that is to make your home look it’s absolute best. Before listing your home for sale, go through it and make a list of things that need to be repaired. This list will most likely include things like loose doorknobs, leaky faucets, a stain on the carpet, marks or nail holes on the walls, etc. There are a few different ways to get your home ready for buyers.
Paint
A fresh coat of paint for the interior of the home is also recommended. Doing this will give buyers a sense of newness that will appeal to them. Make sure that you choose colors that will appeal to most people. Choosing colors that are uber-trendy or out-of-date can do more harm than good.
Want more info about why it is a good idea to paint your home before selling? Click here.
Repairs
Getting known repairs out of the way before showing your home to prospective buyers is the best way to go. If a buyer sees a long list of deferred maintenance items, they are likely to think the home is not well cared for. Any repairs that aren’t already completed will most certainly need to be negotiated later on when the buyer is doing their inspections.
Staging
There are various levels of staging a home. It can range from completely furnishing and accessorizing your home with rented items to simply adding or removing items. The main focus of staging a home is to help buyers visualize how different spaces in the home can be utilized, furnished and decorated.
Cleaning
Even if you believe your home is clean, giving it a thorough deep cleaning before inviting buyers to come through is a great idea. Everyone has their own standards of what “clean” is or what is a pleasing smell and what isn’t. Make it difficult for anyone to feel that your home is anything less than pristine!
3. Time of year to sell for top dollar
If you want to sell your home for the most money possible, early spring is by far the best time of the year to put your home up for sale. March is prime time for targeting families looking to make a move as their kids are going on summer break from school. Buyers also tend to be more active as the weather warms up. Home prices typically begin to spike in the early spring before tailing off in mid-summer. Those that are able to procure a buyer in the early Spring will be selling at the top of the market. The only small catch is that there will be more homes listed during these months. That means more competition for buyers, so pricing appropriately is still key.
4. Take care of the buyer’s agent
Don’t forget that the buyer of your home is probably already working with an agent when you list for sale. Realtors work for commissions and only make money when they sell a home. If you list your home with a Realtor, you will negotiate the overall commission that you are willing to pay when your home is sold. You will decide how much of the overall commission is to be offered to the agent that brings you the buyer. Offering a buyer’s agent a commission that is above the average 2.5% or offering a bonus for bringing the buyer will certainly increase the amount of interest from buyers. A buyer’s agent will also be more motivated to sell your home over another if they stand to make a higher commission. This strategy almost always help you sell your home for the most money possible
Need an experienced real estate professional to help guide you through the listing process?
If you are thinking about selling your home and would like to meet with a local pro to help you with pricing, preparing, marketing, and selling your home, give us a call today at 310-379-4444.