15 Home Selling Tips for Selling Fast and for Top Dollar
- Understand why you are selling your home. If you’re selling your home because of a job transfer, then a quick sale will be important to you. This will affect how you price and market the house. If you’re selling your home to buy a bigger home, then getting top dollar will be important to you. In this case, pricing will not be your only concern. You will also need to be aware of the presentation of your home. So, determining the reason for selling your home is a vital first step in the process.
- Don’t publish your reasons for selling. If a potential buyer knows your motivation, it can give them an advantage in negotiations. Keep your reasons to yourself.
- Price your home correctly. The price you put on your home will be the maximum a buyer will pay for your home. Most buyers will make an offer lower than your sales price. If you price your home too high, many buyers will not even bother to look at your home and if you price your home too low, you may find that, after negotiation, you are walking away with less in your pocket than you desired. The are many ways to decide on a sales price:
- Pick a great Realtor®. How do you choose a good Realtor®? There are some key points to look for in choosing a real estate salesperson. First, don’t choose a Realtor® based on what they suggest for a sales price. Inexperienced or unsuccessful agents may quote a high sales price to get your business. While the money sounds good, you may be pricing yourself out of the market and end up getting less in the long run. Second, choose an experienced agent. You want someone who has a strong history of selling houses. Third, make sure you feel comfortable with the agent. If they make you uncomfortable, or if you don’t find them to be personable, neither will potential buyers. For more information on choosing a good Realtor®, see our report on Interviewing a Real Estate Agent.
- Prepare your home for sale. The successful marketing and sale of your house will hinge on how appealing your home is. It must be clean. It must be clutter-free. It must smell good. It must not have any obvious damage. You want to impress potential buyers with your home, not with your bad housekeeping. If they are busy looking at the dirty tub, the cobwebs on the ceiling and dishes in the sink and trying to determine what that smell is, they won’t notice the view, the hardwood floors or any of the other selling points of your home. For specific suggestions to help you prepare your home, see our report Home Sale Checklist.
- Depersonalize your home. If buyers are looking at your children’s pictures, the stuffed animal you’ve been cherishing since high school, your football trophies, they won’t be able to visualize themselves living in your home. Simplify the jump from potential buyers to interested buyers by neutralizing your personality in the home. Repaint in neutral colors. Pack up pictures and knick-knacks.
- Odors stink! You need outside help for this one. Every home has distinctive odors. Unfortunately, most of them are not going to help you sell your home. If you’re a smoker, stop smoking in or near the house and repaint with smell-blocker paint, clean the carpets and draperies and wash the nicotine off the interior windows. If you have an animal, repaint, spot clean and then completely clean the carpets and upholstery, if needed, and then minimize your pet’s footprint in the house. Smoking and animals are not the only smells to be eradicated. Invite a friend over and ask them what they smell. Because we’re used to our homes, we may not notice that the disposal has an odor, or the washing machine. We may be used to the moldy smell in the bathroom. We may not notice that our perfume is overpowering in the master bedroom. Get a second opinion and then minimize or eliminate these odors. Finally, before open houses or showings, bake a few cookies or put on the bread maker. Nothing says “home” like the aroma of cookies.
- Live in a “model” home. Selling a home is not the same as living in one. Though you shouldn’t move out of a home while you’re selling it – occupied homes show better, are less prone to vandalism and don’t hint to potential buyers that you’re desperate to sell – you can’t live in it the way you used to. Your home needs to be showable at all times. That means beds must be made every day, no dishes in the sink, no towels on the bathroom floor, no dirty laundry on the kids’ floor, no clutter. This is hard to do, especially over an extended period of time. But the payoff is huge. Tidy houses sell faster and for more money.
- Don’t hide anything. It is never to your advantage to hide any defects in your home. If you fail to disclose any defects, the buyer can come back later and effectively sue you. Protect yourself in advance by disclosing any defects in writing.
- Remember #1. During negotiations on your home, you need to keep a calm, business-like manner. Remembering the reason you’re selling your home will help you maintain a professional aura and keep your bottom line in sight. Don’t let yourself get emotionally involved in the negotiations.
- Make sure to get a Pre-approval letter from a potential buyer before accepting their offer. A pre-approval letter verifies that the buyer can afford and get financing for your home. This will help you avoid wasted time with an unqualified buyer.
- Remember you can negotiate with things other than money. It’s not only the dollar figure on the table during negotiations. Does your buyer want to close early to be in the house for Christmas? Does the buyer want a warranty? Does the buyer really like the drapes in the living room? Sometimes, the buyer just wants something else thrown in to let them feel like they have “won”. You can walk away with more money if you’re willing to placate them with a small concession. Win-win negotiations are always the most rewarding for everyone involved.
- Beware the two-mortgage life! Don’t buy a new home until you have a sale on your existing one. This will help you avoid the financial disaster of having two mortgage payments.
- Renegotiate a bad offer. Every seller will receive a ridiculous offer – they want the house for dramatically less than the sales price, they want to move in next Monday, they want your grandmother’s heirloom china. Don’t take this personally. Every offer is an opportunity for you to counter-offer. Even a ridiculous offer can be countered and, sometimes, brought to a successful conclusion. Try to determine what the buyer is really looking for and let that guide you in your counter. Your agent can help advise you.
- Make sure the contract is solid and that you comply with the contract. The sales contract should be thorough. Resist the impulse to make or go along with verbal agreements direct with Buyers. The contract is there to protect you. Additionally, resist the impulse to modify the terms of the contract once it’s been finalized. Changing the contract can delay financing or title exchange.
For more information on selling your home faster and for the most money, please contact us - we will be pleased to help!