No one wants to be that homeowner with a house that sits on the market for 6 months or more. When you are ready to sell, you want a buyer, and you want one quickly. Real estate markets can be tricky to navigate because one minute they are hot and the next they are going stale. You need a solution that helps you sell your house quickly so that you can move on to that new job, new city, or new home.
This comprehensive guide will show you the steps to take to help you sell your house faster.
Start With Home Staging
How your house feels when people walk in will determine a lot about whether they are willing to buy it or not. Home staging doesn’t mean that you have to bring in furniture from a company instead of using your own, but it does mean that you need to take some important steps to ensure your home is ready to show.
Start by decluttering and depersonalizing a bit. You may have a huge wall of family photos. Instead, switch them out for some calming art. You can find free stock images online of beautiful florals and print them out to put in some of the frames to look nice, but not be of your family. This allows potential buyers to see a more neutral space instead of looking at your smiles.
Make minor repairs and improvements. Things like leaky faucets and broken tiles can be fixed quickly to help you sell your house fast. You may even want to clean up the yard a bit and make sure your lawn is freshly mowed and weeds have been pulled.
Alternative Strategies to Help You Sell Your House Fast
There are many ways to sell a home. The most common options are to use a real estate agent or do an FSBO arrangement and handle all the work yourself. Nowadays there are other options and strategies that you can use to sell your house fast.
Cash buyers are often investors looking for a way to make more money. If your home needs substantial work, they may buy it off you for a low cash price and then flip the home once they’ve made the repairs. They can buy your house very quickly, sometimes within just a few short days. Auctions also work well for fixer-uppers.
Another alternative strategy to sell your house is to do a rent-to-own option. You can still ask for a large down payment, but it might help you find a great buyer who just needs more time to get a traditional mortgage.
Set the Right Price
Work with a local real estate agent if you can to help you get a better price for your home and if you want to go a more traditional route to selling. You don’t want to price too high and scare off buyers and you also don’t want to price too low and miss out on making more money. They can help you price your home just right. A good starting price will attract buyers and help you sell your house fast.
Use Great Photos
In an era where almost everyone has a smartphone with a decent camera, there is no need to have terrible pictures of your property online. Invest in a photographer who can take well-lit photographs that highlight your home’s best features. You can even look for a company that provides virtual tours so that buyers can get a better feel for your home before they see it in person.
Marketing is Everything
There are plenty of online sites where you can post your home for sale. Leverage different real estate sites and even social media if you want to reach more people. You can even post printed flyers and put out a for-sale sign in your yard. These simple things are still very effective for many people who want to sell their homes more quickly. Additionally, be willing to host open houses and do showings to generate buzz as fast as possible.
Understand the Psychology of Negotiation
Negotiating your home sale is more of an art than a science. Buyers want a deal and sellers want to sell a basic house for the price of a mansion. Somewhere in between is probably the best price for your home.
Being willing to flex can help the negotiations go more smoothly and get your home sold quickly. When you want to sell your house fast, make sure you evaluate and respond to all offers. Even if you are saying no, it’s best not to leave people hanging. Consider factors like any contingencies, if the buyer has lending secured, and even how much they want to pay.
You can usually counteroffer the bid you like the most. It’s important to understand how low you are willing to go and the mindset of the buyer. When you can do these things effectively you can sell your house fast.
Tips to Help You Close the Deal
Once you have an agreed-upon purchase price in writing, you’ll need to work with your real estate agent or real estate attorney to help the transaction go smoothly. They will take care of the legal parts of the sale including writing contracts and getting all the right signatures in place.
Before the sale, the buyer may want an appraisal and an inspection. If anything comes up in the inspection, there could be the potential for more negotiations. You may be asked to fix the issues or to bring the price of the home down so that the buyer can fix them.
Effective communication is essential heading into the closing. It’s important to let the buyer know where everything is in the process. If there are delays, they should be communicated immediately.
Conclusion
When you want to sell your home fast, you need to make sure you take some time to freshen up the inside with some staging and then decide how you want to sell the home. While you can go the traditional route with a real estate agent, there are other options available to you. Many companies can help you sell your house fast, offer you cash, and help you get the same profit in less time than going the traditional route.
