Though you may love your home to pieces, you may have to leave it at some point down the line. Perhaps you’re ready to move on to the next phase of your life or are taking another job elsewhere. Maybe your family has simply outgrown the property. Whatever the case, you’ll want to sell the home for a good price, hopefully within a reasonable timeframe. After all, a house sitting idle is an unused asset, and those funds can be used to help you start anew.
However, selling a house can be complicated, especially if your personal circumstances demand that you do so as quickly as possible. Often, it’s not enough to simply place a “For Sale” sign in the front yard. Another thing that can make it more difficult is when you want to maximise the amount you’ll gain from the sale. Fortunately, you don’t have to choose between selling low but fast, or high but slow. There are a few ways to achieve both goals. Here are a few tips, from hiring an excellent real estate broker to sprucing the place up with a few subtle touches:
Find a Good Real Estate Broker
Some people think that paying a real estate broker to take over the sale of their property is a waste of money. This can be especially true for homeowners whose properties are in prime locations, where the houses might appear to be selling themselves.
Indeed, those homeowners might be under the impression that they’ll have to give a portion of the sale up to someone whose job they can do just as well on their own. It’s hard to blame them—who wouldn’t want to keep all of the profit for themselves if it were at all possible?
However, selling your house yourself is almost guaranteed to be a drain on your time and money, even in a hot market. Going with the “For Sale By Owner” route means having fewer potential buyers than you would if you had enlisted the services of a broker. Even if you do get a lot of offers, going without a broker can make weeding out unqualified buyers difficult, which can lead to plenty of disappointment on your end. You may also find yourself out-negotiated when it comes to settling on the sale price. Not only will you likely become more stressed out by doing it on your own, but you may also end up letting your former home go for a much lower price than desired.
With all of this in mind, find a real estate broker that you feel comfortable working with. Don’t be afraid to interview them thoroughly to see if they’re a good fit for you. Shop around for someone knowledgeable, experienced, and skilled.
Give Your Property a Realistic Price
Some homeowners love their houses so much that they may have misguided ideas on how much it’s actually worth. They may have spent a lot of time and money fixing it up, or think that it’s located somewhere people will want to pay top dollar to live. A local broker can share their extensive knowledge of your suburb’s values to make the best pricing decision. There are also practical considerations as well. For example, if you’re moving away soon and need to get the house off your hands as quickly as possible, you may decide to go for a more realistic selling price to be able to sell it fast.
The price point should be in the sweet spot that will attract the most number of buyers in the area. Getting the attention of more buyers means you’ll have more chances to sell the house at a price that you can accept. As mentioned, If you really need it to sell fast, consider aiming a little lower than the competitive rate. This has the potential to start a bidding war among prospective buyers, and you may be able to sell the house at the price you originally had in mind for it.
Fix It Up
After living in your home for so long, you may have become blind to some of its quirks. Your entire family may have learned how to live around that one broken lock, for instance, or you’ve gotten so used to that squeaking screen door that you now consider it a comforting sound. A lot of homeowners tend to put minor repairs off until the last minute, thinking that they’ll have time to do such a trivial task later on. Now that you’re selling your house, though, the time to tackle all of those chores has finally come.
When prospective buyers come into your home, they’ll do so with fresh eyes. This means that they’ll be able to spot every small issue that your home has, so you’d best get ahead of them. Thoroughly inspect your home and make a list of all the minor repairs that need to be done before opening your doors to buyers. If you can’t do them yourself, call a handyman that you can trust. The idea is not to show a buyer anything that might potentially turn them off or give them cause to think that your house is worth less than the asking price.
Preparing your home to sell means doing a lot of work, but you’ll find it all to be well worth it in the end. If you need more advice on how to best make your home a more compelling choice for buyers in your area, contact Gerard Partners today.