With the correct
approach and a little work, you can sell your home in record time
1. Price it
right from the start
Sellers
often think they should start the asking price high and then lower it later if
the house fails to sell. But that can result in a slower sale – sometimes even
at a lower price. “The first 30 days’ activity of your house being on the
market is always the best activity you’re going to see,” says Michael
Mahon, general manager of HER Realtors in Columbus, Ohio. If the price is too
high, many buyers and their agents will stay away, assuming you’re not serious
about selling or you’re unwilling to negotiate.
2.
Enhance your home’s curb appeal
This could
mean adding new sod, planting flowers, painting the front door or replacing the
mailbox. Prospective buyers form an opinion the moment they spot the home.
"Curb
appeal is everything,” Mahon says. “Driving into the driveway and walking
into that front door sets the expectations.”
3.
Update the interior and exterior
New
fixtures, fresh paint and updated landscaping are all fairly easy and
affordable ways to give
your home a makeover. “It’s got to look up to the current market conditions
and what’s in style,” Mahon says.
4.
Clean, declutter and depersonalize
The fewer
things there are in the home, the larger it will look, so remove knickknacks
and excess furniture. Also take down family photos, religious items and
political posters so prospective buyers can envision their family in the house,
not yours. Finally, you may want to hire a cleaning service to do a deep
cleaning.
5.
Stage the house to show how the rooms are supposed to be
used
If you
have odd rooms with no obvious role, give them one. An odd alcove off the
kitchen could be staged as an office or a pantry, for example
6.
Make the property easy to show.
The more
flexible you are about visits, the more people will be able to see your home.
Be ready for prospective visitors early in the morning, at night and on
weekends, with little notice. Also, leave when the house is shown
so would-be buyers can feel free to move about without feeling like
intruders and discuss the home's pros and cons honestly.
7.
Remove your pets
Also
remove their paraphernalia, such as dog dishes and cat litter boxes (or at
least hide them). A prospective buyer shouldn’t even know that a pet lives in
the home if you can help it, Mahon says.
8.
Make sure your listing is on all the major online portals
This is
usually part of an agent’s service, but it doesn’t hurt to double-check that
your listing is on Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com. It also helps if your
agent showcases the home on social media. “We sell as many homes off
Facebook as we do off the [multiple listing service],” Mahon says. Both
the agency and the individual agents have Facebook business pages where they
share listings.
9.
Ensure the listing has good photos, and lots of them
Most
homebuyers start their search online and decide which homes they want to see
based on the photos. You probably want something better than snapshots taken
quickly with your agent’s phone
10.
Share information about life in the neighborhood
The
listing should include photos not only of the house, but also of nearby
recreation, dining and shopping areas. If the schools are good, make sure that
information is in the listing. “You’re not only marketing the home – you’re
marketing the lifestyle,” Mahon says.
By Teresa Myers
Contact me for all your Real Estate needs!!!
832-600-0302
Great Information
ReplyDelete