1. Knowing the Local Market
What is the current market like in your area? While you may not know this off the top of your head, your REALTOR® should, and if they don’t, find a new REALTOR®. Knowing the local trends not only helps you determine if it is the right time to sell, but is crucial to many other aspects of the selling process.
2. Your Home Should be Priced to Sell
Price your home to sell. That is one of the most important things to remember when selling a property. From the first day your property goes on the market, it needs to be priced to attract buyers. A buyer’s first impression, and often the only impression of a property, is the first time they see it. If you lower the price in the future, buyers may have already ruled out your property, and often will not look at it a second time.
3. Clean & Uncluttered Homes are More Appealing to Buyers
The bottom line is that clean homes are not appealing to buyers. A huge chunk of change can be knocked off the price and therefore the profit for failing to put in a little bit of time to tidy up. This is especially true today with the COVID-19 pandemic!
4. Inconvenience: It’s Part of the Process
When selling your home, go ahead and prepare to be inconvenienced. Acknowledging this from the getgo will make it easier to cope when it hits. Expect to have to devote some time to preparing your property to go on the market, packing up your things, balancing your personal obligations, and answering the questions of prospective buyers (some of whom will just drop by).
5. Doing Repairs Before You List Your Home Will Save You Money
Simple repairs that are very apparent to buyers can cost big bucks once you list your home. When buyers see small things that tend to be quick and easy fixes, they often begin to assume that the home might be lacking the maintenance history that they are comfortable with. Because of this, buyers tend to nit-pick every little flaw bringing about many more repairs on your end.
6. If You Overprice, You Just Helped Sell Someone Else’s Home
Imagine there’s a buyer who has been preapproved. When searching for homes, they are most likely only going to look in the price range that they know they will be able to afford. Your home is on the market, but it is overpriced. Not only does this mean that your home may never even be brought to the buyer’s attention, but it also means that you have lowered the number of houses in the buyer’s price range, reducing the competition for other sellers.
7. Many Buyers Will Try and Negotiate After the Inspection
After the inspection comes the time where the buyer will really nitpick for every nickel and dime. Any inspection will come back with some little things but hopefully doesn’t come back with any major repair(s). If you know of major repairs, it is crucial to try and handle these prior to your home going on the market, or to disclose these to the buyer(s) before they submit an offer on your home. Fixing repairs ahead of time can reduce the chances of a buyer trying to swing a discount.
8. Don’t Be Present When Your Property is Being Shown
When showing your home, it is important for you to leave for several reasons. For one, you want the buyers to be able to freely roam the house without the pressure of the current homeowner present. Having the homeowner present often inhibits the buyer’s ability to form opinions and make comments that may be crucial in their decision in fear of hurting the homeowner’s feelings. This also helps remove some of the “YOUness” from the home and allows the buyers to better envision themselves living in the home. They want to picture themselves sitting in the living room, eating at the kitchen table, and creating a space that they can call theirs.
9. Smelly Homes Sell For Less Money
Nothing turns a buyer away faster than a home polluted with smells from pets, smoking, or even cooking. If you are someone who thinks any of these odors might be present in your home, you can ask the opinion of an outsider as we sometimes go “nose-blind” to. If your “outsider” confirms the odor, consider a thorough cleaning of your home, along with fabrics, rugs, and carpets as this can go a long way in reducing these smells.
10. Cash Offers are Not Necessarily the Best Offer
Financing and cash offers; which is better? When buyers are financing the purchase of a home, they are in direct competition with a buyer who is willing to pay cash for the sale of your home. Buyers who will be financing the purchase of the home can improve their offers in many ways. First, make sure that the offer is presented without errors (it should be accurate and complete). Next, make sure the offer includes a pre-approval letter that indicates their ability to secure a mortgage for the purchase of your home. Lastly, consider all offers and make sure that they adhere to the timeframe that best suits your circumstances in the sale of your home.
11. Routine Home Maintenance Helps Homes Sell for More Money When the Time Comes
A well-maintained home provides a sense of security to prospective buyers as they are able to see that the home has been well cared for, and therefore less likely to cause problems in the future. In a well-maintained home, “red flags” are virtually nonexistent compared to those that are not kept up. This piece of mind often results in a buyer’s willingness to pay a little more for a well-maintained home.
12. Your Response Time Can Make or Break A Sale
Once you’ve made the decision to sell and put your home on the market, you need to understand that it is critical for you to communicate in a timely and prompt manner. This is part of the inconvenience mentioned in fact 4. During the sale of your home, you need to remember that this is not the time to lollygag around and that many actions that come with the sale are time-sensitive!
13. Buyers Want to Picture the Home as Theirs, Not Yours
Getting ready to move from a home can be tough. Both the tasks involved with selling paired with emotions that come along with leaving a home you might have raised a family in just adds to the difficulty. But it is important to remember that when buyers are touring your home, they want to envision themselves living there, not you. That being said, it is important to “remove” yourself from the home (family pictures, vacation mementos, etc.) so that the buyer can picture their things on display. Neutrality is key when executing this, and MUST be present in your home.
14. Top Quality Photographs & Videos are a Key Marketing Tool
When your home is for sale and it seems as if no one is interested, it may not be your home, but the pictures and videos that buyers are seeing. When buyers are searching online, they often skip over listings with limited photos or photos that aren’t high quality and don’t showcase the home. Over 90% of buyers start their home search online and they want to “see” homes, not read a paragraph about all the reasons that you think it is a great property.
15. Hiding a Defect Will Be Something You Regret
Thinking of hiding a defect? Don’t do it! First of all, it’s illegal. Secondly, you don’t want to receive a call from an attorney letting you know that the buyers are suing you for not disclosing something that you were aware of, but thought you’d keep to yourself. Do the right thing. Do the honest thing. Do the legal thing.
16. Cooperation is Key
During the sale of your home, a little bit of cooperation will take you a long way, and more often than not, result in a more favorable outcome for you as the seller. It is important to remember not to fight with buyers tooth and nail. This can result in backlash from the buyer and the possibility of a withdrawn offer! Make sure to be willing to give a little so that you achieve the best results.
17. Your Favorite Features May Not Be the Buyer’s Favorite
While you may love your bright red bedroom, hunting mounts, or funky wallpaper, these things can scare away some buyers and hinder their ability to see the full potential of your home. It is important to neutralize your home! You don’t want to give the buyer any distaste for your home because of the things that appeal to you. Selling a home is not show-and-tell of the things that get you out of bed in the morning, but rather showcasing a space that a buyer can incorporate their passions.
18. Closing Date is Move-Out Date
It’s important to understand that the closing date is also the date that you have to be out of the home. And by “be out of the home,” that includes all of your belongings…all of them. You should also factor in some time to clean the home so that your buyers have a clean, new place to call home.
19. When Financing is Involved, Requiring the Buyer be Pre-approved Prior to Accepting an Offer Can Help Ensure Your Sale
Any real estate agent showing your home, especially the one you have chosen to represent the sale of your property, should be showing the property only when they know the buyer’s credit, income, and assets have been reviewed by a mortgage lender to make sure they can afford your property. While this is the ideal agent, not all agents abide by these rules and sometimes show buyers homes they can’t afford. That being said, make sure that any offer you receive has been reviewed by the agent, and the buyer can afford your property!
20. Your REALTOR® Matters- Find Someone That You Can Trust to Guide the Sale of Your Home
When choosing a REALTOR®, make sure to remember that you want someone who not only will work to sell your property quickly, but will stand by you through the process, and help you get top dollar for your home. If you are in need of an above-average REALTOR®, look no further! Contact me today!