Sell Your Home For Top Dollar – 13 Tips
January 14, 2019
The real estate market has definitely slowed down the last few months. There are 12.92% more homes listed for sale now than there were a year ago and pending sales are down 13.45% (Pierce County, Washington – December 2018). There are still sales happening. But, they aren’t happening at the frantic pace that they had been. As a seller, this means you have to be very deliberate with your marketing.
You need to set a realistic list price. See my September 2018 blog about the three ways an inflated list price can hamper your home sale. With more inventory available, you need to get buyers to view your home as the best value. If they feel another home is a better value, they will make an offer on the other home.
Clean up your clutter. This will make your home feel bigger. And buyers can focus on viewing your home instead of tripping over your personal belongings. Since you are moving anyway, you may consider having some of your bulkier items packed up and put into storage.
Make your decor neutral. Buyers may be distracted by ethnic or religious items. You may take pride in your hunting skills but many people are freaked out when they see animal heads hanging from walls.
Take care of maintenance issues. Definitely fix major plumbing, electrical, roofing, foundation, or HVAC repairs. These repairs will prevent your home from passing its appraisal. A failing appraisal will cause the bank to reject the buyer’s loan application which will kill the sale. Try to take care of minor maintenance issues too (missing cabinet knobs, broken blinds, sticky door latch, dripping faucet, temperamental garage door opener, etc). These minor issues give buyers a negative impression of your home. They may make a weaker offer or they may not make any offer at all.
Even though it is winter, spruce up the yard. Rake any dead leaves or fallen tree limbs after the windstorm we had last week. Pull weeds and prune back overgrown shrubs. This will help give buyers a great first impression when they come to view your home.
Consider fresh paint and sheetrock repair. It is normal to have dings or seam cracks in walls. Repairing these blemishes and applying a fresh coat of paint is fairly inexpensive and can make a huge visual impact. Stick with neutral colors to appeal to the majority of buyers.
Consider fresh flooring especially if your current flooring is damaged or outdated. Pick neutral colors. You may upgrade to wood flooring in some areas since that is very popular now. But, be careful over improving your home compared to neighboring homes since you probably won’t get your investment back.
Make your home accessible. Many buyers have limited time to view properties. Avoid putting too many restrictions on when they can view your home. Place a key box at the front door so their real estate agent can let the buyers in.
Try to leave when buyers view your home. They will feel more comfortable walking through your home and giving feedback to their agent.
Try to remove your pets and all signs of pets including water bowls, food dishes, dog houses, cages, litter boxes, and scratching posts. This will make viewing your home a lot easier for the buyer.
If your home is vacant, talk to your real estate agent about possibly staging your home. Statistically, staged homes get a higher sales price. But, depending on your situation, staging may not make sense.
Keep your home clean. This can be very difficult if you are still living in the home. Make your beds. Wash the dishes. Dust and vacuum religiously. Remove mineral deposits in toilets and soap residue in the showers. Keep your toilet lids closed. For some odd reason, this is a huge turn off for a lot of people.
Get professional photos taken. For a modest size home this is usually under $300. We provide this service when we list a home. If you have a larger home or want aerial drone pictures taken, the price will be closer to $500. For a little more money, the pictures can be used to make a virtual tour. Remember, you only get one chance to make a good first impression. A lot of buyers eliminate a home just based on bad pictures.
Well, as you can see, there is a lot of preparation involved in getting a home ready to sell. You only get one chance to make a great first impression. Make buyers feel that your home is the best value compared to the competition.