When you’re planning on selling your home, it can get emotional and overwhelming very quickly. That’s why we’re sharing seven mistakes you must avoid and six unmistakable tips that you can leverage when attempting to sell your house.
7 Mistakes to Avoid When Selling Your House Fast
It’s important that you set your target buyer profile while setting up your house for sale. For instance, your possible buyer could be individual homebuyers, investors, real estate companies, house flippers, trade-in companies, etc.
There are many companies that buy houses immediately for cash. However, not all companies are the same, says Obi Dorsey of Freedom House Buyers. There are companies that buy outdated or distressed houses at below-market prices, renovate them, and then sell them at a profit to interested parties. Other cash buyers have targeted "buy boxes" that dictate the purchase price. For example, companies like Opendoor generally focus in the $250,000 - $600,000 price range.
All of this info can help you determine the ideal party for you to sell to. Once you have clarity regarding that, you can easily set things like price, timeline, renovations, real estate agent, etc. Settling these things will help you avoid the following mistakes:
Neglecting Hiring a Real Estate Agent
The odds of selling your house at the desired price depend a lot on an expert real estate agent. You might be wondering whether you could ditch the need to hire an agent in this process, but trust us, an agent can do it far better than you; especially, if you haven’t done this before.
An agent typically asks for five to six percent of the selling price of your house. But no matter how excessive that may seem, it’s going to help you get a better price and save costs in many other ways.
Not Repairing Before Selling
Repairing and servicing your house before selling is a vital task. Don’t miss out on or neglect this task if you wish to sell your house quickly and profitably.
Skipping repairs is a rudimentary mistake many homeowners make when attempting to sell their houses. If you’re making the same mistake then stop and think it through.
If you aren’t repairing the power system, water leakage, sewer line, floor tiles, and the like, it may reduce your house’s appeal and price in the eyes of the potential buyer. Even worse, this may cancel the closing process if the buyer discovers any fault within the house after the deal was made.
Not Staging the House Well
It’s funny how some homeowners want potential buyers to like their house while not making the slightest effort in making the house presentable. Your house becomes a product once you decide to sell it and hand it over to the owner.
So, for once, put yourself in the buyer’s shoes and imagine how you would feel to find a house with a messy wardrobe (drawers open), dirty kitchen and bathroom, scattered personal belongings, dim rooms, etc. Not so impressive, right?
If you’ve got the point we’re trying to make here, do stage your house appropriately. But don’t also stretch the ‘less is more’ idea too much while preparing your house for display.
Consult an expert interior designer who can decorate your house at minimum cost with the ‘best selling price’ tag in mind.
Asking for an Unrealistic Price
Selling or buying, the price of your house should be realistic and something that reflects your house’s current condition accurately.
Whether you hire an agent to deal with your house-selling process or you take it on your own shoulder, setting an unrealistic price is never going to get the job done.
We would advise you to be reasonable. Remember the comparative market analysis you did with your agent when you first bought your home many years back? You’re not the only one, your potential buyers will do it too.
So, check out the local real estate market before putting your house up for sale. The best way to do it is by consulting your agent thoroughly to settle on a realistic price for your house.
Getting Sentimental
Your sentiments can get in the way when trying to set things up for good, specifically, selling your house while leaving all the memories and emotions you built here behind. However, that’s a mistake.
We understand it’s hard to move on handing over your old house (probably, the first one) to someone else. Nonetheless, you’ve got to do this if it needs to be done.
Getting too emotionally attached to your house will cloud your judgment, hindering your preparation for selling it profitably. That’s why not hiring an agent may make your task even harder.
So, get a grip and put your best effort into fulfilling the tasks related to preparing the house, advertising, price setting, and making a perfect deal.
Ignoring the Importance of Photography
Virtual tours have become quite the standard bearer for demonstrating your products to your potential buyers. This remains true for the houses on sale too.
And when it comes to displaying your house online these days, pristine photos are what matter the most. It doesn’t matter whether your house is twenty years old or two, if you’ve uploaded shabby pictures of it, the onlookers won’t even turn to your listing for the second time.
Some nice photographs of your house are crucial to compete in the online listings of houses which many sellers fail to realize. Conversely, good photography can put your listing on the edge while attracting many buyers to your house.
Selling During Wrong Season
This may sound crazy but hey, seasons do matter in regulating the buyers’ minds. With that note, we’ll say that winter may not be a good season to sell your house. Why so?
Well, in winter, people are more into holiday shopping, family time, and most importantly, making all efforts to stay cozy inside the blanket. It’s very unlikely that a large number of people will be willing to buy a house.
The best policy here is to make your house listing when the cold atmosphere is waning and the warmness is returning. People will be back from holidays, warm and comfy, and start thinking about making life changes such as buying and moving into a new home. It’s not a hard and fast rule at all because if the buyers are returning, the sellers will too. Hence, the competition in the real estate market will rise again.
6 Best Tips to Sell Your Home Efficiently and Fast
As you’re now well aware of the possible mistakes, let’s share with you some effective tips to sell your house fast.
You might already have an idea of the tips we’re going to discuss below based on the mistakes we’ve mentioned above. But let’s dive a bit deeper into them.
Hire a Pro Real Estate Agent
This is the very first and the best thing you can do while thinking about selling your house real quick, which is hiring an expert real estate agent.
While giving away three to five percent commission on the selling price to your agent is a concern, you should be relieved that the agent will take care of the process from A to Z. Eventually, it’s a win-win deal.
Keep Your House Clean, Decluttered, and Depersonalized
Buyers want to feel at home when you’re showing your house to them. That’s why it’s essential that you keep your house clean, tidy, and free from your personal belongings as much as possible.
Besides, you will do better by hiring an external house cleaning service to declutter and clean your house most effectively. Your agent might advise you to hire a stager too. They can help you arrange things in your house in such a way that it will look more enticing to prospective buyers.
Enlighten Your House
Managing the light sources in your house is an amazing trick to make it look brighter and more inviting. Allow the sunshine to pour into the bedrooms, study, and kitchen while putting on some lamps to brighten up the living room, drawing room, dining room, etc.
Moreover, hang window curtains of bright colors like white, cream, daisy, pearl, etc. so they reflect more positive and warm vibes to the observers.
Create Appealing Exterior and Surroundings
Intriguing a potential buyer with the first look at your house can make the rest of the task a lot easier. They don’t say that the first impression lasts longer for nothing.
So, work on your house’s exterior, including the entrance, front end, walls, garden or yard, and whatever makes it complete. Don’t forget to do a makeover with new paint wherever necessary.
Reduce Unused Furniture and Objects
Since you’re trading your home off to a new owner soon, filling up the space with large furniture may put the buyer off. The larger the furniture, the smaller the room appears to the eyes.
So, remove the objects that are no longer going to accompany you to your new house. This way you can rearrange your rooms in a more pleasant fashion to impress the buyer.
Have Photography and a 3D Tour
Your agent can guide you in arranging the photography of your house in the best manner possible. Besides, you can avail of drone tours into your house to show the interior in an exciting way to interested buyers online.
3D and drone tours of the house have become a standard practice in the modern real estate market. Go for it if your budget allows you to do it.
Summing Up
Opting to sell your house isn’t a piece of cake, considering the competitive market and all the painstaking tasks. This gets even more complicated when you’re trying to sell your house fast.
However, we’ve made an effort to share with you the mistakes you must avoid while selling your house along with some beneficial tips to get the job done in the most profitable and quickest way possible.
Try your best to streamline your tasks with the help of your real estate agent. Hopefully, you’ll get the best outcome.