There are several reasons as to why you may want to put up your house for sale. It could be that you are planning to move and start a new life in another neighbourhood. You may be running low on funds and you want to cash in an unused property. Or it could also be that you are ready for a house upgrade.
Whatever your reasons may be, one thing is certain: You want to sell your home at a price that won’t make you regret things later. You wish to strike a good deal.
There are generally three ways to sell a house:
- Direct Sale (to second or third-degree connections)
- Hire A Real Estate Agent
- Sell It To A Wholesaler
While these three methods are effective, they differ in terms of pre-selling preparations and sale period. I intentionally placed these methods in this order to signify the “tediousness” of each process, with direct sales being the most tedious and selling to wholesalers being the least.
Flipping your property to a wholesaler may not earn you top dollar but it will get your property sold fast with the least amount of preparation. Wholesalers will buy your property “as is” – no need to repair creaky flooring or repaint interior walls with fresh permacoat. They will purchase your house at a fair price and resell it later when they find the ideal buyer. Wholesalers often have a good number of cash buyers lined up who are actively looking to acquire new properties.
Bottom line is that selling the house becomes their problem, not yours. If you are in a rush to sell your residential property and you don’t want to deal with repairs and such, this is a good option to consider.
Another method is hiring a real estate agent to help you sell your home. While these guys certainly have the experience and the charisma to help you get a decent deal on the property fast, they also get a hefty commission from the deal. Sure, the average cut for a home sale is 6 to 10 percent of the total selling price which may not seem a lot – but it is a significant amount of money if you do the math.
Also, there is that issue about some real estate agents not really performing their end of the bargain. The whole list-it-and-forget-it attitude can cause delays in the sale of your home. Not to mention, the longer the house remains vacant, the more opportunities for problems to arise. Always hire a real estate agent you can 100% trust.
Anyway, after weighing the factors and you still decide to sell your home through traditional means like hiring a real estate agent and hosting home showings, here are seven great tips to help you sell your house faster (and for a better price!).
1. Partner With A Great Realtor
So, we just talked about it, but I wanted to reiterate how vital this factor is when it comes to selling your house for top dollar. Since you are hiring a realtor and paying a certain percentage off the sale anyway, best do it right. I did mention that there are risks to hiring a bad realtor, but there are equally as many benefits when you hire a real great one. Take professional recommendations from people you trust and always do a background check on your real estate professional before signing any deal.
2. Hire A Dependable Handyman
The sale of house requires the effort and participation of several people. On top of a real estate agent, you will also need to get a dependable handyman to join your team. A handyman who specializes in a variety of small to medium fixes can help you increase the perceived and actual value of your property. Repainting chipped walls, fixing broken light fixtures, and taking care of creaky floorboards before home showings can really help boost your property’s appeal to potential buyers. In other words, a handyman can help make your property look its best before it hits online and offline market listings.
3. Make Your Listing Photos Insta-worthy!
Speaking of listings, you can’t underestimate the power of aesthetics. When you submit photos of your home for local and online listings, you have to make sure that these photos bring out the true potential of your house. Don’t be lazy about it! With modern mobile devices having almost the same quality as that of professional cameras, and free photo-enhancement apps readily available online, I see no reason why you can’t make those photos Instagram-worthy!
4. Price it Right
When it comes to pricing your property, there are three unspoken rules:
- Do not price your house way below market value.
- Do not price your house way above market value.
- Do not keep changing your listing prices.
Being indecisive about prices, or pricing your property on a whim, is the worst decision you can make. Do your research. Check how similar properties are priced online and offline, as well as factors that may affect such prices (e.g. location, amenities, accessibility to public transport, etc.). You have to make sure that you price your house right the first time. Don’t worry! If you’ve got the right realtor to back you up, finding this information will not be a hassle.
5. Stage Your House For Home Showings
As with any other product, staging is an important part of the selling process. In order to make people buy, you have to make them feel like they are about to get the best deal in the world! Just as how food looks more appetizing when a professional chef plates a serving, a strategically staged home will look enticing to property buyers. I’m not suggesting that you should hire a professional to do the staging for you as this could mean added costs on your part, but you can definitely use your imagination to make your home’s best features pop!
Keep things clean and tidy. Always assume that someone is coming over to view your home.
6. Don’t Hide Major Problems
Here’s the thing: Transparency is the key to any successful negotiation. You cannot just hide problems in your home that could possibly turn into major issues later. Serious home buyers can hire home or property inspectors to make sure that the house they are about to buy is in tip-top condition. If your potential buyers find out that you tried to hide a major flaw about the house intentionally, not only is there a chance that they will back out from the deal, but they might also tell other people about it.
Be honest with your dealings. What you can do if you refuse to get it fixed yourself (maybe due to financial or time constrictions) is to offer the property at a discounted or lower price. Or again, if you don’t want to go through all that mess, you can always just sell the house to a wholesaler at a fair price.
7. Do Your Homework Before Closing The Deal!
Lastly, you have to do your homework before you start officialising any deal. With the sale of a property comes paperwork – and you have to make sure you know your paperwork! I would suggest getting in touch with your legal advisor, if you know one, or at least getting help from personal connections who have experience in selling residential properties. All in all, just make sure your signatures are in the right place and you are signing into a legitimate deal!
About the Author:
Maria Smith is a Professional Blogger with having 4+ years of experience in this field. She is an expert in writing Real Estate articles. She has good skills to write for people to guide them about selling or buying homes or places anywhere in the world.