When you decide to put your house on the market, you want to finalize the sale as quickly as possible and still make the most out of it. However, this isn’t always the case since selling a home is often incredibly stressful and even more nerve-wracking, especially if you’re under time pressure. In most cases, homes sit on the market for weeks, if not months, triggering price reductions that eventually significantly reduce your profit margins.
However, it doesn’t always have to work out this way. There are a few strategies you can employ to make your house more appealing to potential buyers so that you can sell it faster and for top dollar. Here are some top tips that can help increase your chances of selling your home quickly and get the most for it:
1. Pick a Selling Strategy
The first thing you should do before listing your home is to have a selling strategy that will enable you to sell faster. One of your options is the for sale by owner (FSBO), which involves selling your house on your own, saving you money on the agent commission.
If you choose this option, you need to be prepared to market and negotiate like a professional to sell fast and for the highest possible price. Alternatively, you can work with an experienced professional who can help you navigate the sale process and avoid mistakes that could prolong the time your house stays on the market.
Probably the fastest way to sell your house quickly is to sell to a cash home buyer. Dealing with a cash buyer can help you close the sale faster and save money and time on renovations since you are selling your home in its current condition. After choosing your preferred selling strategy, stick to it since constantly changing could turn off potential buyers.
2. Stage Everything
If you want to make a good first impression with prospective buyers and make the most out of your house sale, you should consider staging your home before listing it. Staging usually involves decorating and arranging your home to reduce clutter and maximize appeal.
This pre-listing activity helps conceal your home’s flaws and highlight its top features, like the scenic backyard views and stunning fireplace. It also helps make your rooms look larger and define different spaces in your home, which helps buyers imagine themselves and their families living there.
To properly stage your home, get rid of trash and clutter in and around your home. This includes removing knickknacks from the surfaces and storing them away. Clear off your bathroom and kitchen countertops, removing appliances you don’t use often. Declutter your closets to make your storage space appear more ample.
Replacing your furniture with simple, more elegant pieces and arranging them nicely can help highlight the best features of your home’s interiors and make the space look more welcoming and warmer. Adequately staging your home can help attract many potential buyers and sell it above the asking price.
3. Promote Your Listing
Effective marketing can also go a long way in helping attract as many prospective buyers as possible so that you can sell your house fast. Promote your listing by posting photos of the house on different social media groups and pages. Digital marketing is crucial for promoting your listing and attracting potential buyers since more than 95% of home buyers start their search on the internet.
Make sure your listing photos highlight your home’s best features to get prospective buyers interested in purchasing the house even before they visit it in person. Hence, consider hiring a professional photographer to ensure you take high-quality photos of your home’s interiors and exterior and post them on your social media channels.
You may also consider sharing video tours and 3D tours of your house for potential buyers to have a more detailed view of your home. Besides digital marketing, create flyers of your listing and distribute them in key neighborhoods.
4. Depersonalize Your Home
Potential buyers interested in your home must be able to imagine themselves and their families living in your house before they make an offer. It’s critically important that you depersonalize your home as much as possible. To depersonalize your home, remove all your family memorabilia and photographs.
Make sure to remove your children’s artwork from the refrigerators, any toys on the floors, religious and political pieces, and anything else that could prevent buyers from envisioning themselves living in the house with their families.
After removing your family photos and memorabilia, you can replace them with neutral decorations like neutral art and colors that appeal to many buyers. You can also choose to leave the spaces without any decorations but ensure you remove any nails on the walls and repair the nail holes. Doing this can help potential buyers think more about the house and less about you when they come for showings.
5. Price to Sell
Another thing that can help accelerate your house sale is pricing it competitively. This is crucial since overpricing your home can make it stay on the market for a longer time, such that you end up selling it at a lower price. On the other hand, overpricing can make you lose more than 90% of the interested buyers. That means selling your home quickly isn’t always guaranteed, even in a seller’s market, as long as you’ve priced it wrong.
The solution is to price your home competitively or even a little lower than similar homes in your neighborhood to get potential homebuyers interested and attract stronger offers. However, this strategy’s effectiveness will mostly depend on your local real estate market conditions and the current prices of homes in your area. Be sure also to set a date to offer a discount if you haven’t received any offers.
Endnote
Selling a house can be extremely stressful, especially when selling on a tight deadline. However, following the tips above can help streamline and accelerate the entire process, ensuring you finalize the sale faster and maximize your profits.