It can feel overwhelming and stressful to sell your home! It may seem like there is an unending list of things to get done. We have compiled a list of 3 simple steps you can take to sell your home!
The first thing you need to do when selling your home is to get it ready to sell. Of course, this undertaking will differ from home to home. That being said, the process should always end with a house that is ready to sell. Get your house as similar looking to a vacant model home as possible. In order to complete this step of selling your home, there are three main things you need to do. These vital tips to getting your home ready are to repair it, improve it, and make it look brand new!
A major thing that home buyers look for in a home is if it has problems and things that need fixing. You are bound to have a home inspector go through your home before it is sold anyway, so why not get ahead of the game? You can do this by fixing anything damaged in your home before even listing it.
We would advise you to hire a home inspector while preparing your house to sell. This way, you have an accurate overview of what all needs to be repaired in your property. Not only will this save you some unforeseen fixes later on, but it will cause your potential buyers to put in an offer at top dollar.
If you want to get the greatest offer possible on your home, it may be necessary to upgrade some things. Take a look at comparable properties nearby (either search for online photos or have your Realtor walk you through some). As you look at these comps, take into account the status of the home’s features. Do they have updated wood floors? What kind of material are the counters? Was the carpet recently replaced? If the answers to these questions conclude recent improvements in the home, chances are you need to update your home to level/beat out the competition. If you choose to not upgrade your house, you may find that the offers on your home are significantly less than what you anticipated. You should discuss what improvements your home needs with your Realtor.
After repairing and improving your home, it’s time to finish up preparing it to sell, by making it look as good as new. This might take some time and effort, especially if your home has been through some wear and tear. At this point, you have already fixed and upgraded your home, so this step requires the finishing touches. You may need to restore areas of paint, clean your carpets, and freshen up your landscaping.
Along with freshening up and cleaning your home, clear away anything personal or specific to your interests. This will allow your potential buyers to imagine themself living in your home, with their own decorations and preferred items. By removing family pictures, posters, sports team’s banner, and personalized art from your house, buyers can imagine filling in the vacant space with their things. You want this to happen because it will help your potential buyer make an offer on your home. To complete making your home brand new, you may want to hire a professional to help you stage your home after you have put personal items in storage.
Now that your home is ready physically to be put on the market, you need to get it listed. To do this, we recommend several things:
The first thing you need to do when listing your home is to hire a Realtor. You won’t want to use someone to sell your home that is not a professional Realtor; such as a friend, neighbor, or family member. You should research good Realtors near you and use someone to sell your home who has past experience and positive reviews.
When choosing a Realtor, find out:
-
If they employ professional photographers to use for your home’s listing
-
How reliable they are when planning home showings
-
When they use a lockbox on your home if it will be secure or cheap and insecure
-
How many homes they have sold and how successful that amount is
-
What kind of reviews and testimonials they have received online
-
If they give the buyer’s agent a reasonable payment
-
Where your home will be advertised
-
If they have any special ways of marketing your home
These are just some of the things you should consider when hiring a Realtor. Your Realtor will greatly affect the efficiency of your home sale and at what price you sell it.
Pricing your home is something that takes a lot of thought before doing. It is important to ask your Realtor for their suggestion and take a look at comps to your home and their pricing. You want to price your home at an amount that will allow your home to sell quickly, but also at top dollar.
Chances are if your home just sits listed with no offers for a long amount of time, your home’s offers will begin to drop in price. If you listed your home at too high a price, you will end up having to drop your asking price even lower than you could've gotten for it, simply due to its inactivity on the market. If your house has been sitting with no showings or offers for weeks and months, buyers will offer you below your listing price. You may end up taking a low offer just from being so desperate to sell your house. If you list your home at the right price in the first place, you will avoid losing money from home selling exhaustion.
When your home is listed, make sure that it’s in a state that is ready to show at any time. If you are in the process of selling your home and have a showing scheduled unexpectedly, it will save you a lot of stress if your home is already presentable. Not only will this save you a last-minute rush, but it will help potential buyers make an offer quicker when they see your home looking clean and beautiful.
The most important thing to keeping your house presentable is to ensure that it is clean, has a pleasant scent, and doesn’t look dirty or sullied. You may also want to let some natural light in to draw attention to the best areas of your home. Make sure that your home is well lit when buyers see your home so it appears spacious, open, and friendly.
Once your home is ready to sell and listed on the market, the last step is to get the sale finished! If your home has an accepted offer you may be thinking the work is over, but it isn’t done quite yet. The following processes will help you to complete selling your home.
Once you have received multiple offers on your home, you may be feeling antsy to go ahead and accept one. However, you need to make sure you wait until you get the right and best offer! It would be a major bummer to accept an offer just because you like the amount of money presented, only to realize there are other issues with the buyer’s offer.
The offer price is an important factor in getting your home into contract, but there are other vital factors to consider. You should consider the down payment, kind of loan the buyer has, and the pre-approval letter before accepting any offer. Your Realtor has likely had a deal fall apart in the past, and will know what to watch out for when accepting a home offer. Talk to your Realtor about what things to beware of in buyers’ offers, such as their loan qualifications, the amount of payment they are willing to put down, and if they can provide for their own closing costs.
Communicate with your Realtor about any offers you receive, and they will help you spot any red flags and work out the details. Any good and experienced Realtor will walk you through your offers and help you pick the best one.
Eventually, you will have a sales contract in motion and then completed. During this time, you should keep in contact with your Realtor, title company, and any other people that are involved in your home sale transaction. Your Realtor should be in full communication with the buyer’s agent and lender, but make sure that they are truly doing that throughout the process of your home transaction.
Let everyone you are working with know that you have your head in the game by being ready to receive any information concerning your home sale, and staying in contact with them consistently. Make sure to be aware of what your real estate agent and lender are doing to get your home sold, and ensure everything that needs to be done, is done.
Once you have accepted an offer and the sales contract is executed, get the go-ahead from your lender and schedule your home closing. Contact the title company to plan what time and day your house will close. If you are hoping to receive funds on the same day your home closes, you should plan the closing to be in the morning. If you are on the west coast, the cut-off time for bank wiring is 6 pm eastern time. It is also best to schedule your closing on a day Monday-Thursday, so you don’t have to wait a whole weekend to receive your funds.
When heading to your home’s closing, make sure you bring your ID, house keys, openers to the garage, and any other documentation, receipts, and objects your buyer may need. Once you sign your paperwork at the closing, it should only be several moments until your job is completed. The buyers then must sign their portion of the deal, and everything gets finished up with the title company and lender. If everything was done correctly at the closing, your closing funds will appear in your account several hours later.
After this step is done, your home selling journey is complete! Congratulations!
Leave A Comment