If you have to move now, you need to sell your house quickly. Experts in home sales offer a number of suggestions to help you sell your house faster. Here are nine tips to help generate offers in a hurry when time is critical.
1. Do your research. Compare home sales in your neighborhood to price your home properly. If similar homes in your neighborhood are selling for $350,000, and you’re asking $400,000, your house may sit there for a while. Under-price your home to undercut the competition. A real estate agent familiar with the local market can help price your home to sell.
2. Update the kitchen. Polls show that a modern, updated kitchen is a major factor in seeing a quick sale. Spend a little to upgrade counter tops, appliances, cabinets and floors to improve the chances of a quick sale.
3. Use The Multiple Listing Service (MLS). When selling a home, timing is critical. When your home hits the market, there’s a large pool of buyers who’ve seen what’s available, and they’re still looking. Sign up with a real estate agency to get your home listed in the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) to receive the most exposure quickly and tap into this pool of eager buyers.
4. Neutralize your home’s interior. Take down the drawings on the refrigerator and the family portrait over the fireplace. Paint the bright-colored walls in neutral tones. Hide any evidence of pets, such as food bowls on the kitchen floor. Create a home that’s a blank canvas so prospects can envision their own furniture and color preferences.
5. Add curb appeal. You only have one chance to make a good first impression. Add some colorful plants to the front garden and keep the lawn trimmed and neat. Many buyers make their decisions quickly, and curb appeal helps them make the best decision for you.
6. If it’s broken, fix it. You may not notice the cracked tile in the bathroom or the loose hand rail on the stairs because you’ve lived with these problems for so long. However, home buyers are looking for problems, and each little “fix-it” may detract from the possibility of a home sale.
7. Have your home professionally cleaned. Steam clean carpets, sweep out the old fireplace ashes and polish the bathroom tiles. A dirty, cluttered home is harder to sell, so spend a little to spiff up the interior of your home and make a good impression.
8. Ask your agent to plan an open house. Tap into the pool of eager buyers by planning an open house. Add fresh flowers and other eye-catching touches to make your home look more attractive during this important event. In most cases, the agent will suggest that you leave during the open house event so prospective buyers feel free to give honest feedback, which can be very useful.
9. Be willing to negotiate. Determine your bottom line price – the least amount of money you need to pay off the mortgage and cover closing costs. Talk to your mortgage lender, your selling agent and your attorney to determine selling costs. Add these to the purchase price to keep costs under control. Consider offering to pay the buyer’s closing costs as an incentive. Then, negotiate to meet the terms of prospective buyers, and you may soon be enjoying a quick sale.