Are you ready to sell your home but don’t know where to start? It might feel like an overwhelming process, but it doesn’t have to be! There are a few tried and true tips that make the process of getting your house sold much smoother.
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1. First Impressions Matter
You’ll need to start by working on your home’s curb appeal. No matter how nice the inside looks, it just won’t sell if potential buyers have a bad first impression before they even enter the house. First impressions are crucial when trying to sell your home.
You want potential buyers to feel impressed as they walk up to your home. Planting flowers, painting, decorating, and keeping the lawn nice are all things you can do to contribute to your home’s curb appeal. Overall, too many sellers forget that first impressions do matter. If you work on the outside of your home first, you’ll have the edge over the competition too.
2. Choose the Right Price
The wrong price will drive away potential buyers, so you need to ensure it’s right. As a general rule, you should figure out exactly how much your home is worth and the current market conditions when deciding on an asking price. Doing so can help you sell your home a lot faster. You’ll draw in more buyers, who then start bidding with each other. If you set your asking price lower than your home’s value, it’s likely to go above this amount during the bidding.
Lowering the price initially is sure to get you better results in getting your house sold. You create a competition between the potential buyers, which works out in your favor as a property seller. Plus, many sellers are afraid to lower their prices, which rarely works out for them.
3. Avoid a Down Payment On the New House
You can also secure a mortgage to purchase your next home without offering a down payment. Very few people know this, but it helps a lot when you quickly move into a new home.
Before getting a loan, you’ll need to know how much equity you have in your current property. In the financial world, equity is the difference between the value of your home and the amount you still owe on the mortgage. For example, if your property is worth $80,000 and you still owe $20,000, you have $60,000 in equity.
Now that you know what you have in equity, you’ll need to know how to access it to pay for your new home. There are a few ways you can use your equity for your new home. Refinancing or using an offset savings account are usually the best options when you have equity.
However, there are still some options without using equity. You can participate in loan programs, such as the USDA Housing Loan. The USDA established this loan intending to assist low to moderate-income homebuyers. It doesn’t require a down payment to use.
4. Hire a Real Estate Agent
Next, you’ll want to have a selling agent on your side. Many people believe that not having a real estate agent will save them money. However, hiring one can significantly speed up selling your property and get you the highest possible offers for your home.
Agents know a lot about the listings in your area and have information that only local agents would know. They can accurately price your home and have plenty of tools available to give it the exposure it needs to sell. Overall, you’re going to get a lot farther with a real estate agent. Many people who try to sell on their own end up regretting it.
5. The Kitchen is Most Important
Inside of the home, the kitchen is one of the most important rooms. Sellers who remodel their kitchens often make back the money they spent when their home sells. However, old, outdated kitchens can cost you a lot of money off the sale.
While remodeling a kitchen is expensive, you’ll still want to consider it. You don’t need to have the most beautiful, advanced kitchen- but new cabinets, counters, and paint can go a long way in improving your odds of getting your house sold. Most buyers go into home shopping knowing they’ll want to redo the bedrooms beforehand. However, most people want to move into a home with a kitchen that has already had remodeling done.
6. Keep Your Home Show Ready
It would help if your home were ready to show at all times. You want your home clean and ready to be put on display whenever a potential buyer wants to see it. This process can be challenging because you may feel as if you’re constantly cleaning. Start by washing the dishes as soon as you make them. Then, declutter your home’s surfaces at the end of each day. It helps to have a list to look over when cleaning, so you know that you won’t miss anything.
Keeping your home show-ready also means keeping it free of personal items. You want potential buyers to easily imagine how their lives would be in the home. Too many personal things can detract from that for them.
Overall, it’s challenging to keep your home show-ready, but you’ll need to do it if you want it to sell any time soon. As the selling process drags on, people can give up. However, you’ll need to stay motivated!
Make Sure You’re Ready
Moving and selling your property is a considerable commitment to make. You’ll need to make sure that you are emotionally ready to have your house sold too. People often forget this part. Moving and selling a home is stressful, but you should still check in with yourself.
Then, make sure that you’re also financially ready to move out of your property. You won’t want to move somewhere that you can’t afford. Overall, there’s a lot to consider, so make sure to sit down and think things through before committing.
Gabe Nelson
Gabe Nelson is a content specialist with over 7 years of experience. Just out of high school he set off crab fishing on the Bering sea in Alaska. From there he went back home to finish his college degree at the University of Montana. He has a passion and keen understanding when it comes to property financing inside and out. He has written hundreds of content pieces in numerous niches. Currently, he lives in Missouri with his wife and kids.
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