Things to Consider Before Selling Your Home
Do you think it is time to sell your home? It may sound like a happy adventure but listing your house up for sale is no easy task. It requires lots of preparation and an in-depth understanding of how real estate market works in terms of pricing the home appropriately, making your house look ready for sale and leveraging best marketing strategies to attract enough exposure. So, what are other things to consider before selling your house? Here is a list of some of important factors that you should look into before you place your house up for sale:
1. Choose a professional real estate agent
It takes a lot of time, effort and hard work to sell your home. But this rough journey can be a smooth sail if you choose to work with a competent and reliable real estate firm. It helps you two-ways as it not only frees you up from the time-consuming responsibilities but also makes sure that you are able to sell your house quickly with maximum profits. Whether it is helping you to price your home accurately by using their real-time data and market statistics, market your house in the best of lights by using latest digital marketing strategies, suggest better ways to stage your house effectively for the home buyers or act as a third-party negotiator between you and the buyer, a professional real-estate agent plays an important role in making sure that selling your house is a smooth journey with no unexpected complications. What’s more, a trusted real estate agent will also screen potential buyers so that you don’t have to deal with strangers knocking at your door.
2. Price your home right
Price of a property is the primary factor that attracts most home buyers in the very first place. Overpricing is one of the most common mistake that can affect the sale your house. One must remember that the price of your house is not determined by the amount that you paid for it but what is its current market value. Pricing your property too high will only discourage the interested parties – resulting in your house sitting on the market with no offers from buyers. Hire the services of a professional real estate agent who can help you price your property right so that it can attract more buyers and help you sell your house as quickly as possible.
3. Don’t undermine the power of marketing
Marketing your property using all the right strategies will get your house enough exposure. If you think that a photo of your house along with a prominent “For Sale” sign in your yard will attract potential buyers, you must think again. You must leverage the latest internet based advertising tactics to make sure your house is getting the attention you would want it to garner. Professional real estate agent firms have in-house marketing people who can help you package and market your house in the most appropriate manner. If your property is sitting on the market for too long, it will eventually bring lesser traffic and you might be forced to sell your house at a drastically reduced price.
4. Make sure your house is ready to be shown
It is extremely important to throw spotlight on the best assets of your house and make your house look impressive, attractive and of course ready for sale. In real estate language, it is called home-staging. Here are a quick tips to be ready to show your house to potential buyers:
- Make the exterior of your house attractive by keeping the garden well-maintained, giving your house a fresh lick of paint, cleaning the sidewalks, clean and polish the hardware such as doorknobs, porch lights, mailbox, knocker and locksets.
- Fix things that are broken and need immediate repair and maintenance.
- Clean the interiors thoroughly as any home buyer will love to see a clean, sparkling house. Make sure that your living room, hallways, bedrooms, kitchen and bathrooms are absolutely spotless with no stains and greasy spots.
- It is better that your home look light and airy. You can do that by simply allowing natural light to stream into the room. It not only adds cheer to your house but also creates an impression of big, huge space.
- Get rid of the clutter and organize the way you have stored things in your cupboards and closets. Keep and store things in the designated place to make the area look clean. Cluttered spaces have a way of distracting the buyers from the important features.
If you want to know more about how you can stage your house more efficiently, read Tips to make your house look ‘ready for sale’
5. Be careful with legal issues and drawing contracts
Drawing contracts and closings is probably one of the most risky aspect of selling your home. It is always better to hire a professional expert who has experience and understanding of drawing contracts and reading finer prints to avoid any legal hassles later. Make sure you have included the final price and date for selling your house and also the list of house items that will be included and excluded in the sale. Always remember that you are directed by the law to reveal any material defects in your house to the potential buyer.
6. Have documents ready
When you are getting ready to sell your home, start gathering paper and documents related to your home so that all the information is out there in open. Here are a few examples of paperwork records you might need to be ready with before selling your house:
- Gas, electric and water bills copies from the last 12 months
- Home improvement projects and repair bills
- Age of water heater, central air conditioning & any instruction manuals
- Any outstanding mortgage balance
- Certificate of permits such as fence, deck or shed permits