Get It Sold With These Four Home Selling Tips
Posted on 25.2.2019
If you’re considering buying a brand-new house from SEDA New Homes or are already in the process, you may need to get the home you’re moving from on the market and sold quickly. Here are four home selling tips that can help.
Declutter and Stage Your Home
If you’ve lived in your home for any length of time, you’ve probably added to your personal belongings in a way that made you feel comfortable. When it comes time to sell your home, though, less can definitely be more. Consider removing personal photos and knick-knacks to help potential buyers envision themselves in the space. It’s also a good idea to remove any religious or political items.
You may also decide to remove excess furniture—and then, take a step back and try to look at your home from the perspective of a buyer who is viewing your home. This may inspire you to move furniture away from your walls and otherwise make it roomy and easy for prospective buyers to walk around without bumping into anything. Reposition your furniture in cozy groupings, making your home look comfortable and friendly.
Also, pay attention to your closets. Every buyer wants to ensure there’s enough storage, right? Remove about half of your closeted belongings and then neatly organize what’s left. Do the same with any cabinets in your home, such as in your kitchen and bathrooms.
Finally, if you’ve got a room that you use mostly for storage, transform it into a functional room, perhaps using furniture that you’ve removed from other rooms to create space.
Price Your Home Strategically
When you first put your home on the market, that’s when you’ll likely get the most traffic to the property. In fact, the first 30 days are crucial. Although it can be tempting to price your home high to give yourself wiggle room if a buyer negotiates, starting with too high of a price can cause you to lose your early momentum. Instead, focus on fair and reasonable pricing.
To determine what’s reasonable to ask for your home, you can talk to trusted real estate agents who can look to see what comparable homes in your area have sold for recently (recent “comps”). Through them, you can also find out how long it took for these houses to sell and whether or not the sellers needed to reduce their asking prices to get the sale. If so, by how much?
You can also look at home search sites to get general pricing information. Some of the more popular ones include:
If friends or family members have recently sold their own homes, ask them what resources they used to price their homes and what they’ve learned from the experience.
Find Another Place for Pets to Stay
Whenever you’re showing a house, it makes good sense to keep the pets out of the home, along with their food and water bowls, beds and toys. While you never want to be dishonest about pet ownership if a prospective buyer asks a question on the subject, some prospective buyers may become more cautious about buying a home where pets live. They assume, often mistakenly, that stains and smells will linger.
Make It Easy For People to Find You
This includes making sure that your listing is found on home search sites such as those described above. If you have a real estate agent, he or she will likely do this for you, but it never hurts to double-check or explore new options. Social media can also be a powerful tool to spread the news, both yours and your real estate agent’s. Ask friends to share the posts with people they know who are buying a home.
Work with your real estate agent to hold open houses at times convenient times for buyers and get the word out about when they’re scheduled. In 2019, FitBusiness.com listed 41 tips to create the most successful open houses ever, and they range from offering food and drink to opening the curtains to let the sunshine in. Make sure people can see the signs that are advertising your open house, as well, so it’s hassle-free to find you.
You can also consider a themed open house. If, for example, the house is in a Spanish Hacienda style, one expert suggested that playing light, relevant music can help, along with offering tapas. A well-chosen theme can make your home stand out from the rest. It’s all about being memorable.
SEDA New Homes
Have questions about buying from SEDA New Homes? Just stop by the SEDA New Homes community to tour a model home and speak to our friendly agents.