Selling your home fast is always a good idea, no matter the motivation. The longer the home is on the market, the less valuable it becomes so speed is of the essence. Derek Gutting, the top #2 ranking real estate agent in Indianapolis, Indiana, explained that “the longer the home is on the market, the higher the probability of getting a lower offer.”
If you are selling your home, you need to do it quickly. To accomplish that, you need to be smart.
We spoke to some of the best agents around the country and put together this quick little guide on the fastest way to sell a house.
1. Start With a Top Selling Real Estate Agent
Hiring a successful real estate agent is the first step to take once you make the decision to put your home on the market. They will serve as the main point of contact for both you and potential buyers by scheduling showings, crafting your listing, and marketing your property.
Homes sold without a real estate agent usually go for thousands of dollars less than if they were sold by an experienced agent. The reason is that selling your home without an agent is risky, time-consuming, and just plain hard work. If you don’t know what you’re doing you set yourself at a huge disadvantage.
We can’t express the importance of hiring a top real estate agent enough.
2. Be Smart About the Listing Price
Listing your home for the highest possible price almost seems logical. Buyers are sure to attempt to negotiate it down anyways, right?
Unfortunately, that’s not how it works at all.
Oftentimes, buyers don’t have the time nor patience to scope out homes that will require negotiations, explains real estate agent Djana Morris. “[listing the home above value] sounds like a sensible strategy for getting your desired price, but it assumes that buyers will make an offer that can then be negotiated.”
Gutting told us the same thing: if you list your house for too high a price, buyers won’t take an interest. If nobody bids on your home, it’s eventually going to become a stale listing. If your listing goes stale and sits on the market too long without any bids, buyer’s agents start to smell blood in the water and you might get a lower price in the end.
The best thing you can do when pricing your home is to look at the prices of other homes in the area and price accordingly. According to Gutting’s experience, if you list the home according to market value, you’ll create a bidding war and will likely receive an offer that’s at, close to, or even higher than the price the home is listed for.
3. Fake it Til’ You Make It
When you’re selling a home, appearance is everything.
There are two scenarios in which a home is viewed in: vacant and non-vacant. Gutting stressed that in both scenarios, appealing to people’s emotions is crucial. To do this, he recommends making 5 specific updates to your house:
- Replace the carpets
- Put fresh paint on the walls
- Update appliances if you can afford it
- Update your light fixtures
- Hire a landscaper and get the yard in line
These five pieces, along with decluttering and depersonalizing, drive sales because they give your house a “brand new” look and feel. The cleanliness and modern feel will hit buyers where it counts: their eyes and hearts.
If the house is vacant, though, hire a professional stager. Staging a home takes it from zero to hero overnight, and it’s often enough to expedite the process of selling your home. Gutting couldn’t stress the necessity of staging enough, mentioning that none of his homes that were set by a stager sold in more than thirty days.
That isn’t a coincidence. In fact, staged homes sell about 87% faster and for nearly 17% more than those left alone. The small upfront investment will pay off when you close the deal.
4. Keep Up With Current Technology
People won’t view the home, let alone buy it if they aren’t intrigued by your online real estate listing. Today, the internet is the driving force behind home sales, and you should keep that in mind if you want to sell your home fast.
According to the National Association of Realtors, 44% of prospective buyers started their house hunt online. “Contacting a real estate agent” trailed far behind in second, with only 17% of buyers starting in that spot.
However, we mean “online” in a specific sense.
Mobile devices are the most popular way to browse the web, with 71% of people in the United States choosing their smartphones and tablets over any other internet-connected device. When listing a home for sale, note that people will likely look at it from their mobile device.
Be especially vigilant about your house’s photos!
Professional photography of your home could leave you with thousands of dollars more than if you used low-definition ones. And, they need to be clear and sharp to stand out on mobile devices. If buyers aren’t impressed by the photos on the listing, they won’t bother visiting it.
5. Keep Your Friends Close… And Your Facebook Friends Closer
Social media is inescapable these days. Over 2 billion people worldwide use Facebook, making the social media site one of the strongest platforms for marketing. On average, each Facebook user has more than 200 Facebook “friends” with whom they share photos, news articles, and personal information.
Tapping into this wealth of potential buyers is a no brainer. By “sharing” your listing, you’re showing it to hundreds of people. If somebody else shares your post, all the better.
The Gutting Group uses Facebook to help the selling process. Gutting, whenever he is selling a home, puts the listing on his group’s Facebook page, which has garnered over 1,000 followers.
He also encourages his clients to do the same. In once instance, a client, who had a huge friend group on Facebook, shared the listing on her feed. Within 48 hours, the Gutting Group’s website received almost 400 hits that came from her post alone.
6. Don’t Cut Corners–Bring in the Pros
When it comes to selling your home quickly, cutting corners isn’t an option. Hire a top real estate agent, use technology wisely, and stage your home like it’s a castle; it won’t be long until your home is sold for a price that can’t be beaten.
See the full article here:https://www.homelight.com/blog/fastest-way-to-sell-a-house/
