SELLING YOUR PROPERTY?

Selling a home can be stressful, but if you are under a serious time crunch, it can be even more nerve-wracking. Whether you need to sell quickly for a new job, for financial reasons or because of a personal situation, there are a few tactics you can use to increase your home’s marketability, decrease your time on the market and attract strong offers. Here’s how to sell a house fast.

1. Clean and declutter

There are many strategies for selling a house fast, but when you’re short on time, one definite must is making your home’s interior appeal to as many buyers as possible.

• Pack away any extra belongings or large furnishings that are making rooms look crowded, small or messy

• Personal belongings, like family photos, keepsakes and religious items, distract buyers and prevent them from picturing themselves living in the home.

• Do a deep clean on every room of the house, including kitchen cabinets, bathroom tile and carpets. Since you’re short on time, consider calling in some professionals.

2. Pick a selling strategy

• When deciding how to list your home, there are two conventional sales options — selling for sale by owner (FSBO) or with a real estate agent —

  • Sell FSBO

  • If you want to sell fast on your own, you’ll have to be prepared to negotiate like a pro.

  • Be ready to negotiate tight timelines, contract paperwork, and consult an attorney to make sure all forms are filled out correctly. Knowing the ins and outs of the process is especially important if you need to sell your house fast.

  • Hire an agent

  • The upside to hiring a professional real estate agent is that they know what it takes to get a house sold. They’ll streamline things like contract preparation work, negotiations, signing and closing. 

3. Price to sell

•  20 percent of sellers said that their biggest challenge was selling within their desired time frame. Even if you’re selling in a sellers market, where there are many buyers competing for fewer homes, selling your house fast isn’t a guarantee.

• One thing that can really speed your selling process is pricing your home competitively. Overpricing will lead to more time on the market, and ultimately, you may end up selling at that lower price anyway — it’ll just take you longer to get there.

• You may even want to price your home a little lower than comparable homes in your area to drum up interest and cause a bidding war. The effectiveness of this strategy depends on the state of your local real estate market and how homes are selling in your area.

• When setting a price, you also may want to consider the price points that the majority of buyers search for within in your area. For example, if you list your home for $399,000, it’ll show up in search results for anyone that’s looking for homes under $400,000. But price it at just $405,000, and it’ll never show up in their search results. 

Consider sales incentives

• If you know your home is going to be a tough sale, either because of some unusual feature or because you’re selling in a slow market, it can sometimes be worth offering incentives to potential buyers to sweeten the deal. Examples include upfront repair or improvement credits, paying the buyer’s closing costs, or offering to include things like appliances, which aren’t always included in a sale.

4. Handle any quick repairs - important to take care of any easy fixes that might deter potential buyers:

• Every seller can benefit from a weekend spent spicing up their home’s interior and exterior. Making a good first impression with buyers is crucial -  having the home staged is important, a common tactic in real estate sales, especially if you’re looking for ways to sell your house fast. It helps define spaces and makes rooms look larger arranging it in a way that highlights your home’s best features.

  • Patch up spots where paint is peeled or scratched

  • Fix loose tiles, gutters

  • Repair loose door handles, oil squeaking doors

  • Tighten leaky pipes and taps

• You may also want to invest in a few minor upgrades that will make your home show better:

  • Apply a fresh coat of paint inside.​

  • Keep your yard 

• Your home’s exterior is the first in-person glimpse potential buyers will have of your home, so it’s important that it looks well-maintained and tidy.

  • Trim hedges, shrubs and overgrown tree branches.

  • Clear walkways and paths.

  • Clean windows and doorknobs.

  • Sweep away spiderwebs and debris from the front porch.

  • Replace broken lights or mailboxes.

  • Paint the front door.

  • Plant flowers.

5. Where to post your listing

• Whether you’re listing your home with an agent or going the FSBO (For Sell By Owner) route, you can post your listing on social media (via friends and family or with paid placements), as well as place flyers and signs around your neighborhood.

6. Be flexible with viewing appointments

• When selling your home quickly is the goal, it’s important to be as accommodating as possible with viewing appointment requests. Yes, last-minute viewing appointments can cause a scheduling scramble, but If you are not willing to accommodate buyers’ schedules, your home is at risk of sitting on the market for a long time.

7. Hold an open house

• A well-timed weekend open house is a must for selling your house quickly. It’s the easiest way to get multiple buyers through the door. Make sure to prepare accordingly — clean the home, offer a few treats and prepare flyers that buyers can take with them after their tour.

8. Private viewings

• It’s important to be as accommodating as possible in showing your home, even if it means keeping your house tour-ready around the clock.

• If you’re listing your house FSBO, be prepared to host your own tours. If you’re working with an agent, they should do a tour for you. If at all possible, the seller should avoid attending the showing — it can make buyers uncomfortable.