There can be plenty of reasons many people choose to sell their home. It may be because they want a bigger space, employment reasons, or relocating for school. But no matter the reason, the process of preparing, marketing, and selling a property can be stressful and challenging. There might even be an instance wherein the process can be quite emotional for many homeowners because, after all, it’s a huge investment.
If this will be your first time selling a house, the process requires a huge amount of prep work you need to consider. The following are the crucial steps on how you can ensure to have a smooth home selling process.
1. Seek the help of a real estate agent.
Finding a good real estate agent is now made easy because of the Internet. With just a few mouse clicks, you can readily look into the agents’ profiles, professional designations they have earned, and even the number of sales they have complete. When doing your search, pay attention to where they typically market the listings and how they do it. Do they write attractive listing descriptions? Do they use professional photos?
Other homeowners choose not to hire a real estate agent’s services, thinking that it can save them money. The truth is, a qualified agent can provide wide exposure for your home, market it to the best potential buyers, and negotiate on the best price on your behalf. Apart from that, managing the entire selling process can be tedious work. You have to prep your home, market it, talk to multiple potential buyers, and do all the negotiations.
2. Prep it and take photos of it.
While costly upgrades are not recommended, basic repairs and improvements are still vital if you want your home to look great for the market. Opt for a reliable contractor who can repaint your old cabinetry or fix those leaky faucets and other plumbing fixtures. Make sure to hire only those who earned a general contractor licensing to ensure your cover should any unfortunate incident happens during the work.
After doing some minor repairs, you can now take photos of the property for listing. Typically, such a task is already covered by the services of a real estate agent. In case the agent can’t do it for you, thousands of professional stagers can do the job. Such experts can even advise you on properly decluttering and improving your home’s appeal to the market.
3. Choose the best time to sell.
Another crucial aspect to look into is the best time to put your house on sale. Check your local real estate market’s state and identify which months do most buyers search for homes. This will allow you, as a seller, to have an easy negotiation with potential buyers, and the best part is you can even drive up rates.
In terms of the national real estate market, early May is the ideal time to sell a property. In fact, according to a Zillow research, homes in the United States that are listed for sale during the first half of May sell about $1,600 more than other listings. Following these recommended times will allow you to have a faster sale and get a better deal.
4. Decide on the price of your house.
One of the most common mistakes of homeowners when selling their house is overpricing. Check your local real estate market and compare the prices of the houses. Use houses with similar condition, features, and size as yours as your reference. If you can find ones that are in the same location as you, that’s better.
Don’t price your property too high, then lower it over time because you can’t attract any buyers for it. As you know, price is usually the first thing buyers look into. Also, consider the fact that most buyers will try to ask for a discount. For such reason, it’s ideal for adding about 5% to 10% of your expected selling price.
5. Time to market your home.
If you’ve chosen to hire a real estate agent, they can typically present a marketing campaign to advertise your house to a broad audience. It’s ideal to use multiple listing channels – the more places your home shows up, the more people will see it.
As already mentioned above, use professional photos and enticing descriptions made by the agent or stager you hire. Or you can do it yourself. These marketing materials are a huge help in highlighting the best amenities and features of your house. Also, schedule as many showings as you can, such as open houses or private tours.
The home selling process is undeniably a daunting task. It’ll cost you time and money, but if you do everything right, you’ll definitely get more than what you expect. Use our guide above and don’t hesitate to seek a professional agent’s help to assure a better sale.
