Selling a house can be an exciting time. However, in the current state of the housing market, there is not much of a margin available to goof around. Do not assume that buyers will see your home and immediately fall in love with it. These are five key things any home seller can do to ensure that he/she will not make a sale on their home. Make sure you are not guilty of doing any of them.
Underestimate the Value of Marketing
You might be under the impression that all it is going to take to sell your home is one photo and a For Sale sign, but in actuality, it takes a lot of marketing hard work. You will need at least thirty photos of your house – inside and out, internet advertising, and home viewings to begin tapping into the possibility of getting a decent price on your home.
You will need to increase your home’s online presence significantly due to many people resorting to the internet for their home searches these days as well.
Sell the House By Yourself
Only those who are experienced in selling and buying homes are really experienced enough to take on a For Sale by Owner sale, but if you are a first-time seller, you had better stick with professional help. Simply enough, there is too much money at stake for you not to enlist the help of a realtor and possibly an attorney to help you with laws. Before you go hiring a realtor, be sure to take advantage of free consultations, check up on references, and go with someone that has proven themselves in the past to sell homes for great prices.
Avoid Renovation and Leave Broken Things Un-fixed
For this part, put yourself in the buyer’s shoes. If you walked through a house that obviously needed tile work, drainage repair, or a total renovation of any sort, would you feel comfortable buying? Buyers are already splitting their necks by throwing down such large sums of money for homes; the last thing that they want to do after purchasing homes is put in more money for repairs. You can easily find things to fix in your home by doing a simple walk-through.
Leave Your House Completely Personalized
It might be hard, but you want to neutralize your home as much as possible to make it attractive for buyers. This means you should take down any photos of you and your family, put up collectibles, and take the family pet to a relative’s for the day. Leaving things like this in your home while buyers peruse it sends an unwanted message, and that’s, “This house belongs to me; not you.”
Get Offended By Low Offers
Lastly, do not huff and puff at the first person to offer you an unattractive price for your home. Low offers are great opportunities to negotiate with the buyer. Additionally, the buyer might love your home, yet they do not know exactly what you are expecting regarding price. Know how to negotiate, and know where to draw the line if you are legitimately not interested in an offer.
