Selling Your Home: Tips for a Faster, Better Offer

Virtually every homeseller wants to get the best offer that they can when selling their property. Who wouldn’t? But it’s much easier said than done. The factors that play into the price of your home depend on a lot of things, many of which are out of your control.

But, there are at least a few factors that you can take advantage of and use in your favor to up your chances of getting a better, faster offer on your home. In this post, we’ll talk about options of all different sizes, so that you can pick the ones that work best for you and your property.

Physical Property Improvements

It’s your house, and you’ve got it decorated to your taste, but it might not be conducive to offers. Many small improvements can include repainting using a neutral color, taking care of small repairs, and finishing up any half-completed projects.

If you always meant to upgrade the bathroom or change the flooring in the kitchen, now is the time. Do some research on which improvements will net you the most profit and which improvements are really necessary in your property.

Showing a home that has half-finished rooms, or mismatched flooring just doesn’t compel buyers to make an offer. Think about it this way: the buyer is looking to buy a home, not necessarily a project.

Home Staging and Landscaping

While you may consider home staging an unnecessary expense, as mentioned above, your tastes may not be neutral enough to really attract a buyer. They need to be able to envision their things in the home, and if your décor is too bold, they might have trouble doing that.

A professional home stager can help you to decorate your home in a way that enhances the best features of the home, while also setting the stage for a potential buyer to picture themselves living in the home.

Once you have the inside of your property taken care of, take a look outside:

• The Lawn should be cut
• Trees should be pruned
• Flower beds should be weeded and watered
• Decks and patios should be painted and in good shape
• The front entrance should be welcoming

Financial Incentives

If you want a quick sale and a good price, you can offer incentives to your potential buyers in the form of gift cards, electronics, and other items. Common incentives include gift cards to be used for appliance upgrades, credits at flooring or paint stores, and custom furniture or home theatre systems.

These are useful if you are aware of upgrades that need to be done, but don’t have the time or the money to do them. It also appeases the buyer in letting them know that they will be able to choose the colors or styles that they prefer.

This also helps you because instead of the buyer bringing up the issues when making an offer and coming up with a price that they think is fair, you have control from the beginning. Offering incentives like these can be a lot cheaper than having to actually complete the upgrades or renovations that you are offering credits for.

Let Go of Sentiment

It’s your home, and you likely have a lot of memories associated with the property. Maybe you have your children’s heights marked in a doorway, or maybe the out-of-control rose bush in the backyard was given to you by your sweetheart on your first anniversary.

Whatever the property holds for you in a sentimental sense, you need to cherish the memories in your heart instead of in your home. If you are truly ready to sell your home, you need to realize that the buyer won’t feel any emotional connection to the memories that you have.

Again, it’s important for them to think of having those same memories as you’ve had in the home. All of the good moments and happy days are ahead of them, so move some of your memories to make way for theirs.

While you’re doing that, let go of some control as well. Perhaps the new property owner will want to make changes to the home, perhaps they’ll love it as is. If you really want to sell, you have to motivate yourself by accepting that you made the best home for yourself, but that a new buyer might see potential in the property that you hadn’t even thought of yet.

Be Proactive

To really determine an asking price, you should be sure to get an appraisal. This will tell you the current value of your home based on its condition, the real estate market in your area, and a number of other factors.

It will give you an idea of where your current home value stands compared to what you want to get for it. If you want a higher price, look into renovations, improvements, and repairs as mentioned above.

It’s also a good idea to make sure that your property is up to code. An interested buyer will likely request a home inspection, but it’s a good idea to have one of your own beforehand. This will show you some things that you could fix, upgrade, or change before a buyer comes in. Anything you do can be added to a “recent improvements” list, and used as incentive for a future buyer.

Price Competitively

To sell your home quickly you’ll want to price it well. Look at other homes in the area to see what they are selling for. A realtor can also provide you with a list of homes that recently sold in your neighborhood, and what they sold for.

To price your home at a reasonable price for both parties, you should consider having an expert assist you. Realtors are aware of the market and its ups and downs, and they can guide you in choosing a number that makes you comfortable, and that will attract a buyer.

They’ll also be able to help you with areas that you could improve in order to gain value. This will, in turn, allow them to market your property strategically by choosing the perfect places to advertise and by showcasing the best aspects of your home.

Have an Open House

Once your property is ready to go on the market, plan an open house. If you have a realtor, this is one area that they can help in. Advertise your open house in places where you think your buyers would look. Target your potential buyers by approaching them where you think they will see your ad. Different buyers will look in different places, so if you figure out who you think your buyer will be, you can learn where they are most likely to see your property advertisement.

For example, younger people are more likely to look online. This includes on buy and sell websites, real estate sites, and even social media.

Older buyers may be more likely to notice a sign on a street or an ad in a newspaper.

Getting them into the home is the first step in an offer process, so doing a little research on who your buyer might be can help you to get them to show up at your open house.

Show, Accept, and Sell

If you’ve done all you can to make your property the best that it can be, the next steps after your showing should be to evaluate offers, accept the one you think works best, and move on to the actual selling process.

Once the deal is done, you are all set to start on your next adventure.

What have you done to prepare your home for sale? In your opinion, what’s the best thing a seller can do to prepare a home for a buyer?