If it is time to sell your home, then you have probably already spent hours cleaning your home, removing clutter, inside and out, and making it look like the latest trend in home design magazines.
While you may have already spent countless hours planning on how buyers and real estate agents will be interested in your property, below are the 10 easy steps you can do to sell your home fast at your asking price.
1. List Your Home With The Right Real Estate Agent
Do not choose your uncle who happens to have his real estate agent’s license to sell your home without doing some research first. Ask yourself who is most likely to be attracted to your home. Is it a young family just starting out, a retired couple looking to downsize or a professional who will do lots of entertaining in the home? Then, find an agent that specializes in that area. They have the clientele to sell your home quickly.
2. Time Your Sale
Go on a mental stroll around the property and decide on its strongest assets. Then list your home at the time of year that people are emotionally tied to that area. For example, if you have a great outdoor entertainment area, list your home in the late spring, so that buyers can look forward to entertaining in that area all summer long. Alternatively, if the kitchen is the strongest asset, then offer your home in the late fall when buyer’s are looking to entertain indoors.
3. Pictures
The first place that buyers often look at a home is online. Therefore, pictures really do tell the story. If your real estate agent does not use one, consider getting the pictures done yourself by a professional real estate photographer. Open all blinds in rooms that are to be photographed, make sure all clutter is removed, and everything is spotless.
4.First Impression Lasts
You never get a second chance to make a first impression, so make sure the first impression is a good one. Make sure buyers can enter the home without walking around any obstacles, spruce up the outside of the home and clean everything inside the home. Position plants to add a splash of color inside and out.
5. Call a trusted Building and Pest Inspection
Handle any issues with the home before listing it. Get building and pest inspections done by a professional and then handle any problems that are on the report. After you are done fixing the problems, then get another inspection and have it ready to show potential buyers.
6. Re-decorate the dining area
The kitchen is one of its biggest selling points. Make certain it is clutter free, even if you have to put things in storage. Remove children’s artwork and magnets from the refrigerator. You need to make an emotional connection to your potential buyers through their senses so put a loaf of bread in the oven, fresh brightly colored fruit on the table, and play some soft background music.
7. Stylize the Home
Vacant homes do not sell as well as homes that are lived in. Therefore, make it obvious to the buyer the intended purpose of each area of the home. If possible, hire a home stylist to style your home or carry out ideas from the latest home design magazines that will appeal to those looking to buy your home.
8. Remove Your Personal Items
Most home owners accumulate lots of photos and keepsakes while they live in a home. Now is the time to remove them. Buyers cannot visualize their own items there if yours are in the way. You will need to pack them up in the end anyway, so now is the time to do that.
9. Increase Lighting
Make sure all lights inside the home are working properly. If you have a dark corner, then add a lamp to that area. Do not forget about the outside, as buyers often drive by at night. If needed, use solar lighting to increase the amount of outside lighting.
10. Outdoor
Power wash the outside of the home so that everything is spotless. If you have dead areas in the grass, plant a flower bed or place potted flowers over this area. Install a new door mat. If you have a privacy fence, make sure it is in great shape.
