When selling your home, the goal of advertising, pricing, and preparing your property is to appeal to as many people as possible, right? Although your home might have unique features, the bigger net you can cast, the better chances you have to real in “the one”.
Here’s 3 tips to bring your house to the market with the highest chance for success.
1) Compare
Just like how we dress, do our makeup or hair, it can be hard to look objectively at ourselves and see where we could use a little updating. It’s no different with your house, when you’re thinking of selling. Have a good friend with a good eye, or a trusted real estate professional come over and analyze how to de-personalize the house, with still keeping its appeal. A huge factor towards the success of selling your home is making a commitment to only show it in its best light. If you’re not sure how to approach that, I always like to use the example of a model home. When you visit a new-home center, and they show you the models, you remember how it was showcased? With just the right amount of furniture? It smelled wonderful, was immaculate, and was decorated in a neutral but appealing way. We want to make yours just as model-worthy.
Toys & clothes everywhere, clutter, mismatched furniture, and 6 different colors on the walls can be a big turn-off. If it’s been awhile since you’ve bought or sold, try peeking in at other listings in your area. Although your experience and patronage to your listing may end up being different from one of your neighbors, it’s helpful to at least know what buyers’ options are.
2) Face the truth
Sometimes hearing the truth can sting, but it’s usually done out of love and care. If you’ve been hearing all around you the market is hot, you can get any price for your home, and then find out the hard way reality is quite different, it can be a huge let down.
Facing up to the truth can take courage. The biggest thing to know, is, it’s not an attack on where/how you live. It’s helpful feedback from professionals that want to see you succeed and get the absolute top value from your home. If you’re open to it, having buyer, buyers brokers, and a staging professional give you feedback on your home before it hits the market may give you the valuable information you need. This could include:
– You may need to seriously invest in cleaning, staging, and sprucing up
– Your home may need repairs/may not be as desirable, and be worth less than you hoped.
De-cluttering and staging makes a huge difference
Having the courage to listen to sound feedback can help you avoid the drama, let-down, and sting of having a house sit on the market an unusually long amount of time with no or low offers. Being open to the advice gives you the power to change what you can, attract more buyers, and be more in control of the sale of your home.
3) Be active in the sale
The large majority of sellers choose to have an agent represent them in the sale of their home. That doesn’t mean you hand over the keys and wait for a paycheck, though.
You have a large part in the outcome of your homes sale, so be sure to tag-team with your Realtor to accomplish your common goal.
– The proof is in the pudding, so make sure you sit down with someone that can show you what’s available, what’s sold, and what yours could fetch in “as-is” value and “top notch” value. Pay attention to the comparables and make a reality-based decision with listing price.
– Listen to their/others feedback to make sure the home is going to be “model worthy” when shown.
– Cooperate with the buyers agent, buyer, title personnel, inspectors, etc to help get your home sale closed as smoothly as possible
Even though their may be bumps in the road, much of it can be eliminated by having a professional at the helm. Working alongside an agent that can guide you through the selling process can help you get top value for your home, even in a changing market.
Want to work with a specialized listing agent in the Phoenix-Metro area? Reach out to us first to find out about our staging, listing, and selling expertise and how they benefit you!
Tracy (G+) is an Arizona Short Sale Realtor, Investor, Rehabber, and Foreclosure Expert.
She also is an avid blogger, vlogger, contributor to Real Estate Magazines, and hosts Real Estate Rescue, a show dedicated to the distressed property market.
