Make your home sell quickly and for the best price by making your home more appealing to a wider range of buyers. When the real estate market is slow, which is most years, you need to attract as many buyers to your home as possible. Home sellers need to sell their homes fast as they quickly become stale on the property market. When buyers know a property has been on the market for a while, they think there must be something wrong and avoid it.
Staging Your Home
One of the most important things you can do to sell a home is call in the staging professionals. Staging businesses present a home with new, luxury furnishings to create a warm, inviting appeal to the tastes and preferences of most people. Staging gives buyers a good idea how best to furnish your home and make it look it’s best. Stagers are experienced at making rooms look larger and more homely than when they are empty. Also, real estate agents like to take property photos of staged homes rather than empty rooms. And it is a fact that staged homes sell for as much as 15 percent more that those that are not.
When a home has been staged, sellers see the difference in the response from buyers and the demand for their property increases. Staging professionals know what buyers are looking for and can present the home with the latest trends in furnishings. The seller has to pay for any recommended renovation and the professional staging fees. However, it will still be more profitable than reducing the selling price of your house.
Staging professionals are very experienced with the colors that sell, the furnishing in the house that makes it more appealing to those who come for an inspection. They also have a good idea of how the space inside the house must be used for maximum utility.
It’s a fact that well staged houses sell much faster than those that are not.
Make Your Home Sell with Color
A simple and popular color palette that professionals use can never go wrong. Trends change but some basic colors never go out of fashion. Professionals generally recommend neutral colors that have a wide appeal. Then you can add furnishings with a splash of color to liven up the home.
Make Your Home Sell with Luxury Furniture
Have you ever been in a builders display home? They always place expensive, beautiful furniture in every room to make the home look and feel fabulous. Of course, when you sign up for a home to be built on your land, you aren’t buying the furniture. But the furnishings make the display home look great and appealing to all. That’s how they sell you a home. Razzle and dazzle you with luxury to appeal to your emotions.
Make Your Home Sell with Space
One of the most important things buyers are looking for is space for furniture, space for storage of goods and clothing. Staging professionals have just the right idea of how to furnish and accessorize a house to make it look and feel more spacious.
If you walk into a home that is poorly presented, untidy and has too much furniture, it turns you off the home.
What Keeps Homes from Selling?
Some items ruin your chances of selling your home.
Clutter
Homes that are cluttered with unnecessary furnishings do not utilize space effectively. Houses are very expensive and buyers like to utilize the floorspace as best as possible. They want adequate storage space to store away clothing and other household items when not in use. This makes the house look tidy and clean.
Unclean Spaces
Make sure the home is clean and ready for inspection. You will not sell a home if it is dirty and smelly. Always store away clothing, toys, and all other unused items. Make the beds, clean and store the dishes, vacuum the floor, clean mirrors and windows. All of these items may seem obvious but it’s surprising how unclean some homes are when they are sold.
Lack of Natural Light
Open all curtains and blinds to allow natural light to fill the home. Adequate light makes a home look and feel larger and homely. If a room is still a bit dark turn on the artificial light to brighten the room.
Owners
When a real estate agent brings a potential buyer to your home for an inspection, leave the property. Owners should never be at home when an agent brings a client. Let the agent show the buyers around the property. That’s their job and you’re paying them a lot of money to sell your home.
Buyers feel uneasy when an owner is in the house. They don’t want to open cabinets or spend too much time at the property. They cannot speak honestly with the agent and tell the agent whether they like the property or not.
Tenants
This is similar to owners at home. When a real estate inspects a property, the tenants should not be at home. I have inspected several properties for sale where there were tenants still in bed. This is totally unacceptable and unprofessional. Buyers will be turned off the property if they see people still sleeping in bed.
The best advice for selling a property is to remove the tenants from the property. Clean up the property and present it for sale as an empty home.
Pets
Once I inspected an apartment that had a large snake in a glass enclosure in the living room. This would definitely turn off many potential buyers.
Remove all pets from the property when showing the home to buyers.
Some people don’t like dogs or cats. So, play it safe and remove your pets before inspection. You don’t want buyers distracted by pets.
Smell
Pet smells, cigarette smoke and old people odor are the most common complaints that buyers make about a home. The home may not smell to the owner because they are used to it. However, if a buyer walks in and smells an odor it will turn them off immediately. Once I inspected an apartment that had a very strong dog smell throughout the whole place. I almost couldn’t breathe in there it was so bad.
How to Make Your Home Sell
The key to real estate sales is ‘First impression is the last impression’.
Is your house in a presentable condition?
You have to present your property in such a way that everybody who inspects it falls in love with the home. As you live in the house, everything appears to be normal to you. You are used to how the house looks and feels. But someone else may see problems with your house.
Inside the House
I have seen many newer homes furnished with old style furniture. This doesn’t look right and deters buyers when viewing the home. The furnishings must match the home. A modern home must have modern furniture. An older home can have older furniture but don’t make the house look like grandma lives there.
Any minor cosmetic issues must be resolved before sale. Plaster cracks, faded paintwork, old light fittings, dated electrical appliances must be remedied before showing buyers the property.
Please ensure the bathrooms and toilets are clean. Replace the toilet seats if necessary.
Thoroughly clean the inside of the house.
Clean out the garage and remove all excess items. Buyers want to see that they can fit their car in the garage.
The Garden
Ensure the lawns are green, free of dead patches and mowed. Weed the garden beds. Pressure wash all concrete and paving areas. Trim all shrubs and trees. Remove dead potted plants.
Outside the House
Pressure wash the outside of the house and repaint the exterior, if required. Clean the driveway. Fix broken fences and gates. Ask neighbors to trim overhanging trees and tidy the front of their property if they are messy. Buyers do not want to live next to a messy house.
How to Make Your Home Sell Quickly
Pricing
Your house has to be priced competitively with other comparable homes in the area. Research the prices homes are selling not the listing prices of other homes for sale. Most often homes sell below their listing price because buyers make an offer and rarely pay the full asking price.
You may wish to add a little extra to the price to take into consideration that buyers will make a lower offer price for your home. But don’t overprice your home as it will scare away potential buyers.
Ask three real estate agents for an idea of what they think your home will sell for in the current market. It’s easy to sell a house in a booming property market and get your asking price. However, most of the time the property market is slower, and buyers take their time purchasing a property.
Open House
Always have an open house on the weekend. Buyers are always out looking at real estate in the weekend. If your home is open for inspection, it’s easy for them to stop by and have a look. Otherwise, buyers need to contact the agent and make an appointment for inspection. Buyers don’t do that unless they are really serious about your home. They don’t want to waste the agents time by just looking at property that may suit their requirements.
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