Selling your home? These 10 tips will make it stand out for a quick sale!
While there are no guarantees when it comes to putting your home on the market, these 10 tips will help buyers see your home in the best possible light, and that generally leads to a quick sale.
The real estate market has been fluctuating over the last couple of years. At the end of 2021, we were basking in the glow of the lowest mortgage rates on record. Then the Federal Reserve decided it needed to reel in the rising inflation it swore was just transitory, and it started hiking interest rates at a rapid clip.
A year later, mortgage rates were over 7% with many in the industry wondering if they’d get over 8%. Fortunately, as 2022 wound down, inflation seemed to be starting to trend down. Now, nearly halfway through 2023, mortgage rates have settled into the low-to-mid 6% range which is still below the historical average (see the chart below).
Even with the rapid rise in mortgage rates since the beginning of 2022, at 6.39% for the week ending 4/20/23, we’re still below the historical average by over 1%.
All that said, Florida is still VERY MUCH a seller’s market. The state is continuing to see a massive influx of new residents, and inventory, while better than the historic lows from 2021, is still extremely tight. Prices have fallen slightly but not much, which means sellers are still able to command a pretty high premium for their homes.
But that doesn’t mean selling your home is going to be a cakewalk. You should still make every effort to present your home in the best possible light to potential buyers because it’ll give you the edge over the other sellers in your market. If you want to be the seller counting their money after an efficient transaction instead of wondering why your home hasn’t sold yet, make it easy on yourself and follow our tips below.
#10 Hire the right realtor
Photo Credit: Alena Darmel
This one’s easy. All you need to do is read our article on Finding a Realtor and What to Expect When You’re Selling Your Home. Ideally, you want someone who is honest and has integrity, and who knows the local market – and particularly your neighborhood – extremely well. He or she should present you with a solid plan that has multiple ways to market your home, and they should make communicating with you throughout the entire process a priority.
#9 Consider getting a pre-inspection
Hiring a home inspector to take a look at your home from top to bottom is a good idea because when they’re done, they’ll give you a report assessing all the major systems, structural components, and appliances of your house. Chances are good a buyer who makes an offer on your property is going to ask for an inspection of their own, so knowing what needs to be addressed before it gets to that point is just smart.
#8 Make any necessary repairs
Ideally, you want your home to be a turn-key proposition for potential buyers. So, take that pre-inspection report and make sure you address any issues that need to be fixed. If you’re handy, fix things yourself but make sure the fixes are done correctly and look good when you’re finished. There’s no shame in hiring a professional to do the job right. If you don’t know any, ask your realtor. They should know a few trustworthy and reliable subcontractors who can address issues from HVAC, to plumbing, to electrical work and everything in between.
Photo Credit: Blue Bird
#7 Clean up and paint
While you’re having all these repairs from the pre-inspection taken care of, it’s also a good idea to put your home through a thorough cleaning and repaint any areas that could use sprucing up. Remember to choose neutral colors that will appeal to a wide variety of buyers. You want to give them a blank canvas so they can imagine what their furniture will look like in your house. Polishing up the rough spots will make the house look cared for and impress buyers.
#6 Declutter and depersonalize
While you’re cleaning up, take the opportunity to declutter and depersonalize your home by getting rid of or storing things like family photos, your matchbook collection, that painting your mother-in-law did of her favorite dog, etc. Remember, you want potential buyers to feel like your home could be their home. One of the best ways to do that is to box up a significant portion of your belongings so the home looks lived in but not overstuffed with items like your favorite aunt’s macrame wall hanging.
#5 Make sure your home will pass the smell test
Funky odors are a major turn-off for potential buyers, so it’s important for you to make sure any foul smells are addressed quickly. Hopefully, the deep cleaning you performed back in tip #7 did the trick, but ask a third party to come in and do a quick smell test. The reason you’ll want to enlist a third party for this task is that there’s a lot of truth in that commercial that talks about people being “nose blind” to smells in their own homes. Oh, and don’t forget to address pet odors by cleaning litter boxes and giving Fido a bath. This brings us to…
Photo Credit: Rafael Forseck
#4 Make sure pets are secured
Many people love dogs and cats, but many people don’t. You’ll want to secure your pets by crating them, taking them with you, or dropping them off at the nearest pet hotel when the house is going to be shown to potential buyers. Pet hair is also an ongoing issue you’ll need to stay on top of even after cleaning up the house. Pets don’t stop shedding, and pet hair can make the house look unkempt. This brings us to…
#3 Your house should always be “show-ready”
You never know when your realtor or a buyer’s realtor will call to schedule a showing, so it’s important that your house is always in tip-top shape and ready to welcome a buyer. Yes, you still have to live in your house, and things are going to get messy, but keeping up with cleaning and picking up after yourself and your family so your house is pristine when a buyer walks through the door will go a long way toward selling your home.
#2 Don’t forget about curb appeal
Photo Credit: Shadow FIre Arts
Remember the old saying, “you never get a second chance to make a first impression”? Well, it’s very true, especially when it comes to selling your home. So, it’s drastically important that you don’t neglect the outside of your house while you’re busy sprucing up the inside. Clean out the flower beds, add fresh mulch, prune overgrown plants and trees, make sure the grass is cut and edged, and maybe even set out some freshly potted plants or flowers to add a touch of welcoming charm. Go the extra mile and bring some of those flowers and plants inside to freshen up and beautify things even more.
#1 Price it right
Most importantly, make sure your home is priced right. Your realtor will be a big help in this arena with their knowledge of the local market. They should be keenly aware of what homes in your neighborhood typically sell for, and they should be prepared to prove it by performing a comparative market analysis (CMA). A CMA takes the features and condition of your home and compares it to similar homes in the area that have sold recently to give you a good idea of what your home should sell for. You don’t want to price your home too high as it will put buyers off, but you don’t want to price the home too cheaply and leave money on the table. Shoot for a competitive price relative to the results of the CMA to maximize the money you’ll get from a sale. In very active markets, you might even get multiple offers with buyers competing against one another, which means you could even walk away with more than what you’ve listed the property for.
Taken together, these tips should give you an excellent road map for selling your home quickly for the maximum amount possible.