If homes could fit on shelves, they would be flying off of them! Almost 700,000 homes were sold across the United States during May 2022.
You can sell your home for a lot of cash in very little time. But it can’t happen overnight. You need to follow tips for selling your home so you make the best deal possible for yourself.
How can you clean and prepare your home for showings? When should you sell your home? How can you find the right price for it without turning buyers off?
Answer these questions and you can be rolling in cash in no time. Here are 12 tips for selling your home you must follow.
1. Hire a Home Inspector
A home inspector can help you with a number of things. They can give you a list of things you need to repair before you sell your home. They can give you advice on how to stage your property, and they can tell you how your home looks to an outsider.
Ask someone to come in and do a top-to-bottom inspection of your house. They should check the integrity of your home, inspect your pipes, and make sure your wiring is good.
Anything that can cause a health hazard must be fixed. This includes things like lead pipes, which are common in old homes. Ask your inspector about someone they recommend for replacing pipes or fixing wires.
2. Declutter Your Home
You should always clean your home before you sell it. This creates a more comfortable environment for the next homeowner to live in, and it lets you figure out what fixes you need to make. It’s also a free way of staging your home.
Do a deep clean of every room in your house, removing broken objects and covering up anything unsightly. You should then start moving your personal belongings out of sight.
This frees up space on the floor, allowing potential homebuyers to walk around. This also depersonalizes your home, making it easier for others to imagine themselves living in your house.
If you already have a new place to live, you can move your belongings to your home. You can also place them in storage.
But it is okay to move some of your items into bins and drawers that you then place in closets. People touring your house can see how they can use closets for themselves.
3. Make a Few Upgrades
If you can make renovations to your home, you can do so. But if you’re selling your home fast, you should avoid anything significant.
Yet you should try to make upgrades to your home so it seems newer. Walk through the ground level of your house and keep your eye out for anything that seems outdated.
Then replace the outdated objects with new versions. If you have an old dishwasher, you can buy a new one and install it in less than a day. If the paint on your walls is peeling off, you can buy a new can of paint.
You may also want to make upgrades to the exterior of your home. You should install a new walkway if it is uneven, and you should fill any gaps in your hardwood patio or deck.
You can sell an old house that needs major repairs. Touch up your house however you can, but be honest with your homebuyers about what needs fixing. You can also sell your house to someone who will tear it down or develop the land.
4. Boost Your Curb Appeal
Your curb appeal relates to how people view your home while standing on the sidewalk. Very few people want to buy a home that looks ugly, old, or boring.
Stand on the sidewalk outside your house and take a look at how your house looks. Think about the color of your paint, the shape of your roof, and the quality of your siding. If the front of your home seems fine, walk around to the side and back and see if there are any fixes you need.
Then take steps to increase your curb appeal. Even if everything seems fine, you should trim the grass and free up space on your front lawn. You should open the blinds inside your house so the windows seem clean and light.
You can plant flowers around the exterior of your home to make your home seem more vibrant. Try to select bright flowers with large bulbs, which are easily visible from the curb. You can also grow herbs, which will make your yards seem livable and usable.
If you don’t want to tend to flowers, you can place outdoor furniture or sculptures outside. This indicates to the homebuyer that they can make use of your yard. You can borrow chairs and benches from a neighbor if you don’t have any yourself.
5. Make Your Home Well-Lit
The brighter your home is, the more inviting it can seem. Replace any dim bulbs or broken lighting fixtures inside your house. Switch out your incandescent bulbs for LEDs, which will last longer and use less electricity.
You should also repair any lighting fixtures you have outside your home. If you have lights along your walkway, you should switch out the bulbs and straighten the fixtures if they are bending over.
You can paint your walls bright colors, allowing light to bounce off the walls and illuminate the room better. Try to select neutral colors, as bright blues or greens can be too jarring. If you can’t paint the walls, you can add picture frames with glass that reflects the light.
Clean your windows so you remove grime, scratches, and dirt. But you can leave the curtains around your windows, as a potential homeowner may want to close them at night. You should leave the curtains open during house tours to increase the light inside your home.
6. Find a Good Time to Sell
You can sell your home fast during any time of the year. Yet you find it easier to sell your home at specific times. Many real estate professionals suggest selling your home in May and June, as homebuyers have more time to look into Pueblo homes.
If you live near a school or in a family-friendly area, you may want to sell your home in spring or summer. Many families are looking to move in before the start of the school year.
If you live near a commercial area, you may want to sell your home toward the end of the year. Some people try to start businesses in January, and they need a few weeks to settle in before opening their doors.
You can also think about the climate. Most people do not want to move in when it is extremely hot or cold or during inclement weather. If the spring or fall in your area is pleasant, you should try selling your home then.
You may have a deadline that you need to sell your home by. You should start trying to sell your home as soon as possible so you are not rushing at the end. This will give you time to make renovations or deal with obstacles as they come up.
7. Take Effective Photographs
The easiest way to advertise your home is to post online about it. This lets you attract people who don’t live nearby and who are interested in moving to Pueblo.
A written description of your property can give internet users a basic sense of what your home is like. But photographs provide more details that your words cannot provide.
It is okay to take photographs with a smartphone, though using a high-definition camera would be better. Your photographs should be well-lit, so turn on the lights in your house. Clear out all objects that you don’t want to photograph, and stand in a place where most if not all of the room is visible.
Take photographs of the kitchen, living room, bedroom, and other important areas. You don’t have to take pictures of the basement or attic if you don’t want to. Post them online as soon as you’re done.
8. Expand Your Customer Pool
You don’t have to sell your house to a particular demographic. If you live in an area for families, you can prioritize homebuyers who have children, but you can sell your home to single people or couples without children.
Take steps to court all types of homebuyers. Many young people use social media, so post on Facebook and Twitter about your house while following social media tips for selling a house. Professionals and high-income businesspeople use LinkedIn, so you can post on LinkedIn about your home.
Start an email address so people can send you emails about your house. You can give out your cell phone number or speak with interested homebuyers through Zoom.
9. Schedule Showings
As soon as you get messages and phone calls from interested homebuyers, you should schedule showings at your house. You can organize these showings however you like. You can organize private tours around the clock, showing people around and then giving them some time afterward to view the house alone.
You can also schedule open houses where many people can visit your home at once. You should get food and drinks so people can come by and linger in your house. Advertise the open house with posters and signs to attract other people in the neighborhood.
10. Plan Parties
If you want to get creative, you can throw parties at your house. This allows potential Pueblo homebuyers to see how they can entertain guests and plan events at the house. You can invite your neighbors to the party, allowing homebuyers the opportunity to meet them and make connections with them.
You can get elaborate and hire caterers and a DJ. But you can keep things small and organize a barbeque or a potluck.
The party can take place in your backyard, but allow people to go into your house and see for themselves what it is like. Play some music inside your house to encourage people to go in.
11. Use Effective Negotiation Tactics
You may have several people interested in buying your home. Do not offer your home to the first person who makes you a deal or to the person who offers you the most money. Read some tips for fast house sales and then do your research on the offers.
Look at their backgrounds and make sure that they have the money and resources to buy your home. They should be able to handle the moving process so they take your home out of your hands within a couple of weeks.
Most buyers expect you to negotiate with them, so their offers may be lower than your desired price. You can talk to a buyer to try to raise their price, but if their price is too low, you can reject it outright.
If you have many buyers who offer low prices, you should create a bidding war. Schedule an open house and ask people to give you their prices after the fact. Buyers will see each other at the open house and feel the encouragement to raise their prices.
12. Sweeten Your Closing Deal
When you get a deal you like, you should find a way to ensure that the buyer will follow through. You can offer to pay for something like landscaping after your buyer moves in.
You can also give your buyer a gift. You can take them out to dinner, or you can give them something that they can use in your house. A kitchen set or a backyard game works well.
Follow Tips for Selling Your Home
There are essential tips for selling your home that you must follow. You should clean and depersonalize your home from floor to floor. Improve the curb appeal and the lighting.
Start trying to sell your home right now. Take photographs and make several social media posts about it. Invite people to look at your home and schedule some house parties.
You should hold the line in your negotiations and not lower your price. If you’re struggling to find homebuyers, you can still sell your home.
I Buy Pueblo Homes purchases homes in any condition. Contact us today.