When selling your home, you want to get a great price and make a fast sale. Here are 12 tips to keep in mind to help you do just that.
1. Prepare your home by making a few high-impact changes
You may love your orange kitchen, but not everyone will. Consider fixing large wall scratches or dents and then painting rooms with neutral colors to appeal to a wider number of people. Prepare your home for sale by updating small fixtures such as lights or drawer handles, and repair anything that is broken.
2. Update your curb appeal
The outside of your house and the entryway are among the first things potential buyers will see. Spend extra time on these areas, making sure they are clean and inviting. You don’t want people to stop in front of your house and drive away before seeing the rest of it. Increasing your curb appeal can really help people want to come in and see more.
3. Hire a top real estate agent
When it comes to selling your home, you want to have a true professional there to guide you through the process. They will be able to help you decide which changes to make to your home to increase curb appeal and inside-the-house desirability, arrange for professional photos, help you determine a price that is as high as possible but still realistic, market your home, handle open houses and visits, and act as an intermediary between you and the buyer’s agent. All of this done by a top-performing agent should help you sell your home fast, and at a great price. We can help you find one of these top-performers.
4. Set realistic price expectations
Compare your home with similar houses on the market, and price your house competitively. You don’t want it to be priced so high that no one makes an offer, leading to it sitting on the market for too long, which makes people even more apprehensive about it. Setting realistic price expectations will help you sell faster.
5. Understand your obligations
Read up on your legal rights and obligations, such as your seller’s declaration, regarding selling a property. As the seller, you are responsible for any defect in your home, even if you weren’t aware of it. Know what your responsibilities are as a seller.
6. Review your home listing online
Once you’re ready to list your home, carefully review the information and photos in your listing and seller’s declaration. Make sure all of the information is accurate, and have a look at the photos or video tour that is being used. If anything is incorrect or missing, contact your real estate agent and have them update the listing.
7. Declutter and depersonalize
Potential buyers need to be able to visualize your home as their home. If your kitchen counter is cluttered with dishes or your living room wall is full of personal photos, it’s harder for buyers to see the space as theirs. Depersonalize your home by putting away personal photos, collections, and toys. Declutter by removing trinkets and piles of clothing.
8. Stage your home
Ask your agent for help with staging your home professionally, including asking for their guidance on if it’s worth investing in a few pieces to help make your home feel more welcoming. The small things matter. Put a vase of fresh flowers in the kitchen, and leave a cookbook open on the counter. Stack some decorative soaps in the bathroom. Add a pop of color to your living room with some new throw pillows or blankets.
9. Clean your house thoroughly before inviting people in
Potential buyers may be distracted or put off by a dirty bathtub or dusty light fixtures. Make sure your house is cleaned from top to bottom before any open house or buyer visits.
10. Clean up the yard
For many potential buyers, including families with young children, the yard is likely an important play area for the kids. Make sure it is cleaned up before showing the house. Rake any leaves, weed the garden, and tidy up outside decor.
11. Air out any smells
Before an open house or buyer visit, open the windows to air out your house, remove any cat litter, empty the garbage, and don’t do any cooking with strong spices or odours that day or even the night before. Don’t cover up smells with air freshener, as many people are allergic or sensitive to it (a nice scented candle is usually the better way to go).
12. In general, sell your home before you buy another
There’s nothing worse on most families than buying one home thinking they have an agreement to sell their current one, and then finding their would-be buyer has changed their mind and is backing out. Oh no! You could be one of the unlucky people having to cover the costs of owning two homes at the same time. In some scary cases we’ve seen, people in this situation had no choice but to significantly lower the list price of their home because they had to urgently sell it. To avoid losing out potentially tens of thousands of dollars, if possible sell your current home first, and then buy your new home. We know there may be exceptional circumstances that might not allow you to do this, but we encourage you to try.
To sell your family home quickly and for a fair price, follow the advice above. Make a few small changes, clean up, depersonalize, and hire a professional to help you with listing and negotiating.