$493,000 was the average sales price for homes that were sold during the month of October in 2022. As more people continue looking for houses to rent or own, many homeowners are wondering what the best course of action is, especially with the climbing mortgage interest rates. If you’re looking for a quick home sale, you’ve come to the right place because we’ve got the tips you need to make the most out of selling your house.
Put your best home forward after reading below and listing your property for sale.
Be Realistic
Before you list your home for sale, the first step in preparing yourself is to be realistic. As mentioned before, the mortgage rates that come with buying a home are increasing, which means people are taking more time to shop around for a mortgage rate and home they can afford.
However, in an effort to sell their homes fast, some homeowners will set the buying price low. While this is a good idea, it could leave you with fewer offers because people have reservations about a home priced so low that it’s too good to be true.
When speaking with your real estate agent, speak with them about the prices of the other homes in the area. From there, you can determine the right price to set your home at and receive the profit you’re looking for while remaining competitive with other homes in the area.
Also, when you set realistic expectations, you’re not going to be let down if you don’t get the offer you thought you would or if your home takes longer to sell than initially anticipated.
Make a List of Needed Repairs
The first thing you should do when you’re selling your house is to create a list of repairs and upgrades that need to be made. Some people looking to buy a home have no problem with a fixer-upper, but others are looking for a turnkey-ready home.
Another reason to create this list of repairs and determine which ones you will make is to increase the listing price. Potential homebuyers are more willing to pay a higher price when their home has upgraded fixtures, appliances, and other repairs have been made throughout the home.
While making the list of repairs, put everything in order of importance and decide which repairs are worth making to the home. If you need clarification on the repairs needed, this is another reason to speak with your real estate agent.
They have insight into what potential homebuyers are looking for and can provide some suggestions about the repairs that will help you get the most bang for your buck.
For example, painting the home’s exterior and performing routine landscaping can increase the home’s curb appeal and allow you to ask for more from buyers.
Whereas, changing the mailbox may not provide the same type of return you would think it will.
Remove Personal Items From the Home
When people begin to view your home and tours are conducted, the last thing they want to see is your personal items and pictures still hung around the home. This forces them to see the house as still yours rather than a place they can buy and make into their own.
Before you begin to allow home tours, you need to take time to pack away any personal items or heirlooms. Then from there, you can move forward with presenting buyers with a clean slate to view during their tour.
It also makes it easier for them to visualize all their belongings in the home versus seeing it filled with your things. If you’re trying to ensure a fast sale, the quicker you’re able to remove your personal items, the better off you’ll be.
And you’re also removing items that can cause you to lose a sale or affect existing sales that are in the works. The same thought can be applied to furniture in the home.
If you have distinct furniture that stands out or is bright in color, you should remove this. Again, it’s about creating a space in which the buyer can visualize themselves, and when your things occupy the space, it can make it challenging.
Get Organized
Another common area of interest for homebuyers is the amount of storage that comes with the home, specifically in rooms like the bathroom, bedrooms, and kitchen. When a home doesn’t provide enough storage, the homeowners will have to look into other storage means, such as installing shelving themselves or additional closets.
If you’re not able to take all your personal items out of the home, take the time to organize them. This will provide a working example to potential buyers of the ways they can utilize the home’s storage spaces.
If they open storage closets and find that things are spilling out all over the place or the closet is filled to capacity, it can leave a sour taste in their mouths. Not only does it show you didn’t take the time to prepare your home for sale it may also be a sign that the storage spaces need to be bigger for the belongings they plan to bring into the home.
Another option is to altogether remove all your belongings from the home. This will allow people to see how much space the storage areas provide. From there, they can determine if it’s going to be enough for them or not.
Place Your Belongings in Storage
When you’re looking to sell your home fast, sometimes you need more to find another place to live or place your belongings before people start to request tours. If this sounds like the situation you are in, the best thing to do is consider placing your items in storage.
There are several storage options for people beginning with placing your items in a storage unit. Depending on your area, you can find a storage unit that provides the first month of storage fees for free.
If this isn’t an option, there’s also something called PODS. This works because the company will drop off a storage pod to your home, and you’ll fill it with all your items.
The company will pick it up on the preset date and deliver it to the next place for you to unload. It’s crucial to the way your options before deciding on the type of storage you want to go with.
Sometimes it’s not possible to remove all your items from the home, but when you can, it’s the best thing possible. As mentioned previously, you’ll want to remove your personal belongings from the home to ensure that potential buyers can visualize the home being theirs and the potential changes they can make to it.
Up the Curb Appeal
The exterior of your home is the first impression people will get of your home. If someone pulls up outside of your home and it looks run down and not taken care of, it can cause them to leave before they’ve taken the time to look inside the home.
If you don’t take care of the exterior of your home, what would make potential buyers think that you take care of the home’s interior? We aren’t saying that you need to completely renovate the home’s exterior, but there are some minor changes you can make to improve the way it looks.
For example, mowing the lawn and adding some colorful flowers is enough to brighten things up. It’s also important to take some time to get rid of pesky weeds that can make your lawn look like it’s unkept.
The best way to do this if you don’t have enough time to landscape yourself is to contact a local landscaper to do it for you. We recommend scheduling routine landscaping until you’ve sold your home.
The last thing you want to do is to let the lawn go and then rush to fix it last minute before a scheduled home tour takes place. You may also want to speak with the lawn contractor about fixing any cracks in the driveway as well.
Unattended cracks in the driveway can widen over time and lead to problems with the rest of the driveway, or it can affect the foundation of your home.
Preparing For a Quick Home Sale
When it comes to preparing for a quick home sale, there are several things you can do ahead of time. Ensure you remove your personal items and consider improving your curb appeal.
Don’t want to wait around for a cash buyer to take the house out of your hands? Contact We Buy Houses Memphis Tn, and let us offer you what your home is worth.