You obviously succeeded at being a first time home buyer, and now you are about to be a first time home seller! Below are 11 tips to selling your house faster and for more money:
1. Make your house easy to show. Accompanied showings or 24 hours notice are will discourage most of your potential buyers who will view other houses they can see easily when it is convenient for them.
2. Price it right. This may sound counterintuitive, but a house priced fairly will sell for more money than an overpriced home. You may think, "We'll aim high and negotiate down if we need to," but this does not happen. In reality buyers don't even bid on an overpriced house. After changing the price a time or two to what it should have been, your house is "stale" and your largest pool of buyers have already looked at it and ruled it out. More times than not, when you finally do sell, it will be for below what your original "fair price" would have been.
3. Keep your house neat and clean at all times. Vacuum, dust and pick stuff up. Pack away very personal items around the house like family photos. People want to see themselves in this space, not feel your presence all around them. Think of it as how you would like to see a nice hotel room when you enter it - neat, clean and free of signs of previous users.
4. Keep the kitchen as uncluttered as possible. Put away countertop appliances, keep counters clean and as empty as possible. Remove refrigerator magnets. A vase of flowers on an island or counter always looks cheery and brings attention to counter space.
5. Remove obvious religious icons. Remember, people from all religions and backgrounds will look at your home to buy it. You want it to be as neutral as possible. This may be a good time to pre-pack these items for your move.
6. Keep signs of your children's presence to a minimum. Of course you love your children, but it is a good idea to contain their toys and remove photos of them and items with their names emblazoned on them. Many househunters get distracted by messy toy areas and you also want to be security conscious.
7. Pack up your collections and knick knacks. You may love your collection of 30 chicken/rooster items you have all over your kitchen, but sellers will see them and not the size, layout and pluses of your kitchen. All they'll remember is that there were tons of chicken items. This goes for books too - some are nice, but if they're overflowing bookshelves and taking over rooms, pack them up. Boxes can be put neatly in a corner of the basement or in storage until you move. The less cluttered a room is, the larger it appears.
8. Have your house smell nice. Perhaps simple and obvious, but worth stating. Get rid of animal smells (ask a friend or your agent - you may be too used to it), don't cook strong smelling foods (fish, garlic, etc.) and don't smoke in the house.
9. Don't hide all your dirty/extra stuff in closets. People do open closet doors to see how much storage there is.
10. Provide good lighting. A well lit room looks bigger and has a positive emotional impact. Turn lights on before showings, and buy some floor lamps if you need to for rooms that may be poorly lit.
11. Curb appeal. I know this phrase is used to death, but it's true - the first impression of your house as buyers pull up to it is critical. Mow the lawn and trim the bushes. Plant a few flowers along the walk or put potted flowers on the steps.
Your Realtor will have made a lot of effort in researching comparable homes, helping you set a price and getting their marketing strategy implemented so your home gets the immediate attention of other Realtors and their buyers. If your house sells quickly it means you and your Realtor did everything right - congratulations! Now you can concentrate on the next step in your life!
If you have any questions or if there's anything I can help you with I'd be glad to talk with you. Call me at 978-580-1069 or email me at mike.hunter@nemoves.com
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