Selling your home can be a scary process, especially if it’s your first time. But don’t worry, you have several options that allow you to be as involved or as passive in the process as you want. Before selecting the best option for you, decide what is important in the sale. Is it more important to get a higher price or to sell as quickly as possible? Do you want control of the sale or do you want someone else to handle the details? How much money can you pay to find a buyer?
This report is designed to help you evaluate your options and make the best selection based on your individual needs and desires. It will give you tips for a faster sale and show you the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative.
You should spend time reading this entire report, then sit down with any other decision makers to decide your best course of action. Remember, the only way to sell your house is to start the process.
Reasons why you might need to sell fast
There are a variety of reasons why homeowners may require a quick sale of their home. You may have found your “dream home” and want to move fast before someone else takes it from you. There may have been a death of a relative. The house they have left you is eating up all your extra time and money. Finding a buyer is difficult and you really don’t want to bother with all those details.
Your boss may have decided that you need to move somewhere else and that is: live out of one suitcase or sell your current home to buy another. Another reason could be divorce. He is separating from his partner and needs the equity in his current home to buy another. Living in the same house during this process is not an option.
You may be a landlord and your tenants have become slackers and you just can’t deal with it much longer. There may have been changes in your financial situation that have caused you to fall behind on payments and move closer to foreclosure status. Another reason could be that home repairs are getting the best of you and you just can’t keep up with them all. Natural disasters are not always fully covered by insurance and those out of pocket expenses are eating you alive.
You may have bought that nice second home when your income was great, but with your current job cutback you can no longer afford it. Or, the 100% loan the bank was so generous in offering has also prevented you from raising equity in your home. You may need to get out of that trap and move on with your life.
Do any of these sound familiar? If so, then it’s time to move on with your decision to sell. This report will help you make an informed decision.
Tips for a quick sale
Take a step back and look at your home from your buyers’ perspective. Do you see? He is good looking? Would you have bought this house if it looked like this when you were buying it? Cross the street and look at your house. He is good looking? Will buyers run to make an appointment to view the home or run to leave?
The point is to make your house as attractive as possible. Fix it, paint it, clean it. Here are some tips to keep in mind:
1. Eliminate clutter. You want your house to appear as spacious as possible. The more clutter, the less spacious it seems.
2. Are you afraid of your closets? Well, grab some garbage bags, some boxes, and then clean them up. Use a rummage sale, used clothing store, community donation center, resale store, or just throw things in the dump if they can no longer be used. You can organize your closets in such a way that they appear spacious by limiting the number of clothes on the rails.
3. Has your garage floor seen the light of day recently? If not, then it’s time for some serious hanging, tossing, and rearranging.
4. Is there a side of your house that seems to accumulate things? If so, get rid of it. Make your whole garden a pleasant scene.
5. Make sure your home is clean and organized before each visit to prospective buyers. You’ll be amazed at all the smudges, fingerprints, pet hair, and dust that have accumulated over the years. Have your home professionally cleaned. At a minimum, steam clean carpets.
6. Fix broken items so they don’t become a concern to your prospective buyers.
7. Remove personal items from walls and tables, as they prevent buyers from seeing your home as their future home.
8. Make sure the children’s rooms are clean and tidy. Remove posters from the walls, keep beds made, closets clean (see above), clothes in the hamper, and the floor clear with nothing around.
9. During an exhibition, it may be better if your children are not at home. This could be a very stressful time for them as they see strangers peering through their private space.
10. Make sure there is a clean, fresh smell when you enter the house. One trick is to use vanilla-scented air fresheners, or how about the scent of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies? The sense of smell is a surprisingly powerful persuader; use it to your advantage with food, candles, flowers and/or a pot of potpourri just before a performance.
11. You love your pet, but not everyone does. During a showing, keep your pets out of the house if possible. Also, you don’t need more hair to clean sofas, carpets, stairs, etc.
12. Make sure your pet doesn’t intimidate your buyers. For example, don’t let your barking dog keep your buyers from enjoying the beautiful backyard landscaping.
The idea is to create an atmosphere where your potential buyers can easily imagine themselves living in your home. Your house is your best investment. Show your best edge and you will get the biggest financial reward.