Curb appeal – Make sure your home has good curb appeal. Curb appeal is the appearance of your home when a buyer first sees it. The buyer will instantly form an opinion of your home the first time they see it, so you want to make sure the buyer has a great first impression. They will also compare it to other homes in the area. If your home doesn’t have good curb appeal it will lose the interest of the buyer and it may even be a deal breaker.
To help your house have good curb appeal you will want to make sure you remove any garbage or debris in the yard and mow and trim your grass and bushes. You will also want to make sure your house is visible from the street. You can do this by trimming or removing over hanging trees or bushes that may be blocking the view of the house. Make sure there are no lose or missing shingles, your windows are clean and no trash cans are visible. It is also good to have some colorful flowers in the yard as well as a fresh coat of paint on the outside of the house.
Have a clean house – There is a big difference for a buyer between walking into a nice clean house and walking into a dirty one. To sell your house in today’s market you need to stand out. Make sure your house is clean, make sure the dishes are done, the beds are made and there is no clutter. You may even want to rent a storage unit to store all your unused things in there.
New Carpet and Paint – Buyer’s are looking for a house that feels like new or that is move in ready. The best way to accomplish this is by adding new carpet and paint. When selling my homes that I rehab I always add new carpet and paint. It is amazing the transformation this makes on a home. Often times the home looks completely new. When you add new carpet and paint you want to stick with neutral earth tone colors. These colors will appeal to most buyers.
Updated Kitchens and Baths - Kitchens and bathrooms are huge sellers of homes. If you have an old outdated and small kitchen it will definitely be harder to sell your home. Buyers like big spacious updated kitchens with nice clean updated bathrooms.
Updating kitchens and baths can be expensive, but adding some new tile and a fresh coat of paint can definitely help. Depending on the area and the style of home, painting the cabinets is enough of a change to give it a new updated look and feel. If you have the budget, adding new paint, flooring, cabinets and granite counter tops will make your kitchen and bathrooms pop which will go over big with potential buyers.
Pricing – Pricing is obviously one of the biggest factors when trying to sell a home in this market. When it comes to pricing you need to do your research and determine what other comparable properties in your area are selling for. Comparable properties or comps are properties located in the same area with approximately the same number of bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, lot size and year built. Other factors are also considered, such as what type of home it is, and things like garage size. The condition of the property is also a big consideration when comparing your property to others.
When looking at comps you always want to look at the sold properties in your area. Ideally you would look at the properties that have sold in the last 3 months. Depending on the area sometimes you have to go back further for these comps but the shortest amount of time for sold comparable the better.
You also want to look at active comparable. Active comps are the houses you will be competing against to sell your home. To sell your home fast in today’s market you need to have the nicest house selling for the lowest price.
If you have tried these tips but still can’t sell your home contact us or visit my sellers website and we can buy or help you sell your home.
