OK you may get some resistance from this one but its still important. There are tons of short sales out there so you really need to understand why staging is important.
As a seller you may think why do I care? I am losing the house anyway. Staging takes time and I simply don’t care. Well the purpose of a short sale is to avoid foreclosure. With recent changes in bank policies where they are now once again pursuing foreclosures, time is of the essence. You need to make your property stand out.
Now to help you a bit, I am not talking about sending a lot or possibly any money to do this. If this were a standard sale we would talk about painting, replacing worn or stained carpet, landscaping as well as reducing clutter and removing personal items from the house. This would cost money but would be more than worth it in the increase in selling price. But we are not talking about a standard sale. You don’t care if the bank gets top dollar. What you do care about is getting offers that the bank will accept and thus selling the home.
So here are some things that you can do to help your home sell faster:
1. Keep it clean! I cannot say enough how important this is. I have shown many short sale homes where the house was a mess. All the buyer sees in work and would rather move on to the next home. Keep it clean at all times so that when you hear that a buyer is coming by in an hour you can quickly pick up and leave a nice looking property.
2. De-clutter. Remove all the knick knacks from the house. Get rid of unnecessary furniture and items. Remove all the “stuff” from the kitchen counters. Allow the buyer to see the potential in the property.
3. Maintain the lawn and landscape. Potential buyers do not want to see dead grass and plants. Water the lawn and keep it cut. This will appeal to more buyers who want a property they can move into with as little work as possible.
4. Remove personal items such as large family pictures or paintings. Allow the buyers to look and image what they would put in those places instead of trying to guess who the people in the photos are and who painted the art. It takes away their attention from the house.
5. Leave when the buyers come to view the property. Buyers often feel uncomfortable when they are watched by the buyer. Someone following them around or even near by does not let them talk to each other honestly about your house. If you are worried about theft, put your valuables away. Your agent should know who is viewing your house so that they know who is in your house when you are away.
These tips can help you sell your short sale faster. They are not a guarantee but should help out a lot. Notice that none of these tips will cost you money. You can always paint the walls neutral colors and change the stained carpet, but since you are not getting a return on the investment, most sellers of short sales wont bother, and I don’t blame them.
Hopefully these tips will help. If you need any assistance with selling your home please feel free to contact me so we can get started.
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