Selling your home can be an overwhelming task, one that everyone hopes to be concluded as soon as possible. Here are 5 things you can do to help sell your home quickly while maximizing your return.
1. Put yourself in a buyer’s shoes. Starting in front of your home, do a serious walk-thru and take notes of the items that could make a negative impression on a buyer. Are the bushes overgrown? Does the front door have scuff marks? Is the foyer filled with the family’s shoes? Are the kitchen counter tops piled high with boxes of cereal and utensils? Window screens torn? Light bulbs missing? Get rid of clutter and take care of small repairs. A potential buyer does not want to view a home and have a list running in his head of all the things he will have to fix. If you want to sell your home “As Is”, that is your prerogative. Just don’t expect top dollar.
2. Hire an experienced Realtor. No offense to rookies, we all had to start at some point, but selling your most expensive possession should be handled by a professional with experience, especially if you want to sell quickly. Just because your niece recently earned her license does not mean she is qualified to sell your home. Interview any prospective agent. Find out what type of technology they will use to put your listing in front of the greatest number of eyeballs. How will they engage other agents and brokers? A sign in the lawn and an MLS listing is not sufficient marketing in this day and age. And please, do not hire an agent just because they are offering you a huge commission reduction. You really do get what you pay for. What you might save in actual commission you may end up losing in sales price.
3. Price it right. This is always a tough one for sellers as we all tend to think that our home is worth more than it really is. Listen to your agent. Sit down with him or her and look carefully at the comparable sales. Just because you put $50,000 into a new kitchen does not mean your home’s value has increased by $50,000. Pricing a home too high means that it will sit on the market and soon become stale causing buyers to wonder if there is something wrong with the property. Better to price it at market value or slightly below and have multiple offers that can ultimately increase your sales price. No amount of marketing can sell an over-priced home.
4. Make it easy to show. Selling your home is a pain. Keeping beds made and dishes out of the sink can be tiresome. Couple that with dogs and babies and the entire process can be hugely disruptive. So do yourself a favor and get as many people in to see your home as soon as possible. Have your agent install an electronic lockbox so that it is easy for a buyer’s agent to show. This will also create a record of who is entering your home which enables your agent to quickly follow-up. Avoid restrictive time frames, such as “show only between 9 – 3, M-F.” The more people who view your property, the quicker it will sell.
5. Don’t be afraid to negotiate. Lucky for you, it is a seller’s market in San Diego County, where our inventory it at near record lows. These means it is likely you will have multiple offers so don’t feel pressured to grab the first offer that comes in. Often it is good to wait a couple of days to see what other offers may be submitted. If you have hired an experienced agent they can help you evaluate each offer and determine how to counter. Most buyers’ first offer is lower than what they actually plan on paying. Use this to your advantage and remember that price is not the only thing that can be negotiated. There are other items such as down payment and closing costs that are also part of the equation.
If you’re thinking about selling your San Diego County home, please give me a call for a no-obligation market analysis and I’ll show you all the steps I will take to get your home sold quickly, for top dollar.
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