You type "sell my home quickly" into Google, and are bombarded with information. Some of the advice seems good, other bits...you're not sure about. Selling a home can be challenging and most people only do it once or twice in their lives.
On top of that, Omaha, Nebraska is a big place. If you're looking to sell your home, it's easy to be overwhelmed in such a market!
This is where I can help. My experience with Katy & Frank Home Buyers, where we are constantly working in the Omaha market, has primed me with some great advice for potential sellers. No matter how dated or unwanted your home, we've got advice on how to give it a great chance to sell.
The "Sell My Home Quickly" Basics!
Before we start talking too specific, the first thing a home seller needs to do is their basic due diligence. For example, the wrong price could leave your home on the market for months or even years longer than it otherwise would be. On the flip side, aiming too low could lose you out on thousands of dollars.
This is why the first thing I'd recommend is that you do some research. Research isn't exciting but it is extremely helpful for gauging how best to sell your home.
If you're selling in Omaha, there are some incredibly useful collections of data out there. For instance:
- Roughly 1.3 million people live within a fifty-mile radius of downtown Omaha, making it an incredibly large market
- With a 27.01% cumulative real estate appreciation rate of over ten years, Omaha is in the top third of appreciation rates nationwide
- In 2018, Nebraska was ranked the most financially healthy state in the nation and it remains very financially healthy to this day
You should also research your neighborhood specifically. This can help you figure out roughly the pricing people have grown to expect in your area.
Benson, Northwest Bellevue, and Northwest Omaha are three of the best neighborhoods in the market right now. Bent Creek has the highest median listing prices, sitting around $650K, while the Miller Park / Minne Lusa area has the cheapest, sitting around $53K.
Research everything you can. If you want to go the real estate agent route, make sure they're well-regarded.
Meanwhile, if you're using a company like ours (which we'll discuss more later), the same advice applies. Our reviews paint an excellent picture of our service and you don't need to take our word for it. Whoever you use should rate highly; you have potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line.
Let's Get Down to Brass Tacks
Once you've done your research, you'll be much better equipped to sell your house. Both agents and companies like Katy & Frank Home Buyers will have done similar research, but you should come prepared too.
Most real estate agents genuinely want to help you (and us too, obviously), but it's still useful to have your own pool of knowledge to pull from. It will let you ask intelligent questions and contribute to the sale of your house in a more meaningful way.
Once you're ready to sell, we've got more advice that can help speed things up and overall reduce your hassle:
Price Realistically
Keeping a house on the market is expensive. Depending on the home's size, you're essentially spending upwards of $1,000 a month paying for a home you don't want. This proposition is even worse if you've also already bought and are living in a second, more-desired home.
This means listing a home for more than it's worth often isn't worth it, even if someone eventually buys. It will almost always delay the sale and the offer that comes in is just as likely to be a counteroffer at the home's actual value than your listed price anyway.
You need to price your home for what it is. If local property values are low or your home is in need of repairs, you need to account for that.
The median price of an Omaha home is $180,000. This is admittedly lower than the national average and may mean some people searching the market expect lower prices than elsewhere.
It also means if your home is worth more than that, you might see a delay in your sale on the traditional market. However, that depends on a number of other factors too, from your agent to your neighborhood to when you're selling.
Watch Out for Contingency Clauses
Contingency clauses are clauses put into home sale contracts that allow for a person to back out of the sale if certain conditions aren't meant. They vary quite a bit but one of the most common is that a sale can be invalidated if a person's other home doesn't sell in a certain period (since most people don't want multiple homes).
These clauses have a place but they mean any sale you make with one is in limbo until the criteria have all been met. If the buyer gets to back out four months down the line, you've very much not sold your home "quickly" as this guide is helping you to do!
It's up to you if these clauses are worth it; they can help grease the wheels of a sale and are almost always made in good faith. They're just also not conducive to a guaranteed quick sale.
Beware Scammers
The home market is big money, which unfortunately attracts predators. This is why we recommend researching whoever you're using to sell your home; you need to make sure they're legitimate.
In fact, be wary of anyone with money to gain in the decisions you're making. There are plenty of scams out there that prey on people working through just about any stage of the home selling process.
Unfortunately, people in a rush to sell homes are most vulnerable to these kinds of predators. This is doubly true if you're cognitively impaired or currently grieving at the loss of a loved one. If selling a home alone is going to be an issue, be sure to talk with a trusted friend or loved one about what you should do.
If you need to sell fast, legitimate sites like ours offer the best deals. Obscure websites or Craigslist ads offering deals that seem perfect? They're coming off as too good to be true for a reason.
Consider When to Sell
Spring is usually the best time to sell a house. This isn't universally true (such as in areas where spring weather is rough), but it holds true in Nebraska.
The reason for this is a culmination of several advantages stacked on top of each other:
- People have recently received their tax refunds.
- Warmer days mean more people are out looking for homes.
- Summer is the best time to move, so many buyers choose to purchase in preparation for that fact.
That said, spring isn't a perfect time to sell and whether it will work for you depends on your needs. Competition can be intense and "as-is" sales of rundown homes can take a long time to sell.
If you're looking to sell quickly, you may not always get to choose what season you're selling in either. Whenever you decide to sell, consider the spending habits of people in a given period. For instance, selling during big holidays like Christmas can be a challenge since many people are both very busy and have already spent quite a bit of money.
We're Faster Than the Traditional Market
We've got nothing against real estate agents; we use them all the time. However, the traditional way of buying and selling houses is slow.
Not everyone can afford to wait. If you're trying to dodge foreclosure or in serious financial trouble, you can't wait a year or more to sell a home. Sometimes a home needs to go quickly.
We let you skip most of the traditional process. We'll buy homes "as-is," meaning there's no need to fix up issues that often dissuade traditional buyers from even considering a purchase.
Closing will be far faster than virtually any traditional sale attempt. Our customers have gotten equity in as few as seven days. We also advance $5000 so that transitioning to a new home or temporary space isn't a hassle.
The above may come off as something of a sales pitch, but it's all true. Selling to us is going to be faster than using a real estate agent. It's as simple as that.
If you're worried you're not going to get a fair price, check our reviews. Our customers are satisfied! We're also completely transparent and will discuss how we got to whatever offer we give if you're unsure whether it's fair or not.
Consult With Us Today!
"How do I sell my home quickly?" you asked.
Whether you use an agent or a service like ours, the trick is to be smart and realistic. You want legitimate experts working with you to figure out a reasonable price that can get your home sold in the timeframe you're looking for.
At Katy & Frank Home Buyers, we will give you a fair offer on your home and far faster than more traditional methods. Not only that, consultation is free! If you'd like to get started on selling an Omaha home, and selling it fast, we'd love to hear from you.
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