A lot of real estate professionals will claim that it is faster to sell a home when it is a seller’s market. This is a time when the national economy is doing great and interest rates are low, which means that buyers have more money to spend on homes. It also means there is a greater demand for homes than the supply that is available. If it were a buyer’s market, there would be too many homes for sale and not enough demand because of a bad economy and higher interest rates.
Regardless of the current real estate market, there are some easy tricks you can perform to sell your home fast. These tricks don’t guarantee anything, but they will increase your chances of getting a sale at a time when you might not think it is possible to get one. Below are 9 proven ways to sell a house faster.
1) Hire a Good Agent
Not all real estate agents are the same. Some are more reputable than others, especially when it comes to their sales record. Find an agent with a good selling record to represent your home on the market. They will not only get your property in the MLS system, but they will likely perform their own marketing as well.
2) Remove Clutter
When potential buyers come to see your home, it is best to have the least amount of possessions in there as possible. This may require you to throw or store away about 33% of your belongings while trying to sell your home. Buyers need to be able to visualize an empty home, so they can imagine what they’ll do with the available space.
3) Remove Personal Photos
Photographs of your family will be a distraction to buyers. If your home looks too personalized, then buyers might feel like they’re invading someone else’s home. Personal photographs need to be removed so that buyers can imagine their own family in the home and their own pictures on the wall.
4) Hire a Professional Photographer
A real estate agent may take pictures of your home themselves, but they’ll typically use a standard digital camera for it. If you want to attract buyers, you should hire a professional photographer to take high-resolution photographs that make your home stand out more. You can even give these photographs to your realtor so that they can upload them into your MLS listing.
5) Fix Problems
Buyers will always think twice before purchasing a home with problems that need fixing. Do your water faucets work okay? Do all your electrical outlets function? Make sure these standard issues are taken care of or else buyers will be turned away. The only alternative would be to sell your home as a fixer-upper, but then you wouldn’t get a good price for it.
6) Make Small Upgrades
In addition to fixing your home, you should think about enhancing it with a few small upgrades. These don’t have to be huge upgrades that require a lot of money. You could do something simple like install new light fixtures in the living room or new shower curtains in the bathroom. These small things will go a long way with buyers.
7) New Paint Job
A big part of how a home looks is its paint job. There is paint on the siding outside the home and on the walls of the home. If this paint is old and looks dirty or chipped, then it will make your home look old too. But if you were to repaint these areas with new paint, then it will make your home look bright, new, and beautiful. This could increase its value with buyers tremendously.
8) Use Lots of Lights
You certainly want buyers to see your home looking bright and shiny. Don’t just have a few lamp lights turned on when they come inside. Your home needs to be filled with sources of light from every angle. That way, every inch of your home is easy to see no matter if it’s daytime or nighttime. Then, buyers will feel more positive about the home rather than negative and suspicious.
9) Social Media Marketing
These days social media marketing is essential for selling real estate in your local area. Spending a little time on Facebook or Twitter can go a long way. All it takes is for you to spread the word to all your friends and connections that you’re selling your home and then they’ll likely spread that word to their friends for you. Plus, you can join various Facebook Groups and post information about your sales listing as well.