One of the questions I get asked all the time when people find out I’m a real estate broker is; how can I sell my home fast. I tell them the surest way to sell it fast is to drop your price lower than anybody else, be the cheapest and nicest in the neighborhood.
With out fault, people say what else can I do? I then tell them, there are seven steps you can take today that will help your home sell fast and these steps will work in any real estate market.
Experience shows me that if you follow the seven steps below, your home will sell in the fastest time possible. It doesn’t matter if the real estate market is an up, down, sideways or flat market.
The Seven Steps To Sell Your Home Fast
- Find a competent real estate agent. – Higher a real estate agent who has been in business for at least a couple of years. The longer the agent has been in business the more experience they are likely to have. Higher one that makes a living off of selling real estate. What I mean is that they do it full time and not just part-time. Don’t get me wrong, there are good agents who work part time, those agents are the exception to the norm.
- Listen to what the real estate agent tells you. – This is a big one. If you are going to hire an agent listen to what they say about the market. He or she is going to tell you who and what your competition is. They are going to be able to tell you what homes in your neighborhood are selling for, the average time on the market and the final selling price.
- Be honest with your real estate agent. – The more honest you are with your agent the better they will be able to advise you on price. Also let them know if there are defects in or on the property, they will then be able to let you know if that is some that could affect a buyers decision to buy or not. You are going to have to disclose it anyway. If there is something that will materially affect a buyers decision to buyer or sell the agent is required to disclose that defect even if you don’t want it disclosed.
- Price your home to sell. – Be honest here, the real estate is going to lay out before you what homes are selling for in the neighborhood. He is also going to tell you what isn’t selling and why. Nine times out of ten if a home isn’t selling it’s because it’s priced incorrectly. The closer you are to pricing your home to the average the faster it will sell.
- De-Clutter and keep your home clean. – This is another big one. If your home looks cluttered, pack up what is unnecessary and get it off the property. Not just out in the garage but off the property. After the clutter is gone clean, clean the toilets, bath tubs, sinks, baseboards, windows, etc and then keep it clean. Your home needs to look like a model home. You never know when someone is going to call and want to see it. Besides that it gives a potential buyer the ability to see their belongings in home.
- Make yourself available to your real estate agent. – I can’t tell you how many times I’ve received an offer or I’ve sent an offer to somebody else and the agent has one heck of a time reaching the seller to present the offer. Be aware most offer contain a time for response. I you don’t respond back before that drop dead point, you may be out of luck. If you are going out of town make sure your agent knows how to reach you and that you have access to computers and if need be a fax.
- Complete all paper work in a timely manner. – Once the contract/purchase agreement is signed the clock starts ticking. In the contract will have clauses and items which are time specific. You as the Seller will want to make that you comply with time specific items as soon as possible. Your real estate agent can make you aware of items and let you know what it is you need to do to comply. You do no want to give the buyer a way out.
Here is a bonus item that I’ve used in the past when selling a house. If you as a seller are in a real big hurry to sell you may want to try this.
- Offer an incentive to a buyer. – There is nothing like an incentive to get attention. I could be in the way of paying a part of the closing cost, reducing the price for an all cash offers or faster close, offer an additional bonus to selling agent; bonus are usually a direct pass through to agents and don’t go to the broker.
Question: If you were thinking of selling your home would this be helpful information to know? What else might you like to know?
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
