How To Get The Best Price For Your Home – Fast
1. Time is money when it comes to selling your house
Once you’ve made the decision to sell your home, the longer it sits on the market unsold, the more it will cost you. Many home sellers feel that it is very important to receive close to their full sales price. But they overlook the additional months of maintenance costs, such as mortgage interest, property taxes, and maintenance. I have seen houses sit unsold on the market for years! Obviously, those home sellers are not very motivated to sell. If you’ve already moved into your new home, maintaining an expensive vacant house can be very expensive, typically costing $1,000 or more each month the house remains unsold.
2. Put your home in near-model home condition
Most home buyers today want to buy a house that is in basically good condition and does not need major repairs. This is called a house with a “red ribbon deal” because it’s like a gift wrapped with a red ribbon.
There are few buyers of superior homes to fix, and they want bargain prices to make up for the work required. The goal for home sellers who want to sell fast for the best price should be to get the home in near-model condition. However, spending a lot of money is not required. Most homes only need basic, inexpensive work to bring the residence into very good condition, where all the buyer has to do is turn the key in the door and move in.
3. The reason most houses don’t sell: they’re overpriced!
Many home sellers want to set their selling prices above what their real estate agent recommends. These sellers often expect an out-of-town buyer to overpay for their home. That rarely happens! There are several reasons, such as buyers’ agents looking for their buyers, competitive listings that are realistically priced close to market value, and lender appraisals that reflect market value. Buyers quickly become home value experts after inspecting a dozen or more similar homes in the vicinity. They rarely overpay. Most houses have a “value range.” Many factors influence this range of values, including local economic conditions, the location of the home, the supply of similar homes in the same price range that are for sale, the number of buyers currently on the market, the condition physicality of the home, the ability of your real estate agent to properly market the home to as many potential buyers as possible, the financing available, the quality of the local school district (the best schools create demand for homebuyers), and the attractiveness of your home compared to other nearby homes now available for dirty.
4. Be flexible, don’t get greedy
If you are just testing the market and will sell your home only if you get the inflated asking price, then you are not a serious and motivated seller. However, if you are motivated to sell, the best attitude is to be flexible, not to get greedy, and not to insist on taking the last dollar of profit. Instead, consider every purchase offer that comes along. No matter how low and insulting the purchase offer may be, make a counter offer! After several days or even weeks of negotiating counter offers, home sales are often obtained. But sellers who are inflexible and don’t counteroffers are only to blame for their house not selling because they are inflexible and greedy.
5. Get out of the house!
Finally, if you listed your home with a professional real estate agent, let that person (or the buyer’s agent) do their job. Whenever you know an agent will bring a potential buyer to inspect your home, even on short notice, get out of the house! There is a very good reason why you don’t want to meet the prospective buyer.
Experienced real estate agents will tell you that until a buyer reviews a residence, he or she is not a serious buyer. If the seller is around, the prospect usually won’t criticize her house. Instead, he or she will look at it and walk away without committing to that possible future residence. Also, the buyer’s agent will not comment on the pros and cons of the home if the seller is within hearing range. Even if you only walk around the block 10 times while a buyer inspects her house, get out! Also, get your pets out – there’s nothing worse than an offensive pet (or pet smell) to deter prospective buyers from quickly buying your home for the best price.