10 Tips for Selling Your House This Year
The housing market is more competitive than ever, so selling your house this year may be challenging. Buyers are rushing to find the best properties. Showcase your home and make it the best house in your city by using these tips to attract buyers and sell your property quickly.
1. Find a Local Realtor
Real estate agents must know your local market to understand your competition. Even if you’re moving out of state, a local realtor will give you the best chance to find a buyer. Meet a few to understand their experience and background before agreeing to work with them.
2. Refresh Your Yard
People won’t want to consider living in your home if there are leaves and overgrown grass. Consider refreshing your yard with tricks like framing your home with plants by trimming your bushes and trees. Planting new flowers, mowing your grass and edging around your driveway will make your property look professionally done too.
3. Try a New Paint Color
Research shows that people make first impressions in seven seconds, which includes picking homes on the market. Your interior and exterior paint colors should have modern hues, not older colors like bright yellow siding or neon walls. Neutral shades also appeal to buyers because they can easily match their furniture and decor to your home.
4. Take Great Photos
People quickly judge any virtual posts with blurry photos or bad angles. Take care with the pictures meant for your home listing. They should be clear, straightforward and useful. Capture every aspect of your home that buyers might be interested in to sell your home faster.
5. Emphasize Natural Lighting
When buyers walk into your home or click through listing photos, dark rooms and hallways don’t feel homey. Instead of filling your house with lamps, you could open the curtains and flood each room with natural light. Sunlight flatters every color and texture within a home while making each room feel bigger.
6. Remove Seasonal Decor
Your annual routine might include decorating for Christmas in November or hanging Halloween decorations in September, but that won’t appeal to buyers. They should easily visualize their belongings in your home every month of the year. Remove seasonal decorations before taking photos or scheduling tours so it looks ready for year-round comfort.
7. Schedule Early Inspections
Every homeowner must schedule a complete inspection before proceeding with a buyer. You might think you have to wait until someone makes an offer to call an inspector, but that isn’t true.
It may be more advantageous to schedule your home inspection early. Houses are selling faster than ever. You’ll want everything ready as soon as the best offer comes in. Find a local inspector to thoroughly comb through your house and give it their approval. After considering your listing, buyers may even pay more if they know the inspection results.
8. Finish Your Repairs
The broken garbage disposal and popped nails in your walls may have slipped your attention. Life gets busy, so it’s challenging to tackle repairs as soon as household issues arise. Buyers will notice these things when they tour your home or browse listing pictures. They can also prevent a home inspector from giving your property the green light.
Schedule time for household repairs during your next free afternoon or weekends. It may only take a few minutes to fix the problem that’s hung around your home for months. If not, you’ll have plenty of time to call a professional.
9. Avoid Too Much Personalization
You might adore the photo gallery of baby pictures on your kitchen wall, but they may distract buyers. People should easily picture themselves and their belongings in your home. Highly personal items could make them take your property less seriously.
Consider removing belongings like these before snapping pictures for listing or inviting people over for a tour:
- Religious items
- Political messaging
- Sports memorabilia
People love buying things and making them their own. It’s why magazine pictures and home decor stores stay neutral and appealing. Creating the same vibe in your home will make selling your house much easier.
10. Prepare to Move Quickly
Houses spent an average of 33 days on the market in 2022. That’s slower than in 2021 but still much faster than many homeowners expect. Prepare to move quickly after listing your home. Accepting an offer too slowly or not being immediately available for tours could mean that buyers move on to another property. Have everything ready to go and a new home in sight to have a great experience in today’s market.
Prepare to Sell Your House
Selling your house will be the most important thing you do this year. Prepare for the experience by considering these tips. Understanding what buyers want and how you can make your property as appealing as possible will ensure a quick sale in your best interest.