10 Tips For Selling Your Home

Selling your home is a fairly standardized process and common sense tells most home owners to clean the yard, take down personal items, remove clutter by having a garage sale and generally spruce the place up. But there is more that can be done to help get a residence ready to be placed on the market. There are some additional tips which can help expedite the selling process and lure prospective buyers to view and show an interest in your home above all others.

Tip #1

When your home is listed in the MLS leave the dishwasher, washer and dryer and refrigerator off the listing contract. These items can be used during negotiations to help boost the final sale price.

Tip #2

Select a realtor with many years of experience selling properties to ensure you get someone who's not only qualified but seasoned as well. As any employer will tell you nothing beats experience.

Tip #3

Out-of-state buyers will have a very limited schedule to view a residence. Be sure to have your home prepared and clean at all times so prospective buyers can view your property at the drop of a dime.

Tip #4

Create an information packet so prospective home buyers have a single source of all relevant information. The package should include photos of the property, copies of utility bills and a listing of all pertinent contact information.

Tip #5

Instill a sense of loyalty with your realtor and work together as a team. Buyer and seller agents do a lot of work that may not be immediately recognizable. They have your best interests in mind when selling a property.

Tip #6

Place freshly baked cookies or bread on a kitchen counter or table. This helps personalize the experience by creating sense of place for the buyer and their family. You want them to feel a connection to the home and embracing other senses outside of visuals can assist in this process.

Tip #7

When buyers are escorted through the home by their agent take that opportunity to disappear for 45 minutes to an hour. This allows the buyer a chance to evaluate the property on their terms without feeling pressured by the presence of the existing home owner.

Tip #8

If you do stay on the property while prospective buyers are present be sure to stay out of the way. Relaxing in the backyard or hanging out the garage makes you available to answer questions but allows buyers time to focus on what's important to them.

Tip #9

Don't evaluate the sale price of your home based on financial needs to move into a new residence. This will often cloud negotiations resulting in home sellers asking too much for their property. Correctly pricing your home is one of the most important steps to selling in a timely fashion.

Tip #10

Repeat customers at title companies will sometimes receive pricing discounts which can result in hundreds of dollars in savings. Keep this in mind when developing relationships with appraisers, home inspectors and other individuals and companies involved in selling your home.