Selling your home can open the doors to confusing and downright bad advice from well-meaning family and friends. It can be difficult to sift through what stands as the best and worst advice for sellers, so we did it for you. Check out our list of tips to help your home sell quickly and for profit.
Even after listing your home for dirt cheap, some houses sit on the market for months and even years before they are picked up by a buyer. A lot of times that can be due to a poor market, the home’s location, and the state of the home itself. Sometimes though, sellers unintentionally end up sabotaging the sale of their home.
The most common problem? Sellers are bombarded with well-intentioned advice that promises to help you sell your home quickly with a high price tag. That’s what most sellers want to hear.
The truth? You should take any advice with a grain of salt.
Realistically, the advice that you really want is that of a seasoned real estate agent. Clever Partner Agents are experienced in home selling and know what it takes to get your home sold and make your bank account happy.
If you’re looking for some tried and true pieces of advice when it comes to selling your home, we’ve done the work for you.
Great Advice for Home Sellers
Price Your Home Below Its Value
Though it sounds counterintuitive, this method has been shown to net large profit margins. Pricing your home around 15-20% below its value can help capture the attention of more prospective buyers. If you have numerous buyers that really want your home, they can help to drive up the sales price by putting in competitive offers.
Keep Everything Clean
This may seem like common knowledge, but as you’re preparing to move out of your home and things are packed away in boxes, it’s easy for the house to get into a state of disarray. The fix? Try not to have open houses before you’ve done the majority of cleaning up.
Boxes aren’t your only worry. You should do a run through of every room in the house and make sure that everything is as clean as possible. Buyers will be turned off at the site of a messy or unkempt home. You may want to hire a professional cleaning company to make sure the job is thorough.
Help Buyers See the Space and Beauty of Your Home
When you do have the opportunity to show your home, make sure that you show it in its best light, literally. Opening the shades or curtains of your home and letting in natural light can help the space feel more airy and bright. Space is an important factor for prospective buyers, they want to know that they can maximize it for the lowest price.
Make Your Home Look Impersonal
You don’t need to make your home look cold and uninviting, you simply need to make it look less like, well, you. We all put our personal decorative touches on the spaces that we occupy, our homes are no exception.
Don’t worry, it’s completely possible to stage your home while living in it. Doing so will help potential buyers to envision how they can decorate it to suit their own style and not feel overwhelmed by yours. Taking down pictures and eccentric decorations will do just the trick.
Know When to Make Repairs and Updates to Your Home
There’s this idea that you shouldn’t make any repairs or updates to your home if you’re intending to sell it. However, making updates to your home can increase its value by thousands, with an initial investment of a few hundred dollars. Don’t skimp on updates to your home solely to save money, there are better ways to save money when selling your home.
Simple updates like fresh coats of paint, fixing broken stair railings, or even updating the lighting in your home can make a huge difference. Not only does it make your home look newer and well-cared for, but it also shows buyers that they will have less to do in terms of updates.
Don't be led astray by bad home selling advice.
Partner Agents will help you sell your home quick and for more money.
Advice to Ignore
Staging Your Home Puts Buyers Off Because It Feels "Fake"
There’s a good reason that sellers and real estate agents work together to stage homes: money. Staging a home helps buyers to see the home in its best light.
While it might be easier to show an empty home, being faced with room after empty room can put buyers off. It’s hard to imagine filling space up.
Staging the home gives potential buyers a good idea of what the home could be instead of having them stare at blank walls during their showings.
Don’t Pay for Professional Listing Pictures.
Your home’s listing pictures are often the first point of contact for potential buyers. Blurry pictures with someone’s thumb in the frame aren’t the way to go. Professionals know how to frame a room properly and catch it at its best angle. The right photo can make a tiny room look huge and a dull room look full of life.
Finding the Right Real Estate Agent
Your home deserves a talented real estate agent to help it find its next owners and you deserve a stress-free listing process. Selling your home doesn’t have to be a hassle, especially when you work with experienced Clever Partner Agents.
These agents are experienced in getting homes sold and have the resume to prove it. Clever Partner Agents can save you thousands on commissions, which leaves you with more money to put down on your new home.
