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What makes certain homes sell faster than others?

7 Ways to Sell Your Home Faster Than Your Competition

Have you wondered why some homes sell faster than others? Why some homes sell within hours, and other homes sit on the market for months? Have you ever walked into a home that you instantly fell in love with? It had a certain charm that you just can’t put into words.

Sell your home fast

Here are some reasons or features that we believe will sell your home faster than the others on the market and give it the charm needed to get your home sold:

1. Find the Right Real Estate Agent

Some Agents have certain niches. They specialize in historic homes or waterfront properties, etc. If your home has a distinct feature, it may benefit you to use an Agent who specializes in, or has experience with, your property type. They will have specific marketing strategies to get your home sold, and they will know what audience needs to see your home.

There are other important characteristics to look for in finding the right Real Estate Agent that will help your home sell quickly and for top dollar. Look for an Agent that is attentive, enthusiastic, professional and has a work ethic that looks out for your best interests. Hire an Agent who is tech-savvy and who isn’t afraid to utilize the Internet to reach a wide array of buyers. Find an Agent who can take excellent photos or is willing to hire a photographer to take great photos of your home for the best online presentation possible.

Make sure they are comfortable with the legal contracts involved in selling real estate. Your home must absolutely be listed in the MLS (Multiple Listing Service), where most Real Estate Agents enter their home listings’ information. It is still the number one way to get the most exposure. It will also get your home on open house lists and tours that will educate other Realtors and buyers on your home’s potential. Make sure you choose a Realtor who is informative, who keeps you informed throughout the process and who communicates with you quickly about showings and feedback.

Ask around, interview a few Agents, and evaluate their marketing efforts and overall action plan before you decide on one. Nestiny can help you find a great local Agent too if you need help finding one that matches your needs.

2. Curb Appeal — Make a Good First Impression

First impressions really do count, especially when your home is listed on the market. If a buyer pulls up and your home or yard looks unkept, they will most likely get back in the car and leave without giving the inside a chance. The exterior of the property is the first and the last thing the buyer sees while they are touring your home. In this sense, the exterior is also the final impression a buyer has of your home.

Take measures to make your curb appeal stand out! Power-wash the outside of your home, make sure the roof looks good and the paint on the home, doors, windows and trim is smooth and fresh. The front door may be one of the most important features of your home as far as exterior visuals are concerned, so choose the right style and color for your home. Install new exterior lights and knockers, make sure walkways and railings are maintained, decorate the entrance, and focus on the landscaping. Make sure the yard is green, mowed and free of clutter and weeds. Spruce up the plants and trees with a fresh trim or pruning. You will know it is done well when you can get a steady, interested stream of buyers through your front door for showings!

Curb Appeal

3. Make Sure Your Home is Move-In Condition

You have battled the issue of first impressions by taking care of your home’s curb appeal, now let’s focus on the inside. Your home will sell quicker if a buyer can walk through it and not calculate all the items that will need to be taken care of prior to them moving in. Unless a buyer is looking at homes to specifically fix up, they will expect that the home will be move-in ready.

If you know of problems in the home — big or small — fix them. Fix holes in the wall, leaks, broken air conditioners, etc. If needing to make repairs, do so with energy efficiency in mind. Make necessary repairs, but also make cosmetic updates if necessary. Put a fresh, neutral coat of paint, change out green shag carpet (LOL), repair kitchen cabinets, etc. Know that bathrooms and kitchens really do sell a home, so make sure they are pleasing to the eye, as well as pleasing functionally. Anything that might cause a buyer to walk through with dislike needs to be corrected (if it doesn’t break the bank). Just realize that first impressions do count, so fix up your home, but do it with resale in mind.

4. Stage Your Home Correctly

A properly staged home will allow a buyer to see themselves in your home. It showcases how much space your home has. So, take down any personal photographs you may have, take the magnets off the fridge, declutter, clean off countertops and give your home a good cleaning. Organize junky areas like basements, closets and attics. If you have too much stuff, you may want to purge and get rid of things, or move it to a storage facility until your home sells. Also, put extra furniture pieces, extra clothing, and anything else that may clutter your home in storage so that a buyer can really see the space your home has. When holding an open house, or when you have a showing on your home, turn on all the lights, let in as much light in as possible, and leave the home so that they can enjoy it and imagine what life would be like if it was home for them.

Hire a Staging Professional if you are unsure of how best to highlight the features of the rooms in your home. If you have unused areas of your home, they will know how to create purpose of the space. The professional will help with flow issues within the home as well. The point of staging your home is to allow the buyers to see themselves in your home while making your home desirable to everyone who walks through it.

5. Effective Advertising

Advertising plays a vital role in getting your home sold quickly. You won’t get any interest in your home if no one knows about it. The home that gains the most exposure will have the most interested buyers. Showing off photos of your home’s best features will pique their interest, so don’t just take excellent, high quality photos, spread them around for everyone to see. Hand out flyers, post it on free websites such as Craigslist or Facebook, pass out brochures to people at work, especially if you work for a large corporation, and have your friends and family do the same. Sometimes word of mouth is the best advertising format you can use! Hold open houses and pass flyers out there, and add a box to your Realtor’s for sale sign that holds flyers in it for people who walk down the street, wanting more information. Post an ad in your local newspapers and place the highlighted features in the headline. Wording is everything!

Use enticing “keywords” when advertising that can increase showing activity and quick offers. Including language like ‘move-in ready, turn-key, beautiful, spacious, new, upgraded, renovated and open-concept’ will gain more attention, while words like ‘must sell, motivated seller,’ and other words that make you seem a bit more in a hurry (or desperate) will hurt your chances of selling your home fast for the right price point. The purpose of your advertising efforts is to get the word out there that you have a home to sell and to get people into your home to tour it. Therefore, make sure your listing is positive and encouraging as it showcases your home’s benefits and positive attributes. And if you have energy efficient features in your home, spotlight the cost-savings in your advertisement efforts.

Advertise your home

Think back to when you fell in love with your home. Chances are, the things you loved about the home will be what draws others in. Write up as much information as you can in the listing and on the printed advertisements.

Use the power of good advertising to sell your home. Effective advertisement could be the difference between a fast sale and your home sitting on the market for a long time, so consider a cost-effective advertising campaign and implement it.

6. Offer Incentives

Consider offering extra motivation to the buyer. For instance, offer to pay their closing costs or offer a home warranty with the home. You can even offer personal property items, such as conveying the washer and dryer, or even the riding lawnmower, with the sale of your home. And don’t forget to include these incentives in all of your advertising!

7. Price Your Home Right

If you don’t want your home to sit on the market, price it right. Your Realtor will pull comparable sales (comps) in your area of homes that have recently been listed, homes that recently went under contract and homes that have recently sold, typically within the elementary school district. Don’t put too much emotion into the price your Realtor gives you. They have done their research on your home based on actual sales data and are just the messenger of the facts. If you overprice your home, it will sit and birds will chirp which will frustrate you as the seller. Nobody wants that.

Consider the carrying costs as well of having to keep paying utilities, taxes and lawn maintenance or other missed opportunities like missing out on changing school districts as well when you consider the suggested price. Buyers will automatically pull your house from their consideration if it’s priced too high for their budget. Typically, if you debut your house on the market and it’s overpriced, it will sit for longer, and end up selling for a lower price than your agent initially recommended. If your home is priced right, it will sell quickly and you get to move on to your next chapter!

Final Thoughts on Getting Your Home Sold Quickly

Finding the right Agent is vital in selling your home successfully. Make a good first AND final impression of your home, inside and out. Advertise well, offer incentives and price your home correctly. If you do these things, your home will stand out from competition. If you do not have any showings within the first week, tweak these items. Nine times out of ten, the issue is with your pricing or advertising efforts, which your Agent should be helping you with. Homes that sell have these items in check and a qualified, expert Realtor overseeing these matters for you to give you the best chance of success.

Want more advice about all things home — including homebuying or selling advice? Nestiny is a great place for homebuyer education and to help you gauge how ready you are to buy a home. Journey Homeward allows you to enter all your wants and needs while the True Affordability Tool will break down your budget, showing what you can comfortably afford. You will also receive a Ready Report that will give you a vital head start in the home buying journey, saving you valuable time and money.


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