“In today’s fast-paced real estate market, homeowners often find themselves in a “must sell house fast” situation. What does that look like? It could be a job relocation, financial reasons, or changes to a family dynamic that apply the pressure to sell fast. Selling a house fast also comes with challenges such as market conditions, a saturated market competing with other sellers, fluctuating market conditions, and the emotional roller coaster of parting ways with a familiar place.
So how does a homeowner handle all these challenges and still get their home off the market fast? There are a few very practical things someone can to do help expedite this process. First on the list will be to price the home within a competitive range. This will require homework with some market analysis to know what price will pique the interest of a buyer but also satisfy your financial goals. Spend a nominal amount increasing the curb appeal of the home. You would be surprised the difference trimming the hedges, adding dark mulch, and maybe a little exterior paint can have on a potential buyer.
While you are at it, clean the place up and try a little staging. It does not have anything fancy, but just enough so the average person can walk in and see a home where they could theoretically live. That, “I can see myself here,” picture makes it easier for someone to make an offer. Try marketing the home with online marketing and social media! Put the ad right smack dab in the middle of where all the eyes are going to be. There are a lot of house buyers online.
Doing these things will greatly reduce the amount of stress associated with selling a house fast. Let’s face it, timely preparation can be the difference between selling that house or not.”
Negotiating Offers
Get-How-To Tips for Negotiating a Sale
- Study the Process: If you hope to sell quick, you’ll need to get a handle on what to expect when the offers start coming through. The process isn’t always as straightforward or easy as you might hope, hence some negotiation may be involved.
- Evaluate Offers: Don’t just accept the first bid. Sure, some may overwhelm you, and if they do then by all means pounce, but a good strategy may also involve evaluating bids further. Value should factor in beyond the asking price as you make your final decision, and should take into account other factors: what are the buyer’s financial qualifications? Perhaps there’s too much risk or too many onerous contingencies that might hold up funding or stop the deal altogether. This is all on a case-by-case basis and it is impossible to lay out every potential pitfall within the confines of this book. Just remember to look before you leap. A lower offer might be a better one if the time frame is good.
- Countering Offers: The seller might wish to make a counteroffer. This is good, actually, because as in many transactions, it shows you are willing to sacrifice certain things for the sake of reaching a deal sooner. And besides, if worse comes to worst, the initial offer could be a scarecrow offer designed to make you decline—only for the second buyer to come through with your original asking price, which is lower than at first seen, but maybe an okay price for you.
- What Exactly Is Your Value?: Some of the worst things you can do to yourself is prolong the negotiation process. Anytime you and the other party get to talking, make sure it is a constructive conversation and not a chip-chipping of your deal and the sale price. If the conversation is becoming symbolic—like “my culture’s different to you, so accepting my bid means this…”, give them a hearing because it is, after all, good to listen, but try to keep an eye out for such things—tell them to save the salesly baloney and give you the cash because you don’t care about any of these things. Obviously, both sides want a win-win in the art of the deal, but don’t get hostility in return. Certain businesses can turn sour really fast if the seller subtly implodes. Don’t, for a moment, undermine the negotiation process.
Closing the Sale
The process of closing on a house can be very involved, but knowing what to expect can make it easier. Typically, the closing process involves completing the sale, transferring ownership, and paying any fees. During this time, you’ll also have to review and sign a lot of documents, including the closing disclosure (a.k.a. the CD), which outlines the final terms of your mortgage and a view of your closing costs. This is a great time to be very organized—have all your documents already gathered and be ready to be studious.
For more information about the closing process from a buyer’s perspective, check out this infographic.
Common Pitfalls
Avoid these mistakes to have a smoother closing.
Bad communication with all parties involved (realtors, lenders, attorneys). Not having a thorough home inspection. Becoming difficult about showings during the negotiation phase.
Find the right buyer by getting ahead:
Keep your list price as competitive as possible. Be flexible with your showing schedule. Stage your home effectively.
Knowing what to expect during the closing process is half the battle. If you understand the process, and you prepare for it by avoiding the most common pitfalls, there’s a very high chance that you’ll be able to relax quickly and efficiently!
Pricing Your Home Competitively
To get a quick offer, it’s important to understand how to:
- Price Your Home to Sell – Like any other product or service, your home needs to be priced according to the current market competition. You don’t want to lose out on possible traffic, so don’t overprice. But, don’t leave cash on the table by underpricing for fear of doing the former.
- Work With a Great Real Estate Agent – Nearly 9 out of 10 sellers (88%) rely on a Realtor to assist with the sales process.5 A Realtor can provide crucial advice that can help you get top dollar for your home. And unless you’re very experienced, a Realtor’s experience can be worth his or her weight in gold.
- Understand Local Market Trends and Statistics – The same NAR study mentioned before found that 94% of agents use comparative market analysis (CMA) to help them give suggestions on where to come in on pricing. Some Realtors—probably the ones having a tough time selling homes—will use the CMA to tell you the price your home should be listed at. Meanwhile, great Realtors will help you determine the best
- Time Your Sale Right – A real estate study shows that houses sell most in the first five days. According to that same Redfin study, many homes sell on Thursday and Friday. So, it’s probably best to get your house on the market no later than Wednesday or Thursday.
- Stage Your Home For Success S. In fact, there are even staging certifications for buyers’ agents these days! Staging is a big job but relax, you don’t have to go all out. You can simply get traffic, and get an offer by simply “pricing it right.”
Marketing Your Home Effectively
Crucial to selling your house in today’s market is professional photography and virtual tours. Sellers should consider the importance of staging their home prior to any professional photos. Buyers can quickly scan limitless photos online of homes for sale. Therefore, quality photos and virtual tours are very important. Staging a home may be as simple as decluttering or painting your home. Staging should lead to higher-resolution professional photos being used online. Virtual tours are another way of improving a consumer’s online experience.
Sellers should consider how this improves the use of digital platforms. Virtual tours may be available on Zillow for a short time but permanently secure to a seller’s own website. However, sellers should utilize the gamut of digital platforms including Instagram and Facebook, too. They should attract as much attention as they can despite the hot market and how quickly house prices are still rising.
Given that search engine optimized (SEO) content adds “how to quickly sell a house” and “how to sell house fast” to their listings for sale adds more of a reason consumers might find and contact them.
Open Houses and Showings
Curb appeal is what reel’s buyers in, but it’s the inside that sells. Potential home buyers look at lots of houses. They want one where they can see themselves living. To help them see that vision more clearly, consider doing the following:
- Depersonalize. Keep in mind anyone may look at your house, so it’s a good idea not to leave greeting cards, mail, or bills lying out. It’s also helpful to remove any of your more favorite, and especially explicit, wall décor if you have it up.
- Put away the sports memorabilia… just for now!
- Fresh scent. Light a candle or bake some bread. Good smells tend to produce good feelings. Buyers should feel good in your house.
- The right light. My house has long curtains hanging in front of some tall, long living-room windows. I try to always have the curtains open before a showing. I’ve gradually learned to plan ahead for showings in the evening. I have installed some moderately bright light bulbs, and a couple of lamps in the far corners of the room. Those lights have helped some people see a little more clearly what our living-room looks like when it’s not dark outside.
- Kids? As homeowners fear, buyers also fear purchasing a dilapidated home they have to fix up. With that, a little cleanliness often goes a long way. Clean house = well-maintained house. Maybe someday that hint will sink into your kids’ brains and habits.
Understanding the Market
If you’re wondering, “how can I sell my house fast?” understanding the current real estate market is step number one. The housing market is never static. It can go up and down based on a wide range of non-regrelatable economic, interest rate, and local demand factors.
By understanding the current market trends, you can price and position your home property to sell quickly, right from the very start. This may also involve a bit of “guesswork” in setting the “right price” for optimal selling turnaround, but having at least a cursory perspective on current pricing trends can help.
Step number two in this process involves analyzing “comps” in your area. If you don’t know, “comps”, or comparable sales, are properties that are very similar to your property you are looking to sell in your immediate geographic area that have recently sold. This can give you a very good idea of what most “in the know” buyers are looking for today, as well as the actual final selling prices that have been negotiated.
Most of these baseline prices and recent sales data are fairly easy to find via a number of online property database resources (like this one). So, I would suggest that you invest a bit of time in winning out a few neighbourhood (cross-street) properties that are similar in style, size, and state of “repair” to your home (I’ll explain why in a minute) – and have a solid “win – win” pricing number as well as a customer/buyer profile in mind to shoot for when you begin your buyer marketing campaign.
You might also find some ideas of what a few competing “flippers” have done in your area to increase the value of their own home (which presumably shouldn’t be too far “out of whack” to your home).
Preparing Your Home for Sale
The first thing to consider is that first impressions matter a lot, especially in residential real estate. The first walk into the home by a potential buyer often sways their future considerations. If the house has a polished exterior, nice landscaping, a welcoming porch—potential buyers can visualize and feel themselves being the homeowner. The opposite can also be very detrimental, just like relationships and things alike.
First impressions matters because there are so many things you can do to improve this aspect lightly on budgeting (which we will get into more later).
Most importantly, things like a simple paint job, grass, and tree trimming, or even basic repairs (like leaky faucet or cracks on the tiles) won’t cost you a big penny, and they can certainly really help people make up their mind better—knowing that they’re not buying some cheap ole’ wore-down the property.
And if you have the extra cash to spend, making some not-so-expensive, high-value upgrades can get your house miles apart from another house that’s being put into selling on the market (also about the same time as yours, perhaps).
Many people want to know the “secret strategies” for how to sell your house fast in today’s competitive market. While it certainly depends on a variety of factors, there are three key strategies that tend to work best:
Home staging. Showcasing the best parts of your home by staging it well can ensure that it sells quickly.
Accurate pricing. Don’t assume your home is worth more or less than it is! Have it priced right to sell based on market data.
Curb appeal. The better it looks from the street, the more quickly it will sell!
Of course, to know how these strategies will work for your unique home will take some insight. You’ll want to have already begun (or have completed) the process of decluttering and depersonalizing. You should also schedule a consult with a local real estate agent who knows local trends in the market. A home that needs minor repairs could possibly benefit from them, and a new coat of paint can work wonders on a potential buyer’s perspective of the home.
When you contact us today, you’ll be given specific strategies to reach your unique goals. As general advice, we typically suggest homeowners focus on positive marketing, scheduling staging and photos to best coincide with the best time to list in your unique market location, and becoming educated on your price point’s appropriate amount of time to sell and allowing that window to get you to the closing table successfully. Again, only personal situations can be detailed in a personalized conversation.