Thinking about selling your home, but don’t know where to start? The home-selling process is intended to be straightforward, but homeowners sometimes make mistakes that can end up costing them time and money. If you are selling your home anytime soon, consider these tips before listing it on the market.
Selling your home doesn’t have to be a stressful experience. When homeowners employ a sound strategy and enlist the right support, selling their property should be a positive experience.
Here are four tips that will help make the home-selling process easier:
- Use a reliable real estate agent
- List your property at market price.
- Practice good staging and take clear photos
- Disclose issues in the Sellers’ Disclosure Agreement
1. Selling Your Home? Work with a Reliable Agent
Choosing the right real estate agent is crucial to a successful sale. Real estate agents know the local market, help determine an appropriate listing price, provide effective marketing, and offer access to valuable resources, while also handling negotiations on your behalf.
Nerdwallet offers some great tips to help you find the right agent. Seasoned agents are very knowledgeable about their market. They can review and analyze past comparable sales, identify potential challenges in selling your home, and understand the nuances of the neighborhood that may impact the selling process. With their expertise, they list your property on the MLS while also serving as your advocate in negotiations so that you receive the best deal possible.
Additionally, hiring a reliable real estate agent is time-saving, as they handle scheduling viewings, paperwork, and hosting the open house. For many homeowners, entrusting a real estate agent with the task of staging, listing, and pricing their home is enough to alleviate the stress of the entire process.
2. Why Pricing Matters When Selling Your Home
Homeowners contemplating selling their property should consider pricing at the market rate. Not only is the appraisal likely to come back at the same price, but it also helps buyers have confidence that they are paying a reasonable price for their new home. Additionally, overpricing a property potentially deters potential buyers who would otherwise be interested in purchasing the home.
Websites like Redfin, Zillow, and even proprietary software used by real estate brokerages often have filters users can use to narrow down the options that work within their needs. When the listing price is set too high, it risks being hidden by filters to potential buyers who were preapproved at the market price.
How a Real Estate Agent Can Help with Listing Price
Your real estate agent will help you determine the listing price for your property, as they are knowledgeable about the local market and can access information on the MLS for recent sales, even within your neighborhood. Depending on how active your local market is, they may search for potential comparable properties within the month or even from all properties sold the previous year to determine a listing price.
Get a Broker’s Estimate if You’re Not Ready to Sell Just Yet
If you are considering selling your property, but are not ready to list it right now, you can contact a real estate broker and request a Broker’s Estimate (also referred to as a Broker’s Price Opinion or BPO). A BPO provides an unofficial assessment of your home’s potential market value; however, sellers should note that this is not a formal appraisal.
3. Staging and Photos That Help When Selling Your Home
Clear and crisp photos play a significant role in increasing interest and foot traffic at open houses. Typically, your real estate agent will coordinate with a photographer to take and edit strategic images of your home, highlighting key areas and amenities. They may decide to take photos from multiple angles of each room to show what your home has to offer.
Here are a few tips on how to take good photos:
- Choose a day that is bright and sunny, and open window blinds and curtains to leverage the natural light and have it work in your favor.
- Turn on all lights in a room, including ceiling lights, lamps, and sconces.
- Clean surfaces, dust, and vacuum. Don’t forget to clean the windows!
- Tidy spaces by removing clutter and practicing good staging.
Good Staging Can Help Seal a Deal
Staging a home makes a huge difference in how it is presented to buyers. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) suggests that correct staging helps a property stand out from others and potentially helps buyers create an emotional and memorable connection to the property.
Ideally, homes are easier to stage when they are empty. If the property is vacant, real estate agents may opt to hire a staging company to furnish the home. These companies come equipped with modern and stylish pieces that will increase buyer interest, create an emotional connection, and even sometimes help the property sell at a higher price.
Although an empty home is ideal for staging, in many cases, sellers cannot vacate their current home until just before the closing date. However, it is still possible to stage an occupied property. This is accomplished when the seller removes as much personalization from their home as possible, including limiting the display of family photos, wedding portraits, baby pictures, and similar items.
In addition to removing personalization, sellers should also consider moving or completely removing oversized furniture. Often, homeowners prioritize comfort over style when selecting furniture, which means their existing pieces might be too large for a space. Rooms like the primary bedroom and living rooms should have proportionate furniture pieces to prevent these spaces from feeling claustrophobic. Smaller furniture also helps create the illusion that spaces are larger than they appear, and in turn, helps potential buyers picture their own furniture in the space.
4. Reveal Issues in the Seller’s Disclosure Agreement
All parties involved in a real estate transaction agree that closing by the scheduled date is the ultimate goal. However, closings can be delayed or even canceled when a major issue was not detailed in the Seller’s Disclosure Agreement prior to executing the purchase agreement.
The Seller’s Disclosure is critical to both the seller and the buyer. It discloses issues that the current owner is aware of and serves as a document of goodwill, demonstrating transparency regarding the property’s condition. Most purchase contracts are subject to a property appraisal and inspection, and depending on those results, it may lead to a delay or failure to close on the contract for sale.
Being honest in the seller’s disclosure protects the seller from future legal liability after closing. Of course, there will always be issues that current property owners may not be aware of, especially if these issues are internal to walls, the attic, or other areas that homeowners do not inspect on a daily basis. In such instances, sellers can simply state that they are unaware of any issues or the function of that specific part of their property.
Sell Your Home with These Tips in Mind
When you follow these tips, setting up your home for sale becomes much easier. Homeowners should hire a reliable real estate agent, consider listing their property at the market price, practice good staging, take clear photos, and disclose any issues in the Seller’s Disclosure form. With the right strategy and resources, you’ll find that you can close with the best deal possible.
