Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
Depending on your locale, selling a home in a timely manner can be an uphill battle. Needless to say, this is less than ideal for homeowners looking to sell in a hurry. While there’s no across-the-board solution for finding a buyer in an expedient fashion, there are numerous steps you can take to make your home more appealing to prospective purchasers. Anyone looking to get eyes on their home and generate interest from buyers can benefit from the following measures.
To call first impressions important to home sales would be an understatement. If prospective buyers are unimpressed with what they see on the outside, they’re unlikely to want a look at what your home’s interior has to offer. So, if your home’s exterior is currently plagued by any outstanding aesthetic issues, it behooves you to start fixing them posthaste. For example, if your current paint job is faded, cracked or chipping, there’s no time like the present to repaint. If your home’s gutters are rusted, bent or clearly past their prime, now would be a good time to replace them. Additionally, walkways and driveways that are rife with cracks and stains should be repaved.
Of course, aesthetic issues aren’t limited to the house itself. If your yard isn’t exactly easy on the eyes, attend to this before placing your home on the market. In the interest of making the property more enticing to buyers, make a point of mowing your lawn on a regular basis and keeping your yard free of assorted debris and clutter. If you have small children, this means cleaning up their toys – or having them clean up their toys – after outdoor play sessions and storing their bikes in the garage or indoors.
With the exception of house flippers, very few buyers are interested in purchasing homes with major outstanding problems. Even if the cost of fixing these problems is subtracted from the asking price, you’d be hard-pressed to find a buyer willing to take on the hassle of dealing with large-scale property issues. With this in mind, make sure any outstanding problems pertaining to your home’s electricity, plumbing or structure are taken care of in advance of selling. Depending on the scope of these issues, you may need to spend a fair amount of money. If you simply can’t afford to fix large issues, you may need to reduce your asking price.
Major appliances are often included in home sales. This means that large-scale devices like refrigerators, ovens, washing machines and dishwashers will become the property of your home’s next owners. Unsurprisingly, the general condition of your appliances is likely to factor into the decision-making process of prospective buyers. That being the case, you’d be wise to keep your major appliances in peak condition and perform any necessary maintenance or repairs before listing your home.
To help ensure that you don’t have to break the bank every time one of your appliances requires maintenance, invest in a good home warranty. As you’ll find, the average home warranty cost is a lot more affordable than you may think.
When selling a home, it’s only natural to want the highest possible price. Not only does this property represent one of the largest investments you’ve ever made, you’ve also created a bevy of irreplaceable memories within its walls. However, it’s important to remember that it’s the buyer’s prerogative to spend as little as possible, and unless your house is located in a popular area or has attracted massive interest, you should be willing to negotiate. This doesn’t mean that you should settle for a sum that’s far below your asking price, but when a potential purchaser makes a counter-offer, you’d do well to keep an open mind.
It’s not hard to see why some homes stay on the market for years. Unpopular location, aesthetic deficiencies and structural issues are just a few of the things that send prospective purchasers packing. Since homes represent the most expensive investment most of us will ever make, it’s hard to blame buyers for being selective. After all, if you’re going to devote decades of your life to paying off a mortgage, it’s only natural that you’d want the home to be perfect. As such, anyone looking to sell their home ASAP should take active measures to make the property more appealing to potential purchasers.
