It will take you just a few minutes to read through the lines that follow but those few minutes can save you a lot of stress at a later point of time when it comes to selling your house. They may also help you sell as quickly as possible.
Your starting point should be the decision of whether you want to hire a real estate agent or sell the property by yourself. It may seem like the former is the easier path to take and this is because once you have signed the contract with the agent, you pretty much have to simply wait for them to do their job. However, even hiring an agent has to be done carefully.
Some of the things that you must keep in mind when it comes to hiring an agent are:
- Find out who is the best – referrals, online research and one-to-one meetings work best.
- Going through all the terms and conditions before signing on the dotted line.
- Finding out all the financial aspects – fees, commissions payable etc.
Broadly speaking, here are a few things that you must keep in mind when it comes to selling, especially if you are doing it by yourself.
Paperwork
Get your paperwork in order. There are many real estate buyers out there and all of them will be impressed with a well-organised folder of documents. Some of these documents are:
- Purchase deeds.
- Tax bill.
- Property surveys if any.
- Insurance policy.
- Mortgage.
- Home equity loans.
- Service plans.
- Warranties and so on.
So, literally, you pick up every possible paper associated with your house and file it all neatly.
Think about the price
There are a few resources that can help you in this regard. You could look for market analysis on real estate in your location. You could also ask questions on online forums. Again, a real estate agent can also help you with this. You have to be reasonable when you think of the listing price.
You may have to invest in value additions and enhancing the house in multiple ways in case you want to ask for a better price. For instance, enhancing curbside appeal can help. Some sellers also sweeten the deal by offering the buyer various options. It could be something as creative as saying that you will buy them a rug for the den!
Factor in your selling expense as well. There will be some costs involved in selling the house:
- Your advertisement costs.
- Transportation – when you drive around canvassing people to buy your house.
- Cleaning, painting and fixing things in your house and
- Staging your house too.
Cost factor
Apart from the costs listed above, you will also need to factor in several other important financials. Of course, a lot of the components listed below will vary from person to person but it is critical to think of all of them and then come up with a list price:
- Inspection costs.
- Capital gains taxes.
- Cost of moving to a new home, neighbourhood or even city.
- Marketing expenses.
- Photographs that you have to take of the house.
- The video that you will have to shoot for the property.
- Loans and mortgages for the new home and so on.
You have to therefore come up with a solid marketing and financial plan for yourself.
Selling
This is the chunk of the work. Draw up a plan to address this as well. Start with timing your sale correctly. It would be best to time it during the spring or summer break because most families have time to spend to look at properties.
The usual routes for advertising your property are online listings, websites and so on. But you should also think out of the box. For instance, why not tie up with a wedding planner? Such an individual is sure to know whether the couple is planning to buy a house for themselves and would then be able to refer them to you!
People are also choosing the home swapping opportunities. Check them out online and see if you can get into a ‘quid pro quo’ arrangement with another home seller elsewhere. You could also conduct an auction to sell your house.
Stage your home
You have to maintain your house in ‘show-ready’ condition all the time. Buyers may come almost any time of the day and it would be best if you accommodate their requests to see the house. But also, staging your house is something that you will have to do even in other ways. For instance, in your listing of the house, ensure that you have taken high-resolution photographs from different angles and used the same. You could also shoot a video of the house and upload it on YouTube. On the ground, you need to clean you house and remove all the clutter from the premises and interiors.
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