Want to Sell Your House As Quickly As Possible? Follow These Tips

When somebody owns a house and has been there twenty-five years, and they have done nothing in twenty-five years, you are selling as is. It is a gut job, unless somebody has the same exact taste that you had twenty-five years ago.

When you own a house, if you are buying something with the intent of not staying there forever, try to keep it in mind, but be happy. In your color choices, do what you want to do. In your kitchen or whatever, you can stick with the white cabinets, and you do your backsplash. Do what you want to do to be happy.

Selling quickly does not begin with a clever slogan or an open house. It begins with an honest look at condition, price, photographs, and how easy the home is to show. These are the steps I would handle before the listing goes live.

1. Price it right on day one

The first days bring the buyers who have already been watching that price range. Use recent comparable sales, the home’s condition, and current competition. An active listing shows what another seller hopes to receive; a closed sale shows what a buyer actually paid.

It is a much more educated buyer now because they can get everything online. But the educated buyer is still at times not realistic about the price. In the old days, you could start one hundred thousand or two hundred thousand under asking. It is not going to happen anymore unless the price is totally ridiculous and the comparables support it. Your negotiation is not going to be as effective as it used to be.

A high starting price can place the home beside larger or more renovated competition. Coming down later does not recreate the attention of the first day.

2. Pick your moment, if you can

If the seller has flexibility, ask what the recent local pattern shows. Timing can affect attention, but it cannot rescue a home that is unprepared or incorrectly priced.

3. Fix the small things buyers notice

If something is visibly broken, or there is a crack in the wall, before I take a listing I personally go through the place and say, okay, this needs to be fixed, this needs to be addressed. Let us get a handyman in here. It is worth it. You want to sell and there are things here that are jumping out. As a realtor, you have to give your client advice.

Look at handles that are loose on your cupboards or a refrigerator, just simple things that your eye catches. If there is a broken chair, or a shower that is disgustingly dirty, or your bathtub is dirty, walk through every room. Write down everything that should be addressed and either hire somebody to address it, a housekeeper or handyman or whatever. I do not care if you are paying three to five hundred dollars. In the long run, you are going to get your price.

The goal is not to renovate the entire house. It is to remove the little signals that make a buyer wonder what else has been neglected.

4. Declutter before the photographs

When you are getting ready to show your place, make sure everything is minimal. Clean your counters up. Do not be stacking your appliances. We do not need to see every appliance that you own on top of your cupboard, because it is too confusing. Hide everything. Put it in storage, whatever, but anything you do not need, keep it clean. When somebody comes in and sees clutter, the buyer gets turned off.

Pack early. Thin out closets, clear bathroom counters, remove extra furniture, and give every room one obvious purpose. A buyer should see the room before seeing the owner’s things.

5. Make the photographs useful

Before kitchen photographs, keep it uncluttered and clean. Uncluttered and inviting. Put out a fresh bowl of fruit, a fresh bowl of lemons, something happy. Have flowers.

Do not have personal photos. People’s eyes go to that instead of what they should be looking at. No distractions. You can even play some very soft classical music. Make it inviting, so when they leave they say, wow, that was so nice. People remember the little touches.

The photographs are the first showing for most buyers. Open window treatments, turn on the right lights, and photograph after the repairs and decluttering are complete.

In the old days, I used to show seven properties. It is too much. You have got to limit your time because it gets confusing. If you do show that many properties, print out a listing sheet. Have the buyers take notes, or take notes for them, so they know what they saw. Otherwise, it becomes a blur, especially with condos. It is very easy to show a lot of condos because you are in buildings.

If a house is vacant, you can stage it in the online photographs as long as you say it has been staged. Take those photos to the showing. Then you can stand in the room and say, see how this could look? Visualize the sofa here. Are you bringing furniture or buying new furniture? Let them visualize what that room could be.

People do not use rented staging furniture as often anymore because it costs money to deliver and rent. And what if they stage it modern or contemporary and the buyer says, I hate that furniture? That is what the buyer is going to remember. You have got to improvise. The before-and-after photographs can look great, and it is easy.

Virtual staging can help explain an empty room, but it must be identified as staged. Bring the staged image to the showing so the buyer can compare it with the actual space.

6. Prepare for every showing

Number one, you should never have the seller there for a showing. You do not want people to ask the seller anything. As a realtor, you better know everything about that property. Especially in condos, which we deal with a lot in Miami and Miami Beach, you better know everything to do with that association.

If the seller is not there and you have access on your own, I have actually cleaned apartments before the clients have shown up. Clothes were lying around. You cannot do that. They will say it was short notice, but now they should need twenty-four-hour notice. If a client comes into town and says, I am here for a few more hours, that is an exception. You show it. But you get there a little early because you want to make sure it is showable.

As a buyer, no one wants to walk in and think, if this is what it looks like now, what else am I going to find? If everything looks sparkling clean and organized, you think, well, they take good care of this place. The air should be cool. Do not go into an oven.

In the old days they used to say, if you are showing a place, put some cinnamon in the oven. Cinnamon is a very relaxing smell. You can throw in some apples and cinnamon. It smells like somebody is making a pie.

Set a notice rule that is realistic for the seller, then have a plan for the occasional serious buyer who is in town for only a few hours. The home should be cool, bright, clean, and ready before the door opens.

7. Help buyers picture the move

With moving, it depends upon the budget. Some people get a moving company and have them pack and unpack. If you are not in that price range, get organized. Weed out your cupboards. Weed out your closet. Take the things you want. Some things you can put in your car or SUV and take to the new place. Put things in the closet. That saves expense.

If your budget is tight, try to move as much as you can. Pack your things, but do not just throw them in a box. Go to the storage place, buy the paper, buy the boxes. I have done that in the past. I have taken clothes in an SUV, laid them down, and hung them up when I got there. Again, that is budget related.

Packing some of the house before listing helps the seller twice: the rooms show better now, and moving day becomes less expensive and less frantic later.

8. Listen while the listing is fresh

No showings may mean buyers do not see value at the advertised price. Showings without offers may point to condition, price, or the same objection appearing repeatedly. Look for patterns instead of reacting to one comment.

If a correction is needed, one clear price adjustment is usually more effective than a series of tiny reductions.

What I want sellers to remember

I feel you have got to like people. You have got to like to really get involved in what they need, what they want, and what they can afford. I like that. It is kind of like a puzzle, and you have got to put the pieces together.

There are going to be nice people, great people that you want to stay friends with, and then there are going to be the tough ones that you just cannot wait until the day of closing. But that does not really happen that often.

Selling is personal, but the preparation has to be practical. Fix what jumps out, remove what distracts, price what the market can support, and make it easy for serious buyers to see the home while the listing is still new.