Sell Your House Fast with These 9 Steps

Unfortunately, not every seller will need your services. But what every seller does need is help determining how you (the investor) add value to them! I used this 9 step guide to help educate sellers on what it takes to sell a home if they wanted to do it themselves. After the conversation, they had a better understanding of the work involved to sell their house and were more receptive to a discounted sale. 

I hope this will help you as it has helped me!

Kitchen, bathroom, and curb appeal are the big three upgrades, just don’t overdo it!

• While these upgrades can add a lot of value to the home, as a seller you must be cautious. Upgrade your home based on the average or most common finishings in your area. You don’t want to be the only one in the neighborhood with granite, hardwoods, and a completely renovated bathroom. If everyone has carpet, then just replace the carpet.
• Fresh mulch and a few annuals in the flowerbeds are a great way to catch a buyer’s eye.

Clean (especially after pets), de-clutter, and depersonalize.

• New buyers don’t want to have any funky pet smells in their new home. They also want to envision themselves in your house, so remove family photos and trinkets to de-personalize the space. While removing your personal items, organize, store or hide any clutter. Clutter could be a magazine pile, lap tops, iPads, books, etc. TIP: The garage is a place where you can store items while selling.

Hire a professional stager.

• Staging the right way can have a dramatic effect on how quickly you sell your home. The stager may make suggestions like adding artwork, moving furniture, or painting to improve the marketability of the home to new buyers. Stagers are not always expensive; they can work within a wide range of budgets.

Light up the house.

• Turn on all the lights, open the blinds, replace lamp shades, clean the windows, and increase the wattage of your lightbulbs. According to an HGTV study, buyers cite good lighting after location in what they want in a home.

1. Hire a professional photographer.

• Now that the house is upgraded, cleaned, de-personalized, de-cluttered, staged, and well-lit, it’s time for pictures. Don’t take iPhone pictures! Hire a professional photographer. They will take pictures in a way that accentuates the house’s benefits and hides the flaws.

Sweeten the deal.

• Make the home more attractive to buyers by offering other things. You can get creative here; remember everything is negotiable. For example, you could offer any one or combination of the following:
  • Money towards or full coverage of closing costs.
  • A transferable home warranty.
  • Appliances, such as the washer and dryer or refrigerator.
  • Entertainment items you don’t want to move like pool table, projector, theater seats, TVs, etc.
  • A flexible closing. The buyer may have to close on a home in 10 days due to a job change or 60 days to sell their old home. A flexible closing can seal the deal!

Price your home competitively.

• Look for what the comparable properties are selling in your area in the last six months. You can use sites like Zillow, Trulia, and Redfin but these sites aren’t always reliable. If you are using a realtor, he/she will use the MLS, the most trustworthy and accurate resource. For best results stay within the following range of your home:
  • Plus/minus 20% square footage.
  • Plus/minus 5 years from the year built.
  • Similar bed and bath.

Market, Market, Market!

• You have a home that’s ready for a buyer, so now it’s time to let the buyers know you have a house they want. There are several options to market your property:
  • Place a “For Sale By Owner” sign in your front yard.
  • Advertise on the MLS, Zillow, Trulia, and Redfin.
  • Run an ad in the local paper.
  • Tell everyone you know you are selling your home!

Sound overwhelming?

• The process of selling your home can be both extensive and expensive. Although sellers and agents do it every day.
• If the process sounds like too much of a hassle, or something that you would rather avoid, then you can work with an investment company like Emerson House Buyers. While the purchase price will be lower than a listing price, you will avoid realtor fees, closing costs, repairs, staging and the best part, you get to choose the closing date! You receive cash at closing, so you don’t have to worry about a buyer’s financing falling through.