How to Sell Your Home When You Need to Do It Fast
No one wants their home to languish on the market for months, but some sellers are more motivated than others. If you’ve already put a contract on a new home, or you need to buy in a new place because you’ve been relocated for work, you don’t have time to wait. So, what’s the best way to find a buyer for your home as quickly as possible? We have a few tips.
Price your home to sell
Many sellers want to start high, hoping for a bite. When you need to sell, this is the time to be realistic. Compare your home to recent sales in your neighborhood, or have a real estate agent do it for you. Make sure your price is fair. When you run the numbers, you may even be willing to lose a little to make a quicker sale. If you can afford it, and you really need to sell, go for it.
Make the place look its best
Spend a weekend fixing all the little things, or hire someone to do it. Don’t put your home on the market until you’re finished, because you want potential buyers to have a great first impression.
Depersonalize your home, and make it look clutter-free
One seller who wanted to make a quick sale, removed half the clothes from every closet, most of the family pictures, and pretty much all of the junk from her kitchen and bathroom counters before showing her home. She kept it in the back of her mini-van, out of sight until a sale was made just three days later. At that point, she just drove the stuff to her new place and left it there.
Check your curb appeal
This one is particularly important, because the outside of your home is the first thing people will see.
A home with a well-maintained lawn and no loose bricks, gutters, or shutters is what people want to see.
If your grass is dead, you may even consider laying down some sod.
Take excellent, professional style photos of your home, or hire someone to do it
This is not the time for a hastily snapped phone photo, no matter how much people love you on Instagram. When you post the photos, try to make them show the natural flow of your home, which is what buyers want to see online.
Make your home easily accessible for showing
If you can’t be available to let people in at a moment's notice, consider using an agent. If someone has to wait three hours to see your place, that’s three hours they could be falling in love with the place around the corner. Be willing to let people in early in the morning and (reasonably) late at night, because a lot of people can’t home shop during regular business hours.
Make sure your home is listed on all the popular sites
Think Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com, because everyone else is browsing them just as often as you are.
Take advantage of all the free advertising you can get
Use Craigslist, Facebook, and local bulletin boards to spread the word.
Let your neighbors, and everyone else you know, know that you’re selling
People love recommending their neighborhood to friends, and you may find a buyer through word of mouth. Plus your neighbors are personally invested in helping you find fantastic people to buy your house!
Good luck!