Some homes come on the market and get a dozen offers within 24 hours. Other homes spend weeks on the market before ever receiving a single competitive offer. What gives? Why can some homes sell in a matter of days, while others sit vacant for months at a time?
Well, the answer isn’t as straightforward as saying, “You must do this.” However, there are a number of tips and techniques that experienced home sellers, agents, and industry experts swear by when it comes to getting a house sold. By honing in on the ones that apply to your situation, you may be able to reach the closing table in a fraction of the time.
1. Curb Appeal Matters
While the interior condition of the home is certainly very important, you can’t totally forget about the exterior curb appeal when putting your home on the market. Curb appeal is often the deciding factor for interested homebuyers. If it looks attractive and well-kept on the outside, then they’re more likely to set up a showing on the inside. However, if it’s dirty, overgrown, and dilapidated, most will search elsewhere.
According to Glen Gill, broker and owner of the real estate firm Landmark Properties, buyers decide within 60 seconds of seeing home whether or not they will consider putting in an offer. The top things a seller can do to boost curb appeal are trim the trees and bushes, pressure wash the driveway, paint the front door, and plant flowers.
2. Stage the Home
If you’ve done a successful job of wowing prospective buyers with good curb appeal, then you need to carry this momentum over into the home. While there are plenty of tips for sprucing up the interior, most would agree that an investment in home staging is money well spent.
When staging, you have to walk a fine line. This is something Green Residential, a Houston-based property management company, knows all too well.
“A staged home shouldn’t be empty, but it also shouldn’t look like anyone lives there,” they carefully explain. “There should be furniture, but no family pictures, sentimental craft projects, or even evidence of individual passions. Homebuyers don’t want to filter through your porcelain doll collection or baseball posters to imagine what the space would look like redecorated with theirs style. Put away the personal knickknacks and keep it neutral.”
3. Listing is Critically Important
The real estate listings you post online and in local publications are very important. Specifically, you and your agent need to spend time focusing on the descriptions that are found in these listings.
According to this infographic, descriptions that focus on “curb appeal” and “general attractiveness” help a property sell faster than those that focus on price and value. Specifically, describing a property as move-in ready hastens the sale by 12 percent. Listings with words like “gorgeous” or “beautiful sell 15 percent faster than those without. Referencing the word “landscaping” has been shown to increase sale speed by up to 20 percent.
It should also be noted that you must avoid language that appears desperate. Listings with words like “motivated” and “must sell” ultimately sell 30 percent slower than other comparable listings.
Sell Your Home Faster
As you can see, even something as small as changing a word in the listing or putting a fresh coat of paint on the front door can speed up the process and help you get your home off the market as quickly as possible. Keep these tips in mind and make sure you’re being strategic about the process.