When is the best time to sell your home? Most people assume that they must wait until spring or summer in order to put their home on the market. While the summer months may bring slightly higher prices, it is also the time when the market is most flooded with other listings. So, while your home may command a bit higher price during the three warmest months of the year, there is also a very real risk that it will be overshadowed by the sheer number of other listings out there during that time. It is for precisely this reason that winter can be a great time to list your home.
After you have made the decision to list your home, consider these five tips that can help sell it faster
Find a Great Real Estate Agent
In today’s market, working with a good real estate agent is incredibly important. When looking for an agent, make sure to find someone who is very familiar with your market. They should know what’s on the market, what’s selling, and what’s not. A good real estate agent will be somewhat busy, showing that they have contacts and clients and, therefore, experience, but they shouldn’t be so busy that they can’t be attentive and responsive to your needs. Be sure to communicate your expectations to them, as well. However, you should also be willing to trust that they are the experts. Most importantly, you will likely spend a lot of time with your agent, so finding someone you get along with and trust is very important.
Have a Plan
Doing a good job of marketing your home will attract buyers and other real estate agents, and it will drive traffic to your open house and your web listing. Work with your agent to develop a plan. While newspaper ads used to be the best way to generate buzz in the past, today’s market is largely driven by the internet. Talk with your agent about which websites they recommend. A good internet listing can do wonders in attracting the right kind of buyers. Most importantly, take photos that show the best parts of the house. Having the right photos will make your listing stand out and can convince a buyer to schedule a time to visit the house in person, instead of just passing on to the next listing.
Prepare Your Home Before Listing It
Before listing your home, do a complete walk-through of your property with your real estate agent so you can understand what updates or changes should be made to best prepare the house for sale. Often times, it is the small details that can scare away prospective buyers. Most of these issues are easily and cheaply fixed, but they can make all the difference.
Price It Right
Have an honest and candid conversation with your agent about what your home is worth. Don’t just rely on what it was worth when you bought it or what it’s worth to you. Prices change. Your real estate agent will be able to help you price your house where it should be in order to sell. There are three important factors to consider for your area: other active listings, pending listings, and recent sales. While pending listings and recent sales show what prices have attracted offers in the past, active listings make up your main competition. Home buyers will most likely be looking at these homes in addition to yours, so you should too. Be aware of what is going on in your market, so you can price your house aggressively.
Have a Follow-Up Plan for All Leads
There are a lot of houses for sale, so a follow-up plan for all interests is a must. Make sure to see what your agent has planned for follow-up. That plan should include phone calls and emails to the prospective buyers, as well as personally contacting the other agents who are working with interested buyers. Your real estate agent should know which other agents are likely to have clients whose interests would be the best match for your home. Your agent should also have a plan set up for how to follow-up with interested leads from the internet listings. If your real estate agent isn’t willing to follow-up with interested buyers and work with other agents to sell your home, maybe that isn’t the right agent for you. Rarely does the right buyer come out of nowhere. Most of the time it takes having a plan and following-up with all leads.