We have recently decided to put our house up for sale. We've lived in it for a little over 3 years and are ready to move into something smaller. Are there any tips or suggestions anybody can give us on selling the house? We are going through an agent for more exposure. Is there anything that we should be aware of when selling?
Keep the house clean and clutter free as well as the yard. Hopefully you have no pet odors. If so, do what is necessary to eliminate them. That is a big turn off. Don't be around when folks are walking through. Make sure your agent has folks fill out a questionnaire after any walk throughs as to what you could do better.
Going through this right now and luckily we got a buyer while we were out of town on vacation so we didn't have to deal with showing Declutter everywhere. Get rid of any personal pictures and stuff like that. Basically get rid of as much crap as you can. Make it look like a showroom, not the place you live. Doing this makes it look bigger and people can visualize there stuff there You might think about hiring a stager. It helps but we didn't have time to do half the **** on his list since we went out of town two days after he came Have a garage sale. I'm having one tmr, I wish I would have 2 months ago
Just be prepared to leave the house at anytime in the evenings and weekends. You will get a lot of realtors driving around clients and want to see the house on a spur of the moment if they're told to come back later they probably won't come back. The more showings the better your odds. Also if your listing has a BTSA (bonus to selling agent) your house will typically get more showings even if its just $500...
The showings are a total pain in the ass....especially if you have pets that you have to get out of the house each time someone wants to see it. Make sure you tell the showing service that you need a reasonable amount of notice before any can see the house. I think last time we told them we needed at least 2 hours notice. You'll get a lot of people that want to come look at your house that have zero interest in buying it. Dealing with the showings are by far my least favorite part of selling a home. We usually just jump in the car and drive around for a while or take a few laps around the block.
Have your agent hold an Agent open house. This is where agents come through your house on some day during the week not a bunch of Sunday afternoon lookieloos. Some higher end showings include chefs, bartenders, etc. Some mid-size just have the agent serving margaritas, etc. Smaller may just have cookies and drinks. But it's kind of mini-party in your house where they gather and gab. But this does a couple of things for you: 1) Agents leave comments on how to improve the presentation and what needs addressing. Don't be thin-skinned about their comments. Most comments are helpfull may keep your home from selling or getting top dollar. Listen. Now that doesn't mean you have to do everything but consider trying to knock every item off the list if possible. I don't know the condition of your house or how updated it is so I can't give you a ballpark figure but if it's in great condition and fully updated, plan on spending a couple hundred more in staging and touch ups. If it's outdate or needs repair, you could be looking at 10s of 1000s to get it right. This is a buyers market. 2) Agents see your house. If your house is move in ready then this is important as they see it 1st hand and will keep your home in mind for customers that inquire or maybe already have someone in the wings. This a way better way to get your house in agent's minds than just throwing it up on MLS. And when they bring a client back and see that you took their advice (some is very simple, cheap and easy), they eat it up. My agent told me everything that they said and my house was getting 4-5 showings a week (which was a pain) but sold in less than 30 days for higher per sqft like home in the area. IMO - Agent open houses are a must on a move in ready home vs buyer open houses are a way for agents to find their next client (future home seller) because most people looking on Sunday don't have an agent or aren't really interested in buying because they would have already seen the house with their agent. Rarely do they give the current home seller any real value.
By far the worst thing about trying to sell a house. Like others have said, keep the house clean and take down all personal pictures, etc. We sold our house last year and it was on the market for less than a week. Being married to a clean-freak has it's advantages.
Prepping my house for a potential sell right now. -Paint all trim and interior doors if they're funky. -Remove all personalized stuff like pictures, kid's notes on fridge, etc. You want the house to look as generic as possible so people will picture themselves there, not you. Remove all clutter. Rent a storage unit if you don't have room to store this stuff. -Get a professional photographer to take pictures for the listing. If nothing else, get someone off of craigslist, some girl who fancies herself a photographer. They'll be able to take a picture better than you with better equipment. -Update fixtures if it's cost effective. Stuff like hallway lights and ceiling fans if they're old and nasty.
We are selling right now, too. It's not a pain if EVERYONE at home cooperates. We have a showing on Saturday morning and have been scheduled for more. Lil Pun, if you have those Scentsy things or a nice odorizer like Glade Plug-ins, turn them on a couple of hours before the showing. Leave water and a nice note that says "please rate our home!" (and somewhere for them to write their rating) for the guests. Leave your cable tv on a "smooth jazz" or "easy listening" station, but not too loud. You want guests to be able to listen to music, but still talk and hear each other. Open the blinds or curtains as wide open as possible while keeping a good view so that your home is lit. Remove all magnets off the fridge. Clean all windows inside and out. Put a "welcome mat" outside the front door. Make sure your outside tree and your backyard tree(s) are trimmed neatly for people to walk under them. If I think of more that we're currently doing, I'll chime back into this thread. CRATE, dude. You have to train your spoiled a$$ dog to do this before you try it. People who show the houses for the potential buyers know to tell their clients NOT to touch your dog. Our real estate agent, whose rating is 4.9 on HAR, told us that it was OK to leave "some" personalized items like photos and frames around the house. People want to see how others decorate, and some frames and pictures won't hurt.
Use the widest lens available. Like 17mm equivalent. First thing I noticed looking at houses, all the listing had incredibly wide pictures. The typical digi cam 28mm wide end won't cut it.
His real estate agent will do that. Ours did. If the agent doesn't do that, he's gonna be getting ripped off.
I wouldn't trust top quality pics of something I'm selling for a substantial sum of money to a real estate agent unless said agent was also a professional photographer.
