With the spring selling season starting and the housing market recovering, if you are thinking about selling your home, here are four tips which may help you get your property sold quickly and for top dollar.
Know When to Sell
According to National Association of Realtors, 60 percent of all homes sold in 2014 will happen between May and August. In our Sacramento area, because of early spring weather and schools starting in mid-August, the selling season, in my opinion, is April through July. Putting your home on the market early in the selling season will improve your chances of getting the offer you want before buyers start thinking about a last vacation before school starts. Mortgage rates remain low and with pent-up demand, buyers will be out in droves. The earlier you get on the market the less competition you will have.
Pricing is the Key to Success
Pricing is a critical element of getting a house sold. Last year the greater Sacramento area was experiencing double digit increases but that is not happening this year. You need to look at what similar homes in your area are listed for and selling at. I would recommend looking at sales no more than 60-days in the past. Beware of listing your property high to test the market, the first 10-days on the market is when your listing is going to get the most attention and you don’t want to miss potential buyers during this critical time.
Prepare for Showings
Last year almost every home listed had multiple offers often resulting in bidding wars which led to many homes being sold for more than their asking price. This is not the case in 2014 and you cannot count on getting two or more offers at the same time. Homes which show well will have higher probability of selling faster and for more money than those which show poorly. Spend time touching up paint, cleaning carpets and windows, removing clutter, and for sure clean up the yard from the winter storms. Buyers want to feel they can move in with little or no work.
Good Pictures are a Must
Don’t underestimate the power of the web. A very high percentage of potential buyers start their search for a home online. Make sure the pictures your Realtor takes and uses to market your home are done well. Many wonderful homes with poor quality pictures are passed over and get fewer showings than those will high quality photo presentations. Photos taken with a cell phone are most likely not going to be helpful in the selling process. My pet peeve is bathroom photos with toilet lids open and kitchen photos featuring the garbage can. Make sure your agent makes the photos of your home pop off the computer screen.
There are tons of other things you can do to help sell your home but knowing when to sell, pricing your home right, making sure it shows well and having great pictures for the internet are key elements in achieving your objective of selling your home successfully.
