If you’ve just bought a house and it’s time to sell you current home, you definitely want it to sell quickly. This will help cut down on bridge financing costs, potential hotel costs, get your own financing through sooner, and (most importantly) reduce the stress of the whole process.
To help move the sale of your home along more speedily, here are a few things you can do to pique buyers’ interest and close on a deal ASAP.
Great photos make all the difference
Most people will see your home online before they ever come to view it in person. This makes photography the most important step in appealing to potential buyers. Your realtor will often take the photos for you (Gino does!), but how do they make your home look so good? Sure, we all have smartphones that take better photos than some DSLRs at this point, but there are some key components of great photography for selling your home.
- Make sure everything is well-lit — naturally if possible. This will help everything seem more open and inviting.
- High-resolution images are a must. If you have grainy, pixelated photos, it’s going to make it hard to see the fine details in your home and can just be a turn-off in this digital age.
- Use a wide-angle lens if possible. It’s important to capture as much of each room as possible, since photos don’t always do the size of a room justice.
- Stand in the doorway of a room and look in. Photos from the centre of a room don’t help potential buyers with sizing or layout, and it just looks bad.
Put potential buyers in your home before they ever physically visit.
Deep clean and declutter
Before a buyer decides whether or not your home has character or “good bones” or will fit their large sofa, they notice whether or not it’s clean. A dirty home will be an instant turn-off — who wants to look at that online let alone come and see it in person?
“Decluttering” means taking out unnecessary furniture and belongings that may make the space look cramped, especially in smaller homes. Opening spaces up gives buyers breathing room and makes your home more inviting.
Pack up those family photos and ‘de-personalize’
You’re already packing anyway, so pack up the family photos and personal memorabilia first. You want buyers to be able to see themselves in the space, so if they come in to pictures of your family and posters of your favourite sports teams, it still makes it seem like someone else’s home.
It’s also a great idea to repaint in neutral colours. That vibrant lime green you chose for the master bathroom may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but a gentle off-white or taupe lets buyers envision their own tastes.
Stage it well
While your home may be laid out for functional, everyday use, your placement of furniture or belongings may not be as effective as it could be when staged properly. Make your home look as appealing as possible by rearranging furniture to make spaces look larger, taking down decorations that may not be to everyone’s taste, even painting rooms in more neutral colours.
Your realtor will offer staging tips and guidance. If you need help from a professional, Gino can offer recommendations.
Don’t limit showings
Be ready at the drop of a hat for your realtor to show your home. If you restrict showings to specific days of the week or even specific times of day, you limit the number of potential buyers that can come through. What if the person ready to make an offer can only make it at 8pm on a Thursday? Your realtor will make every effort to keep showing times reasonable, but accommodate potential buyers if needed.
Price properly
Work with your realtor to come up with a realistic asking price. If you work with Gino, for example, he’ll take a look at recent sales of similar homes in the area and then compare and price your home accordingly, while also taking the city-assessed value into account.
Most people have made emotional investments in their home on top of financial ones, so it may be difficult to separate that from what people are actually willing to pay. It’s important to maintain realistic expectations during the process.
Questions?
If you have any questions about selling your home more quickly or you need to actually sell your home right now, please give Gino a call at 204-955-5853 or send him an email at ginocipriano@royallepage.ca.