Homes that sell in today’s market are 10’s. Its no longer possible to meet with a Realtor on Tuesday night, have a sign in your yard Wednesday morning and start showing your home Wednesday night. Buyers are looking longer and harder for value and if you want your home to sell, you need to spend some time preparing to meet the market.
How Can You Make Your Home a 10?
- Improve the Condition
- Enhance the Appearance
- Offer Enticing Terms
- Adjust the Price
Step #1: Improve the Condition
Making your home a “10” doesn’t necessarily mean gold faucets and expensive contractors. In fact, there are several low or even no cost ways to improve the condition of your home without depleting your life savings. And, many of these tips have between a 100 – 600% return on investment.
Here are two pieces we’ve written to help you get started.
Looking for just the highlights? Try our 10 DIY Best Value Home Repairs.
Not enough? Here are a few more: 88 Ways to Sell Your Home Faster and for More.
Not Sure Where to Start? Let us Help Prioritize
We can help sellers prioritize what improvements should be made based on which will produce the biggest return on investment. Certain repairs, like cleaning and de-cluttering, landscaping, home staging and adding light have, on average, over 250% return on investment and are always a good idea. Other home repairs may not be as important.
Step #2: Enhance the Appearance
The way we live in a home and the way we sell a home are two totally different activities. More than just depersonalizing, staging allows buyers to create an emotional connection with your home and see themselves living there.
Home Staging Consultation
We recommend our clients bring out a Home Staging Professional to at least walk through your home and suggest improvements you can make to make your home more appealing to a buyer. A Professional Stager can offer an unbiased opinion and help you see how a buyer will look at your home. This way you can show your home in the best possible light.
Home Staging Facts
A staged home sells for, on average, 17% higher than an unstaged home.
Dept of Housing and Urban Development
Staged homes sell 50% faster than non-staged homes.
National Association of Realtors
Sellers who spend $550 on staging recovered over 299% of their cost when they sold their home.
2011 Survey by HomeGain.com
Did you know?
- 63% of buyers will pay more for a home in move-in condition
- Only 10% of buyers can actually visualize the potential of a home
- Buyers stay in a vacant home an average of 5 minutes, as opposed to a furnished home for an average of 40 minutes
Remember, staging always costs less than your first price reduction and you won’t get a second chance to make a great first impression.
Homeowners that have taken the time to prepare their homes to meet the market, or dressed them to sell, will see their homes sold faster and for more money.
Step #3: Offer Enticing Terms
Is there a big screen in your home that you wouldn’t mind upgrading when you get to your new home? Or, maybe a storage building that you won’t need in your new home? Including these items with your home may be a way to sweeten the pot for a buyer.
Instead of reducing your sales price $5,000, another idea would be to help the buyer out with closing costs or buying down the interest rate. For example, say the market rate is 5.5%. Paying a sum of money upfront (called prepaid interest) will bring down the interest rate to a lower rate. For a few thousand dollars, the buyer will save a substantial amount of money across the life of their loan and thus would have more buying power since their monthly debt would be reduced.
There are all sorts of creative ways to make your home stand out. If you need some ideas, give us a call.
Step 4: Adjust the Price
Price is the single most important factor to consider when selling your home. Every home will sell for the right price. How can you set a market appropriate price?
The first step is for us to prepare a Qualified Home Evaluation, or QHE. A QHE is a detailed report of market conditions in your area. The next step is to take a look at your competition, exactly how a buyer would. We’ll take you to similar homes in your neighborhood currently for sale so you can see how your home measures up. After you have a complete picture of the market in your neighborhood, you can make an educated decision of a market appropriate price.
How’s the Market in Your Neighborhood?
Our real estate price reports by zip code help you get a sense of what’s going on in the market in your neighborhood. And, they’re free for our readers! Just head to our Austin Real Estate Price Reports to download yours today.
Ready to Get Started?
If you’re ready to get started selling your home, call us at (512) 827-8323 or email us at info@11OaksRealty.com to set up a no obligation consultation. In the meantime, check out our Home Seller’s Guide for more info about who we are and how we work.