Home Improvement, Real Estate Investing, Renovations, Sell Your House

“I WANT TO SELL MY HOUSE FAST!” DOES THIS SOUND LIKE YOU?

To sell your home quickly, you’ll either need to invest money in hiring pros or your time and elbow grease to get your house ready.

Motivated buyers ready to close quickly have likely already sold their current home, their apartment lease is about to expire, or they’ve just moved to town for a new job. These buyers will have their financing lined up and usually work with an agent. Motivated buyers are prepared to make an offer on the house in their desired location that is within their budget – and usually want a move-in ready home.

To attract motivated buyers and prepare for a quick sale, create a plan and to-do list—then tackle that list with gusto — stock up on cleaning supplies, large trash bags, packing boxes, and storage totes.

AGENT, FSBO, OR INVESTOR?

The first decision you need to make is whether or not to hire a pro to sell your home.

Most homeowners sell using a real estate agent. This listing agent works with you to set the price, market your home, hold open houses and showings, help you negotiate a selling price, and organize the closing for you. But as a seller working with an agent, you’ll pay your agent an average of 3% plus pay the buyer’s agent another 3% or so.

Consider for sale by owner – FSBO or “fizbo” – if you’d like to walk away with as much equity as possible. However, this option also involves more of your time. You’ll need to hire pros to shoot photos and appraise your home. Without an agent, you’ll have to show your home to prospective buyers, people you probably don’t know.

Real estate investors often buy homes as-is and for cash, making for a quick sale. Their goal is to make a profit on reselling your home. An investor may be a home flipper, landlord, quick reseller, or instant buyer. If the investor buys as-is, you can sell quickly with few or no repairs, less cleanup, and move on your timeline. The downside is you won’t get top dollar.

5 TIPS TO SELL YOUR HOME FAST

1. DECLUTTER, CLEAN, AND RENT STORAGE

Now is a good time to sort through your entire house and purge your wardrobe, garage, kitchen cupboards, and kids’ rooms of anything you don’t love or need. Decluttering will help you move into our new home go more smoothly. Your goal is to help buyers picture themselves living there, not you. Rent a storage unit in a convenient location because you’ll find yourself dropping off more boxes, totes, and furniture closer to your move.

Make your house shine and do your best to keep it that way until you move out. Shampoo carpets, wash walls, scrub windows, and clean curtains, drapes, and blinds. Bathrooms and kitchen must be spotless before each showing. If your home is dusty or smelly, consider having your air ducts cleaned professionally. Focus on curb appeal to make the best first impression.

2. MAKE REPAIRS

Motivated buyers ready to buy now aren’t likely to want a fixer-upper. Your home doesn’t have to look like an ancient haunted house to scare buyers away. Every broken cupboard door, cracked window, loose step, a dripping faucet, or cranky old furnace signals to those buyers that your home isn’t move-in ready.

Repairs that pay off include refinishing or replacing hardwood floors and replacing a worn roof, according to the National Association of REALTORS® 2019 report. Don’t worry about renovating an outdated kitchen or bathroom, but do make sure all rooms are clean and in good repair.

Lenders require a home inspection before they’ll approve financing for buyers. Anything safety-related must be repaired: loose railings or stairs, electrical issues, etc. If your roof is ancient or your HVAC is on its last leg, be prepared to replace before listing or offer buyers an incentive to have it done after they move in.

3. PRICE TO ATTRACT BUYERS

If you work with a real estate agent, they will give you a suggested selling price based on a comparative market analysis (a review of what has recently sold and homes currently on the market). Don’t let the agent over-inflate the initial asking price because that will exclude buyers who have set their max budget lower.

If you’re selling on your own, get an actual appraisal, which is a professional opinion of the value of the real estate. Hire a state licensed or certified appraiser who can tell you what your home is worth and what the asking price should be.

4. CREATE A TOP-NOTCH ONLINE LISTING

Like online dating, what you don’t say can be as telling as what you do say. Write a description that is honest, clear, and will make someone fall in love quickly. Get ideas by asking your friends how they’d describe your home.

When your goal is to sell fast, you won’t have the luxury of hoping for people to call for more information. But be sure to include extras like fireplaces, large kitchen island, family room opens to the kitchen, walk-in closets, attic storage, workbench in the garage, large pantry, etc. Describe the highlights of your outdoor space.

Hire a professional photographer. Your smartphone can’t capture rooms with the right angles and lighting. If your agent’s listings don’t showcase quality photos, ask for recommendations on which professional real estate photographer to invest in. Don’t let your agent talk you out of this. The more you can show online; the less guessing buyers will have to do. A 3D virtual tour – not a slideshow – lets buyers virtually walk through to get a true feel for your home.

5. MARKET ONLINE

A real estate agent may suggest you withhold details or limit the amount of information and photos you share online. That’s a strategy they use to generate phone calls that could lead to new clients. You don’t have time for that.

Posting a few pictures with a brief description on their company website plus Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com isn’t likely to move your house quickly. Your real estate agent can boost – advertise – your home through their business page.

You can post your home’s information on your personal social media. List your home on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and social media local buy-and-sell groups (ask to become a group member). Facebook Marketplace and groups require you to update your posting at least weekly, so be sure to keep up with this.

SHORTCUTS TO SHOWINGS: HIRE PROS

If you have more time than money or you truly need to sell quickly, hire professionals to declutter and pack up your house. Hire cleaners to scrub your home from top to bottom, then have them come in to clean weekly. Have your carpets professionally steam cleaned. Hire a lawn service to mow, mulch, trim dead branches, and keep your yard and landscaping looking fresh. If it’s the right time of year to plant, have landscapers replace overgrown shrubbery with a fresh, new look.

Even if you are handy, to get your house on the market quicker, hire professional painters to give every room a neutral fresh coat of paint. Cabinets in good shape but outdated golden oak, hire a professional to re-stain in a trendier color.

If you’ve already moved out, consider paying for the professional staging of a home. Professionals can stage the home to make the most out of its attributes and minimize its less-than-finer qualities. Buyers will be able to picture themselves and their furniture in a home staged in this way. Ask your real estate agent for the recommended pros in your area.

WANT TO SELL YOUR HOUSE FAST, AND FOR CASH?

If you want to sell your house fast, we can help. We will buy your house as-is. No pre-sales prep or open houses. No repairs. No upgrades. No home inspections.
You will have a fair cash offer, and you can close on your timeline.
We are currently buying in Maryland, D.C, Virginia and Baltimore!

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Home Improvement, Sell Your House

Everything You Need To Know About Home Inspections

What is a Home Inspection?

A home inspection is an evaluation of a property that’s up for sale. The aim is to look for any potential issues, such as areas that need to be replaced or repaired. It’s also done to check if the property complies with the safety and building codes of some states. It’s carried out by a home inspector, who is a professional trained to spot issues and problems. 

The process can be initiated by either the buyer or the seller. Home inspection for buyers happens after the seller accepts the offer, but before the deal is closed. The seller sometimes does a home inspection before he or she puts the property up for listing, to help them determine how much to price it, based on the findings.

What happens after home inspection depends on the results of the home inspector’s report. If there’s a long list of issues with the home, buyers can choose to renegotiate the deal or opt-out entirely. What happens often, though, is that the seller is requested to fix the issues before turning it over to the buyer.

How Do Home Inspections Work?

To give you an idea, home inspectors are hired then typically paid after they complete the inspection of the home.

They will begin by going through each section of the house, taking detailed notes and photos of each area he or she sees. Most are very receptive to questions or comments if you need clarifications on specific areas. This is not only useful for the buyer but the seller as well, especially for areas you haven’t thought of.

Home inspectors will focus their attention on critical structural and possible safety hazards of the house. They often won’t comment on the visual or aesthetic aspects of the property, unless it’s a sign of an underlying problem.

After the inspection, the home inspector will then send a detailed report to both the buyer and seller. 

How to Prepare for a Home Buying Inspection

Preparing for a home inspection is a crucial thing sellers should do to increase the odds of a good result. It won’t cover up glaring issues like leaks and missing shingles. But you can do so much to clean up unnecessary things that might end up unfavorably on the inspector’s report.

Clean your house as thoroughly as you can. Replace filters if you have an HVAC system. Check your sink for clogs, then use a drain cleaner to unclog them if you can. If possible, you should also replace broken windows or door screens.

You can also speed the inspection process along by making sure the inspector has easy access to critical areas. Unlock your electrical panel or water heater, and make sure to lock away pets in your home, if any, as they can be a disturbance.

How long does a home inspection take?

This depends on the size of your home. On average, inspections on medium-sized houses should take no more than 3 – 4 hours to complete, unless big issues are found.

What do home inspectors look for?

Home inspectors are very thorough and have a detailed checklist of significant areas to watch out for. These often include the roofing, plumbing, and electrical wiring – three of the most common sources of issues in houses. They will also check for structural problems, as well as the presence of pests or molds.

What happens if you fail?

It’s important to realize that a buyer inspection of your home is not a pass or fail thing. It’s an objective assessment of your property. What happens after that depends entirely on your negotiations with the buyer. You can repair the issues or sell it at a lower price.

How to Avoid a House Inspection

In the typical buying process, it is unconventional to not go through a house inspection. A lot of buyers, especially in a buyer’s market, will require it. That’s understandable because no one wants to buy a property with underlying problems that can cost them thousands down the line.

If you’re anxious about a home inspection adding to your closing costs or don’t want to go through with it, there are better alternatives. The easiest is just to skip the traditional real estate selling process and go with an innovative company like 8 Day Home Sale. We buy houses for cash with our simple and hassle-free sales process. 

It begins when you contact 8 Day Home Sale. Once we discuss your property with you over the phone, you will receive a fair cash offer in as little as 10 minutes. 

We’ll then schedule a time to meet with you in person to explain the details of your cash offer. At that time, all you have to do is review the documentation, accept our offer, and we put cash in your hand as quickly as possible Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia residents. It’s that easy! With 8 Day Home Sale, there’s no need to go through a tedious house inspection that will result in days of back-and-forth with a potential buyer. Our process is quick and lets you sell a house for cash hassle-free. Give us a call at 301-242- SELL, and we’ll give you a fair cash offer in as little as 10 minutes.

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Home Improvement, Renovations

Adding Tile to Your Home Can Improve Sale Value

If you are looking to make improvements to your home or want to add something to help sell your home fast, replacing or adding tile can be a welcomed project to any home. Not only is it cost effective, but it is also not overly time consuming and you can save even more time by hiring the help or an expert.

The smallest of imperfections can ruin any tiling project so you want to make sure you hire someone who can get the job done properly. A lot of the time the store you purchase the tiles from can recommend professionals in your area to help, or at least are aware of which you should avoid.

You can get a good deal from a carpenter or other building or renovation expert that does not specialize in tiling, but if you want to ensure the job is done right so you can sell your home fast, it is best to use the services of a true tiler.

When you initially contact the tiler, it is good practice to find out how long they have been in business, anything over 3 years is always a good sign, references should be requested and checked to vouch for the quality of work. Whilst pictures of completed work are always a good place to start, viewing the work in person is a good idea, although not always easy to achieve.

In order to get the best deal, you want to interview more than one tiler and get multiple quotes, if they are way out of your budget, don’t waste your time and move on to the quotes within your range. Make sure you let the tiler know you have a few offers so they know the need to give you a realistic bid.

If you really want to go with one person but they are quoting you too high beyond your budget, ask the workman if they can think of any way they can bring the price down through cutting the cost – he might recommend you change the tiles you intend to use to a good standard of tile that doesn’t cost quite as much, he might appreciate your involving him in your plans for the project.

One way of reducing the cost is by getting hands on yourself. Maybe you can cut the cost of paid labor by doing part of it yourself, ask the advice of your tiler for any way he can recommend if necessary.

There are many ways you can get a good deal through a tradesperson, remember that the initial quote is not always final and can often be negotiated. A few small ways of saving money can all add up and help you sell your home fast.

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