5 Ways to prep your house to sell in the market

5 Ways to prep your house to sell in the market

Selling your house to get a better value in the market will take time. Here are some tips on how to prepare your house to get interested sellers to buy your house.

Hire a Handyman or Contractor

If your house was not recently renovated, we suggest you hire a professional handyman to do the work for you. Fixing tiles, painting walls and ceiling, and doing some rearranging in the kitchen will do many things to your house.

Research Research Research

Timing is everything especially when you will sell your house. It also depends on the season, some buyers invest on winter and spring. Some states have more buyer in summer and autumn, so research the market and get to know when will be the best time to sell.

Clean and Declutter

Buyers or investors love to see prospective properties clean and free from clutters. We suggest you watch “Tidying up with Marie Kondo” on how to declutter and save you some space. You can also earn money from selling old things like clothes, toys and appliances in a garage sale.

Paint those walls

Simply painting the walls will do the thing to make your property look brand new. If you have the time on a weekend, you can paint it yourself and save money from hiring a painter. Paint it white and see the difference from your old wall.

Look for a Real Estate Investor investor

If you want to sell your house fast, we suggest you search for an investor to save you time and effort. 8 day Home Sale gives you an opportunity to save you the time and money to do all those things like paperwork and fixing the house. Let us help you with all the work and take care of the rest.

Moving out from DC, Maryland or Virginia and move to a prime location? Check out our site for more details on how you can sell your house fast.

If you have a property and want to sell it fast and as-is, meaning no more hassles of agent’s commission and home renovation, check out our blog Everything You Need To Know About Selling Your Home As-Is.

“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 MarylandD.CVirginia and Baltimore!

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.