The COVID-19 pandemic has had a drastic impact on how we do our daily routines, such as working and socializing with family and friends. Likewise, it has also impacted how you can sell your home as there’s a need to observe the laid-out health safety protocols to curb the spread of the virus. With the mortgage interest rates now lower than ever before, buyers are trying to get an hour before these rates start climbing again.
But, even with this increased demand, you still need to make your home appealing to the prospective buyer. If you’re in search of such information, look no further. Here’s a post on 7 home selling tips that you need to consider if preparing to sell your home in 2021.Â
- Declutter Your HomeÂ
You want your potential buyer to imagine themselves in your home, and they can’t do this with your personal items scattered all over the house. Therefore, one of the first steps you should take when looking to sell your home is to declutter your home and rid it of any personal items. This includes travel items, family photos, furniture, keepsakes, and collections.Â
Removing your personal items from the hallways, bathroom, bedrooms, kitchen, and living room also makes the rooms look bigger. This does help in increasing your home’s appeal. If you need help to entice prospective buyers into making a purchase, consider hiring a stager. While this adds to your expenses, it helps make your home a lot more sellable at the best possible price.Â
- Work With ProsÂ
If you choose to sell your home through For Sale BY Owner (FSBO), it’s best to sell your property to a house buying company such as Safe Home Offer. Otherwise, you might find it very challenging to find a buyer in the highly competitive real estate market. To avoid finding yourself in such situations, the best thing to do would be to hire an experienced agent.Â
Working with a real estate agent saves you the stress of finding a potential buyer. It also increases the likelihood of finding a prospective buyer as these professionals use exceptional marketing skills to convince a buyer into making a purchase.Â
- Improve Your Home’s Curb AppealÂ
The first impression matters a lot when it comes to attracting prospective buyers. Because of this, you need to improve your home’s external look to capture the attention of the buyer even before they enter inside. There are different ways you can improve your home’s curb appeal, including;Â
- Installing high-quality doorsÂ
- Tidying up and freeing any clutter from the entryways, walkways, and porchesÂ
- Fixing broken mailboxes and outdoor lighting fixturesÂ
- Planting flowersÂ
- Painting the front doorÂ
- Cleaning the windows Â
- Trimming the lawn, trees, and shrubs nicelyÂ
Doing all this gives your home a facelift that will boost the property’s curb appeal. Due to this, the prospective buyer becomes a lot more interested in finalizing your home’s purchase.Â
- Price Your Home RightÂ
It’s always important to price your home at a realistic value, or you’ll scare away interested buyers. This doesn’t mean you undervalue your home, but rather set a competitive listing price. For you to figure out the best price to work with, it’s best to work with a real estate realtor who can compare other homes’ selling prices in your area, especially the lowest valued home. Once you have this figure, you can work your way to determine the correct value of your home, depending on the modifications made and its aesthetics.Â
To gauge how realistic you’ve priced your home, you can also check out websites that show the history of previously sold houses. Knowing this gives you a better idea of how much money you should demand for your home, depending on its location and the available features. Also, try and imagine yourself in the buyer’s position and try to estimate what’s a reasonable price you’d be willing to pay.Â
- Do Proper Repairs And MaintenanceÂ
For the potential buyer, no issue is too small to be ignored. Therefore, it’s up to you to make sure that any possible issue in your home gets addressed even before the home inspection and when your client gets to your home. Some of the repairs you should make include;Â
- Replacing all the destroyed lighting fixtures
- Patching up all the small holes or cracks on the wallsÂ
- Replacing all the destroyed tiles Â
- Replacing any damaged window screensÂ
You must do these repairs or send the wrong message to the potential client with other more severe issues such as mold or water damage that cost a lot more.Â
- Avoid Expensive RepairsÂ
It’s no doubt essential to do all the needed repairs or risk scaring away an interested buyer. But, while doing this is necessary, you should resist the temptation to renovate parts of your home, such as the bathroom and kitchen. It would be best if you avoid this, as remodeling your home usually takes time. Also, it’s very hard to recover the costs you’ve incurred when doing these renovations, regardless of whether it’s in a seller’s or buyer’s market.Â
- Have A Pre-Sale Home Inspection Â
Although having a home inspection done means spending more money, it helps prevent the sale of your home from collapsing. During the inspection, the home inspector inspects your property to ensure all the systems are working correctly. In case any issue is found, you should proceed to have it corrected immediately.Â
With this deadly virus, the home appraiser doesn’t need to come to this apartment in person. Instead, they can use communication platforms such as Zoom to inspect the interior and exterior of your home. Also, you should give them high-definition pictures of the different areas in your home. After this, the home appraiser will advise whether there are changes that need to be made before showcasing your home to a prospective buyer. This way, your property will be in exceptional condition as you try and convince a potential buyer who’s more likely to proceed with the purchase. Â
TakeawayÂ
While the economy has tanked over the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the property market has surprisingly been doing quite well. This is because mortgage interest rates are at historically low levels. Hence, there’s an increased demand for buying property. In spite of this, you still need to enhance your home’s appeal to attract potential buyers. To do this, try the tips mentioned above to guarantee your home’s sale within the desired timeframe.Â