There are several reasons why you might want to sell your home quickly. Perhaps house prices are falling, and you want yours to be sold before prices fall too much in your area. Maybe housing demand is falling and you want yours to be more attractive than most in your neighborhood. Perhaps you are desperate to sell, because you have a new house in mind, but have to sell yours first. You could even be moving abroad shortly.
There are other potential reasons, but there are certain things you can do to help you make a quick sale. Each comes under one of three broad categories:
• Curb Appeal
• Improve apparent room size
• Cleanliness and good repair
We shall discuss each, and what is needed to maximize the impression potential buyers get when they arrive for a viewing.
1. Curb Appeal
The first thing a potential buyer will see is the exterior of your home. How does it compare with the other houses in your neighborhood? Does it impress at first sight? Is anything wrong, such as flaking paint, an unkempt garden with long grass and weeds, and does the gate close properly?
Spend some time improving the exterior appearance of your home. Repaint anything that can be painted: window frames, doors, fences, the gate and so on. If you have the cash, replace old wooden windows with modern double-glazed uPVC windows. Manicure your lawn and the hedge, and pull out all the weeds!
When you are finished, stand back and look at your house subjectively. How does it look to you – would you buy it if you were starting all over again? Get a friend or neighbor to look it over and give their comments – and then act on them.
2. Remove the Clutter
Declutter! Make sure you remove the clutter in every room. A room filled with your belongings looks smaller than it really is. Allow you prospective buyers to imaging themselves in each room with their own belongings – they can’t do that if most of the floor space is being used!
Include closets, because your viewer will almost certainly want to see inside them. Remove all that old stuff, clean them out and brighten them up. Go through your entire home and remove everything that is not needed to show it off to its best advantage. Maybe you can hire space in a repository, or perhaps a friend or relative will give you attic space meantime. One thing is sure – if your home is full of clutter you will be unlikely to get a sale, let alone sell your home quickly!
3. Clean and Repair
Make sure your house is spotlessly clean. If it is not, your prospective buyers might believe that they will have to clean it if they purchase it. Either do it yourself, or employ a professional cleaning firm to do it for you – that is the best option.
Everything must be in good working order. Check your whole house, including the backyard and front garden. Make sure there are no dripping taps or broken light bulbs, and if you have a pond or fountain, everything should work as intended. Every window should open if designed to do so, and locks must all be in order, including gate locks.
Sell Your Home Quickly – Summary
If you want to sell your home quickly, it is essential that it looks good, both externally and internally. Redecorating and cleaning will pay in the price you get. However, it might also be worth your while employing a specialist staging company to stage your home for the sale.
Do all you can to sell your home before the viewers even arrive, and then be prepared to act positively on any negative comments the first viewers make. If they comment on your grubby brown garden fence, paint it white for the next viewers. As a final option to help sell your home quickly, have a concession you are willing to make at closing and you should successfully sell your home in the time frame you have set yourself.