How to Sell Your Home: All the Tips and Tricks

Selling your home is a major undertaking. It can be exhausting, emotional, and even exciting. Whether you’re moving to a bigger place to accommodate a larger family, downsizing to a townhouse or condo, or moving to a new city, knowing how to sell your home quickly and successfully can make the difference between a rewarding experience and a frustrating one.

In this blog, we give you our best advice for how to sell a house, including how to get your home ready to sell, what improvements to make, what not to fix when selling a house, and other tips and tricks that will help you sell your home as stress-free as possible!

How to Get Your Home Ready to Sell: Preparing Financially

There’s so much to do when you sell your home that it’s easy to forget about the expenses involved. Before you put your home on the market, set some money aside for the following:

• Attorney’s fees and escrow fees, if applicable in your state
• Minor fixes to the home, such as repairs, painting, and cleaning
• Staging the home
• Expenses related to paying off the mortgage or transferring it
• Capital gains tax

Find a Real Estate Agent

If you want to sell your home, don’t proceed without an agent! Talk to a few real estate agents and find one you feel comfortable with. A good agent should be experienced and have a thorough knowledge of your area. They should provide you with a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) and tell you what to expect in terms of price and timing.

Set a Price: How to Sell Your Home Quickly

Setting the right price is key to selling it quickly. If you try to sell your home at too high a price, you won’t get as many showings, and potential buyers may wonder why it’s been on the market longer than average. With a competitive price, you’ll get more interest, and you could even spark a bidding war.

Your agent is the best person to advise you about appropriate pricing based on comparable recent sales and market demand in your area.

How to Get Your Home Ready to Sell: Cleaning and Decluttering

Buyers want to be able to imagine themselves living in the homes they tour. That is much easier to do if the house is free of clutter and personal items; remove all these from your home and put them in storage.

Do a thorough cleaning or arrange to have the home deep-cleaned. If possible, paint the interior in neutral tones. Don’t ignore the curb appeal: keep the landscaping tidy, repair the railings on your front steps, put out a welcome mat, and make the entrance to your home look warm and appealing.

What Not to Fix When Selling a Home

If you’re considering improvements to your home, only do the ones that add value. Keep your fixes minor, and don’t make any changes that are specific to your taste (bland is best when it comes to staging and décor!)

List Your Home

Your agent will take care of your house listing. Normally, they will market your home on the MLS and online platforms, on social media, via direct marketing, and through open houses.

Schedule Showings

If your agent knows how to sell your home quickly, you may have back-to-back showings with short notice. It can be annoying and inconvenient to have to leave your home all of a sudden, but it’s crucial to be flexible with your agent.

Scout out a few places near your house where you can wait during the showings. Think of this as a break where you can treat yourself to a delicious coffee or a refreshing beverage.

Negotiate the Price

Potential buyers will submit offers through their agent, usually to your agent. Discuss the offer with your agent and decide whether you want to accept the offer, reject it, or make a counteroffer.

In addition to the price, you will need to work out the closing date, contingencies, and who will pay which closing costs. Trust that your agent knows how to sell your home for the terms that are most beneficial to you; sweat the big stuff but not the small stuff!

Here’s the basic negotiation process:

• Buyers submit offers through their agent
• You can accept, reject, or counter
• Your agent will guide negotiations, including price, contingencies, and closing date

How to Sell Your Home Once It’s Under Contract

As the seller, you don’t have to do too much during the contingency period other than accommodating the home inspection and possibly the appraiser, who may not even need to enter your home.

Closing the Sale

On the day the deal closes, you need to be fully moved out; this is what you should focus on during the days leading up to the closing date. Most of the paperwork (transferring the title, dispersing the funds, etc.) is routine and will be handled by your attorney or a combination of a title company, an escrow agent, and a closing agent, depending on the rules in your state.

In general, this part of how to sell a house proceeds smoothly. If there are any glitches, your real estate agent and the buyer’s agent can be trusted to find solutions.

Selling a home is a big undertaking, but with the right preparation and the right team of professionals, you can manage the process with little stress. If you’re still unsure how to sell a house, a qualified real estate agent can walk you through every step—from pricing to staging to final paperwork.

Contact one of the experienced agents at REMAX for information, advice, and guidance on how to sell your home.