How to Sell Your Home: A Guide For First-time Home Sellers (Part 2)
Kevin Cooper • Apr 26, 2022
How to Sell Your Home: A Guide For First-time Home Sellers (Part 2)
You’ve done your research and crunched the numbers in the initial stage of home-selling. The second part is a lot more exciting.
Here's where you roll up your sleeves and get ready to sell your home on the market!
Cooper & Associates Realty’s Guide to Home Selling (Part 2)
How will you persuade people that buying your home is the best move they’ll ever make?
This is the part where your — and your agent’s — creativity and marketing skills will be put to practice.
4. Get Your Home Ready for Selling. Some home sellers tend to get emotional at this stage. However, being at peace with your decision to sell is key to a satisfying experience.
Take time to bid goodbye to your home. Getting your home ready for sale also includes an inward process of letting it go. It helps transition you from a homeowner’s mindset into a home seller one.
Below are a few things you can do to prepare your home:
- Avoid unnecessary upgrades. Some sellers dive into overhaul mode, thinking that upgrading home features will have the property sell high and fast. Unfortunately, upgrades can add up quickly. Remember: not all repairs or remodels will have a return on investment. So, only do repairs on home fixtures that are structurally or mechanically defective.
- Declutter every room. Some buyers may want to inspect every nook and cranny of your home. It’s best to be prepared by decluttering in all rooms. Start sorting out and organizing your stuff into the following categories: Keep, Sell, and Throw or Recycle. Categorizing things into what you plan to do with them will simplify and speed up the decluttering process. No time to declutter? Ask your real estate agent if they know a specialist who can help with decluttering or storage.
- Deep clean your home. Deep cleaning your home makes it easier to do light cleaning prior to showings later on. Spray and wipe off counters with multi-surface cleaners, vacuum floors, scrub down toilet bowls and sinks, and wipe mirrors and windows with glass cleaners to make them shine.
- Create a warm, welcoming space. A warm and inviting atmosphere will help buyers imagine themselves living in your home. Make your home cozier through ambient lighting and appropriate decors and furniture arrangement. Staging your home for buyers can decrease the time that it sits on the market.
- Increase your home’s curb appeal. People move for many reasons.
Find out Why People Are Relocating to Elk Grove. Don’t forget to work on your curb when getting your home ready for the market. A well-kept outdoor space boosts the value of a property. Mow the lawn, remove weeds, trim plants, and clean up debris. Adding some items such as flowers or a decorative bench will also brighten up your curb.
5. Work Out a Marketing Plan. You’ve decluttered, cleaned, and staged your home. It’s now time to show it to buyers! Tap on your real estate agent’s marketing skills. Cooper & Associates Realty helps you promote your home online and offline!
Here are some things to consider adding to your marketing plan:
- High-Definition photos on Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Uploading your property description and photos to MLS formally activates your listing. Your MLS listing will be syndicated to top real estate websites instantly. So, remember to use only high-definition images and to capture your home from different angles to get the attention of homebuyers online.
- Social media promotion. Social media has a massive marketing influence. We promote your home on various social platforms to get it in front of people within your area. Utilize the check-In feature or add hashtags to your posts so your home will come up when people search for your location or use your hashtags as search terms.
- Virtual home tours and showings. Not all buyers will be comfortable going out and meeting people. Make sure to make virtual home tours and showings an option. This allows you to expand your market reach.
- Network with buyer’s agents. Connect with local buyer's agents. They can link you with homebuyers who are interested in your neighborhood or are looking at your price point.
6. Create a Smart Showing Schedule. Some home buyers would prefer seeing your home in person before they commit. This is where home showings come into play. There’s no need to initiate or manage any communications with possible buyers regarding home showings. Their agents will work out a schedule with your agent instead.
Here are a few reminders regarding home showings:
- Organize your calendar to include showings. Make a plan to be away from home on specific days each week so that your agent can schedule and book home tours.
- Alert your agent for schedule changes. Call or message your agent right away if there are unforeseen changes in your schedule that will affect showings.
- Streamline schedule sharing. Sharing schedules with your agent need not be complicated. Make a Google calendar, especially for home showings, and share it with your agent. They would be available to check it even on the go.
Cooper & Associates Realty has been creating smart marketing plans to sell homes for top dollar. We will work together with you to set this plan in motion. Before you know it, interested buyers will come knocking at your door!
What do you do when you see your marketing efforts paying off? Watch out for the final part of our guide to find out!
Cooper & Associates Blog
Granite and quartz are two design elements that cause strong debate and division among homeowners. To sort out the Granite vs. Quartz debate, we came up with 4 categories that show how the two materials fare. First, let us define each material.
Selling your home can be intimidating, especially if you’re doing it for the first time! As you prepare to say goodbye to your home, you are also looking for ways to maximize the return on your investment. You have a financial and emotional task right before you. Fortunately, there are steps you can take that can reduce your stress and help you achieve the ultimate goal of selling your home for the first time. That is, making the experience both emotionally and financially rewarding!
Dreaming about moving into a new home? Some buyers already know what they want in a house, while others need some help figuring out what they need. What you need and want in a home would become more defined as you get closer and closer to the actual buying process. Set your expectations to narrow down your search. This is a must so you don’t get caught up by marketing gimmicks and lose sight of what’s really right for you.
There are currently more home buyers than there are homes to buy. If you listed your home for sale in Elk Grove or Sacramento, be prepared with the possibility of having to choose from multiple competing offers. Make sure to play your cards right! This guide will help you choose the best offer for your home. What Does The Best Offer Look Like? The best offer will look different for every seller. The best one is the offer that fits your needs, situation, goals, preferred selling terms, price range, and moving schedule.
Home prices are increasing. Houses are being snatched as soon as they hit the market. Real Estate in 2021 is hot! If you’re putting your house up for sale, you’re in a great position to get multiple offers in this Seller’s Market. Still, this does not automatically mean you would get multiple offers. So, how do you guarantee to get as many good offers as you can rake in? What do you do to attract quality buyers and favorable terms? 5 Things Smart Home Sellers Do To Get Multiple Offers You need to be strategic in positioning your house for sale — even in a housing market where buyers are waiving contingencies and are willing to pay more. Here are 5 smart things you can do to ensure your house gets multiple offers:
Selling your home in 2021? One quick research online will tell you that the current California housing market is a seller’s market. What is a Seller’s Market? A seller’s market is where demand far outweighs supply. This is where the real estate inventory is short and the number of interested buyers is high. This market condition puts sellers at an advantage. The tough competition among buyers and low real estate inventory push people to put in higher offers. If you are selling your house in 2021, you have the ability to price your property high knowing that buyers are willing to spend more. What California Home Sellers Need To Know A seller’s market seems like a dream until you get caught up in the practical details. For one thing, sorting through a bunch of offers can get overwhelming. For another, saying No to buyers, some of whom have probably struck out on multiple houses, can have its emotional toll. Here are 3 factors you also should consider when selling your home in the California housing market: 1. Payment. Cash payment comes with a few unique benefits. With a cash offer, you know that a buyer won’t have problems with mortgage approval. You can also expect a quicker closing period through cash transactions. For instance, cash sales can be completed in just 2 weeks, whereas mortgage closings can take as long as 2 months. Here’s what not many people realize: the highest offer is not always the best offer. Whether you are selling your home yourself or with a realtor, always consider the benefits of a cash sale. This doesn’t mean you should completely write off mortgage buyers. If you know and trust a buyer’s lender, you can be confident that the lender is able to get mortgage approval. PRO TIP#1: Do your homework in researching lenders. PRO TIP #2: Get advice from real estate professionals . Your listing agent should have access to a network of technologies and people that will help you sell your home with the most favorable terms. 2. Contingencies. The fewer the contingencies, the least likely it is for a transaction to fail. Home selling in 2021 puts you in an advantageous position. As a seller, you can direct the number of contingencies involved, including home inspections. When a home inspection reveals repair issues, a home buyer can back out of a deal. But if real estate trends are any indication, winning offers are waiving home inspections. Another home buying trend is waiving home appraisals. It seems that buyers leave out home appraisal contingencies to make sellers take their offer. 3. Offer Specifics. Study the offers as best as you can. The more information you have, the better you can choose. Remember: you are most likely to compare similar data. So, create a spreadsheet, and input the offer specifics: Offer Price Payment Method Contingencies Loan Amount Type of Loan Other Relevant Metrics This gives you a clearer and better way of weighing your options. Need more specific home selling advice? Want to sell but don’t know where to start? If you’re selling your home in Elk Grove, Sacramento, or surrounding areas, we can help. Let’s start here .
