Selling your home can be confusing. How do you make the most money? And, how do you avoid losing money on the sale? There are a lot of factors to consider that you may not have thought about yet.
When it comes to selling your home, the one thing you definitely don’t want to do is lose money. These tips on how not to lose money when selling your home will help you sell for the best price possible.
- Hire an Experienced Agent
It may be tempting to go it alone, but hiring an experienced listing agent is one of the best ways to make more money on your sale.
An agent can help you determine the best home improvements to make so that your home sells quickly. They know the market and what buyers are looking for. They also know what homes in your area are selling for and can list your home for its best price.
In addition to helping you get your home ready to sell, they have marketing skills to reach the prospective buyers you’re looking for and they can help you accentuate the features that buyers would be most interested in.
An experienced agent can also help you determine exactly what you owe on your home and how much you have in equity so that you have a better idea of how much you’ll be able to walk away with.
You may be tempted to list yourself or to hire an agent that charges a slightly lower commission, but in the end, that could cost you. An experienced agent can bring in as much as 10% more in profit, more than covering their higher fee and giving you more profit.
- Make Sure Your Price is Right
Listing your home for a higher price than the market calls for to test the market could be a mistake. The longer your home sits on the market, the less appealing it is to potential buyers and the more they’ll want to negotiate. If your price is more in line with the current market, you’ll get buyer interested enough to take a look.
Compare prices of the homes sold in your area over the past three months as well as homes that are currently on the market. Make sure you’re comparing homes that are comparable to yours, the same number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and similar square footage. What is the market doing? Are prices going up or down?
And what about your competition? Out of the homes that are available, including yours, which home would you be most interested in buying? Why?
Spend a couple of weekends touring open houses in your area and look for trends. Do several other homes have an open floor plan? A garage? How is the space being used? You may see that many other homes are more inviting and welcome visitors to sit and stay awhile while your home has stiff furniture that doesn’t welcome guests.
- Spruce it Up
Get your home ready to go on the market by giving it a fresh look. Figure out a budget that you can afford for this project, then determine how it will be best spent. You may want to hire a landscaper to give your home curb appeal or apply a fresh, neutral color paint throughout your home. An experienced agent can help you determine the best options for home improvement projects.
Consider hiring a home stager or look for home staging tips online to reduce clutter and make your home feel welcoming. You may also consider hiring a cleaning service to do a full and thorough deep cleaning of your home before putting it on the market. Or at least getting your carpets cleaned so they look nice and fresh.
- Beware of Fees
In every offer will be a list of fees that buyers and sellers are expected to pay. The buyer may be asking for additional items that can be costly to you like additional inspection reports, a concession toward closing costs, or a home warranty. These fees are all negotiable, but you do need to look for them so you don’t agree to something unknowingly.
You can agree to pay a percentage or put a cap on what you will pay. Again, an experienced agent will be able to help you negotiate well.
The best ways not to lose money when selling your home is to hire an expert, know your market, freshen up your home, and read the buyer’s offer well. If you can manage these four tips, you’ll be able to make the most money possible on the sale of your home.
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