Since I am essentially a buyer and have been out looking for/at properties for sale, it felt fitting to clue you in on a few secrets to sell your home in this market. Even though they say the housing market is on the rise, it’s still not easy and it won’t last forever, so you need to get strike while the irons are hot, so they say.

They say you only have one chance to make a good first impression and that’s as true with your home as it is with people, so the place to start is where the buyer will start, with the front of your home. If you were to go out to the middle of the street and try to see your house through new eyes of a buyer, would it look good enough to make you want to see the inside? If not, you need to get started.

Making sure the lawns are cut and manicured doesn’t cost any money, just a little labor. Is the front porch clean and inviting, or cluttered and hard to walk through? Are the bushes trimmed back, or large enough for someone scary to hide behind. Could the front door or the shutters use a little paint? All this stuff takes is a little of your time, but to a buyer it can make a difference on whether they pass your house, or come in and end up calling it “home”. Since you’re competing against homes that are foreclosures and short sales priced below market, your house needs to look worth the extra money.

Inside, it’s amazing what some little fix-ups can do that you don’t really even notice when you live there everyday. Cleaning all the faceplates on the light switches and the finger prints off the doors can work wonders. Polishing the faucets and fixtures makes everything look new. If you have areas of your home that are cluttered, if it’s stuff you don’t absolutely need, pack it up and move it to the garage. You’re planning on moving anyway, right? You’ll be that far ahead of the game. The less clutter the bigger the rooms look.

Pricing your home to sell is essential. If you’re not realistic about where the market is and you price your home too high, all you’ll accomplish is selling other people’s homes that are priced below yours. If you’re using a Realtor, they will give you pertinent info to help you come to that decision. If you’re not using a Realtor expect most buyers to use that to offer you less than your asking price. They figure they should get the savings you would have spent on commissions. You should price your home accordingly and then according to what the market is doing. If the market in your area is still going down, the house like yours that sold 3 months ago wouldn’t necessarily sell for the same price today. I won’t even take listings any more if the seller is asking way too much. All it does is get the seller mad at me and waste my time and resources on a home that’s never going to sell at that price. It doesn’t do either of us any good.

If you have any other questions about selling your home, or I can help with anything else to do with real estate, feel free to contact me direct or leave a comment below so everyone can share.