Selling your home is a big deal, especially when it’s your first home. There are many aspects of the process to consider if you want to sell your home quickly and for the best possible price. From picking the right Realtor to pricing your home well, doing these things right will put you in the best position to get the results you want.
How to sell a home for the first time is not a process to be taken lightly. With all the steps that go into selling a home, it’s easy to make mistakes as a first time home seller without the proper guidance.
6 Best Tips for First Time Home Sellers
Pick The Right Realtor
While it is possible to sell your home without a Realtor, it’s definitely not recommended. Buying and selling homes are most likely the biggest purchases/sales you will ever make in your life, which means there is too much at stake with too many things that could go wrong. A good agent is skilled in handling all the details and helping you to avoid making costly mistakes.
Picking the right agent for you is extremely important as this will set the tone for how your whole experience will go. It’s recommended to meet with and interview several Realtors before choosing one. Do your homework and choose a Realtor who will help you accomplish your home sales goals.
Wondering what to look for when interviewing agents? There are numerous things to keep in mind. You will want to look for a Realtor, or better yet a Realtor Team, with recent and positive client feedback/reviews.
You’ll also want to look for an agent who sells homes close to the list price (ask what their list-to-sale-price ratio is) as this demonstrates an understanding of the market. In addition, it’s imperative to make sure they have an outstanding marketing plan set in place. Over 90% of home buyers find their home online so you want to have an agent who has the skills to make your home stand out.
Price Your Home Appropriately
Picking the right Realtor and pricing your home well go hand-in-hand. Helping you price your home correctly is another skill a good agent will have. Everyone wants to sell their home for the highest possible price; but be careful, if you price it too high it will repel potential buyers.
If it’s priced too high it can sit on the market for a while, which can cause it to develop a stigma with potential buyers who might then believe that it’s undesirable in some way and then provide you with low-ball offers. In the end, this can cause you to end up selling it for less than you otherwise might have had you priced it well at the start.
It’s important to talk with your Realtor to go over all the information and to set a good price for your home. This is where the Realtor’s list-to-sale-price-ratio becomes very significant (meaning they have a good record of selling homes close to their original list price). You don’t want to end up with an agent who blatantly misrepresents the value of your home by providing an unrealistic market value just to get you to sign a contract with them. You want an agent who is successful at pricing and selling homes so you can reach your home sales goals in the best time frame for the best price.
Spend Time Getting Your Home Ready
If you want to sell your home for the best price possible, it’s important to spend some time getting your house in tip-top shape before putting it on the market. Your Realtor will be able to advise you on specific things you should do. The following are some common examples of things you can do to make a significant impact on first impressions of potential buyers:
Exterior Home Tips:
- Make sure your curb appeal is excellent
- Make any necessary repairs to any obvious defects like rotted siding or trim
- Tidy up any patios, decks, and walkways
- Freshen up your landscaping by pulling weeds, trimming bushes, and planting flowers for a pop of color
Interior Home Tips:
- Deep clean your home from top to bottom. This is one of the cheapest things you can do that will have a significant impact.
- Declutter as much as possible
- Paint any rooms that need a neutral coat of paint
- Add brighter light bulbs in darker areas of the home
- Clean your carpets, or have worn carpets replaced
Be Ready To Move If You Get An Offer
When you put your home on the market, you should be prepared to accept an offer at any time. In a hot sellers’ market, homes sometimes sell within hours of being listed. When someone makes an offer on your home and you accept it, you will need to be ready to quickly finalize your plans for relocation and start getting your things set to be moved out of your home.
If you are selling and buying a home at the same time, it can feel a bit overwhelming. Your Realtor will help you find a new home and make sure the timelines for closings match up so that both sales will progress smoothly.
Understand What The Costs Will Be For Closing
There can be a lot of extra costs associated with selling your home so it’s important to make sure that you know exactly what to expect. Before closing, your lender will go over all the numbers in detail with you, but if you’d like a rough estimate before listing, your Realtor can go over what is called a “net sheet” with you. The following items are some common expenses:
- Depending on the price range of your home, it can be common for buyers to request that the seller pay to cover their closing costs. Buyer closing costs generally range from $3,000 – $5,500. You can offset these closing costs via negotiating the sale price of the home.
- Realtors’ commissions range by area, but most commonly are 6%. This is split between the sellers’ agent and the buyers’ agent.
- Pay to bring your property taxes current if taxes in your area are paid in arrears.
- Home warranty plans are often included with the sale of the home. This is optional, but beneficial for numerous reasons.
While this isn’t a complete list of all the costs that can be incurred while selling a home, it can help you get an idea of the wide range of potential costs to expect.
Know Your Local Market
It’s important to have a basic understanding of the current market conditions in your area. Every area is unique, which means that what works in one area may not work in another.
There are a lot of factors that go into real estate markets, which is why it’s important to have an experienced Realtor to help you have a clear understanding of what to expect. Your Realtor should be an expert on your local market. Your agent should know what homes similar to yours are selling for, and how to compare your home to recent sales of those similar homes to decide on the best list price. The more your Realtor knows about your area, the better job he/she can do when selling your home.
Bottom Line
There are a lot of things to take into account when selling your home, which is why if you want to sell your home for the best possible price in the best time frame, you will want to make sure to start by hiring a good Realtor. Once you have a Realtor using their expertise to look out for your best interests, the rest of the pieces will fall into place.
Questions about selling your home?
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