5 Insider Tips to Sell Your Home on a Tight Timeline

Selling your home on a tight timeline comes with its share of unique challenges, but it’s definitely possible if you know how to prepare. It’s important to make sure that the home is ready for the market in every way, and that means you’ll also have a tighter timeline when prepping the home to high standards. The right marketing and the help of an experienced real estate agent will make life much easier when time is of the essence. Our five insider tips for selling your home on a tight timeline are the perfect place to start when you’re aiming to sell in a hurry.

1. Clean, De-clutter, and Stage
   Start the process by putting your home prep in overdrive, and doing some serious cleaning. Buyers want to see a home that’s clean from top to bottom. You’ll also want to de-clutter and depersonalize the home, so buyers can imagine what their life would be like there. Once your home is spotless and de-cluttered, you can get busy with staging. If you need staging advice, your agent and a staging pro can both provide great tips.
2. High-Quality Photos
   You don’t want to waste all of the work you did preparing the home by using low-quality photos for marketing, so consider professional photography for all of your home marketing needs. Professional quality photos are much better for capturing the quality of the home, the vibrancy of the landscape, and all of the little things that make the home special. Low-quality photos stand out in a negative way, especially if other nearby listings have pro photography.
3. Hire an Agent Who Means Business
   Choosing the right real estate agent is always a critical step in getting your home sold, and it’s especially important when you’re working on a tight timeline. You want an agent who sells a high volume of homes in the area and knows how to get a property sold quickly. Ask for referrals from trusted sources, speak with multiple agents, and find the person who makes you most confident that they can handle a sale on a quick timeline.
4. Pick the Right Price
   When you’re aiming to sell a home fast, you don’t want to waste any time picking the right price point. Ask your agent for a comparative market analysis (CMA), so that you’ll know exactly what comparable homes are selling for in your market. Choosing a price that’s far above market is likely to make your home languish on the market but going too low will hurt your bottom line, so you’ll definitely want to price the home competitively.
5. Make the Most of Your Marketing
   Marketing should be a top priority no matter how fast you’re trying to sell, and the right marketing tactics can really help on a tight timeline. That means marketing your home online, with an attractive listing and quality photography, while also making the most of traditional marketing tools. Promote open houses, use word of mouth, and work with your agent to develop a targeted marketing plan for the demographics most likely to be interested in the home.

There’s no doubt that selling your home on a tight timeline can feel a bit chaotic, which is why it’s so important to have a plan. Investing time in preparing the home and money in the right marketing plan will make it much easier to get the job done. Throughout the process, a trusted real estate agent should be your number one source of advice for selling your home fast.

 

Leslie Sells Houses

Summer is a Sizzling Time to Sell Your Home with Me

 

Summer is a Sizzling Time to Sell Your Home with Me

Here are 5 compelling reasons listing your home for sale this summer makes sense.

1. Demand Is Strong

The latest Buyer Traffic Index from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) shows that buyer demand remains strong throughout the vast majority of the country. These buyers are ready, willing, and able to purchase… and are in the market right now! More often than not, multiple buyers are competing with each other for the same home.

Take advantage of the buyer activity currently in the market.

2. There Is Less Competition Now

Housing inventory is still under the 6-month supply needed for a normal housing market. This means that, in most of the country, there are not enough homes for sale to satisfy the number of buyers.

Historically, the average number of years a homeowner stayed in his or her home was six, but that number has hovered between nine and ten years since 2011. Many homeowners have a pent-up desire to move, as they were unable to sell over the last few years due to a negative equity situation. As home values continue to appreciate, more and more homeowners are granted the freedom to move.

Many homeowners were reluctant to list their home over the last couple of years for fear that they would not find a home to move in to. That is all changing now as more homes come to market at the higher end. The choices buyers have will continue to increase. Don’t wait until additional inventory comes to market before you to decide to sell.

3. The Process Will Be Quicker

Today’s competitive environment has forced buyers to do all they can to stand out from the crowd, including getting pre-approved for their mortgage financing. Buyers know exactly what they can afford before home shopping. This makes the entire selling process much faster and simpler. According to Ellie Mae’s latest Origination Insights Report, the time to close a loan has dropped to 43 days. (Last numbers available.)

4. There Will Never Be a Better Time to Move Up

If your next move will be into a premium or luxury home, now is the time to move up! The inventory of homes for sale at these higher price ranges has created a buyer’s market. This means that if you are planning on selling a starter or trade-up home, it will sell quickly, AND you’ll be able to find a premium home to call your own!

According to CoreLogic, prices are projected to appreciate by 4.8% over the next year. If you are moving to a higher-priced home, it will wind up costing you more in raw dollars (both in down payment and mortgage payment) if you wait.

5. It’s Time to Move on with Your Life

Look at the reason you decided to sell in the first place and determine whether it is worth waiting. Is money more important than being with family? Is money more important than having the freedom to go on with your life the way you think you should?

Only you know the answers to these questions. You have the power to take control of the situation by putting your home on the market. Perhaps the time has come for you and your family to start living the life you desire.

That is what is truly important.

Leslie Sells Houses