Tips For How To Sell Your Home Faster

Here’s how to get started on your goal to sell your home so you can move to a new one:

First, make the outside of your home attractive. Drive-by prospects are more likely to be interested in winter if the snow is shoveled.

In the spring selling season, be sure the lawn is cut and there are no toys or miscellaneous objects in the yard. Flowers near the entry are a plus.

If one or more rooms are a loud or unusual color, repaint them in beige.

Stage the inside of the home. Buyers decide whether they are interested in a home within 30 seconds after opening the front door. Rent a storage building and put your extra furniture into it. Make the home look more spacious by decluttering. Send the extras to storage or to a charitable organization.

Organize closets and drawers. Prospects will open them and look inside.

Depersonalize the house. Leave no personal objects in view on bathroom counters. Remove family photos from bookshelves and walls so prospects can visualize themselves in the home.

Hire a photographer to take photos of the interior, exterior and special features. Your real estate agent will use the outside photo on newspaper ads and the inside photos on the Internet.

Have a For Sale sign in the yard. Real estate agents say they often get calls from people who have seen a yard sign and are interested in the property.

Price the home correctly. You might think it’s worth $250,000, but if comparable homes are selling for $175,000, buyers will go elsewhere. Your real estate agent will help you set a competitive price.

Have a flyer copied for distribution to interested parties. It should tell the home’s square footage, have an exterior photo, one or more interior photos, a listing of the home’s special features, the locations of parks and schools, and information about property taxes and utility costs.

When a showing is scheduled, first make sure the house is clean. Some home stagers say the home should appeal to all five senses:

Sight: Open the blinds and drapes to let in natural light. Keep your pet out of the home.

Smell: Put out flowers and candles in the main rooms and a colorful bowl of fruit on the dining table.

Taste: A hot pot of coffee helps with taste and aroma.

Hearing: Turn off the sound on all television sets and computers. Have background music playing softly.

Touch: Ask your agent to have the guests sit on the soft couch.

Give them space. If you are showing the property yourself, let the buyers enter the room first. In small rooms, stay at the door so the room isn’t crowded.

What are your best tips to sell a home faster?