The Blackbox to Selling Your House Fast!

Selling a home can cause extreme anxiety and stress. If you are in a time crunch due to a new job, financial reasons or a personal situation, there are a few tactics you can use to increase your home’s marketability, decrease your time on the market and attract strong offers. Here’s how to sell a house fast.

1. Neat Freak Out!

Treat this step like you are Spring Cleaning on steroids.   Your home’s interior needs to appeal to a wide array of buyers.  That means, the clown cookie jar with the creepy smile that Aunt Nell gave you needs to be put away!

• Get a storage unit and pack away the bulky furniture.  Any knicknacks that clutter the mantle or above your kitchen cabinets need to be boxed up.  Pay attention to table tops, bathroom vanities, and kitchen counters.  Less is more in this situation.  How can a buyer see the large island if it is buried underneath dishes, backpacks and mail?

• Remove all personal items and family photos.  A buyer is trying to imagine themselves in your house.  As adults, we sometimes have a hard time imagining.  If other people’s lives are thrown in the mix, it can be near impossible for a buyer to see themselves living there.

• Here we are going to reiterate GET A STORAGE UNIT.  Buyers are looking for Closet space and storage.  They will be combing through your closets, pantry and cabinets to see what kind of storage they will have.  Clothes crammed into a closet, makes the closet seem smaller.  Think about packing up the “out of season wear” and putting them in storage.  In addition, remove any countertop appliances and large items from your pantry or cabinets that might make them seem cluttered.

• Perform a Deep Clean of the house.  We recommend a professional cleaning service, but if you are on a shoestring budget, then elbow grease is just as good.  Be sure to vacuum all carpeted areas (rent a carpet cleaner from your local home improvement store if you have spots on the carpet), sweep and mop all hard surface areas, scrub the bathrooms until they shine like the top of the Chrysler building and clean the countertops and cabinets in the kitchen.  Don’t forget to dust all of the windowsills, baseboards and fans.

• Stage the home with the pieces you have if on a budget or hire a professional stager to show the house’s full potential.  Ensure that any odd spots or rooms in the house are staged to show people how they can best use the space.  Touch up any pronounced scuffs or holes on the walls, fix loose door handles, and re-caulk areas. Add real flowers to small vases throughout the rooms for an open house.  Turn on soft jazz or other pleasing music (turned low) before leaving the house for a scheduled showing.

2. First Impression vs. Lasting Impression

Your home’s curb appeal is the first impression the potential buyers will have of your home.  Ensure that it knocks their socks off and creates a lasting impression of a welcoming and well-maintained home.

• Mow the Lawn on a regular basis.

• Trim hedges, shrubs and overgrown tree branches.

• Clear walkways and paths.

• Clean windows and doorknobs. Remove window screens on the front of the house for professional pictures and showings, then replace when under contract.

• Sweep away spiders, hornets’ nests and debris from the front porch.

• Replace any broken items.

• Paint the front door.

• Plant colorful, easy to maintain flowers.

• Mulch the front yard.  Mulch has a way of making the yard come to life with health and color.

3. Strategize to Sell

“A vision without a strategy remains an illusion.” -Lee Bolman.  If your vision is to sell fast, then you should consider the pros and cons of each strategy below.

Hire an agent

The benefits of hiring an agent are numerous.  If they are proficient, they know the market in your area and can help you determine what to price to list your house.  In addition, they know how to traditionally and, hopefully, digitally market your property.  They have a comprehensive understanding of real estate contracts used by local real estate agents and can conduct negotiations on your behalf.  They will also be able to assist you and the buyer or buyer’s agent with all of the steps that must take place after the contract is signed.  We recommend that you interview a few brokerages and insist on a listing presentation.  Ask the salesperson what their plans are for marketing your particular property and how often they plan to communicate with you regarding updates.  We also recommend calling them the following day.  If they don’t pick up, leave a message.  It is imperative that your agent picks up their phone and/or returns calls promptly.  It could mean losing out on a potential offer.  Finally, know that commission is negotiable.  The listing agreement will have the commission listed that you have agreed to pay to your listing agent and a potential buyer’s agent.  We recommend that the marketing plan also be listed along with if professional pictures (recommended) or a 360 degree tour will be taken.

Some of the cons of listing your house on the MLS are: (i) the necessity make your house available for showings (which could mean caging your animals, keeping everything clean, and leaving the house at inconvenient times), (ii) the process could take longer than selling in an unconventional way (inspections needed, lender approval needed, dealing with other contingencies), and (iii) you have to pay commission to listing and buyer agents for their expertise and for finding a ready, willing and able buyer to purchase your house.
Note: Hestia Home Buyers is not currently able to assist you with listing your property, but will have licensed real estate agents soon.  Check back in July 2020.

For Sale by Owner

If you choose to sell your house on your own, you can save on commission, but you will likely have to pay a commission to the buyer’s agent.  It does not always have to be 3%, but a buyer may have already agreed to the 3% with the agent and would have to pay it if you, as the seller, refuse to.  This situation would likely be off-putting to the buyer who may, as a result, not make an offer.
Also, you should have complete confidence in your negotiating abilities.  You will also need to be familiar with the seller’s responsibilities between signing and closing the sales contract. Understanding this process is essential for a fast, unencumbered sell.

Hybrid FBSO and Agent

There are several agencies that will list your property on the MLS and several other websites, including Zillow, Realtor.com, and Trulia, for a monthly fee.  These agencies will, sometimes, send you a sign for your yard and supra box for your key, so that other agents can get into the house.  You can approve showings through an online app and professional photographs are often included.  These agencies offer some of the benefits of an agent, but still allow you to keep that 3% commission on the selling side.

Unconventional Ways to Sell Fast

If you want to completely bypass the preparation it takes to sell your house in a hurry on the MLS, consider these alternative strategies:

• Sell at an auction. You can sell quickly by auctioning off your home, but you are likely to sell for a lower price than on the local market.

• Sell to an iBuyer giant such as Zillow Offers, Offerpad or Open Door. When you sell directly to an iBuyer, your house must meet their specific buying criteria.  In addition, they have tightened that criteria since COVID-19 has slowed down the market.

• Sell to a developer.  This is usually only an option if your home is a teardown and/or on a large lot in an area with rapid growth.

• Sell to Hestia Home Buyers. You will sell quickly, make no repairs, close on your timeline, and receive a fair offer.

4. The Price is Right

Sellers said that their biggest challenge was selling within their desired time frame. Even if you’re selling in a sellers market, selling your house fast can be tough.
Price your house competitively if you are on a timeline.  Decided on a day to lower your price if you haven’t received any reasonable offers.  The longer your home sits on the market, the lower your odds are of selling it for listing price.  Also, consider providing incentives to the buyer, such as money towards closing costs, buying down the interest rate, providing cash at closing for repairs (for example: if the house needs new carpet).

5. A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Professional pictures of the house and 360 degree tours are the most important expense once you are ready to list the property.  Although you may be tempted to snap the photos with your smartphone, we strongly suggest incurring the cost of getting professional pictures.  We are in the era of the internet and many people will view your house online before ever stepping foot on the lot.  The professional pictures can highlight your home’s best features and in the best lighting.  In addition, we suggest a 360 degree tour if your house (i) is priced higher than those in the area, (ii) is considered a luxury home or (iii) is one of many houses in the area and price range, and you are trying to gain a competitive advantage.

6. Words to Live By

Writing a good listing description is paramount to highlighting the best features of the house and having the buyer picture themselves in the home. Use words that highlight the quality of the house.  For example, inform them if the countertops are any of the following: granite, porcelain, marble, sandstone or quartz.  These particular words tend to convey a step up or luxury.  In addition point out certain items in the house are on trend for buyers’ tastes, including: White Shaker Style Cabinets, Large Eat-in Island Open to the Living Room, Spa-like, luxurious master bathroom with jacuzzi tub and large shower.  Use adjectives and storytelling to help the buyer picture themselves there.  Don’t forget to include those amenities that make your house’s location desirable, such as the proximity to the elementary school, easy access to a major highway, the neighborhood pool or park, the school district and any restaurants or shopping centers nearby.

7. Be Gumby

If you are trying to sell fast, you must be flexible (like Gumby) when someone wants to view the property.  If you aren’t willing to accommodate buyers’ and their sometimes crazy schedules, especially when you’re a new listing with the biggest hype, your home may not receive any offers.  A well-timed open house on the weekend (usually the first or second week your house is on the market) is the best way to get multiple buyers through the door.  If you are selling on your own, a tactic that agents often use to get potential purchaser’s emails for follow up is a drawing for a $50 gift card.  In addition, if you are hosting the open house, request feedback from the buyers in person.  This information can be invaluable when determining if you are priced right, what obstacles your home has that you may have to overcome, and any other tidbits that might help.