5 Tips to Sell Your Home Faster

The beautiful beaches of dazzling Destin, magnificent Miramar Beach and sensational South Walton are known not only for the luminescent emerald hued gulf waters but also for having a wide variety of gorgeous homes and luxurious condominiums. If you are planning on selling your residence the competition can be formidable. Here at our Ocean Reef Real Estate we know that use of a professional realtor is essential for helping complete the myriad of tasks, paperwork, legal requirements, contract negotiations and essential deadlines. In addition it is vitally important to market your home in a way that will appeal to the most potential buyers. Here are 5 tips that will give you a sales advantage compared to the competing properties in your market and enable you to sell your home faster. 

 1. ELIMINATE CLUTTER.  If you have moved before, you know how much “clutter” can be collected over the years. This include broken items waiting to be fixed, numerous decorative gifts or kitchen appliances that are no longer wanted as well as just “extra” stuff. Potential buyers need to envision themselves in what could become their new residence and love the feel of a spacious home so personal family portraits or décor should be stored away for future use. A good Rule of Thumb is that if you have not appreciated or required use of a possession for more than two years, you probably never will. It is just taking up space and turns into unwanted clutter. Now is a good time to eliminate unneeded items by holding a few garage sales, donating them to a charitable organizations or giving them away to family members who may need them. Try to refrain from piling everything left into closets as it will give buyers the impression that storage is limited.

 2. CLEANLINESS IS NEXT TO GODLINESS. Besides the elimination of clutter, your home must be immaculately clean. Nothing is more of a turn off to potential buyers than a house that is not clean or has a bad odor. This means that rugs should be professionally cleaned, floors mopped, windows washed, furniture dusted, bathrooms hygienic, beds made and dishes put away. You may want to do a few touch ups with paint and visual impairments should be resolved.

3. MAKE REPAIRS OR LOWER YOUR PRICE. Wherever possible make sure that needed repairs such as leaky roofs or faucets, faulty electrical systems, damaged structural components and other essential items are taken care of. They will lower the value of your property compared to other homes that do not need such repairs.  If these repairs are not completed and you are aware of them they must be reported on a completed “Seller's Property Disclosure”. This should be presented to a buyer preferably before a contract is drawn up along with a competitive price that takes these future required repair costs into consideration. If such repairs are not disclosed or known, they will most likely appear in a Building Inspection Report contingency in the contract for the potential buyer. If previously unknown repairs are discovered before a specific deadline in the contract, the buyers can renegotiate the price for said repairs in a credit, have the seller complete repairs in a satisfactory manner or terminate the entire contract.

 4. CURB APPEAL IS IMPORTANT “PACKAGING”. Curb appeal is the first impression of your property which is usually seen “from the curb” when a potential buyer arrives to view your home for the first time. It is the dressing or “packaging” so to speak and is very important. Many will not even want to venture into your home if this presentation is unappealing. A yard must be well-kept or professionally maintained in an attractive manner. Patios, porches and sundecks should be clean, beds weeded, bushes or trees pruned and grass green. Flowers and beautiful landscaping are a big plus for most buyers and they may “fall in love” at first sight before even venturing indoors.

5. YOU ARE SELLING A PROPERTY NOT YOUR HOME. This one is a hard one for most sellers because for many they are leaving their home and of course emotions and memories are involved. You have to realize that it will no longer be your home and you must view it as a residence or product that is for sale. Again, personal items, family photos and decorative things that do not have mass appeal should be removed. The more neutral, fashionable and upscale that a place looks, the more appeal it will have to buyers. You cannot expect them to like some of the same things that you do, especially if your tastes are unique. You must be objective about this because you want to create “mass appeal” not just what personally appeals to you. Potential buyers need time to envision themselves in your home before they will write up a contract. For this reason you should try not to be home for any showing or Open House. Let them have some time on their own with their realtor to feel free to look around and discuss their own ideas and visions. This will also eliminate possible hurt feelings if their own visions are different from your own.

Our professional real estate team at Ocean Reef can help you with any of these selling tips and advise you on these and other marketing ideas that may be unique to your particular property. We look forward to hearing from you soon for a full complimentary real estate consultation.