Selling a house can be a frustrating and time-consuming experience, especially if it’s your first time. Plus, having dozens of strangers poking around your home can feel like an invasion of your privacy, even though it’s a necessary one. But by knowing a bit more about the process of selling a home, you can better prepare yourself and your family so that nothing catches you by surprise. Below we’ll cover exactly what you need to know when selling a house.
To Hire Or Not To Hire A Real Estate Agent?
Although real estate agents demand a hefty commission (usually between five and six percent of the sale price), it can be quite a challenge to try to sell your house on your own. Working with a professional real estate agent is helpful because they’ll show you how to come up with a fair and competitive selling price and help you streamline the process of selling a home.
For San Diego home sellers, dealing with the complicated process of paperwork, inspections, and additional fees – not to mention forfeiting six percent of your home’s sale price to an agent – can often be a stressful and expensive experience. That’s why we work with homeowners every week to purchase their house in any condition, with an upfront cash offer that skips all the common expenses when selling a house such as real estate commissions, necessary inspections or repairs, and other common closing costs. When you work with Trusted House Buyers, we’ll give you an upfront cash offer (covering all closing costs) and can close much quicker than a traditional market process, leaving you with the most cash in your pocket at the end of the sale.
For traditional real estate agents, they’ll interact with potential buyers and try to eliminate tire-kickers who just want to view your house without making an offer. Since a real estate agent typically has more experience in the industry, they can negotiate with potential buyers on your behalf for the best offer. If any problem occurs, they should handle it for you. Additionally, a real estate agent is conversant with the legalities of property transfer and all the pitfalls involved in the process. So, they’ll do their best to help you handle the paperwork and prevent any delays.
Setting The Sale Price
Whether you’re selling your house through an agent, doing it alone, or working with a cash house buyer, you must set the right asking price. Remember that potential buyers will do a comparative market analysis on similar for-sale properties. So, you should be one step ahead of them. Overpriced houses don’t sell as quickly as they should; most real estate experts will tell you that setting a lower asking price is not all bad, since it will likely attract multiple offers, allowing you to bid the price up to your house’s actual market value.
Any serious home buyer will negotiate, so be ready to play ball if you want to close the sale. If you’re uncomfortable with underpricing your house, you should choose an asking price that will impress potential buyers as being a good deal, while leaving you enough room to negotiate with them. This makes a buyer feel like they’ve done well for themselves, while you still get your desired money from the sale.
Know The Seasons
Seasons play a critical role in how fast a house is sold. Winter is a slow season because people stay indoors when it’s cold. Therefore, fewer buyers are looking for houses during this time. If you put your house up for sale during a time when there’s low demand for homes, it will take longer to sell, and you may not get the amount of money you want. So, you should consider listing your house when the weather starts to warm up to increase your opportunities.
Take The Right Photos Of Your Home
Nowadays, most potential buyers will start their search for a new home online, so you must make sure you’ve got your house listed on all the online property sites for your area. Posting as many crisp and clear photos as possible will help catch the attention of potential buyers. Ideally it’s best to take pictures during the day, when there’s lots of natural light, as it can showcase everything the house has to offer. However, if you do not know how to take good photos, you might consider hiring a professional photographer, as a few good photos could pay out greatly if it means bringing the right buyer to your property.
Insurance
It is important to insure your house so that you are covered for any damages or injuries that occur when potential buyers come to view it. A part of this process is the removal of any hazards. For instance, you should prevent the buyer’s children from using the swimming pool and keep your dog away from the house during viewing.
Fix Serious Problems
Don’t try to hide significant problems with your house because they will eventually be detected during the final inspection. The best thing to do is fix the problems before listing your home, but if you can’t, consider pricing the house below market value, or offer the buyer credit to fix them. We purchase homes as-is and in any condition, which means you can skip the repair process, saving time and money all around.
Conclusion
Knowing what to expect when selling a house is vital, because jumping in unprepared can leave you feeling drained after just a short time. But if you’re mentally and financially prepared for any contingencies that come up, then it’ll be much smoother sailing. Of course, if you don’t want to go through the lengthy process of listing your home and waiting for buyers to show interest, you can sell it to us directly for a cash offer. Get in touch today and see how simply selling your home can be with Trusted House Buyers.