August 12, 2021
By Jordan
“Help! I Need To Sell My House Fast!”
Have a new job opportunity that requires you to sell your house quickly? Looking to get rid of an unused home or other properties for financial reasons? Or maybe you’re just curious about how long it might take to sell a house in the local market.
If you’re a homeowner in Huntsville eager to see your home sell fast, you may be wondering how to get to the closing date as soon as possible. On the road to getting your home sold, there are plenty of unnecessary detours that can make the journey even longer, costing you time AND money. From house issues that could deter potential buyers, to logistical delays due to the red tape involved with home selling, there are several mistakes you will want to avoid to speed up the entire process.
Below, we have compiled six tips and tricks to making this process as simple and as stress-free as it can be – getting you on your way to selling your house faster in Huntsville.
6 Tips For Home Sellers
Tip #1 – Skip the Overhaul
One of the most time-consuming reasons that homeowners are unable to sell quickly is because of major renovations.
To get top dollar offers in the open market, many homeowners are tempted to go way beyond just improving ‘curb appeal’ and slapping on a fresh coat of paint. Often, this pressure can come from real estate agents who understand what their buyers are looking for, and will urge sellers to make large improvements. What you may not realize is that often, these major renovations can work against you. While these improvements can entice a prospective buyer, they can also have the adverse effect of hurting your bottom line a great deal, due to the large cost of renovation.
What’s worse, these projects have a track record of adding on months or even a year to the time it will take to sell your home. Large-scale home improvements are rarely completed on the timeline that is given, which only adds to the headache of selling a home. This problem is only exacerbated by material and labor shortages.
If you are looking to sell your house fast, it might be in your best interest to Skip the Overhaul. Instead, focus on smaller projects that can be completed quickly and get you to a final bid you’re happy with – like the ones below.
Tip #2 – Curb Appeal
While it can be advantageous to skip over larger renovations when you sell your home, that doesn’t mean you should give up on curb appeal completely. Improving the attractiveness of your home’s exterior can be achieved through fairly simple and quick steps.
An often overlooked area that people selling their home might not notice, is something that most buyers see first – the landscape.
The landscape around your home is a kind of frame through which a prospective buyer will view the property. Something as simple as fresh flowers and a manicured lawn can make a huge difference in how your home is perceived. This step is easy to complete yourself quickly and at a low cost – so get out there and plant flowers!
Another area of improvement that will add to the market value of your home fairly quickly is giving the walls a fresh coat of paint.
Repainting the home’s interior is a lot like pressing a reset button, ridding the walls of years of blemishes that you might not be able to notice anymore. Even quick touch-ups to your home’s exterior and interior walls will give it a clean look that can allow you to draw in all the more potential buyers.
With the onset of real estate websites like Zillow, your home’s first impression with the buyer is usually made via photograph. That means that a necessary step in selling your home is hiring a professional photographer to make sure that all of the work you put in improving your landscape and painting is fully captured. Professional photographers know how to market your home and give it the edge it needs online – they are worth every penny.
Tip #3 – Forget Retail
When a home goes “on the market,” potential buyers are called retail buyers. These retail buyers are usually looking to live in the home that they’re purchasing, and have a very specific yet evolving idea of what they want, down to the amount of natural light, storage spaces, and where they can hang family photos!
Retail buyers account for a large portion of home sales. Unfortunately, retail buyers are notoriously unpredictable, and they buy on their timeline – not your timeline. When courting a bid from a retail buyer, it’s not uncommon to get renovation requests so the home can perfectly fit the buyer’s needs – all preventing you from making a fast sale and putting more money in your pocket now.
Going on the market is only an option if time is of no concern. If you’re looking for ways to sell your house fast, another direction is to sell your home to a professional home-buying company, like us. This option will put you on a fast track to selling your home quickly for top dollar, without the headaches.
Want more info about how to sell your Huntsville house quickly? Click here to fill out the form or give us a call at (256) 464-2844
Tip #4 – Gather Your Data
One element of home-selling that is surprisingly time-consuming is ensuring you have all the necessary information about the ‘health of your house’ when going through the selling process. Selling a home requires a large amount of documentation, and when potential buyers request information that you don’t have on hand, it will hinder your ability to sell quickly. The ensuing scavenger hunt can add on several weeks if not months to the close of the selling process.
To avoid this roadblock, it’s best to gather all of the necessary data well before an offer rolls in. While it may feel overwhelming, these are the necessary steps to ensure a smooth sale. Take it step-by-step and you will be fully prepared for your upcoming real estate transactions.
To give you an idea of the information that is good to try and locate before you begin your buyers search, here is a list of typical document requests that buyers make during real estate sales.
- Past Home Appraisals
- Home Repair/Maintenance Receipts
- Manuals/Warranties for Appliances
- Age of Major Home Systems (Roof, HVAC, Windows)
- List of Past Renovations
- Home Inspection Report
- Data on Comparable Homes Sold
Homeowners who anticipate these requests and have their documents readily available can often expedite the buyer’s timeline and help your house sell faster.
Tip #5 – Bypass The Real Estate Agent
The decision to use a real estate agent for the selling process can greatly impact your timeline. An experienced real estate agent is no doubt motivated to sell your house, and trying to get the best price for it; however, this can have unintended consequences.
Since your own agent is chasing a higher asking price, they may not have your preferred timeline in mind. As previously mentioned, they might push you to look into doing heavy remodeling so that the property garners the attention of as many buyers as possible, and maybe even causing a bidding war. While that might be desirable, your hopes of a fast sale will be hampered as you sit through countless open houses.
Real estate agents also have their own ideas about the condition of the local market. If they’re anticipating a hot market in 6 months, or if they believe that delaying the sale of your house to wait for a seller’s market could raise the market value, they will try to get you to wait. When your priority is getting rid of your house fast, bypassing a real estate agent might be the smarter decision.
If you do decide to go this route, make sure you select the right real estate agent that has your best interests in mind. The best real estate agent will host showings frequently, and set realistic price points up front so that your listing will not get stale and require a price reduction. We’ve seen houses priced too high and as a result, those homes sat for a significant amount of time – and it wasn’t even a slow market!
Another option would be enlisting the help of a trusted cash buyer who can get you an offer on your real estate quickly. More on that below.
Tip #6 – Get Ready To Decide
“I want to sell my house fast!“
We get it.
It’s easy to get the urge to sell your home. The upkeep, the fluctuating prices, and the increased difficulty in just maintaining your house can make you want to cut your losses and move on. But before you decide to get up and sell, take a moment to consider what that decision will mean.
Logistically, you’ll need to find a new home you love at a price you can afford. You’d be surprised at how many people are caught in a bind because they have not established their next residence before closing on their home. This will leave you in limbo with all your personal items in a storage unit. Take your time to establish a plan. If you are moving into a temporary residence in the meantime, ensure you have the savings to support yourself.
The emotional toll of moving can also be an unexpected cost. For some, moving away from a home that has sentimental value can be tough. For others, there is no real connection to the home and the closing date couldn’t come fast enough. Still, it’s smart to make a level-headed decision when it comes to selling homes.
Homeowners should take their time making an informed decision about whether they truly wish to go through with the sale of their home well before the offers come in.
Secret Tip #7
Call us! At Momentum Property Solutions, we realize that selling your home can be a huge decision. While it can be an exciting time, it comes with a seemingly endless list of boxes to check and even more headaches.
We are cash buyers and buy houses in any condition! When we buy homes from homeowners like you, we don’t charge any hidden fees – ever! You’ll never have to worry about paying thousands in closing costs again when you work with us. We’re here to help make this whole process easier, so you can get back on track without having to deal with all those hassles associated with selling your property yourself and working with a buyer’s agent.