The summer is a prime selling season for homes in most markets. People are looking to make a change while children are out on summer break. If you are selling your home, don’t rely on the hot market periods to put your house in the forefront of all homes on the market. Here are some tips for a fast sale of your house in Martinsburg and Hagerstown.
Prepare the House
To sell your house quickly in Martinsburg and Hagerstown, take the time to prepare the home. Just because it is a “fixer” in your opinion doesn’t mean you shouldn’t clean it, clear the landscaping and declutter the home. Usually, this isn’t very costly to do with most people doing it themselves. With a little elbow grease, your property will become visible to all the possibilities a potential buyer might want.
On the outside, cut back trees and shrubs. Weed the yard and make sure the lawn is mowed. Remove any trash or stored building materials from the exterior of the home. These help a potential buyer see the land value for what it is without having to look through weeds.
Price It Right
If you want to sell quickly, price the house right. This means doing your research and heeding the advice of your real estate agent. You don’t have to make it a fire sale, liquidating it for pennies on the dollar. However, setting a price that attracts a wide variety of buyers that includes investors and home buyers puts a lot of eyes on the property. Eyes on the property generally translate into offers. Sometimes a lower priced home warrants multiple offers well above listing price but generates the buzz to liquidate quickly. Price shows you are motivated to sell quickly.
Aggressively Market
Let your agent hold broker open houses as well as several open houses to the public. Allow listings to happen before the house hits the MLS so you can potentially generate offers via pocket listings through your realtor’s network of other agents and buyers. Get professional photos taken that show the house if its best possible light and do the research for potential buyers about the neighborhood. Highlight great schools, parks or unique attractions. If people feel your neighborhood is a place to be, they will want to get into a home fast.
Consider Owner-Financing
When you market your home in a way that suggests you are willing to carry the note and help a buyer finance the purchase, you will get more eyes on the property. Buyers don’t qualify for mortgages for a variety of reasons and sometimes that has little to do with their ability to afford the mortgage payment. They might not have the down payment or have had a specific life-event that prevents them from qualifying at the moment.
Work with your real estate agent and a good lender to fully understand how to vet non-traditional buyers who will do everything required to buy the house and meet the demands of owner-financing.
If you are uncertain about the best course of action to sell your home quickly in Martinsburg and Hagerstown, contact our professional real estate agents today. We’ll give you a free seller’s consultation to help you assess exactly what needs to be done to sell quickly yet profitably.