First Time Home Seller Guide to Putting Your Home on the Market

It’s not uncommon to believe that you can throw your home on the market and sell it quickly. After all, it happens to many houses out there. It’s easy to believe you can do this when the average time a home is on the market is now 38 days.

However, you also need to present a great home if you want to make a sale. Unless you do, you won’t get good offers or be able to make the sale.

As a first-time home seller, things can be challenging, so you may not know everything you need to do. Keep reading to learn how to sell your home and give the next homeowner the exact home they’re trying to find.

Pick the Right Price

The first step to selling your home is determining what price to list your home for. In fact, it’s one of the most critical factors to consider when you sell.

If you drastically overprice your home when you first list, the chances are good you won’t get any bids. Your home will sit on the market, and people will believe something is up with your home.

Even if you plan to negotiate the price down, try not to price too high over the homes in your area. You probably won’t go too far below your initial asking price. In fact, you may get a higher price if you’re in a seller’s market.

Many helpful tips that will help you price your home, so make sure you check them out.

Take Care of Repairs

It’s hard to find a new homeowner that wants to deal with countless home issues when they move in. People want to enjoy their new home, not spend countless hours fixing things when they arrive.

Because of that, most normal buyers will request a home inspection when you accept their offer. They’ll check to see if any undisclosed issues need to be taken care of.

While an issue here and there may not be a big deal, most people will request that you fix more significant issues. Find these issues before a buyer and take care of them before you list your home. That will help speed up the selling process and potentially help you get more bids.

Offer a Great First Impression

Someone’s initial feeling about a home plays a significant role if they make an offer. It’s much harder to convince someone that a home is worth buying when they have to fight back an initial bad feeling.

If you want to start off with a great first impression, take care of your yard if you have one. Trim any trees and shrubs to make them look nice. Another option is to add a small garden in front with annual flowers that add color to your yard.

The next part of the first impression happens when someone enters your home. Use neutral colors and furniture to make your home appeal to everyone. While you may think that unique decor looks great, many others won’t agree.

Invest in Professional Photos

Even if you repair your home and do a great job of staging, you still have to convince home buyers to visit. While some people will rely on their real estate agents to get leads, others browse listing websites to see what’s on the market.

You need to make your home stand out on these sites. If all you do is snap poor-quality smartphone photos, it’s hard to show what makes your home special.

A professional real estate photographer can help your home stand out on listing websites. They know what areas to photograph and use professional equipment to make everything look great. It will cost some money, but it will lead to more interest in your home and better offers.

Declutter Inside

There’s nothing worse than a mess when you’re selling your home. It makes it look like your home doesn’t have enough space when you leave your closets a mess and have things out everywhere. Potential buyers will notice that and believe your home doesn’t have much storage.

Decluttering your home will help your home look like it has more space. Clean your closets and counter spaces to leave only the necessary things. Everything else should go into storage until you sell your home.

Ideally, sell the things you don’t need. It will help you save on storage space and reduce the work you need to do when packing everything into boxes and moving.

Work With a Selling Agent

There are many details you need to get right when putting your home on the market. However, you may not know everything when selling for the first time. Even though it will cost you money in selling fees, it’s worth getting help from an expert real estate agent.

An experienced realtor can help you figure out how to stage your home, take professional pictures, handle home tours, and negotiate on your behalf. All of that means you can present a better option to home buyers and get a better price on your home.

In many cases, the price you get for your home will be more than you can get on your own. That makes it worth the extra fee when you make more money and save time.

Do Things Right When You’re a First-Time Home Seller

There are a lot of little details to get right when you’re a first-time home seller. It’s easy to miss a small step that reduces your chance of finding the perfect buyer. Follow the steps above to handle selling your home right and move on to the next stage of your life.

Are you planning to take on some of the home renovation projects to make your home more appealing? Check out the blog to learn how to get it done.