Sell Your Home in Florida: 7 Useful Tips
You’ve decided to sell your home, so what do you do now? You have plenty of options for things to do that you may not know about. Here are a few tips to help you prepare to sell your house.
1. Hire an Experienced Real Estate Agent
Almost 90% of people selling a house hire a real estate agent. A good agent will help:
- Analyze the market and set a listing price
- Market the property
- Hold open houses
- Juggle offers
- Handle contracts and trust funds
- Negotiate with the buyer’s agent
That’s a lot for you to do on your own. It would be best to have some expert help when you decide to sell your home.
2. Price it Right
A top reason houses sit on the market, or don’t sell at all, is that they are overpriced. Homebuyers in our current Internet Age will know the fair market price of the kind of house they want. Overpricing the house often scares them away.
The listing price should not be based on:
- What you paid for it
- How much profit you need
Your real estate agent should conduct a comparative market analysis. This compares your house with recently sold or listed houses in the neighborhood to determine a fair, competitive asking price.
3. Make Over
You are likely to need to make strategic repairs and upgrades for you house to look its best. Try looking at your house like a stranger would. Keep an eye out for any wear-and-tear damage you don’t notice anymore. Trust us, it’s there and has been accumulating over the years. Before the first buyer steps foot in your house, fix:
- Nail holes
- Ceiling stains
- Wall scrapes
- Loose door jams
- Damaged screens
- Leaky faucets
Your agent can negotiate a better price if there is a new roof or fresh coat of paint. As you sell your home, remember that the market in Florida is competitive.
4. Stage Your Home
Minimize the clutter as much as possible when staging for open houses. Store away or send to Goodwill any non-essential items, including:
- Artwork
- Photographs
- Souvenirs
- Toys
- Old appliances
- Exercise equipment
- Off-season clothes and linens
- Grandma’s old rocking chair
5. Hire a Cleaning Crew
When you sell your home is the time to deep clean things, such as:
- Baseboards
- Inside the kitchen cabinets
- Shower grout
- Ceiling corners
- Kitchen walls
- All the windows
You might consider hiring a professional crew. They will get all the hard-to-reach places and make your house look clean and new.
6. Kitchens and Bathrooms
These two rooms have a large impact when you sell your home. It’s best to make sure they both look great. Here are a few tips:
- Hide your personal grooming products in bins and baskets to make it look more attractive
- Move any appliances and dishes you rarely use to storage
- Clean the refrigerator, oven, and microwave inside and out.
7. Stay Ready to Show
You have to be ready for pop-in showings whenever an agent has buyers in the area. Lots of houses for sale have key lock boxes at the front door. This way, agents can show the house when the owner isn’t home.
- Do some quick clean-and-straighten ups every day before you go to work
- Have a cleanup plan with supplies on standby so you can get the house ready at a moment’s notice
- Have a couple of attractive baskets placed around in several rooms to hide your everyday clutter
By following these tips, you’ll be able to sell your home quickly and easily. If you are thinking about putting your home on the market, give us a call. We’d love to discuss your home’s value and provide you with the pricing and selling strategies you need.