Everyone wishes they could just put their house on the market, quickly find the right buyer, get the money, and hand over the keys. I wish it were that easy!
But, unfortunately, selling a home involves many factors, some of which you can control and some beyond your control.
So, you have to be prepared as a seller and control the factors that can significantly impact how to sell your house for a reasonable price.
Hiring a great real estate agency and making your home more attractive online can lead to a smoother closing—and more money in the bank.
Would you like to know how to sell your house without stress? Keep reading.
Preparing your house for sale – Finding and talking to a real estate agency
Hiring a professional company to guide you through the entire process of selling your home will help you save money and save you a lot of headaches.
It is essential that during the first meeting with the real estate agent, you have enough time to voice all your questions about how to sell your house and get answers.
Questions to ask your agent
For a successful transaction, you need to be willing to trust your real estate agency.
Below are some questions to ask a potential agent:
- How long have you been working in the market?
- What is the average number of clients you have at one time?
- If the agency has a large client list, ask how they balance the workload and if their team members help each other decide how to sell your house.
- Which area do they cover? Experience is only helpful if the agency is familiar with the area in which you are selling.
- What type of communication do they prefer? A lot of agencies use text messaging to quickly and easily clarify specifics. However, if you prefer phone calls or emails, seek an agency that can go out of its way to satisfy you.
- Check that your agency is legitimate:
-Request to see the real estate agent’s license.
-Research the broker’s information. Every real estate agency is affiliated with a brokerage company with an additional license.
-Check with the company to ensure the particular agent is employed.
-Look up reviews of the brokerage company online to ensure the broker is an excellent company to be associated with.
-If it’s a national brokerage company, look up local information about the office where your agent works.
Also, look for recommendations on the agency’s way of doing business.
Assessing the value of your home: comparative market analysis
Determining the fair market value of a home can be pretty tricky because there are a significant number of factors that affect the price.
To determine how to sell your house for the most realistic price, it’s worth looking at the location, square footage, number of bedrooms, and bathrooms.
But it is equally important to evaluate the property’s age, condition, features, the lot’s size, and so on, as well as the state of the local and national markets.
How is a comparative market analysis done?
Agents search for recently sold homes in the same region that are as similar as possible to the property in question.
The rule of three
First, you need to find three homes purchased recently (within six months at most, but optimally within three months).
They should be as similar as possible and as close together as possible.
When at least three comparisons have been chosen, each should be thoroughly researched to identify how they differ from your home.
After identifying the differences and evaluating them, the sales price of each home is adjusted to establish how much it would be worth if it were virtually identical to your home and for sale at this time.
Remodeling your home to increase its value
If you are considering remodeling your home to sell it, it’s a good idea to start with an online calculator to calculate the cost of renovating your home.
Such calculators provide information on how much the project could cost, with some even calculating the likely return on investment (ROI).
If you’re ready to start renovating, look at those projects that will benefit you the most.
For example, kitchen remodeling is the project with the highest return on investment because it doesn’t involve full-scale demolition but, at the same time, increases the value of the home.
Buying new kitchen appliances, installing new fixtures, replacing cabinets, making new floors, and repainting walls can provide an ROI of up to 72 percent.
In addition to kitchen remodeling, bathroom remodeling can provide a 70-78% return on investment.
If you decide to go even further and finish the attic or basement, such work can increase the value of your home by 65% and 76%, respectively.
Interestingly, the greatest return on investment in updating the exterior of your home comes from simple upgrades.
For example:
(1) Making minor improvements to the curb appeal of your area with essential yard maintenance, (2) tidying up the landscaping, (3) putting in bark mulch, (4) repainting the exterior of your home, and (5) adding a new garage door can provide a 238% return on investment.
What not to do?
While, on the surface, renovations always seem to improve the value of a home, sometimes it happens that changes can lower the value of a home.
For example, an abundance of wallpaper can negatively affect a home’s value.
Likewise, colors that are too bold can also discourage buyers.
Reducing the number of bedrooms in a home by combining them, especially if homes in your area usually have a certain number of rooms, can negatively affect the value.
Overly significant remodeling in the bathroom or kitchen can also be detrimental.
Finally, poor landscaping can also have a negative impact on a home’s value.
Selling your home “as is.”
Selling a house “as is” is not something wrong or good. It has its potential pros and cons, though:
Pros
- More rapid path to closing the deal
- A smaller outlay before the sale
Cons
- Lower selling price
- Fewer interested buyers
- Possible problems with the buyer obtaining a mortgage
How to sell your house “as is.”
If selling your home “as is” feels like the right decision, follow these four tips for a successful, trouble-free sale.
- You should enlist the services of a professional who has experience in successfully helping others sell “as is.”
- Be honest and straightforward when disclosing information about the property. Selling your home “as is” does not prevent you from disclosing known defects. For instance, if you knew the house had mold or a foundation crack, you must legally disclose this to the buyer.
- Keep the house as clean as possible.
- Consider how low you can drop. Be aware of your bottom line, and be ready to make a quick counteroffer. If only a thousand or two-thousand dollars stand in the way of a sale, you can always back out and drop your price accordingly.
How to sell your house in Las Vegas at the best time of the year?
Based on historical data, the best time to sell a home is from spring to early summer, and the worst is in the fall and winter.
When choosing the best time to list a home for sale, you need to examine seasonal trends and statistics that influence home sales, such as weather, time on the market, home values, and market competition.
Based on 2021 statistics, the best time to list a home for sale in Las Vegas is in March.
Staging and photographing the house
Together with your real estate agency, assign a photographer to take promotional photos of your home.
High-quality photos are crucial, as maximizing your home’s online appeal can make the difference between a quick sale and a sluggish listing.
A number of real estate agencies include professional photography and virtual tours as part of their service package.
However, if they don’t, you can find a photographer on your own.
Payments for professional photography will vary depending on the size of your home, its location, and the time it takes to shoot the property.
Any professional photographer with a good portfolio knows how to make rooms look bigger, brighter, and more inviting.
Do the same for your lawn and outdoor areas.
Poorly lit online photos can scare away home buyers before they’ve even had time to read about the beautiful bike path nearby or the new roof you just installed so that well-done photos can pay off.
Selling the house – How to successfully market a listing in the MLS
Evaluating the characteristics of your home
Before you start marketing any listing, you need to have a complete, clear understanding of your home’s positive and negative characteristics. And it is imperative to understand what most buyers need.
Write a great listing description.
With a complete understanding of the type of home, the pros and cons, and your target audience, you can start your marketing strategy by writing an effective real estate listing description.
Even though photos are the most effective tool for selling a home, the listing description is the ideal place for buyers to spot all of the significant aspects of the home that may not be visible in the pictures.
An efficient listing description has to be:
- Clear
- Detailed
- Descriptive
- Readable (no caps, no massive blocks of text with no paragraphs, no poor grammar or punctuation)
- Your text should have a clear call to action.
Take a professional photo shoot and make a video about your house.
Create a virtual home environment
How to sell your house without furniture?
A study by NAR (National Association of Realtors) found that homes with furniture in the photo get more showings, sell faster, and are worth more money.
So, use a virtual home environment!
Think about creating a website to sell your home
This method is not a substitute for listing on the MLS or real estates portals like Zillow and Realtor.com but allows you to display beautiful photos and detailed descriptions.
In this way, the property will appear more valuable and luxurious.
Choose your promotion methods
Share your listing on social media and message boards. Tell your friends and acquaintances that you are selling your home.
One interesting way to advertise can be an open house.
It’s easy to encourage potential buyers to look at your home.
In addition, open houses are a great way to gather feedback from buyers about your house and attract potential buyers.
Don’t forget to promote the open house in addition to the listing anywhere and everywhere you post it.
You should also add the time and date of the open house to your MLS listing.
How to sell your house – Virtual tours
A virtual home tour is the most modern and reliable way to sell your house.
With virtual tours, the potential buyer gets to decide for himself where to go and what to look at to approximate every corner of the room.
If you include a virtual tour of the house in the description, the person viewing the listing can see the house realistically while still being in their home.
If you have a virtual tour, anyone who asks you to visit the house will probably be interested in buying it, and you will have a better chance of closing the deal.
This is because the viewer can get a good idea of the home, and his expectations will match the actual visit, thereby increasing the likelihood of a purchase.
How to sell your house for cash
Selling a house for cash
Pros:
- You get the money right away.
- The transaction will happen significantly faster.
- The buyer does appraisals and inspections.
- It’s easier to sell a property in “as-is” condition.
Cons:
- You’re likely to get less in such a transaction. You can expect 60% to 80% of the fair market value if you sell for cash.
Preparing a home for sale often requires financial support. Some agencies can help with this.
For those who need help, The Real Estate Guy offers interest-free cash advances that you can get within 72 hours.
The agency will help cover the initial cost of repairs so you can get the best price for your home, but that’s not all.
Cash advances can be used for any needs related to your home. Multiple cash advances are available if needed.
In addition, the agency can save you the hassle of selling at all – The Real Estate Guy will buy your home for cash in just 24 hours!
Expertise/appraisal
You probably don’t need an appraisal before you sell your home. It’s expensive and often not needed.
In most cases, sellers can accurately determine the price of their home based on a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) report, which real estate agents provide free of charge.
There are, however, some situations where it makes sense to have a pre-appraisal, such as if you think your agency recommended price is inappropriate and you want to get a second unbiased opinion from a professional
How to sell your house with escrow
An escrow is a financial arrangement where a third party holds an asset or money on behalf of two deal makers while completing a transaction.
The escrow agent releases the assets or money only upon completion of predetermined contractual terms (or upon receipt of appropriate instructions).
If conditions are attached to the sale of the house, such as an inspection, the seller and the buyer may decide to use an escrow account.
In this case, the buyer of the property puts the money for the house into an escrow account owned by a third party.
Once all of the conditions of the sale are met, the amount in the escrow is transferred to the seller.
Closing the deal and paying taxes
Both buyer and seller have closing costs.
In addition, the home seller usually pays a commission to a real estate agency, 5-6% of the home’s selling price.
Some other expenses the seller usually pays include:
- The state transfer tax.
- Registration fees.
- Unpaid liens.
- The escrow fees.
Additionally, if the buyer negotiates any loans for repairs or closing costs at closing, the seller will also pay them.
You should have your real estate agency or closing agent provide you with a complete list of the expenses you will be responsible for at the closing table.
Although the buyer usually pays the bulk of the closing costs, 2-4% of the sale price, keep in mind that you may have to pay some fees as well.
Balance the tax implications
How to sell your house and not pay taxes?
The good news is that many home sellers will not pay taxes on the gain on selling their primary home.
If you owned and lived in your home for at least two of the previous five years before selling it, you will not have to pay taxes on any gain up to $250,000.
For married couples, the amount you can exclude from taxes goes up to $500,000.
However, if your profit on the sale of your home exceeds that amount, you must report it to the IRS on your tax return as a capital gain.
Gather the necessary paperwork for closing
While searching for information on how to sell your house, you need to know what documents you need to process the sale properly.
Get it all organized in one place to speed up the process.
Some of the basic documents you will need to gather include:
- The original contract of sale for your house
- The property survey, certificate of occupancy, and certificates of compliance with local codes
- Documents on the mortgage
- The tax records
- Your home purchase appraisal
- Insurance for your homeowners
- House inspection report, if you had one
