3 Tips For Selling A Hard-To-Sell Home
Even in today’s market, occasionally there’s a home that just isn’t moving. This can be a very upsetting situation for sellers as they watch other homes in the neighborhood sell, and they schedule showing after showing, only to come away with nothing. The stakes are even higher when you’ve got a new job waiting on you in a different state or buying a new house is contingent on selling your current one. It’s tempting to get angry, but that won’t get you anywhere. Instead, try some known strategies that work.
3 Tips For Selling A Hard-To-Sell Home
- Seriously examine your asking price
- Get rid of the clutter
- Get a great real estate agent
Most of us are sentimental about our homes. It’s where we brought our baby home, or where we moved after we got married; it was full of memories, good and bad. That’s expected, and those memories are absolutely priceless to you. Fortunately, you’ll always have those memories. Unfortunately, sentimentality does not convey into home worth. Your home’s dated light fixtures may be endearing to you, particularly if you grew up there, but they aren’t to anyone else. In fact, they may be detracting value from your home. If your home has flaws – carpet that’s less than pristine, let’s say – you’re going to have to either replace it or give a carpet allowance, either of which will take away from your profit. You have to keep your eye on the real prize – selling your home. All things said and done, if you’ve only briefly lived there and don’t come out with a loss, you are doing well. There are many romanticized stories about people making a hundred thousand dollars after buying a home two years ago and then selling it. But that’s all most of those are – romanticized stories. It’s time to get real and drop that price if it’s not a fair one.
If you are showing your home with anything more in it than what you’d see in a furniture showroom, you are not doing yourself any favors. It’s time to ditch the clutter. Throw away the old magazines, give away the old clothes, take down the personal photos, and rent a storage unit if you must. In fact, get a professional cleaner in to give your home a polished look. You’d be surprised what a deep cleaning can do. Clutter and too much furniture hides your home’s best features.
Perhaps most importantly, you need to get a real estate agent with a great track record. Ask your friends for advice and recommendations – and get one on the case immediately! If you already have a real estate agent that hasn’t been working well for you, don’t be afraid to let them go (but be sure to ask yourself if you have been cooperative with what they have been asking you to do.) If it’s just not a good fit, a polite discussion about why can end things on amicable terms and get fresh eyes on your house.
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