So when does the spring market really start? January—it always takes longer to get your home ready than you think. If you haven’t started yet, contact your agent, because he or she will have great resources to help you get the property ready.
1. Pre-inspect your home. Ask your agent for a reputable inspector and take care of everything you can before any buyer steps foot in your house. An inspector’s job is to find every single thing wrong with a house that they possibly can. Many items are small things that you can fix yourself.
2. Buyers buy space. Remove furniture that blocks or hinders traffic patterns. Declutter shelves, closets and storage rooms.
3. First impressions are huge. Stand at your front door, and be objective about how it will look when a buyer is standing their while the agent unlocks the door. Is there peeling paint around the frame of the door? Cobwebs? Dirty windows?
4. Don’t wait for the grass to get green.
Many people take their homes off the market for the winter months thinking no one buys in the winter. That is a myth. If you get your home on the market earlier in the spring, you will beat the rush.
5. Pricing is the best marketing tool. It doesn’t matter what you want or need in the way of a price for your home. The market determines the price, not the agent. Price your home at market value or just under market value, and you will draw the most people to your home.
6. First impressions are huge. Stand at your front door, and be objective about how it will look when a buyer is standing their while the agent unlocks the door. Is there peeling paint around the frame of the door? Cob webs? Dirty windows? Weeds in the garden next to the front door?
7. Do you have pictures from the summer to share? Winter can be beautiful. Winter can be drab, and the spring in between can be the least complimentary season of all. If you have a beautiful landscape, be sure to share those pictures with your agent to put online along with the winter ones.
8. Don’t wait for the grass to get green—you will have missed the market. Many people take their homes off the market for the winter months thinking no one buys in the winter. That is a myth. People buy homes every day. If you get your home on the market earlier in the spring, you will beat the rush. Supply and demand applies to houses, too.
9. Listen to your agent. You have hired a professional who has your best interest in mind and has the goal of getting you every dollar they can squeeze out of the buyer. You hired them to tell you the truth, didn’t you?
10. Pricing is the best marketing tool. It doesn’t matter what you want or need in the way of a price for your home. The market determines the price, not the agent. The quicker you sell your house, the more money you will make. The longer a home sits on the market, the more a buyer thinks that you are desperate, over-priced or that something is wrong with the home. It is a mistake to price your home with wiggle or negotiating room. Price your home at market value or just under market value, and you will draw the most people to your home.
—Dayna Murray is an agent with Keller Williams Premier Realty.
