How to Sell a Home in a Slow Real Estate Market

In a slow real estate market it is vital to have your home in pristine condition if you want to have any chance of selling it quickly and moving on with your life. This doesn’t mean you have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars remodeling to get a sale, but all realtors agree that nothing can stop a clean and welcoming house from selling, even if the market is in the doldrums.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Curb appeal is vitally important. Hooking potential buyers for your home occurs within the first few seconds. Don’t leave debris and toys all over the driveway and front entrance. Park your car out of the way and encourage buyers to park where their car won’t block the view.

2. Spruce up your landscaping. Trim hedges, weed the flowerbeds and power wash the driveway and walkways.

3. Make your entryway inviting. Paint your front door a happy color. It should promise comfort inside and say welcome.

4. Make sure everything is clean. This simple fact cannot be emphasized enough.

5. Air the house out. Make sure there are no food smells, cigarette smells or other scents that might put a buyer off.

6. Put away clutter. Too many appliances on kitchen counters, too many pictures hanging on walls and too many bits and pieces on your tables will stop a buyer seeing their own special things in those places.

7. Clear away unnecessary furniture. Go for a minimalist look so buyers can picture their own décor in the home.

8. Do a thorough spring-cleaning. Clean out your closets and pack away items you don’t need right now to give a spacious look to your storage areas.

9. Clean your carpets, especially if you have animals in the house. The last thing prospective buyers want to do is to smell your dog’s dinner or have your cat’s hair attach itself to their clothes.

10. Wash your windows and let the sunshine in. Light affects emotions. Also, turn on the lights when showing your home. Day-like light bulbs enhance happiness and comfort.

11. Put flowers and plants throughout the house to brighten it up and make it feel welcoming.

12. Get any undone maintenance jobs and do-it-yourself projects completed before you show the house.

13. Fix any broken light fixtures or ceiling fans.

14. A new coat of paint works wonders. Select warm neutral shades of paint that will appeal to everyone.

15. Don’t over-price. Check on house prices in your neighborhood and look at realtor sites on the Internet to figure out what the market will bear.

16. Get the best broker you can find through your friends and neighbors’ recommendations and be ready to take advice from your broker on what your should charge.

17. Make sure the house will pass a property inspection with flying colors.

18. If you don’t sell your home immediately at your first open house, talk to the prospective buyers who came to the showing and get their feedback. Put their opinions to good use.

Tips & Warnings

• Home buyers like temperatures around 70 degrees in the winter and 67 degrees in the summer, so turn up the thermostat in the winter and turn it down in the summer.
• If you’re haggling with a buyer about the price, think about offering a 2 percent “seller contribution” to help pay for closing costs to get them to buy. You may be able to negotiate a better percentage deal with your realtor to help you offset this cost.
• Don’t hover over prospective buyers. Nothing is more off-putting for a buyer than to have someone interfering with their thought process while they’re trying to envision what their life might be like in your home.

[mizreilly]

on 11/20/2008 As a professional home stager I'd say you are on the money with many of your tips here! Great article! Consulting with a professional homestager, though, can help further neutralize the house, without stripping it bare, by making it more appealing to a wider range of buyers.

[peibossman]

on 3/24/2008 Interesting article...

[abigail]

on 4/18/2007 If you're selling an empty house and don't want to go for full staging, add some 'pops' of decor here and there to make the place feel more like a potential home. A picture on the mantle, a bowl of lemons on the island kitchen, towels hanging in the bathroom, and some flowers on the deck will help prospective buyers imagine living in the home.