With mortgage rates beginning to rise, many people are jumping into the house buying game before those rates go any higher. Some are even selling their homes to upgrade or even downgrade into something that is more affordable. Unfortunately, with the high inventory of homes due to recent foreclosures, it may be difficult to sell your home as quickly as you could before. Here are four tips for unloading your home so you can move on to another one.
• Go Less than the Competition
If you absolutely must sell your home in this market, you should set yourself up right now for a less-than-ideal price. In fact, you may have to go about 10 or 15 percent below the value and price of similar homes that have sold throughout your neighborhood. Determine the least amount of money you would accept for your home before you list it on the market. This helps you remove the emotional attachment you may have to the building, according to Palm Beach realtor Heidi Cole.
• Focus on the Curb Appeal
Even if you drop the price on your home below the neighborhood’s value, making it more attractive on the outside will help it compete against other houses that are up for sale around it. Plant some flowers, keep the yard mowed, give the home a fresh coat of paint and do other things that make it look nice from the street. The outside appearance is the best chance to get potential buyers to the inside because it gives them that all-important first impression that many buyers base their decision on.
• Target First-Time Home Buyers
First-time home buyers generally purchase about 50 percent of the homes that sell each year. With the federal tax credit for first-timers set to expire soon and the fact that most first-time home buyers do not have to unload another home first, this would be a great demographic to target when trying to sell your home. You can target this group by getting an online presence for your listing and use social networks like Twitter and Facebook to spread the word about open houses and other events designed to show off your home.
• Choose Your Words Carefully
There are literally hundreds of homes for sale in nearly any given area. As a result, you need to make your listing stand out from the rest. Make sure your listing is not ordinary and always pepper it with amenities that today’s homebuyer is searching for in a new home. Use words like “granite counters,” “pool” and others to attract attention to your listing and give it a better chance of selling. Also, use a wide-angle lens when posting pictures of your home to give it a more spacious appearance to attract potential buyers.
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