14 May Selling this Season? 5 Expert Tips to Help You Get the Best Deal

The housing market is booming and sellers are in the driver’s seat. With a scarcity of inventory, sellers are experiencing a wave of interest and speedy results. How do you get the best deal for your home with so many offers? From standing out from the others to market research, there is a ton of information out there. We’ve compiled a list of 5 expert tips for those looking to get the best deal on their home.

1. Price Your Home at the Right Price

Home pricing is one of the most important details in selling a home this year. Since buying demand remains super high, potential buyers are willing to go above and beyond to seal the deal, including going over the asking price. Price too high, however, and you may scare off interest. Due to the lack of inventory and surge of demand, sellers have leverage in negotiating prices.

Today, the listed homes are getting an average of 4 offers, if not more, which is double the amount than the first quarter of 2020, according to the NAR. Talk with your agent to come up with a plan on pricing appropriately. Planning ahead will open up more opportunities for potential buyers and help you find the best fit.

Listing at a good price will impact how quickly your home sells. Make sure to discuss your pricing strategy with your agent. They are experts on the local market and can provide you with a comparative analysis so you’re in the right ballpark.

2. Make Buyers Welcome and Know How to Vet

The more opportunity you can create for buyers the better. Buyers on the hunt are determined to see the best listings and win the bidding wars. If your home is not available or easily accessible, you may lose your chances of eager buying offers. Do your best to make your home available at any time. Availability can mean more open houses, on-demand virtual tours, access to professional photos, and video tours with your agent. Consider investing in home staging, cleaning, and other visual elements in advance to allow flexibility in viewings and needs from your agent.

Getting multiple offers can make the choosing process even more overwhelming. Add on any contingencies buyers might bring to help their chances and the process can get stressful. Consider only accepting offers from those who are pre-approved. While the pre-approval doesn’t guarantee a close mortgage, it can give you more confidence in the seriousness of the buyer. They went out of their way to talk with a lender and get a review of their finances and determine their eligibility for a loan. You may also want to get an inspection before selling to eliminate any questioning or skepticism from buyers. This can help your home stand out and move the selling process along faster.

Ask your lender or agent about best practices when reviewing offers and vetting buyers.

3. To Improve or Not to Improve

Making home improvements can bring many benefits when selling your home and upping the value. There might be some major issues you want to fix. A lot of the time, the smaller and more visual updates can benefit you as a seller and appeal more to the buyer. A cleaner, more updated house can bring a blank slate view to buyers and help them use their imagination of creating a home in the house.

It’s advisable to get a full inspection first before jumping into making all improvements on your list. Doing so will help you and your agent organize the priorities and what is worth the investment.

4. Organize Seller Closing Costs

It’s best to be prepared when it comes to the costs of selling a house. According to Zillow, closing costs for sellers average between 1 and 7 percent of the sale price but can reach up to 10 percent. Some of the expenses go towards agent commission, transfer tax, title insurance, property taxes, escrow and closing fees, attorney fees, HOA fees. Closing costs vary and are based on the loan type, the loan amount, and location. As a seller, you won’t see the costs until closing when the buyer’s funds are available. Get a head start so you know what to expect.

There are possibilities to reduce closing costs. Sit down with your agent to review the contract so you fully understand what costs you are paying. Then, see if there is room to adjust costs.

5. Find a Professional Team You Love

We cannot express it enough – build a strong team of industry professionals to ensure you win big. The selling and buying process is a long one, but the relationship you can build with your team is for a lifetime. Not only will their expertise and knowledge guide you in all your real estate and mortgage needs, but also the support and encouragement will help reduce stress. Your agent, lender, financial advisor or banker, are there to help you. When you are confident in the team behind you, you will be more confident in entering the market, no matter what the climate.

The current housing market is keeping us all on our toes. Let’s connect to make sure you have everything you need to sell this season and get the best offer.

This article is intended to be accurate, but the information is not guaranteed. Please reach out to us directly if you have any specific real estate or mortgage questions or would like help from a local professional. The article was written by Sparkling Marketing, Inc. with information from resources like Zillow, NAR, and Fool.com