Here at WayForth, we have helped people transition into new homes and communities over 20,000 times since the company’s inception. While we are not realtors, we have certainly seen what works and what doesn’t when selling a home. Selling your home can be a stressful experience, but there are certain things you can do to make the process go more smoothly and to get the highest possible sale price.

Moving soon? WayForth provides moving solutions to reduce your stress and make moving easier. To learn more about our downsizing, packing, moving, and unpacking services, contact us today.

 Here are our top 5 tips for selling your house quickly and for more money:

1 – Stage your home

One of the most important steps in selling your house is staging it effectively, but also efficiently. Buyers need to be able to envision themselves living in the house, so take time to declutter, deep clean, and repair any necessary items, but don’t go overboard. In some cases, the most effective and efficient thing to do, if logistically feasible, is to leave the home clean and empty. But at a minimum, focus on decluttering, removing personal and unnecessary items and leaving the home as clean and open as possible. Adding a few tasteful decorations, especially if you are going to leave it mostly empty, could help potential buyers feel at home in your space.  

2 – Price it right

Setting the right asking price is essential if you want to make a quick sale with minimal time on the market. For much of the past couple of years, time on the market was a non-issue because financing was cheap, and buyers were plentiful. However, in normal times and in the slowing market we see developing now, working with an experienced realtor who can provide some insight into both current market conditions as well as comparable listings in your area is critical. A good agent should be able to give you some sense of what price will attract a qualified buyer’s attention. Remember, it has quickly become more of a buyer’s market in many geographies, so tread carefully with aggressive asking prices. Having said that, in most zip codes quality inventory is still scarce so make sure you and your realtor do some careful pricing analysis.  

3 – Take good photos

In today’s digital world, many people will be seeing your property online before they even set foot inside it. Investing in quality photographs that can accurately capture how great your space looks will help attract more buyers and entice them to schedule a viewing appointment faster. Most leading real estate agents will provide a photographer as a part of their service – be sure yours does this and make sure you are 100% satisfied with the photos that will be posted before the listing goes live. Just like all of us, our homes will only get one chance to make a first impression and most of those first impressions will happen based on photos served up in an online listing. Lastly, while this might be an overly obvious statement – make sure photos are taken after all of the decluttering and staging has been completed. 

4 – Make repairs (but not renovations)

Buyers have high expectations when it comes to buying a home, and many struggle to see past even basic defects, so before listing yours make sure all of all those minor fixes have been addressed – from squeaky door hinges to cracks in drywall to leaky faucets! Even if they don’t bother you, these small details may end up being deal-breakers for potential buyers down the line…so tackle them sooner rather than later! Having said all that, be careful to draw the line between repairs to maximize the sale and attempting to renovate the home. Unless you are a professional contractor or you flip houses on HGTV, we highly recommend letting the new owner do most of the heavy lifting of a new kitchen, moving walls around or adding a garage. It is difficult to know for sure if what you pick to go all in on will actually move the needle and net you more money above what you invest. Our general rule of thumb is if it requires a major permit or a Class A licensed contractor, let the new owners make that call.  

5 – Leverage social media

Social media is an incredibly powerful tool that can help reach potential buyers matched specifically for your house! Ask your realtor to show you their plan for creating targeted ads featuring imagery of your property that let people know about what makes it unique – its location, its amenities and so on. Once the listing is complete and your realtor is ready to launch the marketing campaign, be sure to share the listing on your own social media and encourage friends, family and especially neighbors to do the same. We have had numerous clients sell their homes through their own network within a matter of days and sometimes even before their listing went fully live in the local MLS.  

These five tips should give you an edge when preparing to sell your house fast and for top dollar! Following these steps will help ensure that you maximize the price you achieve on your home while minimizing stress along the way. 

Speaking of minimizing stress, one of the best ways to do that when embarking on the process of selling your home is to hire a company that can provide a COMPLETE MOVE SOLUTION. At WayForth, we can help you with almost every step of the process, while also making sure you get settled in with minimal stress wherever you might be going. We can get you started whenever you are ready by doing some basic decluttering and packing. Give us a call at 1-844-WAYFORTH to get started!