If the last thing they want to do is spend a boatload of cash on renovations and advertisements to sell your home, there are plenty of free ways to make your home more presentable to prospective buyers as well as getting the word out about the sale.
- Negotiate Fees with your Real Estate Broker: Real estate agents make their income based on a commission structure of the home sale. Sellers can work directly with their rep to negotiate a smaller fee and that can be especially effective if the home seller is actually the one to find the homebuyer directly.
- Social Networking: The next owner of your current home can come from anywhere, including your social network. Since most social network sights are free to use why not promote the sale of your home?
- Clean Up and De-clutter: Even if you spent a lifetime filling your home with photos and memories, potential buyers can get distracted by your tchotskies. Home sellers need to keep their homes clean, tidy and free of too many personal affects.
Inexpensive Home Seller Tips
If you have already implemented the free tips, and have a couple of bucks to do more to spend there are both minor renovations and simple fixes you should consider including:
- Paint Job: Bold colors may be fun, but generic tones are easier to sell. A fresh coat of interior or exterior paint will help breathe new life into your home, at least in the eyes of the prospective buyers.
- Carpet Cleaning or Removal: Do you know what is under your carpet? If you have worn carpets covering hardwood flooring, removing it can expose a new feature to your potential audience. If the carpets are actually the main selling feature of your home, cleaning them before hand will help freshen up any room.
- Spruce up the Joint: Accessories such as towels, bathmats, throw rugs and curtains are all affordable decorating options and for a couple hundred of bucks, new ones will help doll up any room.
- Mow the Lawn: Real estate experts often tell home sellers about the value of curb appeal in the home selling process. Tending to your lawn and even planting a couple of things here and there can make your home exterior more appealing.
- Bake Cookies: The sense of smell is most closely linked with human memories and most people have a positive association regarding the scent of baking cookies. All you have to do is buy some pre-made dough, bake it and watch the magic.
How Long Does it Take to Sell a Home
There are many factors that may affect how long it will take you to sell your home and tracking the movement in the housing market may provide you with more insight.. According to author Barb Schwarz, 95% of staged homes sell in approximately 35 days while homes that are not properly tended to may take in excess of 172 days to sell. The reality is each home will sell when the time is right, however home sellers can take simple steps to help speed up the process.
