Selling a home requires adequate preparation

A few simple tricks may help a lot when you put your home up for sale

The real estate boom of the last six or seven years seems to have peaked. That’s great for buyers, who have been stretching for years to find a way to get into their homes and who are now looking at increased foreclosure rates. For sellers, it’s not such a good time. In the last few years, all sellers in hot markets had to do was put a sign in the yard, pour a cup of coffee and wait for the would-be buyers to show up, all with offers that exceeded the asking price.

Those heady days are over, and the prices are, at best, stable. Sales are harder to make and buyers know now that they can take a bit more time and can probably even negotiate a bit. If you’re a seller, it’s going to be harder to move that property quickly. But a few tips will help you sell the house in a reasonable amount of time and for a reasonable price.

Here are some tips that will make it easier for you to quickly sell your house:

• Don’t overprice it - The market has more homes for sale now, and they’re taking longer to sell. Asking too much money will chase prospective buyers away. They may, or may not, come back later. The last thing you want is for your house to get a “It’s a nice house, but they want too much for it” sort of reputation. True, buyers can negotiate, but it’s much easier to sell the house if you simply price it correctly in the first place. Take the time to research recent sales in your neighborhood in order to determine a fair price for your house in the current market. The closer your price is to what buyers are ready to pay, the faster you will sell.
• Hire a professional - Sure, you can sell it yourself, but unless you have an unusually large network of friends and acquaintances, you won’t be able to bring as many people to see the property as will a well-networked real estate professional. Find someone who has been in the business a while and someone who has a good track record of making sales. Don’t go for the high volume seller; go for the seller who sells the largest percentage of their listings. And remember - you may be able to negotiate the 6% fee to the real estate company. It’s worth asking.
• Get it ready to sell - Clean up the property. Mow the lawn, trim the hedges and put a coat of paint where it needs to go. Inside the house, clean out the clutter, paint where necessary and give the house a roomy, airy feel. You want prospective buyers to be able to imagine themselves in your house, so hide or put away anything unusual that might put them off. You are trying to sell the house, so make it look like something desirable.

It’s harder to sell a home than it was a year or two ago, but it’s hardly impossible. All you have to do to sell your home quickly is to make sure it’s attractive, accessible to buyers and fairly priced. After that, everything should take care of itself.