Do you want to sell your home in Detroit Lakes, MN (or anywhere else, for that matter) as fast as possible? Then you may feel compelled to request one of those “instant cash offers” that are relentlessly advertised on billboards and the radio. Go ahead and do it … if you want someone to offer less than half of your home’s market value, that is.
If you want to sell your home fast and for a price you would actually accept, then you have far better options. Here are some expert tips on how you can dramatically shorten the time between now and closing!
Get Ahead of Potential issues
Does your home currently have any problems that might turn off potential buyers – or complicate matters, if they are discovered by a buyer’s home inspector? Then grab the bull by the horns and take care of them now.
Hire your own inspector to detect any issues with your home’s plumbing, HVAC and electrical system, as well as its roof and foundation. These are the areas that delay closing most often. By repairing them before you list, you stand to avoid big headaches down the road.
Not every less-than-perfect aspect of your home is worth fixing before you list it. Even so, there are several minor upgrades that can dramatically enhance your home’s appeal to potential buyers. Got a bold-colored wall? Cover it up with a fresh coat of neutral paint. Got scratched hardwood floors? Buff them up – it’s easy to do by yourself. Got stained and torn carpeting? Say sayonara to it!
Boost Your Home’s Curb Appeal
The science is clear: First impressions count for a whole heck of a lot. You want to present the most appealing package possible to potential homebuyers, which is why you have every reason to boost your home’s curb appeal.
Do it for cheap! Paint your front door. Plant some new trees or a few hostas. Pressure wash the sidewalk, reseal the driveway, repaint the fence, hang window planters, replace the mailbox, trim the hedges, and install outdoor lighting. If it genuinely improves your home’s curb appeal, then it can only help you sell your home faster.
Are you trying to sell your home when it’s surrounded by snow? No worries. There are still plenty of ways to improve your home’s curb appeal during winter.
Clean and Declutter Your Home
Too many home sellers forget about the power of cleaning. Cleanliness is clearly connected to multiple positive emotions, and those emotions are precisely what you want homebuyers to feel while they’re touring your property.
Floors. Walls. Ceilings. Countertops. Tabletops. Shelves. Fireplaces. Windows. If you can clean these and any other surfaces inside your home, do.
And don’t overlook the power of decluttering while you’re at it. People have an innate tendency to assign higher value to spaces that aren’t filled with odds and ends – and just like cleaning, decluttering goes hand in hand with myriad positive mental health benefits. Long story short, if you’ve got tons of stuff cluttering up your home (including its closets and garage), then you can only expect to sell quicker by depositing it in a dumpster or storage unit, pronto.
Stage Your Home
Staging a home is a big added step, albeit one that’s certainly worth it. The statistics on home staging speak for themselves!
- Unstaged homes spend an average of 184 days on the market.
- Once they are staged, previously unstaged homes spend an average of 41 more days on the market.
- Homes that are staged prior to listing spend an average of 23 days on the market.
- Two out of five millennial buyers consider staging extremely or very important. Almost one in two Gen Z buyers share the same sentiment.
We’re certain your furniture and decor are already placed in an aesthetically pleasing fashion, but that doesn’t mean their placement will necessarily appeal to total strangers. Home staging is the art of making a space look truly appealing to anyone, regardless of their personal taste or preferences. The primary goal is to depersonalize the space, which begins by removing bright colors, family photos, holiday decorations, children’s artwork, and anything else which could remind a potential buyer that they won’t be the first person to occupy a home.
Hire an Expert Listing Agent
If you disregard all of our advice up until this point, then you can still sell your home with almost startling speed by hiring a local, experienced real estate agent. That professional home seller already knows every little trick which can make your property more appealing to the market. They likely have a lengthy list of contacts who have expressed sincere interest in purchasing a home exactly like yours. They know which forms of marketing are most effective in your market. They also know all the contractors, home inspectors and title agents you will need in order to greatly accelerate the whole process.
If you’re selling your home in the greater Detroit Lakes, MN area, then you can save yourself an inordinate amount of time by letting Action Realty of Detroit Lakes handle everything. Contact us today, and let one of our expert agents take all the stress, uncertainty and waiting out of selling your home!