Tips & Techniques To Sell Your Home Quickly!

TIP # 1 First impressions are always critical, and your driveway is part of that first impression. Calling a professional to come out and clean up stains can be very costly but here's a quick tip that may be the solution for your cement driveway: try Drano or any high-powered liquid drain cleaner and sweep those oil stains away! This simple technique does an amazingly good job of making your driveway look new again! Please use caution and read all manufacturers' warnings before you begin this task.

TIP # 2 If your home is decorated in dark or unusual colors, you're going to scare off a lot of potential buyers. It will be worth your while to paint your walls a neutral color, such as offwhite. Builders are experts at preparing homes for quick sales, so learn from them! (Have you ever seen a newly-built home that wasn?t painted white?) If you're not up to painting your entire house, at least paint the areas that make the biggest impression, such as the entry/foyer, living room, dining room, kitchen and master bedroom.

TIP # 3 Take as many of your personal items (i.e., clothes, shoes, stored boxes) as possible out of your closet and store them in an out-of-the-way place. When your closets are cleaned up they will look much larger to the potential home buyer! Abundant closet/storage space is a major selling point for most people. Apply this rule to any storage area.

TIP # 4 Keep a package of ready-made cookie dough on hand. Pop a few cookies in the oven just when a hot prospect is expected to arrive to view the home. The smell of freshly baked cookies will conjure up a lot of great memories! Trigger emotions that will work toward the sale of your house.

TIP #5 Appliances should be sparkling clean at all times. If your kitchen appliances have broken knobs, replace them. If your stove is green, your dishwasher is gold and the trash compactor is black, have a professional come in and paint them one matching neutral color. This is much less expensive than buying all new appliances and it will add dramatically to the sale ability of your kitchen!

TIP # 6 When you're selling your home, one of the biggest competitors is the new home development in the area. Start by visiting these developments to size up your competition and get ideas on how to beat them at their own game! For example, people buy what they see, not what they imagine. Make your home have the same appeal as the new homes by accenting similar attributes while pointing out benefits your home may have that the new homes don't have. You'll also get a good idea what the pricing of your home should be based on what the new homes are selling for. If you're open-minded and use your imagination you could come away from this little exercise with a good feeling about what to do to make your house sell fast!

TIP # 7 A fresh coat of paint will always help sell the house faster but if you can't afford to paint the house, try this instead: paint the front door and if needed the entry area around the front door. At least now you've made a good first impression! If you don't have any matching paint around to use, see if there is a plate fixture or some other item you can remove and take to the paint store with you to have the paint matched.

TIP # 8 When you are ready to sell your home it's always a good idea to have the carpets cleaned. A clean home will always sell faster and you should accentuate the fact that you have a clean home. Even if you don't have your carpets cleaned you can leave a few pairs of shoes just inside the front door. This will imply that you don't wear shoes in the house and deliver the message to the potential buyer that you are meticulous about the appearance of your house as soon as they walk in the front door!

TIP # 9 Did you ever find you were having trouble pulling your car into the garage because you have so much stored in there? Now is definitely the time to clean it up! Store everything you can at a helpful relative's home or a rented storage unit. This way your garage area will appear larger and when it comes time for you to move, you will be more organized. You can move the essentials first and move your stored items later.

TIP # 10 Offer to make the buyer's first 3 mortgage payments. This looks very attractive in your advertising. Many people like the idea of having a little grace period after moving into a new home but usually when it gets down to negotiating a lower price seems to prevail. Be sure you (or the buyer) are using an experienced lender, since seller concessions seem to confuse many less experienced lenders.

TIP # 11 Polish all fixtures in your home. Brass, chrome, glass, etc., with a high polish, will add a sparkle to your home!

TIP # 12 If you have a pool it should look like you're just ready to throw a pool party, even if it's the dead of winter. You want to be sure to remind the buyer of how much fun a pool really is! This means a clean, uncovered pool with all of the furniture out and looking its best!

TIP # 13 Carrying back a second trust deed on your house can help a lot of people qualify who may have not otherwise been able to. If you need all of the proceeds from the sale of your house this method may work for you. You carry back a note for let's say $40,000, but you offer the note to the buyer for only $35,000 providing the note will be paid off within the first month of ownership.

The buyer will now need to get approval for an equity line or second trust deed which can close in as little as 4 days after the buyer takes possession on the home. Have a talented lender assist with this type of a deal but realize that even though the buyer agrees verbally to this agreement they aren't obligated to retire your note any sooner than the note itself states. The motivation to retire your note quickly has to come from the discount incentive. Sounds tricky, but it works.

TIP # 14 If you were planning on replacing old worn out items with something new, like getting rid of that threadbare armchair and replacing it with a new one for your new home, may be your best bet is to do it now! Use your better judgment as to which items will actually make your current house look better to a prospective buyer.

TIP # 15 If a Potential Buyer is working with a Realtor, always leave your house for a few minutes while the Realtor is showing it. Run to the market or to a neighbor's house. Remember, buying a house is an emotional experience. The buyer's agent will tend to feel awkward inspecting the house while you are there.

TIP # 16 Have that garage sale you've been meaning to have but never got around to. This is one of the quickest, easiest and most cost-effective ways to clear out those items that make your living space look cluttered. Check with your local newspaper to see if they offer a "Garage Sale Kit" including signs if you place a classified ad.

TIP # 17 Most people keep curtains, blinds and drapes closed for privacy but when your house is for sale be sure to open them all! Your house will look larger and brighter. Make sure that your windows are crystal clear. If your screens are worn out and full of holes, replace them. If you can?t replace tattered screens, take them out entirely to give that clean appearance. Don't forget to wipe down dusty windowsills. Now if you have a window that faces an eyesore, you won't want to keep the drapes or blinds open. In that case you would keep them closed but still maintain a neat appearance.

TIP # 18 It will take some time to get all your knickknacks packed and ready to move. Why not do it now? Wrapping these little items in newspaper and storing them will make your move easier and it will help your house show better. Remember, less is more!

TIP # 19 Two or three packages of 100-watt light bulbs will only cost a few dollars but will add dramatically to the appearance of your house! A bright house looks larger, cleaner and more appealing to a potential buyer. It gives an open feeling like many of the new homes that are built today with lots of windows and skylights!

TIP # 20 Seller concessions can attract buyers faster than just about anything else. One popular way of attracting buyers is to offer in your advertising to pay 1 to 3 years of principal on the buyer's new mortgage (based on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage) if the house is purchased by a certain date. Your lender can give you precise figures but a 3-year principal prepayment usually costs about 1.5% to 2.5% of the loan total amount. This is a small price to pay to sell your house quickly but to the buyer, it's like getting 3 years of their 30-year mortgage wiped out with only 27 years remaining! Generally, the buyer will attempt to negotiate a price concession in lieu of a seller's concession but this will increase the readership of your advertising and get people in the door!

TIP # 21 Extra parking outside your house will give your property a spacious appearance. Park cars down the street so the Potential Buyer has the most convenient parking. Also, be sure to remove children's toys, garbage cans or any other unnecessary items from your front yard. All the buyer should see is a well-groomed property!

TIP # 22 You may have never liked wallpaper but it is one of the least expensive and quickest ways to dress up the kitchen or a bathroom. Be sure to select wallpaper that will have a universal appeal rather than a personal touch. Also, be sure to pick a paper that won't require the pattern to be matched when it is hung. This will save you time as well.

TIP # 23 When your house is up for sale it's time to retire all those half-dead plants (both in your yard and in your house) that you keep thinking will come back to life someday. They make messes by dropping leaves, and to put it frankly, having no plant is better than having a dead one. A quick solution is a trip to the swap meet for a few fresh new plants!

TIP # 24 Remember, you're not selling furniture you're selling a house! Keeping this in mind you may want to remove any large or ornate pieces of furniture. Unless your taste in furniture is the same as the potential buyer's, large pieces aren't going to help your house sell. Their absence however will make your house appear spacious and inviting.

TIP # 25 If you're not already popping something in the oven to fill the house with a pleasant aroma, spray a little vanilla airfreshener. This particular scent has a great impact. Potpourri around the house is a good idea too. Remember, we're trying to appeal to as many senses as possible!

TIP # 26 An empty yard sells better than an overgrown yard, probably because an empty yard looks larger! When trimming back your shrubbery and trees as you're getting ready to sell your house don't be timid. Go for it! Trees and shrubbery should not hide the house itself. Less is more!

TIP # 27 Price may be a sensitive issue but it is the one thing that will sell your house faster than anything else. If you price your house right in line with the market it's not likely to sell quickly. That's because only the 10% or 20% of houses with the best prices are selling each month.

If the price of your house isn't in that lower 20%, relatively, then it isn't likely to sell as quickly. It's not what your house is worth but what someone is willing to pay. Every shopper is bound and determined to get the best deal in town. Do you honestly feel your price makes your house one of the best deals in town? Now is a good time to compare your house with others on the market in the same area.

TIP # 28 Your sprinklers are one of the forgotten home selling tools. Start by using them as much as possible to be sure everything in your yard is green but there are other ways you can use your sprinkler system to your advantage. Most sprinklers have a manual start button which will let you turn them on any time you like without altering the programming of your system. Use this feature to turn them on whenever a potential buyer is to view the home. Newly watered landscaping has a fresh clean scent and a shimmer that makes it look much better than when it's dry. By leaving them on, you can also discourage any backyard exploring in the event you have unsightly areas there.

TIP # 29 A letter to the home shopper can be very effective. If you are a decent writer, try writing an open letter telling about some of the features of your home. Talk about the schools, good neighbors, malls and shopping centers in the area, perhaps even a little history about the home. Write it in a very personal fashion as if you were writing to a close friend. Try to create images in the potential buyer's mind of how great it is to live there. If fact, make it sound like you really don't want to leave! Finally, type this letter and make copies but sign each one by hand. Put the letter in a nice stationery envelope and leave it out where anyone viewing the house couldn't miss it. Even if you aren't there, your message will be conveyed.

TIP # 30 Make a checklist anytime a Potential Buyer is coming to look at your home. Nothing fancy, just something to remind you to do all the little preparatory tricks we've listed.

TIP # 31 If you own a dog that may be intimidating to the potential buyer, take your furry friend for a walk whenever the home is being shown. Your dog's bark may be worse than it?s bite but if it's presence alone could possibly cause tension for the buyer, it takes away from the overall emotional experience of looking at the home.

TIP # 32 Flowers always brighten the appearance of a home and add a pleasant odor as well. Most people don't want to buy fresh-cut flowers or spend money on something they will leave behind but clay or decorative pots can be used as planters that will brighten up your new home after they've helped to sell your current home!

TIP # 33 It worked for us as kids so why not try it again! Inspect your house on the way out the door everyday to see if there are any messes you haven't had time to clean up. Kick clothes under the bed or get a couple of large plastic tubs for emergencies. You can use these to throw items into when there's no time to do anything else. In short, don't leave your home a mess if there's any possibility that a potential buyer may see it. As a final note, be careful not to hide your mess where it will be easily discovered such as in a closet.

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