How to Sell Your Home for More Money: 6 Best Practices

Is it almost time to sell your home? Every homeowner wants to sell their home for the most money, but it takes a savvy homeowner (and a good real estate agent) to actually get top dollar for your home. Don’t list your home blindly: do your research and speak with your real estate agent for help.

Your real estate agent will teach you how to sell your home for money and increase the value of your property at selling time. Here are the six best ways on how to sell your home for more money:

1. Research the homes for sale

In order to sell your home for money, you’ll need to do a lot of research. Your aim is to understand the real estate market in your area and find out how you to sell your home for more money. One of the things you should research is your local market. Start by finding out if it’s a buyer’s market or a seller’s market.

• If it’s a buyer’s market, it means there are more homes for sale than there are buyers. This doesn’t work in your favour since it usually brings prices down and sellers need to compete for fewer buyers.
• A seller’s market works in your favour. In this type of market, there are more buyers than there are homes available, driving the prices up.

To help you figure out which type of market you’re currently in, look at the average “days on market” for homes in your neighbourhood. This is a good way to gauge how long the homes for sale remain on the market.

If homes in your area are selling faster, it could be an indication that you’re in a seller’s market. Speak with your real estate agent so you can take a look at this before you list.

2. Figure out when to sell your home

After doing research, you will have a good indication if it’s a good time to sell your house for more money. Some other factors to look at when it comes to figuring out the best time to sell to maximize the amount of money you get is the season and the amount of equity in your home.

Ask any real estate agent and they’ll tell you the best time to sell is in the spring. This is because people tend to prefer moving when the weather is nice, and the kids are out of school. It’s also wise to sell when you have enough equity in your home to pay off your mortgage as well as other associated moving costs.

3. Determine the best price for selling your home

To determine the best price for your home, it’s essential that you work with your real estate agent. They can use their expertise to determine the best price. This should decrease the chances that you will list your home at too high of a price, which can have negative consequences.

You risk needing to continuously lower the price, which could make potential buyers skeptical. It can also reduce the chances of people discovering your listing since the majority of searches are done using a price range. A good rule of thumb is to find out what your home is worth, then deduct 15-20% off of that amount.

4. Stage your home before you sell

Once you determined how to sell your home for more money, it’s time to focus on the aesthetics of your home. Once your property is listed, take the time to stage your home. According to the National Association of Realtors 2017 Profile of Home Staging, 75% of real estate agents say that staging makes it easier for a potential buyer to visualize the home as their future home.

If you want to cut costs and just stage the most important room, opt to have your living room, master bedroom, and kitchen staged. Your real estate agent can help you with this process. Be prepared to spend around $2,000 to have your home staged.

5. Use lighting to sell your house in a flattering way

Not only can lighting make any space brighter and more welcoming, but it’s also something homeowners look for when buying a home. To maximize lighting in your home, remove and curtains and give the windows a thorough cleaning.

Some other things you can do include changing out lampshades for something that lets more light shine through and increasing the wattage of your lightbulbs. Ensure all of the lights are on in your home before you have a showing.

6. De-personalize the home you are trying to sell

You may have heard of this strangely unusual rule before. When trying to sell your home for more money, always de-personalize it before you have a showing. Why? The more stuff potential homeowners see in your home, the harder it is for them to imagine themselves living in the space.

Remove up to about a third of stuff from your home and have it put in storage in the meantime. It may not be the most convenient, but it will definitely help you sell your home for more money.