Have you recently been thinking about selling your home? Do you feel like you're tired of living small and finally ready to upsize your living quarters? Or have the kids moved out, and you now feel like the house is a little too big for your needs? Whatever your reasons, we are here to give you the best tips for selling your home for maximum profit.
How to Raise Your Chances of Selling Your House Fast
Organize Your Home
You want your home to sell as fast as possible with little time on the housing market. Make sure you present a good image to prospective homebuyers by spending some time to organize your home and belongings. You want your home to look clean, fresh, and inviting, so pack away any clutter and extra furniture that is taking up too much space. You may need to buy a storage unit to declutter and have a place to temporarily store your belongings. Don’t cram everything into your cupboards and closets, as you want your home to look big and spacious. Overcrowded closets will have the opposite effect. Sixty-four percent of surveyed buyers admitted that a home with ample storage space was one of the deciding factors for them when considering buying a home. Removing personal photographs is another good idea, as they may prevent prospective buyers from picturing themselves in the home.
Identify a Selling Strategy
There are many ways to sell your home, whether you want to do it yourself through FSBO or pursue the traditional route of finding an agent to organize it for you and ensure you get the best market rate for your home. Professional real estate agents like the ones from My Brokerage are equipped with expert knowledge of the most current market rates and proven selling strategies. Working with an agent may be one of the best financial investments you will make in your pursuit to sell your house. With their full support and expert guidance, your house will be off the market and sold in as little time as possible.
Find Out Your Home's Worth - And Increase It
It may be useful to work with a professional appraiser to help you evaluate your house and figure out a price estimate. This may be greatly influenced by your city and neighborhood, as some areas will fetch higher prices than others. Appraisers will consider this when making an appraisal. They will also look to see if your home has any particular selling points, like having a sunroom, decking, or natural stone flooring. If not, it may be worth considering investing some money into remodeling your house or increasing its curb appeal to fetch a higher resale value.
If you have an unused garage, perhaps you could consider transforming it into an additional living space. Many homeowners prefer to use their outside parking space to park their car, rendering their garage almost useless. If you don’t possess multiple cars, turning your garage into an extra living space is a particularly attractive option, as it has the potential to increase the total square footage of your home. It also has the possibility of increasing your property value by up to 15%. Simply clean up and declutter your garage and seek the guidance of an independent contractor to ensure the garage is structurally safe and compliant with your city’s regulations for use as an additional living unit.
Another attractive option may be to consider adding a sunroom, especially if your home has southern-facing windows. This is a financial investment that has the potential of providing you with a recoup value of at least half of your initial investment. It is also a unique selling point. The additional square footage will provide homebuyers with an extra living space and has the potential to improve quality of life, offering plenty of light and adding an open, airy quality to the home, as sunrooms are primarily made of glass. It also adds a touch of luxury to an otherwise average home.
Sunrooms are also a great, cost-effective alternative to adding a stick-built structure to your house. Prices vary, however; they tend to cost between $8,000 for a small sunroom and $65,000+ for a four-season sunroom with a slab foundation.
An outdoor deck is also a relatively cost-effective way to increase your property value. About 77% of the costs associated with building one can be recouped after resale, making this option a particularly desirable one for homeowners. If you already own a deck, make sure you inspect it for termite damage and wood rot. If you find any, consider undergoing a few repairs. Spending some money on repairs will increase your home’s value, making it a financial investment that will pay for itself.
If you're strapped for cash and can't afford to invest in large remodeling projects, there are ways to polish up what you already own and still make a notable impression on would-be buyers. Some solutions may be to consider repainting your house in light, neutral hues if it is not already. This will help make it look bigger and provide a brighter, contemporary, fresh look that is sure to please buyers from the get-go.
Also, consider ditching outdated appliances with brand new, stainless steel ones. Not only will it offer a sleek, modern look to an otherwise drab and old-fashioned kitchen, but it will also help make your house move-in-ready, which is what most buyers are looking for.
Are your pathways cracked and broken? Perhaps they’re in need of some serious redoing. The front yard is the first thing prospective homebuyers will notice when they stop by for a showing, and you want to make a good first impression. Consider repairing broken pathways and old driveways to both increase your home value and make your home look appealing to buyers.
Finally, it may be worth it to hire a home stager to help you declutter, brighten your space, and arrange your furniture in a way that maximizes the environment and makes your house look inviting and cozy to prospective buyers.
Make Sure You Have Enough Equity
This next tip is one of the most important tips for selling your home, so listen closely. To ensure you get the greatest benefit, you must make sure you've built enough equity. So, what is equity? According to NerdWallet, it is the current market value of your home, minus what you owe. The figure must be in the positive range, and the greater the number, the better. Over time, your home will also gain value, which will allow you to maximize resale profits. When you keep up on your monthly mortgage payments, you also build equity. This is usually a slow but steady long-term investment method for building wealth.
Most homeowners wait to resell their homes until they can reach a “break-even point.” It’s usually advisable to wait at least two years before considering reselling to avoid losses in the form of capital gains taxes, which take away 15% of the resale value of your home. These will no longer apply to you if you live in the home for more than one year.
Some mortgage lenders may also have specific terms and conditions that penalize homeowners who sell their homes before a certain amount of time. It's wise to wait until you have enough equity to cover your mortgage payment and an additional 20% profit gain that you can use to cover the down payment for your next property purchase.
So, if you’re serious about maximizing your profits, you must be patient. Homeowners who remain in their homes for longer are more likely to gain higher equity. According to Zillow, Georgia home values have increased by up to 9.2% since January 2020 and are expected to rise even higher. The US average national home appreciation value ranges from 3.5% to 3.8% per year. That means Georgia is far above the national average when it comes to accruing home equity. So, if you are considering purchasing a home for long-term wealth growth, Georgia is a perfect option for you! Make sure to take a look at our previous post to find out why Georgia is the best place to purchase a home right now.
Consider the Cost of Selling Your Home
Many people believe that the cost of selling a home runs between 5% to 6% but are shocked to find out it's closer to 10% of the overall sale price. So, if your house sells for $250,000, you'll probably receive $225,000, as about $25,000 will go straight toward your expenses. Therefore, it's important to remember that there may be significant financial costs incurred as a result of selling your house.
There are things like cleaning, staging, agent commissions, repairs, temporary housing and storage unit space fees, and closing and moving costs. Try to keep these factors into consideration when discussing what to price your home to maximize your profit and keep your expenses as low as possible.
Another factor to consider is the time it will take for your house to sell, which may vary from one property to another. This may depend on market demand, the total number of available homes for sale, the time of the year, and salary rates in your area. Any of these factors could play a great role in how long your home will remain on the market. Properties in Fulton County, GA, typically remain in the market for an average of 60 days, while homes in Clayton, GA, sell after around 49 days.
Takeaway
We hope we’ve helped you figure out whether it’s the right time to sell your house. Remember, much of the success that stems from real estate wealth comes with investing some time and patience, as equity and home value build up over a long-term period. During this time, it would be a good idea to study market trends and capitalize on them at the right time, when the demand for housing is high in your area.
That might seem like a lot of work, but don’t worry. Our team has it all covered. From working with a real estate agent for the initial planning stages and appraisal to conducting enhanced market research on your behalf, our experienced realtors will be there to support you throughout the entire selling process.
Our primary mission at My Brokerage is to make the process of selling your home as cost-effective and uncomplicated as possible. We'll help you every step of the way and handle all the complicated factors that go into selling a property so you can focus on the important things like finding your next dream home! Destress and let us handle the rest. Ready to sell your home? Click here!
