How to Sell Your House: A Guide for First Time Home Seller

Have you been wanting to sell your house but you have no idea where to start?

If so, this article might be what you need. Whatever your reason for selling is, it is crucial to be ready for the sale process — as you might have an emotional attachment to your home. Since your house might be your most significant investment, letting go of it might take you some time before you can finally decide. First time home sellers spend months thinking about selling their home before making decisions.

Since you are a first time home seller, you have the benefit of experiencing the purchase and sale transaction when you bought your house. However, a large amount of preparation is required, and most of your time will be spent on looking for potential buyers. To help you in selling your home instantly, we compiled a simple list you could use as a reference.

1. Know your reason for selling.
Before you decide on selling your house, you should identify your reason for selling. Make sure you are committed to your decision because the selling process can be expensive and frustrating. If you want to sell your house just because you felt like it, think through it many times. Because once you have already sold your home, you will never have it back unless you buy it from the new owner.

2. Recognize the best time to market your property.
For you to know the best time to sell your house, you should research the current state of your local real estate market — either poor or high. Recognizing the best selling time can help you in negotiating and driving up the price. Plus, it could reduce your time in the market and boost profits.

3. Determine your selling strategy.
One of the first things you’ll need to determine is if you’re going to sell your house on your own or if you’re going to hire a real estate agent. There are about 10% of home sellers who sold their homes without hiring an agent while about 10% selling their house on their own but eventually turned to an agent for help.

Weigh out the pros and cons of each option: how fast you need to sell; the state of your local market, and; factors your house that might need discussions.

4. Complete pre-selling home renovations.
Completing your home improvements before selling it can help you market your house well to the broadest range of potential buyers. Improvements will depend on your home’s condition and what buyers in your area wants. Your agent can help you in identifying the items that should be on your to-do list.

You can consider opting for a pre-inspection to avoid blows during the purchase process and fix items that need repair. Adding some home features that buyers love can also be great. Or you can sell your house as-is — this is if your house is already appealing even without any significant improvements.

5. Price your house appropriately.
One of the most critical factors in a successful home sale is determining the right selling price. Houses priced accurately are more likely to sell promptly.

To speed up the selling process, you can use records of recent homes sold with similar size and condition to yours, and their sale price. You can also hire an appraiser or ask your agent. Whatever pricing strategy you choose, use it so you could appropriately price your house and entice your potential buyers in buying.

6. Present your house appealingly.
Most buyers are enticed in buying if your house is exhibited attractively — organizing furniture and decorating your home suitably. You can either declutter and remove personal things as this will help buyers visualize themselves living in the house.

7. Market your listing effectively.
Once your house is ready, the next thing to do is to market your home effectively. Using the right marketing strategy will help you attract potential buyers and instantly sell your home. Here are some tips for marketing your home:

Advertise: Most of the home buyers nowadays search for houses for sale online. Adv

ertising your home in multiple channels will help you attract and find a suitable buyer.

Descriptions: Creating a tempting description that highlights your home’s best features potential buyers are searching for helps you market your house effectively.

Photos: Since most of your potential buyers are found online, you should include high quality and genuine pictures of your home’s best features.

Schedule Visitation: As soon as your house is ready, potential buyers would love to have a private tour or an open house showing. Schedule time for visitation of buyers and keep a record of visits if you’re selling on your own. Having another person to host potential buyers during tours can also help make them feel comfortable in speaking their feedback.

8. Watch for closing hurdles.
Reviewing this guide and taking note of the necessary things to be done above will benefit you, especially if your home isn’t selling quickly as you expected. You should also take note of possible issues that make the sale process prolonged. Possible issues may include poor inspection reports, the appraisal is too low, or maybe the buyer’s financing had a failure.

9. Move out.
Before you finally close your home, be sure you have already planned the time and the cost of moving out. Moving can be expensive, that’s why you need to plan and move out quickly as your house can be sold quickly.

10. Fulfill closing obligations.
When you and your buyer have reached a deal, the last step is the closing. The closing process can take up to 50 days which includes everything from home inspection to paperwork. You need to complete the necessary repairs, secure certifications of your home improvements, and disclose any known issues that might affect the value and safety of the house. This is to make sure your house is in the same condition before and after the deal. Finally, remember to sign all the legal papers related to the purchase of your home and hand over the keys to the buyer.

As a first time home seller, the sale process can be arduous and expensive, but with guidance and tips from experts, selling can be easier than expected. Either you sell on your own or ask help from real estate agents the choice is yours. There are a lot of ways to make the selling process less stressful and whatever you choose, think about it many times so you could maximize your profits. If you ever need help, you can consider contacting PGI Estates and experience a smooth and stress-free home-selling process.