For first-time sellers (and sometimes even for veterans), selling a home can be an overwhelming, emotionally draining undertaking. If, however, you avoid certain things, you’ll be far more likely to sell your house for the most money in Massachusetts. Skirt the five pitfalls described below, and you just might sell your house for the most money possible for your home and within a reasonable time.
1. Don’t Skimp on Photos
We now live in a visual age, and there’s no getting around it. So, today, most home buyers do their shopping online, at least in the early stages. The sad fact is a lot of the photos in online listings are poor quality. If you provide plenty of crisp, quality photos, your house will stand out from the others and will generate plenty of interest.
Take your photos during the day when there’s adequate natural lighting. Also, be sure your numerous photos display your home to its best advantage and highlight its selling features.
2. Don’t Sell in Winter
Avoid listing your home in the winter, especially during the holiday season, because this is a painfully slow time for home sales. Obviously, people are busy with social activities, and the cold weather drives them indoors. The upshot is that there will be fewer people looking at your home, it will likely take longer to sell it, and there’s a chance you won’t get the price you want.
3. Don’t Get Emotionally Involved
It’s tough to give up and sell a home you’ve been living in for several years because you have an undeniable emotional attachment. But you’ve got to let that go.
The trick is to think of yourself now as a business person, a home seller, rather than as a home owner who is selling a home. Try to take a strictly financial view of matters to create distance between you and the home you’ve lived in and made memories in.
Also, try to think about things from the buyer’s perspective. They’re not just buying a piece of property with a structure on it, but a dream and a new life. You’re doing something good for them, which will reduce your own emotional attachment and so help you sell your house for the most money in Massachusetts.
4. Don’t Fail to Use an Agent
Sure real estate agents take a small slice of the pie, but there are good reasons, and a good one is well worth their price. Trying to sell your home on your own is generally not a good idea. And in most cases, an agent will help you get a better price.
Agents understand all the legal intricacies and ramifications of the home-sale transaction. They also know how to deal with the mountain of paperwork involved and the problems that inevitably come up in the process. Further, agents are the ones who will spend their time dealing with potential buyers and the tiresome tire-kickers.
5. Don’t Ask an Unrealistic Price
Certainly, you want to sell your house for the most money in Massachusetts, but you also have to be realistic. Simply put, overpriced homes just don’t sell.
A comparable market analysis is key here to avoid egregious overpricing. You can even use your market analysis to underprice your home a bit to generate more interest and multiple offers, which can then (in theory) encourage the many interested buyers to bid up the price.
If you want to sell your house for the most money in [market city], then don’t do the five things listed in this article. While that’s a good start, there’s still a lot more to it.