Three tips to sell your home faster

Plenty of moving parts have to come together for a successful home sale. But in the midst of this sometimes complicated transaction, there are easy ways you can get things moving toward a sale. Here are three:

Get out when buyers are around.

It sounds like it would be helpful to stay in your home when potential buyers come through: You can explain all about your property and be on hand to answer questions or concerns. In reality, though, this may not be the best idea. Put yourself in the buyers’ shoes. Would you like someone lingering in the background while you poke around in their closets and bathroom cabinets? Your presence could make the buyers uncomfortable and may prevent them from conducting a thorough property evaluation.

Make basic improvements

Now may not be the time to redo the entire kitchen. Buyers can get past a functional bathroom that need some updates, but they’ll be turned off by even small problems like a dripping faucet or cracked shower tile. Don’t forget about the outside, either. Pulling weeds, mowing the lawn and spreading some fresh mulch can take a buyer’s focus off your yard if it’s not one of your home’s selling points.

Choose a reasonable price

Tax entities and real estate professionals can help you understand your home’s market value. Unless you know something about the property that they don’t—you added a pool, installed top-of-the-line kitchen appliances, etc.—don’t dismiss their expert opinions. You can also watch the sales prices of similar properties in your neighborhood. Just be sure that you’re comparing apples to apples; don’t price your two-bedroom condominium based on what that new four-bedroom down the street sold for. An overpriced home will likely sit on the market and eventually make buyers wonder if it’s worth taking a look at.

There are many moving parts when it comes to selling your house—contracts, amendments, financing, not to mention the actual moving—but taking care of these and similar small items can make a big difference in buyers’ minds.