How to sale property in 10 days with higher price?
I know first-hand since I just completed the whole process. The mental mind game and physical endurance needed to move the contents of a home (we did it ourselves), plus all the planning and contract negotiations to sell and buy another home far away will completely take over your life. (I cannot thank you enough for bearing with me over the last few months as I know my blog posts were a little scarce and I relied on more sponsored posts than I normally use to get me through.)
Planning ahead is the key to make the selling, moving, and buying process as stress-free as possible. It will also help you stay sane in the long run. Ed and I decided to move back in July of 2015. From that moment, we went full-speed ahead into the moving process from getting our home ready and staged to sell, packing, and finding a new home and relocating 11 hours away to another state. It took us exactly 5 months from the day we decided to move to the day we made settlement on our lake house.
If you are considering moving or are just starting the process, roll up your sleeves, hang on tight, stay organized and you will get through it. Many of you have asked me for the specifics on everything Ed and I did to sell and move, from how we disconnected from our home of 22 years to how we parted with so many items to how we found our new house. Instead of writing a generic “how to sell a house” post I am going to answer all the question I have received on how we sold ours in two FAQ style posts I touched on what we did early on in the moving process and , and have assimilated the answers to the most FAQ’s I received about the selling and moving process below.
HOW TO GET A HOME READY AND STAGED TO SELL
We did almost everything ourselves since we were on a very tight budget. If we had to hire a contractor, we got a few estimates to make sure we were getting a fair price. We used PODS to store and move the contents of our house. That consumed most of our budget, but was far less than hiring a moving company to do it all for us. A moving company would have made the process easier, but since we moved out of state and needed temporary storage, we relied on DIY’ing as much as possible.
I kept organized by having three folders. I kept these on the kitchen table so all paperwork and contracts were all in one readily available spot. One folder was for the house we were selling, the second for the house we were buying, and the third, for all of our daily paperwork and mail that doesn’t stop just because you decide to move. I also needed to clear my schedule to focus on all that needed to get done. I had to say no to many commitments so I would not get too overwhelmed.
How did you disconnect from your house, with all that you did to personalize it and all the memories you created while living there?
One of the most important things to do when selling your house is to de-personalize it. The more personal stuff in your house, the less potential buyers can imagine themselves living there. We got rid of a lot and what we didn’t need to stage the house went into a POD that was in our driveway. This included family photos, memorabilia collections and personal keepsakes. I loved the house we sold; after all, we lived in it for 22 years. It was the best house for raising our daughters. We made many fond memories, but Ed and I were both ready to move. In fact, I have been preparing for a few years and started the de-cluttering process by cleaning out the attic and basement a few years ago. Our daughters are grown and live in different states. Our parents have sadly passed away. It was time to start a new chapter in our lives and why not live our dream now and not wait until retirement when we may be too old. (This was a tip from my parents.)
How did you disconnect from your house, with all that you did to personalize it and all the memories you created while living there?
I was also ready since there was not much else I wanted to do to the house. I was ready for a fresh slate to put my style into. We may not have downsized in house size, but we sure have downsized in the stuff we have and need to live happily and contentedly. We still are purging (more on this soon )
Did you use a Real Estate agent?
Yes. She was the best and took care of all the paperwork and more while guiding us through the many hurdles of selling a house. Find a real estate agent who knows your area and market well. They are worth it if you want to sell quickly.Make sure you have an agent who is totally informed and embraces technology so contracts and papers can all be signed right on your computer and sent via Docu-Sign. No more scans, faxes, and copies to make. The agent must constantly monitor the multiple listing service (MLS), know what properties are going on the market and know the comps in your neighborhood. With the popularity of HGTV shows, buyers now expect “homes for sale” to be perfect. Twenty years ago, all you needed to do to sell a house was declutter and fix any major problems or simply sell “as-is”. Home selling has become a lot more complex than it used to be. New seller disclosure statements, longer and more complex forms and agreements to sign, plus many environmental concerns have all emerged in the past decade. A good agent will help you navigate through it.
How long did it take you to sell your house?
10 days. If you want to sell quickly (we did), you have to look at your competition. If your home is better than anything on the market when you list it, you will probably sell fast and get your asking price. If there are other homes with better features, location, etc. than yours in the same price range, then if you want to sell quickly you need to put some money into your home to make it shine and knock the competition out of the running. We needed to upgrade a few features to make our house look similar to the competition.
How did you deal with having to leave your house every time there was a showing?
We planned ahead for this since we knew that having to have our house “show-ready” at all times while we were living in it was going to be the hardest part of the entire moving process. This is even more true if you have children and pets. The day our realtor put the “For Sale” sale sign on our front yard, we left on a week long house hunting trip so we would not have to be around for any of the showings. We didn’t have to deal with any of it. We trusted our agent and knew she would take care of everything if something went wrong. If you do have to stay in your house while it is being shown it can be a little inconvenient, but making sure there are no dishes in the sink and keeping the bathrooms sparkling will get your house sold. We sadly no longer had any pets, but this made the showing process much easier for us, too.
How much did you spend to get your house ready to sell?
I used to have a real estate staging business where I helped homeowners get their homes ready for the market. I knew that the decision of how much to spend to prepare for the sale was directly tied to how quickly we wanted to sell our house. Of course, every homeowner wants to sell quickly and for their listing price, but every real estate market and area of the country is different. You can’t control the market in your area, but you can make your house shine so that it looks better than anything else comparable in the market.