Austin TX Listing Agent Tips: 6 Ways to sell your home faster

Owners that are planning to sell their property are most concerned about the price and being able to sell the property as soon as possible. Who would want their property to be on the market for a long time without getting any viable offers.

Here are 6 tips on how to sell your home easier, faster and more affordably.

1. Shrink your staging costs

Staging your home means hiring a decorator in order to make it more appealing to prospective buyers. This can result in selling your home quicker for a significantly higher price. Statistics have shown that owners that hire a decorator to stage their homes will sell 88% faster and for 20% more than un-staged ones. Unfortunately, staging can be expensive.

Staging can cost $300 to $600 for the initial design consultation and up to $600 per month per room. Professional stagers also usually require a three-month minimum contract even if the home is sold in a single day. A cheaper alternative would be virtual staging where they take photos of the empty rooms of your home and use photo-editing software in order to make them more visually appealing by adding couches, tables, and other furnishings. Virtual staging is usually a one-time payment around $100 per room.

2. Boost curb appeal

First impressions matter and prospective home buyers form their first impression as they pull up to your house. How your house looks from the outside is important and can even boost your home’s sale value up to 17%. Hiring professional landscaper can be expensive and can cost thousands. The less expensive alternative is a standard lawn care treatment including fertilizing and weed control. These services cost around $330 but can yield a 303% return.

3. Forget about snail mail marketing

There are some real estate agents that still recommend sending mail to people within the community of the property in order to announce the new listing but direct mailing costs can be prohibitive. Use social media to promote your listing on channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for free.

4. Brighten up the living space

Improving the lighting in your home adds to its appeal and there are several low-cost ways to do this. Install wall mirrors that amplify light and use high-watt light bulbs. Remove or open heavy drapery to show off natural lighting.

5. Promote energy-efficient upgrades

Everyone wants to save money which is why making your home energy efficient can make it more appealing to prospective buyers. You can do this by insulating the ceiling so less heat goes inside the home, weather-stripping the doors as well as windows, and installing a programmable thermostat.

Once you have made your home more energy efficient, provide an energy audit to prospective buyers. An energy audit can cost $200 to $400 but once you’re able to prove that your house has lower utility costs, prospective buyers will likely be willing to spend up to pay more to save hundreds of dollars a year on utilities.

6. Build buzz in advance

Before you put your house on the market, you should start promoting it to attract potential buyers. You can do this by promoting it on social media platforms, sending out a mass email to all your contacts, and even doing a garage sale to sell old items and gather interest from potential buyers.

Your real estate agent should also be promoting your home to his network of clients, developers, investors, and even other agents. You might even get an acceptable offer even before you put it on the market.