So you’re looking to sell your home? Before you find an agent or list it online, you need to ask yourself a few crucial questions. The answers can determine how you sell your home!
How Quickly Do You Need to Sell Your Home?
Everyone wants their home to sell quickly, but how quickly do you need it to sell? You may be surprised to learn that you do have power over how fast you sell your home. It all depends on the method you choose.
For example, listing with a real estate agent is considered to be the traditional way to sell a home. However, the speed at which your home sells depends on a few factors, including the experience of your agent, the location, the state of your home, and the economy. All of these factors can drastically alter the speed at which your home sells. It could sell tomorrow, or it could sell in 3+ months.
If you have the time to wait, then there is nothing wrong with going the traditional route. However, if you need to sell your home quickly, you can look into selling it for cash. Selling your home for cash to a company is the fastest route and the most affordable route for the homeowner, however, you may not get the same amount of money as you would have if you went the traditional route. It’s a trade-off, but it can be worth it if you need to move quickly.
Can You Afford to Sell Your Home?
It seems like a silly question, but selling a home isn’t always cheap! Sometimes you need to pay to clean it, for repairs and renovations, to get professional photographs taken, and closing and real estate agent fees.
If you choose to sell your home for cash, you don’t have to worry about closing costs, staging fees, or real estate agent fees. Most companies waive those fees entirely and don’t require any staging, photography, or extra bells and whistles.
If you sell the traditional way, you’ll have to pay closing costs. Closing costs will likely be your second-biggest expense behind commission fees. You can expect to spend roughly 2% of your home’s sale price.
You also may have to take photos of your home to list it online. While the cost varies by area and the size of your property, you can expect to pay about $500 to $1,000 for professional photos.
Do You Know How Much Your Home is Worth?
Your home won’t be worth the same amount of money that you purchased it for, especially if you bought it 3+ years ago. The value of a home can change over time for a variety of reasons such as the economy, supply and demand, the state of your home, and location are the most common factors.
Home value, or current market value, is the amount of money your house would likely sell for if it went on the market today. You can estimate it yourself, or have a real estate agent find it for you. To do it yourself, you can:
Conduct a comparative market analysis of similar properties in the area
Having an appraiser determine the property’s valuation.
Calculate a rough price per square foot by looking at comparable homes in your neighborhood then divide by square footage. Then take that dollar amount and multiply by the number of square feet in your home.
Should You Get Your Home Appraised?
An appraisal is typically required for a buyer to qualify for a mortgage. As a seller, there is some value in getting an appraisal because it can give you a firm idea of what your house is worth and provide assurance to a prospective buyer. However, since appraisals typically cost a few hundred dollars, most homeowners only pay for a professional appraisal if it is required for a refinance.
What is a Fair Market Value?
You may have heard the term “fair market value” tossed around when you started looking at your home’s value, however the two are not synonymous.
Fair market value in real estate is the determined price that a property will sell for in an open market and is agreed upon between a willing buyer and seller. It isn’t always what a piece of real estate is actually worth – it may depend upon what it is worth to either the buyer or seller.
Are You Living in the Home Until the Sale?
If yes, is it ready to show? Are you ready for tours and walkthroughs? Can you leave your home for hours at a time for your real estate agent to show it? If you have children, this is a huge thing to consider!
If not, do you have the house staged and someone keeping it dust-free until the sale?
Do I Need to Hire a Home Inspector?
Not necessarily. Many home buyers will include a home inspection contingency in their offer. But some real estate agents recommend home sellers hire a home inspector to perform what’s called a “pre-inspection,” where a professional inspector scrutinizes your property for problems before it’s even listed.
There are pros and cons, of course, to doing a pre-inspection. One huge advantage is that pre-inspections give sellers the ability to fix problems ahead of time. However, pre-inspections cost money (about $200 to $500 on average), and just because you hired a home inspector doesn’t mean the buyers won’t hire their own—and their results won’t necessarily be the same.
If you sell your home for cash, you can likely skip the inspection — the company you sell too will conduct their own.
Selling a home on your own is a hard task and there are a lot of things to consider before you list it. If you need help, BC Team makes selling your home easy. We’ll walk you through the entire process, step by step, and help make sure you get everything you need out of the sale. If you’re looking for a cash sale, contact Property Spot! They’ll be able to give you a fair cash offer in 24 hours or less.