Best Tips for Selling in a Softer Market

Although selling in a recovering market can be a challenging task, there are still steps sellers can take to entice buyers to bite. If you’ve already followed the usual protocol for staging and curb appeal, try the following:

Get a professional opinion. Knowing what a professional appraiser deems your house to be worth will help you set realistic expectations for your sale. You can then compare your home to others in the same price range and discover what your property may be lacking. It will also give you a good idea of what kind of loans your buyers would need to get in order to purchase the home. At least this way, you can be confident that you are in the right ballpark on price.

A pre-inspection is a must. By getting a pre-inspection, you can find out if your home has any problem areas that need attention. This tells buyers that you care about the condition of the home and also that you have taken care of these potential issues. Don’t be surprised if a buyer hires his or her own inspector, however. It’s par for the course. However, with less red flags around, you have a better shot at nabbing an offer close to your asking price.

Throw in an added bonus, like a home warranty. Offering a home warranty with the sale may entice some buyers to make a bid on the house. This plan will provide assurance that if something goes wrong with any major appliance, the new buyer will not have to shell out loads of money to fix the problem.

Cover some post-moving expenses. Make the move easier for your potential buyers by offering to pay for some or all of the moving costs. Alternatively, hire a contractor to take care of the yard work or pool clean-up for the first summer. Covering some of these expenses may put you in the buyer’s good graces and may just seal the deal.

By remaining flexible throughout the process, you can find the right buyer in any market who will be willing and able to make a deal that supports both of your interests.

Source: Bankrate

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