To sell your house, you must allow potential buyers to visit it. Showings and open house events are often more effective than a simple online listing at helping people decide whether to buy a house.
But what if many potential buyers have already visited your house, but none of them has made you a serious offer yet? What can you do to accelerate the process?
To attract and impress serious buyers, try some of these nine ways to make your house sell faster.
Get rid of the clutter
You might not feel like there is too much stuff in your house, but other people might think otherwise. One of the most important things you can do before allowing potential buyers to visit your house is to get rid of the clutter.
First, remove any item or furniture you don’t want anymore. Then, put extra furniture into storage and store away unnecessary items. This will free up some space in each room.
Work on your house’s curb appeal
Imagine I am a homeowner. To sell my house fast, I should improve its curb appeal. Mow the lawn, trim hedges, and regularly pick up dead leaves and other debris.
Wash the windows, and make sure the driveway and sidewalk are always clean and inviting. When people see how beautiful your house exterior looks, they will want to come and see what it looks like inside.
Make sure everything sparkles
No one will want to buy your house if it looks dirty. So clean your house, and do it regularly for as long as it’s on the market. You never know when someone might want to come for a showing.
Make sure everything sparkles, from the floor to the ceiling. Your goal is to instantly show potential buyers that you have been taking great care of your house.
Make sure every room smells fresh
In addition to being clean, every room in your house needs to smell good.
When someone visits your house, they might not notice that it smells like flowers or freshly baked cookies. But if the air smells of cigarette smoke, what you ate for dinner last night, your cat’s litter box, or something mouldy and damp, you can be sure they will notice and won’t be too impressed.
So be sure every room smells fresh. Burn scented candles, mix essential oils with water in a spray bottle, or bake cookies right before a showing.
Remove your items
If you have family photos displayed in your house, put them into storage. Do the same thing with keepsakes, drawings made by your children, or any item you own related to your religious or political views.
Depersonalizing your house makes it easier for potential buyers to imagine themselves living there.
Stage each room with new furniture
If your furniture looks outdated or is in bad condition, it might be a good idea not to let potential buyers see it when they visit your house.
Or perhaps your furniture looks great but is simply too big and bulky for the room it’s currently in. In that situation, smaller furniture would help make your house look more appealing.
If you can and want to buy new furniture, do it. But you could simply remove your furniture and rent new high-quality furniture to stage your home.
Show how every space in your house can be used
As you stage your house, try to give a purpose to each room and each storage space.
Even if the buyer doesn’t want to use the smallest bedroom in the basement as a home office, seeing a home office in there will help them notice that every space in your house can be used.
Give your walls a fresh coat of paint
Trying to sell a house can be more challenging when you have wallpaper in your living room or the master bedroom. It’s best to remove the wallpaper and to paint the walls instead.
The same applies if some of your walls are painted bold and bright. You might love your colour scheme, but potential buyers might find it ugly or distracting.
To make your house more appealing, paint your walls in neutral colours.
Consider upgrading the flooring
Some ways to make your house sell faster require a bigger budget than simply painting the walls.
Making necessary repairs is a good idea if you can afford it. Consider it an investment, allowing you to sell your house faster and for a better price.
And if you don't have the time or resources to go through a repair, you can always go through a service such as the one HomeBeacon offers to sell to investors who will take care of it instead of you.
You might also want to consider upgrading the flooring, especially if you have an old carpet with unsightly stains or outdated linoleum that has seen better days.
