Are you moving out due to a change in work assignment? Is this your first real estate investment? Or does your family need a bigger house to live in? Whichever your reason is, you need to use these tips especially if you’re selling your home for the first time.

1. Be sure you’re ready to sell

Is this your final decision? Is there a place you can move into before selling? Do you have enough money to buy a new home while the house isn’t sold yet? These are questions you need to ask yourself to avoid problems while your property is listed on the market.

2. Sell your house with a real estate agent

A real estate agent will take a 3-6% commission of the sale in exchange for finding the right buyer, negotiating on your behalf, and taking care of the paperwork. So ask yourself this: Are you willing to pay thousands for convenience?

3. Learn all the process of home selling

If your answer to the previous question is no, then you should:

• Study the local housing market to set the right selling price.
• Rearrange your home to look more appealing to buyers.
• Take pictures or videos of the property that are appealing for listing.
• Find a place, network, or platform where to list your property to attract the best buyers.
• Learn to manage your time to respond to all purchase offers.
• Make negotiations and counteroffers to purchase offers.
• Learn how to handle all the paperwork during the closing process.

4. List your home at the right time

You can’t just list your home anytime you want. There are seasons you need to follow to sell your house faster and for more money. Fall isn’t the right time to sell a home because people are settling down and getting ready for the holidays. The same goes for winter because everybody is inside staying getting cozy.

If you want to sell your house, it must be during spring or summer where the weather is clear and the movers can easily work. Look out for current neighborhood activities as well, if there are a lot of people moving out, that means the local market is falling which could affect your pricing.

5. Preparing your house for selling

Rearranging or tidying up your home isn’t the only thing you should do before selling. You should also make repairs to wear and tears around the house to avoid getting lowballed in purchase offers.

6. Be flexible as you show your home

Interested home buyers follow their own schedule. Some may be less busy on weekdays and would prefer to tour your home at their preferred time. You must be available at all times especially during weekends. 

If you want, you can host an open house to let all your interested homebuyers tour your home at a given time. You can also choose a virtual home tour for buyers that are away.

7. Respond promptly to purchase offers

Some buyers have good offers but are also looking for other properties to buy. That’s why they put a counteroffer deadline. You should learn how to respond ASAP before the deadline expires and get the best deal when it appears.

Selling a home is never easy especially if you’re going to do it alone. There are a lot of frauds out there. That’s why I highly recommend that you hire a real estate agent if this is your first time. If you don’t want to pay a hefty agent’s commission, then take your time to get ready in selling your home and learn how to handle all the processes yourself.