By Kathy Kennebrook (The Marketing Magic Lady)
Here are some ideas I implement in my own business when we rehab a house to get it ready for resale, lease option or owner financing. These are some really great inexpensive ways to get your home sold quickly!
- Pay attention to the exterior, put in new lawn and nice plants. Curb appeal counts!! If you can get your prospective buyer’s interest from the onset, you are that much closer to the sale of the property.
- Paint the exterior with two to three warm inviting colors. Add shutters if the exterior looks drab. Make sure the gutters and roof are in good shape.
- Make sure the front door is in excellent condition. This is part of your buyer’s first impression of your home.
- Paint the interior in neutral colors and paint the trim a different color than the walls. Make it look warm and inviting. We get compliments all the time from our buyers about the neutral colors. They will be able to match their furnishings easily when you use neutral tones.
- Pay attention to the kitchen and baths and make them as appealing as possible with as much counter space as possible. These are the two main areas of the home that really count, so spend your extra rehabbing dollars on them.
- Put in a Jacuzzi tub and rain shower head even if it’s a lower dollar home. The extras will make your home sell much more quickly since other homes in the same price range likely don’t have these extra features.
- Pay attention to smell. Does the home smell inviting when you walk in? Use a neutral air freshener in the home to keep it fresh.
- Use custom door knobs on closets and bedroom doors. Also use rocker switches for the light switch covers.
- Use crown moldings around the ceilings. This is an inexpensive feature that will make your home really “pop”.
- Use a decent grade of carpeting, tile, or laminate or wood instead of vinyl flooring in the home, even if it’s a lower dollar home.
I believe in these ideas that will make your home stand out from all the others in the same price range. These are all ideas that will make your house sell much more quickly than others in the same price range and your buyer’s won’t argue about the price you are asking for the property. A lot of the time, you will get a higher offer than your asking price if your home is really gorgeous.
Just remember that the longer a house sits on the market before selling, the more it costs you in holding costs like mortgage payments, insurance, lawn care, water and electric. It is absolutely worth spending a couple of dollars more on the front end in order to get your homes sold quickly even if the market is sluggish.
If you decide to list the property with a Realtor I suggest paying a higher commission than is normally offered in your area. For example, if a typical commission is 3 percent, then offer a 4 ½ percent commission on a full price offer. This will make your Realtor work much harder to get your home sold first. This is one way to automate the selling houses part of your business. We have been working with the same realtors in our business for many years now.
You can also run ads in the online newspaper, use social media and hold open houses to get your property sold. Make sure you produce flyers and post them in grocery stores and anywhere else a potential buyer will see them. You can also put an insert in your local shopper guide. Many potential buyers will see your property for sale. And don’t forget to use lots of signage to get your property sold quickly.
Always make sure you implement multiple ways to sell a property. You want to have at least three different marketing techniques in place to sell your home quickly.
For more information on selling homes quickly and finding even more motivated sellers, make sure you visit Kathy Kennebrook’s website at www.marketingmagiclady.com
LEARN DIRECTLY FROM KATHY KENNEBROOK AT REALTY411’S VIRTUAL WEEKEND INVESTOR EXPO, CLICK HERE!
