9 Ways to Sell Your Home Fast For the Most Money

The

military has issued orders, and you’re selling your home while also trying to

coordinate the five million details of not only finding a new house in a new

location but also setting up the foundation for a successful transition for

your family. You need your current home to sell quickly and for as much money

as possible. While lots of variables outside of your control can affect the

housing market, you

can stack the

deck to your advantage.

Make it feel like home. Do you remember what made you

decide on your home when you bought it? Maybe you had to find a place quickly.

Or maybe it was the right price. But chances are good that you also walked

through each room imagining who would sleep in what room and where you’d eat

meals together, etc. That is what you want potential buyers to do—imagine

themselves living there. You want people to walk into your house and picture it

as theirs already. You want it to feel like home to them…if “home” were clean

and organized.

So clean out the junk and clutter. Wipe down surfaces. Fix the broken and banged-up things that you can within your budget and timelines. Then go a step further and make it appealing. Your house should look pretty, smell good, and feel warm and welcoming. You can easily and inexpensively evoke these feelings with something as simple as fresh cut flowers, fluffed sofa cushions, a cute welcome mat, bright lighting, smartly grouped furnishings, or any other number of details. Your real estate agent can help you to stage your home for maximum effect.

Remember curb appeal. Getting folks in the door is

half the battle. So make sure the distance from the street to the door is

attractive and well-maintained. Grass mowed or raked, depending upon the

season; trash cleared; siding power washed; kids’ stuff put neatly away—the

details matter. Bonus points for colorful landscaping or tasteful seasonal

decor.

Maintain the order. Once you’ve decluttered and

cleaned up both the inside and outside of your house, do your best to keep

things that way. Assume someone could be stopping by at any time and act

accordingly. Remind all family members, even if nagging is required, that they

share responsibility in keeping things nice. That means making sure everyone

stays on top of washing dishes, doing laundry, clearing surfaces, and the like.

Whenever you’re leaving the house, do a quick scan of things to make sure

everything’s neat and tidy. That way, if you’re away from home and someone

wants to look at the house, it’s ready.

Be honest. Don’t oversell features or hide broken

things. A home can be appealing without being deceptive. Otherwise, an

inspection will likely reveal what you’ve been hiding. And then you’ll find

yourself going back and forth negotiating over repairs or allowances/credits

that must be made, which can cost you both time and money when all is said and

done. That’s not to say you need to point out every scratch and scrape, but

represent the condition of things honestly. Your agent can showcase what’s

special about your house while also managing a potential buyer’s expectations.

Price your house right. A good price will bring

motivated buyers in quickly. Haggling and bidding wars take time. The right

price, even if it’s not your dream price, is more likely to result in a good

offer made quickly. Too high a price and you turn potential buyers off. Too low

and you take a financial hit and cause potential buyers to question what’s

wrong with the property that you’re willing to sell for too little. Your agent

knows what the local marketplace looks like and can help you find that pricing

sweet spot.

Promote your house. Get as many eyes on it as

possible. Your agent will be able to help with listing and posting/sharing via

his or her network. But you can do your part too. Share that it’s for sale.

Encourage your family and friends to do the same. Word of mouth, social

media—it’s all fair game. Does your house have an interesting history or unique

features? Tell its story. Storytelling can do so much more than pretty

pictures. And if you’ve got the story and the great photos, you’re in even

better shape.

**Give folks a feel for your

neighborhood.**

Don’t just include the minimum info about numbers of rooms and baths; give them

a sense of what it’s like to live in your current town. Where do people like to

gather? Who makes the best pizza? How close is the nearest movie theater, mall,

library, or park? People buy houses, but they crave community. So share what

your community is like.

Make yourself available. Easier said than done if

you’re juggling the sale of one house with the whole process of uprooting your

family to be planted wherever the military has decided. Still, say yes to as

many opportunities to show your home as you possibly can. Even if it means

asking someone to watch your kids or temporarily pet sit for you to make it

happen.

**Partner with a great real estate

agent. **There’s

a lot to be done if you’re going to get a good price on your home and get it

finalized quickly. Your agent is invaluable here. From helping you stage your

home, to listing and sharing it, to pre-qualifying potential buyers, to showing

it, and ultimately—ideally—to going through those fantastic offers you get, at

every stage of this process your agent is your advocate. A positive outcome is

in everyone’s best interest, and top-notch real estate agents will fight to

make that happen for you.

In a perfect world, your home sells quickly and for more than your asking price. But we don’t live in a perfect world. Keep in mind that a quick sale and a sale that yields the most income for you can be at odds with each other. Only you know how much or how little time you have before you need to be at your next duty station. Only you know what your bottom line is financially. Communicate this information honestly to your real estate agent so he or she can best represent your needs. And help you get as close to the best of both worlds as possible.