Should I Sell my House in 2019?

With the 2019 spring season straight ahead, this may be the best time to sell your house.  And for buyers too, it may be the best time for them to buy.

How does that make sense? Right now there is a lot of demand yet buyers have held off. They’re waiting for prices to drop, but it’s more likely they will rise starting in May. The economy will start to roar again once the government shutdown and trade furors subside.

The most recent US economic report is positive with a 3.2% growth in GDP, low unemployment and interest rates that look to stay low. Once investors and homebuyers realize how good it is, we’ll see home prices rise.

Why Should You Sell your House?

  • highest demand season from buyers (April/May/June)
  • prices are good and potential for multiple bids is strong in some cities
  • construction has been brisk so new homes are arriving on the market
  • if you’re a baby boomer you need a new home that suits your needs and lifestyle
  • the economy is excellent and looking strong so you can take a chance
  • waiting for price peaks is not wise (e.g., homeowners have seen their home values plummet recently admidst the rising fear of a crash)

The point of selling your home is in getting the best price with good marketing, and exploring the options you have. Are you looking for a new job? Maybe its time to move to a new city. Wages are rising and each month 200k new jobs are being created. Would you like to move south?

In this post, you’ll discover 14 tactics to improve your selling price. We’re in a digital world, so please don’t rely on a traditional Realtor with no online presence. Maximum price depends on your ability to reach home buyers. That’s marketing. Everything’s about marketing.

Make sure you read the housing crash factors to zero in on issues in your local market or wherever you’re investing.

14 Ways to Get a Better Price for Your House

1. Find a Realtor with a great online marketing presence and then ask to be featured on that site. Make sure they advertise your home on Google and Facebook. Build preference right away. Exposing your home directly online is excellent because your selling proposition or offer is right in front of them. No vague promises but a real home for them to obsess over!

2. Promote your home for a while before putting it up for sale — set the foundation for getting a lot of bids. It takes time to get the message out to all potential buyers who may include foreign buyers. A fast sale will likely be below asking price.

3. Ensure your agent spends a lot of time contacting other real estate agents in your city since you want to access as many networks as possible. Ensure your agent is as accessible as possible to show the home and answer questions. Your agent should use SMS as much as possible because it enables fast communication.

4. Ensure you have a top notch video of your home highlighting its best features and about your great neighborhood and feature the prices of nearby homes too. Give the prospects the best context possible to see your home as the most desirable.

5. Hold a selling party and invite all your neighbors, family and friends. This is a very important event and you want the very best results. Any prospects showing up can meet the neighbors and that can be a good selling point. Don’t invite your crazy neighbors and ensure your family are nice and sociable.

6. Research local comparative homes for sale and previous solds and determine what was wrong with them and what features buyers liked.

7. Leave behind something really cool that they would like. If it’s a 55 inch screen TV, or buy a tasteful, new chandelier or expensive barbecue — something they’re bound to like. People are impressed with generosity. An instant heating water heater might be another feature that’s not expensive but highly desirable and influential.

8. Fix everything including broken faucets, door handles, floor squeaks, and make sure nothing annoying or embarrassing is visible which can ruin the mood of your showing.

9. Get your home professionally cleaned. Professional cleaners have super effective steam cleaning machines and solutions that get carpets, tiles and grout very clean.

10. Paint the interior rooms a neutral color. Given what you’re going to get for your home, don’t skimp on covering up the old, gloomy, or weird colors.

11. Clean up the yard and exterior surfaces of the home. Curb appeal is no joke. The buyers mood is set upon seeing your home from the street. Do a little landscaping, green up the grass, fix broken side walk pieces. Buyers are affected by how relaxing the yard, patio, or deck looks.

12. Have the home professionally staged. Home stagers know how to make homes look really inviting. They’ll increase the apparent value and make visitors want to linger in the home. The longer the buyers stick around the more they build their intent to buy.

13. Fix the roof and clean it. Getting the dull look out of the roof can make it look newer and reduce worries about it.

14. Promote and Sell your Home soon because for many people selling theirs and moving is easier in the May to August period.

Good Luck on the sale of your home. It is a wonderful thing you will be rewarded for all the years of hard work you spent in employment to buy it. I hope you view your home as an investment and not a keepsake.  It’ll help you achieve the right frame of mind to the results you hope for and need.