How to Sell a Home Faster and for Higher the Price
By: Eric Huesca, SEO Content Writer
January 19, 2023
Getting solar has helped the majority of homeowners in saving money and has simultaneously helped them make money with the equity it brings to their homes. If you have installed a solar system on your home, you might be pondering what to expect and what happens when the time comes to sell your house.
Selling homes equipped with solar panels is easier than most people think. It only takes knowing and understanding the ins and outs of what buyers want and being aware of the potential difficulties. In the majority of cases, having solar panels in your home actually boosts your home’s value, appeals to more buyers, and enables homes to be sold faster.
Beautiful home with solar panels installed on a clay roof.
The real estate market is more competitive now than ever, with buyers being savvy and, in most instances, not ready to compromise or settle for anything less. This is because most homeowners are looking to buy a lifestyle, not just a home.
While the real estate market has continued looking good for homeowners, there are plenty of challenges homeowners have to face, along with the number of homes, price competitions, etc., that make it harder to sell homes.
With the substantial demand for homes from buyers, this is probably the best time to put your home on the market. Still, there are a couple of things homeowners need to consider to ensure selling a home fast and for a higher price.
According to Kevin Shaw, the National Sales Director at Leaders, Spring is one of the most feasible times to put up homes for sale. This is when several people make new plans and take advantage of the pleasant weather to check out different homes. This boosts demand for home purchases, making it an outstanding opportunity for those who want to sell.
Indeed, there are various steps in selling a home. The entire process can be daunting and stressful, especially if you have a tight deadline. Luckily, whether you want to sell your home fast due to a life event (e.g., divorce), a new job, shifting to a new state, or financial reasons, there are always ways to expedite the process and sell your house faster and at a higher price.
The longer your house remains unsold, the more likely it will sell for less. As a result, the window to demand a higher value is less than you might anticipate. If you do not have a big budget to prepare your home and get it sell-ready, focus on that first impression of your home that potential buyers will see upon seeing your home for the first time.
It takes mere seconds for buyers to decide, a few from the curb and the others as soon as they step into your home. As a seller, it’s worth making those first few seconds count with an excellent agent, a robust financial offer, and a spruced-up house.
Restore and Revamp the Property
Preparing your home for potential buyers and viewers is an integral process, as it not only ensures your home will sell faster but at a higher sale price, potentially adding hundreds of thousands of worth money to its value. Based on your home’s current state, you might need to start with the preparations a few weeks before opening the doors of your home to the world.
Rest assured, you can always make some home improvements that boost the value of your home and make your property appear more expensive. Having said that, here are some tips for selling a home, so it shows well and sells faster and for the highest possible value.
1. Declutter but don’t depersonalize
It is best to get rid of accumulated items by either selling them, putting them in storage, giving them away or donating them, or discarding them. Consider throwing away bulky furniture that makes the room appear small and replace it with more miniature furniture.
People must be able to envision what the house would look like if they dwelled there. This can be done by allowing them to view the fantastic living space. Still, it should look less like a generic hotel and more like a home with a personality and life, as people mostly buy into a lifestyle just as much as they are purchasing a property.
2. Maximize curb appeal
The majority of buyers make up their minds about buying a home or not in the first few seconds of arriving at a property and seeing it. This is where sellers should focus on maximizing their curb appeal, which refers to a property’s aesthetic attractiveness and the ability to create a lasting first impression viewed from some distance by a prospective buyer.
The most essential features for curb appeal are a roof in good condition and well-maintained doors and windows. A well-maintained garden, fences, pathways, and well-painted frontage are other things that add to a home’s curb appeal. You can significantly enhance your home’s curb appeal and value and sell it faster by making a few minimalistic updates to your home’s exterior.
3. A fresh coat of paint
Applying a fresh coat of neutral paint to the walls of your home will make it seem bigger and lighter. It allows viewers to better envision how they’ll adapt the rooms to their requirements. Moreover, it becomes easier for buyers to move in and use the rooms immediately instead of having them repainted.
4. Fix and clean
Most buyers prefer sellers selling a home as is, and they can move in without making any changes. If you observe any broken door knobs, chipped walls, holes in walls, cracked tiles, or threadbare or torn carpets, have them repaired.
Clean everything till it looks as good as new. Clean and repair tile grout, get rid of limescale, eliminate foul odors, wax the wooden floors, hang up fresh towels, and add to the aesthetics of the house to make it more appealing and allow viewers to envision living there.
5. Update the kitchen
Indeed, the kitchen is the most essential and valuable room in a house. It’s worth the most per square foot and can make or break the deal when prospective buyers and viewers are unsure. If your kitchen is not up to the mark, consider refacing the entire kitchen cabinetry.
This is much cheaper and more effective than installing new cabinetry and can significantly add to your home’s value and, thus, sell for a higher price. The next thing to consider revamping is your kitchen countertops, which are costly but can add some serious value.
Before showing, declutter the surface and leave a bowl of fruit out. Finally, move out any bulky appliances that aren’t in use.
6. Get the right smells
Good and fragrant smells can make your home feel more inviting and alluring. Bad smells can seriously repel viewers and potential buyers. Hence, instead of just covering them up, it is wise to fix the foul odor and smell’s source.
Wash the bins, clear the drains, air the kitchen from cooking smells, open the windows, get rid of furniture laden with cigarette smoke, and wash grimy and dusty bed sheets.
7. Light and airy
Making the place feel airy and bright makes rooms feel bigger and adds to the attractiveness of your home. Wall mirrors make rooms appear much lighter and bigger, so it is best to put some up along the hallways or in smaller rooms.
Do not forget to clean the windows inside and out and replace broken or faulty light bulbs. Where there are dark corners, you can add lamps to elevate the room’s overall appearance. In addition, you can also light a fire on a chilly day or a cold evening to make your home feel cozy, warm, and more inviting.
List it on More Home Selling Sites
Real estate websites appeal to many homeowners every month, primarily because they add value for sellers and buyers. Buyers can come across thousands of homes within a few hours from the ease and comfort of their homes, whereas sellers are also in for the win.
These sites enable hundreds of thousands of sellers to list their beloved homes in the market, along with their pictures and top features to sell a home. Most of these sites provide each home’s service features, real estate tips for residential real estate experts, and their fees.
Selling or buying a home can be daunting and troublesome without knowing which website to try. To give you a head start for selling your home, here are 3 sites you can refer to.
1. Zillow.com
Zillow.com is an excellent real estate website for people wanting to sell their homes. It is a top-recommended site as it lets you browse for foreclosure and newly constructed homes.
Since its launch in 2006, Zillow has become the go-to site for all real estate aspects and is an excellent site to list your home for sale. It enables users to search over 110 million homes in its extensive database (including dwellings on and off the market), find experienced agents, calculate mortgages, check out design galleries, and get an estimate of homes.
When working with a realtor, you will benefit from selling support at every step, from preparing and listing your home to marketing that invites potential buyers to your door.
2. Realtor.com
Zillow.com is an excellent real estate website for people wanting to sell their homes. It is a top-recommended site as it lets you browse for foreclosure and newly constructed homes.
Since its launch in 2006, Zillow has become the go-to site for all real estate aspects and is an excellent site to list your home for sale. It enables users to search over 110 million homes in its extensive database (including dwellings on and off the market), find experienced agents, calculate mortgages, check out design galleries, and get an estimate of homes.
When working with a realtor, you will benefit from selling support at every step, from preparing and listing your home to marketing that invites potential buyers to your door.
3. Trulia.com
As per its website, Trulia.com goes far beyond the usual listings, informing users about neighborhoods and properties. Like Zillow.com, it’s ideal for browsing and listing homes for sale and researching mortgage rates and market information.
Still, it also acquires data on multiple lifestyle factors in a community, such as market trends, crime, demographics, school districts, etc.
Find a Good Realtor
If you wish to sell your home quickly and at a considerably higher price, hiring a real estate agent is essential. Remember that sellers are often responsible for paying commissions to both the seller and buyer agent.
In exchange for an agent’s convenience, you will most likely be on the hook for a selling commission between 2 to 4% of your selling price.
Finding and choosing a good realtor and allowing them to conduct your showings can significantly help sell your home quicker and at a higher price since it is their job to know what to highlight, what to say to attract the prospects, and what to downplay.
While hiring a realtor comes at a cost, an ideal realtor will have adequate know-how of the local market and an excellent sales record, proving they know how to close the deals.
A real estate agent’s job is to help you throughout the entire process. They will oversee the professional photographer responsible for clicking top-notch pictures of your home and negotiate at the best possible price.
In addition, they’ll write up a real estate listing that sells, market your home to get it seen and sold, and schedule and host showings. Even though the majority of real estate agents demand a hefty commission, sometimes even between 5 to 6% of your home’s actual sale price, it’s probably not a good idea to sell your home on your own.
In general, a good agent will have your best interests at heart. They’ll help you determine a fair and market-competitive sale price for your home, thus boosting your chances of making a quick sale.
Apart from that, agents can also help tone down the emotion of the process by communicating with prospects and getting rid of tire kickers who want to view your house but have no real intention of buying it or even making an offer.
Real estate agents have considerable experience negotiating home sales, helping you get more money than you will by selling your home on your own. If any issues arise during the process, you can rely on an experienced professional to tackle them.
Finally, realtors are familiar with the pitfalls and the ton of paperwork involved in real estate transactions. They can ensure the process goes smoothly, indicating there won’t be any unexpected legal complications or delays in the deal.
Know that your home is the most significant asset that needs to be put into the hands of a reliable and trustworthy agent. From negotiating on your behalf and advertising in the right places to presenting it at its best and managing the complete process – the right realtor is crucial for a smooth, seamless, and successful sale.
Get Solar Panels Installed on Your Property
For the majority of homebuyers, solar panels are a huge selling point. Besides the fact that solar panel systems call for very little maintenance, they can also minimize or eventually exclude utility bills, boost home value, and enable homeowners to take advantage of money-saving credits and tax rebates.
As per the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, homes with solar panels sell 20% faster and for 17% higher prices than those without. There’s no reason to believe these numbers fall as more households and companies across the nation are displaying increased interest in a cleaner, more sustainable, and renewable energy source.
Before installing solar panels in your home, it’s essential to find out what home equity is, how a solar power system affects the debt to equity, and whether it adds value to your home. The value of your home, minus any mortgages or loans secured against it, is called home equity. It refers to the land area you can legitimately and rightfully claim as your own.
To determine this, you must take the difference between the value placed by an appraiser on your home and the amount still owed on your mortgage. This equity tends to grow gradually if your home’s value increases.
The return on equity (ROE) increase might result from a home enhancement or merely the outcome of owning a home in appreciating real estate market value. Luckily, solar panel installations can significantly add to your home’s equity, so those interested in selling their homes must consider installing solar panels to sell their property faster and at a higher value.
Any improvement that saves energy will minimize your monthly utility expenses for as long as you have ownership over your property. These changes appeal more to potential buyers when the time comes to sell your home. Most purchasers are drawn towards energy-efficient features as it enables them to minimize their expenses as homeowners
Equity in Solar
Even though home sellers need to invest a significant amount of money to power their homes with solar energy, solar panel investments might be worthwhile due to their considerable benefits.
Besides saving money on long-term energy expenses and minimizing your carbon footprint, installing solar panels can boost a home’s ROE. With the help of installing solar panels, your home can appeal to more prospects in the future.
An extensive study was conducted on solar homes in 8 states by the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab of the US Department of Energy on solar homes between 2002-2013. The primary aim was to determine to what extent the solar panel installation influences home buyers and your home’s equity.
The study depicted that buyers in six states were willing to spend $15,000 more for homes equipped with solar panel systems than homes of the same value and size without solar panels.
In addition, further studies have shown that the decrease in your electricity bills per month and the growth in long-term energy savings are closely and significantly linked to the increase in your home’s value.
The NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) provided data from a study. As per its findings from 2008, American home equity rises by $20 for every $1 saved on utility costs per annum. A solar energy system that can aid homeowners in saving $500 per year can boost a value of a whopping $10,000 to their home.
With this boost in their home’s worth, real estate brokers and sellers can escalate their asking price and easily justify it. This way, sellers and buyers can gain significantly from the higher resale value of buying an energy-efficient home.
Looking to get a solar panel for your home? We at Solgen Power have got you covered and can help you find the ideal solar package that best matches your needs, no matter how big or small your home is. Click here to see if you can sign up for the $0 Down Solar Program at Solgen Power in just minutes.
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