How to sell your home for the highest price possible

Why do some homes listed for sale languish on the market unsold for many months whereas others sell quickly in a few days or weeks? Realtors will tell you that if a home doesn't sell within 90 days it is probably overpriced. However, too high an asking price is not always the reason a home doesn't sell.

Whether you get top dollar for your home will depend on many factors, such as local economic conditions, supply of homes for sale, the number of buyers in the local marketplace, the physical condition of your home, the skill of your realty agent to properly market your home to as many qualified buyers as possible, and the desirability of your home compared to other nearby homes now available for sale.

Look at your home through a buyer's eyes

Pretend you are buying your home. Walk around each room and the exterior and jot down the good and bad aspects you would spot if you were buying your home. Look especially for the need to paint, clean and repair. Throw out unneeded items. The goal should be to get your home into "model home" condition if you want to get its best price possible.

For example, as I look at the living room of my home, if I were selling I would write down that it needs fresh paint, fireplace cleaning, new carpets, and furniture rearrangement to make the room look larger.  The cost? Less than $1,000 to present a neat, welcoming look for buyers, improve my home salability, and even increase its market value.

Most homes just need a "freshening up" to make them marketable for top dollar. New paint is the most profitable improvement you can make, so give serious thought to painting the interior and exterior.

Agents

When you are considering selling your home, contacting a Realtor is the next step. I offer a free, no obligation, market analysis for your property . I will conduct a CMA (Comparable Market Analysis) for your area. This will tell you which homes that are similar to yours have sold and what the listing and selling price was, among other valuable information. These facts are important when pricing your home. The way a property is marketed is crucial to its selling. An aggressive marketing strategy will get your home sold for the highest price possible, in the least amount of time. To find out about my aggressive marketing plan please feel free to call me at (501) 224-4111, or E-mail me at val@valhansen.com.