Sell My House Fast

If you’re selling one property and buying another, chances are you will want to line up both the sale and purchase so you can move straight from one home to the other.  The best financial strategy, after all, is to avoid having to pay two mortgages at one time or take out an expensive bridging loan.

For a quick and efficient sale it is best to make all the necessary improvements to your house before it is listed. This way you will attract those serious buyers who are on the look out for a For Sale sign or a listing in your area.

Depending on the state of the market – whether there are more buyers than properties or the other way around – an attractive property still may not sell fast, but it is important that your ‘product’, meaning your property, is ready to go first.

If the market is slow you might need to ‘adjust your expectations’.  Essentially, this means reducing your asking price. This can be a difficult choice, because often we have an idea of what the house will sell for and what we are going to do with the proceeds.  Making the price of your house lower may put the purchase of your next investment in jeopardy.

However, if a quick sale is what you want, you will need to consider lowering your price. Either that or perhaps take your property off the market until things improve (either your house or the market!)

Attracting buyers with an attractive price

People often take the ‘used car’ approach to selling their property. They figure they’ll put the price high and interested buyers will come and haggle and bargain the price down.

Believe it or not, putting a high price on your house is not the best strategy. In fact, there is every reason to believe that, in the property market, it will actually work against you. The longer you hold out for the price you want, the less likely it is that you will get it.

To sell a house fast, think of your property less like a used car and more like an item on Ebay. On Ebay, you put your item up for sale and start the price low. Bidders are excited because they think they have a really good chance of getting this great item for a bargain. Very soon other interested buyers begin to put their bids in and begin competing against each other.  

As happens at auctions, when someone bids on an item, for a short while, they feel the item is theirs. In effect, they have closed the deal with their bid. Thus, when someone else puts in a higher bid they feel that person has ‘stolen’ their item and they need to bid again to get it back. This begins to bump the price up as each bidder competes to ‘win’ the day. 

So, because serious buyers come through within the first few weeks, by making your price attractive, you will draw those keen buyers first and in the best case scenario, this strategy may result in a ‘bidding war’.  This can take your price up - sometimes over the initial asking price.

This is where having an experienced and successful estate agent working for you comes in very handy.  Every time a bid is made, your agent takes that call and needs to handle those potential buyers very carefully to keep them in the race.

Negotiating

The starting point for the bidding is the asking price. The potential buyer knows that price and they will call your real estate agent and let them know what they are willing to pay. That is the first bid.

Previously, because you are so very organised, you and your agent will have agreed on the lowest bid you are prepared to take. However, this is not something you or the agent will tell the potential buyer.

The first offer is your buyers guess at how low you are prepared to sell for.  In most cases, if the buyer has actually found out what your lowest price is, they will start at that price and offer a lower price. This is why you don’t want the buyer to know what you are prepared to take.

The Qualified Buyer

It would be a shame to go through the entire process – getting your house ready, finding an agent, listing the property, having people come through it, negotiate through the Sale of Contract – only to find that the buyer cannot get the funds to buy the house. This is an ‘unqualified’ buyer.

A qualified buyer, on the other hand, is a serious potential buyer who has the funds, or the financial backing of a lender, to go ahead and purchase your property.

Your buyer can ask their lender for a letter of prequalification that states their financial and credit information has been reviewed and looks positive. This is not a guarantee the buyer will be able to get the loan, but lets you know whether there is a chance the buyer will have to pull out of the transaction. 

If you’re selling one property and buying another, chances are you will want to line up both the sale and purchase so you can move straight from one home to the other.  The best financial strategy, after all, is to avoid having to pay two mortgages at one time or take out an expensive bridging loan.

For a quick and efficient sale it is best to make all the necessary improvements to your house before it is listed. This way you will attract those serious buyers who are on the look out for a For Sale sign or a listing in your area.

Depending on the state of the market – whether there are more buyers than properties or the other way around – an attractive property still may not sell fast, but it is important that your ‘product’, meaning your property, is ready to go first.

If the market is slow you might need to ‘adjust your expectations’.  Essentially, this means reducing your asking price. This can be a difficult choice, because often we have an idea of what the house will sell for and what we are going to do with the proceeds.  Making the price of your house lower may put the purchase of your next investment in jeopardy.

However, if a quick sale is what you want, you will need to consider lowering your price. Either that or perhaps take your property off the market until things improve (either your house or the market!)

Attracting buyers with an attractive price

People often take the ‘used car’ approach to selling their property. They figure they’ll put the price high and interested buyers will come and haggle and bargain the price down.

Believe it or not, putting a high price on your house is not the best strategy. In fact, there is every reason to believe that, in the property market, it will actually work against you. The longer you hold out for the price you want, the less likely it is that you will get it.

To sell a house fast, think of your property less like a used car and more like an item on Ebay. On Ebay, you put your item up for sale and start the price low. Bidders are excited because they think they have a really good chance of getting this great item for a bargain. Very soon other interested buyers begin to put their bids in and begin competing against each other.  

As happens at auctions, when someone bids on an item, for a short while, they feel the item is theirs. In effect, they have closed the deal with their bid. Thus, when someone else puts in a higher bid they feel that person has ‘stolen’ their item and they need to bid again to get it back. This begins to bump the price up as each bidder competes to ‘win’ the day.

So, because serious buyers come through within the first few weeks, by making your price attractive, you will draw those keen buyers first and in the best case scenario, this strategy may result in a ‘bidding war’.  This can take your price up - sometimes over the initial asking price.

This is where having an experienced and successful estate agent working for you comes in very handy.  Every time a bid is made, your agent takes that call and needs to handle those potential buyers very carefully to keep them in the race.

Negotiating

The starting point for the bidding is the asking price. The potential buyer knows that price and they will call your real estate agent and let them know what they are willing to pay. That is the first bid.

Previously, because you are so very organised, you and your agent will have agreed on the lowest bid you are prepared to take. However, this is not something you or the agent will tell the potential buyer.

The first offer is your buyers guess at how low you are prepared to sell for.  In most cases, if the buyer has actually found out what your lowest price is, they will start at that price and offer a lower price. This is why you don’t want the buyer to know what you are prepared to take.

The Qualified Buyer

It would be a shame to go through the entire process – getting your house ready, finding an agent, listing the property, having people come through it, negotiate through the Sale of Contract – only to find that the buyer cannot get the funds to buy the house. This is an ‘unqualified’ buyer.

A qualified buyer, on the other hand, is a serious potential buyer who has the funds, or the financial backing of a lender, to go ahead and purchase your property.

Your buyer can ask their lender for a letter of prequalification that states their financial and credit information has been reviewed and looks positive. This is not a guarantee the buyer will be able to get the loan, but lets you know whether there is a chance the buyer will have to pull out of the transaction.