My 5 tips on how to sell your home…..quickly

When you’re selling your home all that you want is for the sale to go through quickly. Your decision to move has been made, and you’re probably dreaming about how you are going to decorate and furnish your next property. But for all that to happen you need to get the sale of your home complete, and this can be a fairly long winded process especially if there are many different people involved and you are in a long chain.

Everyone including you, your estate agent and your solicitor will want the sale tied up quickly so that they can get their money. But also so that there’s no wiggle room for your buyer to negotiate on a different price. I’ve recently sold a flat and bought a house, and I’ve learned a few tips and tricks on how to help move the sale through quickly. Hopefully these will help you if your home is on the market.

Get all your paperwork ready

This is super important as all solicitors will let no stone go unturned and they will want everything in place to pass onto the buyers solicitor. Before your home goes onto the market make sure you have all the paperwork for any work you have had completed on your home. This includes planning permission documents, building control documents, FENSA certificates if you’ve had new windows, boiler servicing documents and any electrical certificates. The list is endless. If you know you need a piece of paperwork and haven’t got it, make sure you retrospectively apply for it in good time as any missing paperwork will likely hold up your sale.

Make your home look beautiful on the inside and out

House prices are really high across the country and it is likely that any buyer will be spending all their budget to buy your home. To make your home really appealing to them make sure that there is no work for when they move in, giving your house curb appeal. If there are walls that need painting, chipped skirting to be repaired, damp patches to be rectified, make sure that these are all resolved before your home goes on the market. If your home could do with a kitchen makeover then do it. It doesn’t have to be a brand new kitchen, you could simply replace the handles, paint the units, or replace the worktop. This will make your home so much more attractive on the estate agent’s website. Plus it will attract interested buyers when they come round for viewings as they can see that there is no work to be done.

Choose a good estate agent

Select an estate agent that you know will do a good job selling your home for you. This doesn’t have to be the estate agent who values your home at the highest price. You need to consider how long the estate agent takes to sell similar properties, are they people friendly (you don’t want them putting off potential buyers, are they on your side (remember you will be working with them through the selling process), what’s their commission, do they know the local area well, do they have a number of potential buyers on their books, and can they help you buy your future home. My best advice here is to meet with three estate agents, get to know them, find out what they value your property at and choose one who you are most comfortable dealing with.

Dress your home

There are some simple clever tricks that you can do in your home to make it really appealing to any potential buyers coming through the front door. This includes laying the table as though it is set for dinner, playing soft music in the background, placing flowers in a vase, baking bread (this is a weird one, but it makes the house smell really nice), removing the post from the doormat, having lamps or lights on throughout the property, and making sure that all clutter is removed including family photos. The aim of this is to show the buyer what it is like to live in your home, and hopefully they can picture themselves living there.

Consider financial incentives

If you need to sell your home really quickly there are a number of financial incentives you can offer including paying the buyers solicitor fees, or agreeing to complete a number of improvements on your home for no additional cost. Or you could consider reducing your asking price, selling at auction, or use a quick sale company. These are often things that we don’t want to do, however if you do need to sell fast for whatever reason you may need to consider some more drastic financial options rather than just replacing the kitchen worktop.

So those are my 5 top tips on how to sell your home quickly. For even more ideas House Buy Fast have 57 tips to help you sell your current property quickly.

Good luck if you’re selling your home or about to sell your home, and if you’ve recently sold your home I would love to hear your tips for making a quick sale.

Claire x

This is a collaborative post with Home Buy Fast. All thoughts and opinions on how to sell your home quickly are my own.