How Much Can I Sell My Home For?

 

The American dream often involves buying a home and is considered one of the biggest milestone moments. Buying a house isn’t easy, but it is a beautiful journey many people partake in. While there are some pain points to buying and keeping a home such as financial obligations, the cost of repairs, renovations, and regular maintenance. People often don’t mind putting money into their homes, whether that be because they see it as an investment or they plan on living in it forever. But, what happens when forever gets shortened? Now, you must sell your house…and after all the costs upfront and over the years have added up, how do you determine how much your home is worth? When deciding to sell, that is a very important factor to consider.

 

Ask This Question First

 

You’ve reached the conclusion that selling your home is the best move for your future. But before you dive into the process, ask yourself this question first: Why? Have you pin-pointed the reason that you want to sell? Does it make sense financially? Have you considered all possible outcomes? How will it benefit you?

 

There are endless reasons why people choose to sell their houses; personal preferences, cost, location. The list is essentially endless. But at the top of it all, there are three main reasons why people choose to sell their home. Let’s see if you belong to any of the following groups:

 

1. Home-related reasons – Most of the reasons people choose to relocate are related to the home itself. A family could have outgrown the space, or it may not be in the best location to raise kids. A related issue is changed in surroundings: it’s common for neighborhoods to evolve over the years, and perhaps the progression of where you’re living no longer correlates with your ideas. Maybe you’re looking to downsize! Taking care of a big yard isn’t something you want to do anymore, meaning a smaller home would better suit your lifestyle. Ultimately, falling into this category means you’ve decided it’s time to find a place that better meets your needs from a physical, home-related standpoint .
2. Money matters – the second reason why people sell is that they can no longer keep up with the financial requirements that come along with owning a home. These instances can range from minor to major. Maybe you can’t afford your mortgage. Maybe that pool in the backyard wasn’t such a great idea when you have to hire a cleaner to maintain it. Maybe your roof needs work, you need a new furnace, your appliances are outdated, and instead of replacing it all, it would be easier to just buy an entirely new home.  
3. Personal issues – for some, it’s less about wanting to sell and more about needing to sell their property due to personal reasons. Relocating to a different city or state because of a work transfer is an instance that forces people into selling their home. But reasons could be much more personal than that: maybe you want to be closer to friends, or family, or a significant other. Maybe you want to get away and start a new life in a place you’ve never been to before. Maybe you’re ready for retirement and living alone in a big house isn’t what you want anymore. Whatever the motive, you’re looking to sell your home for a reason that is personal to you and your life and you need to determine how much you can get for it.

 

How to Get the Most Out of Your House

 

Being sure of your decision to sell your house is the first step. Now it’s time to focus on numbers:  how can you make sure your home is valued where it should be?

 

Check online – the first thing that you need to do is to check online. This means you should be looking at the prices of the houses that were sold in your area within the past 12 months. This will give you a good idea about where your house should be sitting in comparison to the current market and a general idea of how much to expect. We recommend doing this before you hire an agent: that way, you already have an idea of what numbers you should be expecting to hear from your realtor. An easy starting point with a home valuation is to enter your address into an online home value estimator, which will immediately give with a free estimate of what your home is worth, based on square footage and recent home sales in the area.

 

Refer to a real estate agent – after doing your own research, you should have a few different realtors assess the price of your house. If you go this route, remember not to reveal the values given to you by each agent to one another. This way, you can have a balanced, honest opinion about your home from a variety of different professionals. The key here is finding the best evaluation of your house, and come up with the best price for it since you’ll be selling it yourself. 

 

Advertise – there are plenty of ways to advertise your house. You can do it the traditional way, distributing flyers with property details, contact information, and open house dates. Because things have taken a digital turn, it might be a better idea to advertise online. Facebook offers plenty of opportunities to put your home in front of the people you have a more personal connection to. You can join online communities/groups that discuss home sale and exchange ideas with one another. You can turn to other social media platforms, such as Instagram, that allows you to reach a wider range of people through tags, stories, and feed posts. It may take a while, but with patience, determination, and time, these methods are sure to help spread the word.

 

How Much Can Be Done to Sell Fast?

 

Once you have done all your research, spoken with agents, and compared prices, the last thing left to do is to actually sell your home! What’s the trick to selling quickly? Here are some simple tips that will help speed the process along:

 

First of all, clean your house. You don’t want your buyers to think that the previous owners were careless and didn’t maintain the property well. Of course, you’ll still be living in the home, so make it a habit to always clean up after yourself in order to avoid letting grime or dust build-up (which happens a lot quicker than you think).

 

You’ll also want to clear away anything that is personal. This means you should remove family photos, personalized accessories, and any other decorative pieces that are personal to you but irrelevant to a new buyer. You want potential buyers to envision themselves in your home, and that can be hard to do when mementos still remain all over the house. Getting rid of bulky, worn furniture is a must as it will clear out space and give the house a fresher feel. The bottom line in this instance is this: if it’s not visually appealing, get rid of it.

 

Adding a fresh coat of paint to the walls of a house can very well revive its glory and positively affect how much you can get for it. Buyers love a home that looks tidy, fresh, and new. Neutral tones work best because as mentioned, they allow potential buyers to really visualize where they can take each space and add their own creative touch. You can also invest in light fixtures and/or accessories to really give your home a bright feel. It must be noted that curb appeal is just as important: make sure your sidewalks are clean, the lawn is mowed, your plants are trimmed, and everything looks just as inviting on the outside as it does on the inside.

 

How Much Can You Make?

 

The amount you profit from your home will very much depend on the condition of the house itself. If it needs major repairs, then you might get lower offers as the new owners will have to step in and finance those fixes themselves. On the other hand, if you address all significant repairs before selling, your house will likely get a higher offer. Working with real estate agents will also be a big assist in getting the best value for your house. We recommend working with someone you can trust, especially if your aim is to get the most amount of money for your property. There are a lot of things to consider when it comes to selling a home, but being certain in your decision to do so is the first step. After that, educating yourself on the process and following the steps above will help greatly in your home selling journey.