There isn’t anything more disappointing than putting your lovely home on the market and getting few offers or maybe none at all! There’s an emotional attachment you have to your home: it may be where your family began or where you’ve grown up. And especially in Memphis, all that has been talked about in the recent news is how well the real estate business in Memphis has improved so greatly, with the greater demand and realistic prices. So with these two things in mind, you may be thinking “How could my home not be selling?!” Unfortunately, no matter what area of Memphis you live in, there are still some things you could be doing wrong that would make it harder for people to see in your house what you see. I want to let you in on a few tips that could greatly improve your house’s number of offers!
Poor Condition of Your House
No one wants to hear that their house doesn’t look as nice as the ones that surround it, but realistically, that’s a big problem that people face. Check out your neighbor’s houses. If yours looks that much less in value, it may not be just the neighborhood you live in. Check out your competition. Even if your house doesn’t exactly look sub-par, you’ll want to check out your competition. If you want your house to sell, you’ll have to outshine the majority of your neighbors, and you’ll especially want to exceed the homes that aren’t selling. You’ll want to look at the homes that are pending sales because that will tell you what is selling and what isn’t. You’ll also want to do any repairs and updates that you can. No one intends to move into a house that has even minor problems because they’ll have to take care of them. If real hardwood is what’s selling, and your hardwood floors are worn and have scuffs all over them, you’ll likely have to replace your hardwood to compete with these other houses. Also, don’t forget about curb appeal: if someone doesn’t feel the need to stop in front of your house when looking for potential homes, it doesn’t matter how it looks on the inside because they won’t be considering it.
Don’t Over-Improve
We did just talk about updating your home to compete, but you’ll also want to avoid over-improving, because you may end up pricing yourself out of the market. Every neighborhood in Memphis has its market rate, and if you live in an area with a $250k market rate, but your renovations have turned it into a $2M house, you’re going to end up losing money. People also want to turn a used house into their own, and there aren’t many people who’d want to move into a house that they can’t put their personality into. Expensive and (mostly) permanent renovations are going to limit the people who want to look at your home. You’ll want to have an updated but neutral looking house that isn’t cluttered with funky furniture to attract more potential buyers.
Take Good Photos!
What could be more unfortunate than having no considerations for your house just because there were no good pictures of it? Good photos of your home make all the difference. You’ll want to take several so that potential buyers can see multiple rooms and angles of the house. Here are a few tips on how to get good pictures of your home:
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Shoot with plenty of wide angles and good lighting.
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If a hallway is a little narrow, don’t get a picture of it. Try and get a close-up on a feature instead.
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Try and get several photos of the kitchen, because, for many people, this room is a selling point.
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Set the table before taking photos of the dining room to make it look more put-together.
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People want spacious living rooms, so try and spread out some furniture before taking a picture.
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Make sure to include yards or gardens.
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This should be a no-brainer, but please, don’t take a picture where your reflection is seen in a mirror.
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And lastly, for goodness sake’s, put your toilet lid down!
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You Didn’t Price It Right
To sell your home, you have to be a bit more lenient on price than you might have anticipated. Sure, you don’t want just to give away your house, but you also don’t want to put your house out on the market with an inflated price just to test it out. If you do, it will likely just sit on the market. What you want to do is look at the prices of the houses in your neighborhood or other houses that are similar to yours and see how yours compares. You will have to factor in whether or not you live in a not-so-good neighborhood, the school system you’re near, if you live near a busy street or not, or even if your house has a bad layout to it. If any of these pertain to you, then you won’t be able to sell your home as high of a price as you might want to. If you look at comparable houses and see that you have more updates while they might be on a quieter street, your house would go for about the same amount as theirs would. You should also anticipate listing your house for 2% less than the last comparable sale.
And Lastly, You Hired The Wrong Listing Agent!
Good real estate agents are hard to come by, and you want one that is honest with you, experienced, and knows what they’re doing. That’s why Judy McLellan is the best choice for you if you are looking at any area in Memphis. Why wouldn’t you pick the People’s Choice #1 Real Estate Agent for seven years in a row? Contact Judy today.
