The market has been hot in the Pittsburgh area. As a seller, you may ask yourself why some homes sit on the market for some time while others sell in a blink of an eye. The key is in the preparation you take prior to putting your home on the market. A quick sale of your home will take some upfront effort before putting the sign in your front yard.
Find the right Realtor to represent you.
An experienced real estate agent will provide you with answers to your questions, and provide an honest opinion of the condition of your home. This agent will be able to help you determine the right price to list your home to create great interest and possibly multiple offers. Working with an agent who invests in their continuing education is very important. I have obtained the Seller Residential Specialist (SRS) and the Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES) designations that have broadened my understanding and knowledge base. I have also been honored to receive Pittsburgh Magazine’s FIVE Star Realtor award from 2011-2016.
Clean and declutter your home.
The next step in preparing to sell your home is cleaning and decluttering. Clean every crack and crevice like you have never cleaned before! Most buyers will be looking carefully at everything. Be very careful to eliminate any pet or smoking odors in your home. Declutter your rooms, closets and basements as much as possible. I typically recommend painting with a fresh new color. If a buyer sees that your closets are stuffed they will feel that the closets will not be big enough for them either. An area to pay attention to is your front door. The buyer spends a fair amount of time at the front door waiting for their agent to get the key out of the lockbox. This is a big effort that will create big results!
Stage your home.
After you have cleaned and decluttered, you will need to stage your home. Staging isn’t necessarily how you “live” in your home. The idea behind staging is to make each room appear spacious and inviting. There is a lot of psychology to staging. You want your home to appeal to as many buyers as possible. Those taxidermy animal heads on the wall are a great accomplishment for hunters, but not everyone enjoys seeing Bambi starring at them as they walk through the home. I have resources available and I am happy to suggest ways to help you stage your home to create a desirable environment for buyers.
Price your home correctly.
You have carefully chosen a Realtor you trust. An experienced real estate agent will prepare a comparative market analysis for you. This informative document will include homes that have recently sold in your area, the list price, the selling price and how many days it took to sell. This information will be extremely important in getting the initial list price of your home accurate. Pricing your home correctly is a crucial step. If you list at a higher price and reduce the price after a few weeks, you could sell for less than if you priced it correctly from the start.
Make your home available for showings.
Try to be as flexible as possible with your showing schedule. Don’t make the available times for a buyer to tour your home so restrictive that it becomes impossible for people to get through the front door. I understand there are times that just won’t work for you. I can advise you on how to work around such times and still get those buyers in to see your home.
Our inventory is low and we are experiencing a seller’s market. If you have been considering selling your home, this just may be your golden opportunity. Put my 14 years of experience to work for you. The average days on the market for my listings in 2016 was only 18 days! I will help you to get your home SOLD in this HOT Pittsburgh Real Estate market.
Find out more about me and my services at my website YourPittsburghRealEstateAgent.com.
Contact me for a free consultation to see how I can help you get your home SOLD by phone at 412-848-3907 or email at Kim.Henderson@pittsburghmoves.com. I look forward to hearing from you!
