11 Tips: Sell your Home for more Money than your Neighbor’s
Selling a home for more than your neighbors takes the right mix of ingredients.
In July, a Realtor® brought a buyer to one of our north Raleigh listings and made an offer. We countered at list price. She came back significantly closer to our list price, however my seller and I were confident in our price so we countered again by saying we would accept their offer at list price. She then told us “you will never sell that home at that price.” She cited one home on the street that was comparable which sold for less. We respected her opinion and pointed to the fact that homes in Raleigh are selling 20 days faster and for 10% more than when that home sold a few months ago. That’s when the phone call took a turn for the worse…
She was upset we didn’t take her buyer’s offer so she took it out on me through the phone. She said things like ‘Do you know who I am?’ and told me all about how great of a real estate agent she is. At that point it was no longer about trying to do what was right for her client, it became about her ego.
Our client’s home sold a few days later for over asking price and for more than the neighbor’s house.
To sell a house for the most money, and in the shortest timeframe possible, you’ll want to ensure you utilize the tips within this article. We are sharing just 11, so if you have some of your own please drop us a line in the comments section below to help readers!
Hiring a top local Realtor® is a great place to start before preparing your home for sale because they can assist you every step of the way. Chances are that if it’s your first time selling a house, you won’t know where to begin. You’ll want to enlist the help of a professional Real Estate Agent to get started. It’s a bit intimidating going to the market as a seller, and going without the right strategy can prevent your home from selling, and keep you from netting the most money possible.
So without further ado, here it is…
How to Sell Your Home For More Than Your Neighbors
Positive Mindset When Selling Real Estate
Whether you’re selling real estate in Raleigh, NC or anywhere in the world, you can only control what is within your control. You have the ability to be happy, energetic and positive, or to be sad, lazy, and negative. Which do you think will help sell your home?
Having a positive mindset is one of the most important aspects to selling real estate. A negative mind shuts down and stays closed when problems occur. Negative owners and Realtors say things like ‘this home will never sell,’ ‘I’m too tired to sell this house,’ ‘I don’t want to answer the phone.’ When the going gets tough, a negative mindset shuts down.
A positive mindset embraces problems and approaches them in the exact opposite manner. When you keep a positive mindset you can literally handle anything life throws at you. A happy person creates positive energy, which has a direct impact on their activity levels and allows them to sell real estate fast and for top dollar.
When hiring a local Realtor you will want to ensure it’s someone who you can work with and can stay positive. A lot of great Real Estate Agents spend time in the gym or exercising and that’s where they are able to blow off steam. When it’s time to work, they are ready to tackle the next set of challenges.
Prepare your House to Sell
Want to sell your house for more than your neighbors? Take the way you prepare your home for sale seriously.
First, make your estate look great. Then prepare for professional photography and video marketing.
If you have a Realtor® walking into your house and taking photos with the latest iPhone you should be nervous. The iPhone takes incredible pictures, and a lot of Realtors® can do a terrific job with the photography and video marketing they create. More often than not an iPhone is not the way to go.
Here are some great statistics to prove you can sell your home faster and for more money with professional photography.
For each price range above the graph represents the dollar amount closer to list price a home sold for with professional photography versus amateur photography. For instance, if your home is listed between $500,000 and $699,999 you will see more than an $8,000 dollar in sale price on average.
The likelihood of your home selling at or above list price is 31% higher when you use professional photography. For sale is not a destination, sold is. Sharp photos put sold signs in front yards. For every home we list for sale in Raleigh, NC we hire professional photographers to get the job done right!
As a homeowner you have the opportunity to create an incredible first impression when buyers see it. Guess where they’re most likely to see it first? Online. Make it count with great photos. Where do they see it second? When they pull up. Great landscaping and curb appeal matters when selling your property!
Know Your local Real Estate Market Trends!
In order to sell real estate for top dollar you’ll need to know your local market trends and compare that to your competition, the other available homes for sale. Information is power when selling homes. If your local market experiences a recent appreciation of 10% in less than sixty days, with homes selling 30% faster, than you know it’s appropriate to price your home for more than you would if it was a declining market.
If you’re looking to stay updated on Raleigh Real Estate you can preview our most recent monthly video and infographic:
We utilize video to report real estate news to buyers and sellers in Raleigh. In 75 seconds less you will be up to date on Raleigh Real Estate.
For the buyers and sellers who are visual learners we utilize infographics that are easy to understand and give a year over year comparison. In our video segment we discuss trends from previous months and how they are impacting the current local housing market.
Hire a TOP LOCAL REALTOR®!
Selling a home alone is a way to save on the commission you would normally pay to a Realtor. There are many reasons why you’ll make less money by trying to save on the commission you’d normally pay a Real Estate Agent. How you net the highest profit when selling your home is by using the best selling strategies and professional marketing. From professional photography, videos, and online marketing, to asking the right questions to discover a potential buyers pain points and motivation. Maybe they have a long commute, or they are looking for more space because the family is growing. Tap into their motivation that’s causing them to look at homes and help them figure out if it’s the right fit. Don’t force it on them.
If you’re going to sell your property for more than the home across the street you will want to hire a local Real Estate Agent.
Make Adjustments to your Estate
By making adjustments to your home you can increase your return on investment. There are a lot of great, low cost, home improvements to increase your home’s value. If you’re selling a home in a luxury price point you’ll have to be sure the main living areas are in their best condition. You can’t sell a million dollar home with a crappy kitchen. What you can do is make an adjustment.
One of the first things you need to do is discover your weak spots. Then assess your neighbors homes and whether or not they shared the same weak spots when their home sold. If you discover that their home didn’t have the same weak spots, and that it’s going to reflect on the price you’ll want to make the adjustment. Good Real Estate Agents are going to be comparing your home to the comparable properties in the neighborhood. So it could take a $5,000-$10,000 remodel to raise your homes value by $15,000 to $20,000.
If you walked into a home with the kitchen on the left for $280,000 and then into a different house for $299,999 with the kitchen on the right… would you spend the extra $20,000?
Market your House Unlike Anyone else!
In order to sell your property for more than the houses on your street you’ll want to make sure it’s marketed correctly. There are a lot of strategies that Realtors use to market homes, placing it on the MLS and letting it syndicate out to tens of thousands of website is not marketing. You should use prospecting techniques and work hard to sell your listings. Don’t sit on the couch and wait for the phone to ring. You want everyone to know that your home is for sale, that includes your neighbors.
Check out how Andrew Fortune is marketing homes in Colorado Springs. This is unlike 99% of Realtors. Buyers who see this video are instantly going to show it to their friends.
Set the Right Price from the Get Go
One of the fastest ways to ruining the value of your home is to overprice it. You’ll attract the type of Real Estate Agents who wont be honest with you, or just don’t understand the harmful effects of overpricing a home. Do you want your home to sit or do you want it to sell?
If you’re listing your home for sale, be ready to sell it at a price that causes someone to buy it!
A Realtor® friend of mine was honest with a seller earlier this year about his unrealistic expectations for the price of his home in Holly Springs. Instead of understanding that she was helping him by being upfront and honest, he took it personally and felt insulted that she thought he was overpricing it. So he hired the Real Estate Agent who would price it where he wanted it.
A common mistake sellers make is pricing their home far above it’s market value. Sometimes it takes awhile for them to realize, and by then it is potentially too late to save it from the DOM (Days on Market). A lot of buyers and agents may write a home off simply because of the number of days on market. They assume something must be wrong with the home.
Create a Pressure Tank of Buyers
What’s your ‘go to market’ strategy when you list a home for sale. Do you have a certain day and time? When we sell homes in Raleigh we list them on Thursday and market the heck out of an open house during a 2 hour time frame that first weekend. This creates what we call ‘a pressure tank of buyers.’
People want to buy what others want and have. When there are multiple people showing up to see a home at the same time it creates a sense of urgency, and, it demonstrates social proof that other buyers are interested.
In business, a product is given a social value, whether it’s an iPhone, a Tesla, or a home. Do you really think Apple runs out of iPhones every year? Of course not. They know exactly how many iPhones they are going to sell and limit that number so they can market ‘how fast we ran out of them!’ This type of buzz creates a social value for their product. People start talking about it ‘wow, did you hear Apple sold 5 million iPhones the first weekend, they are sold out!’ Then magically a few days later there are millions more!
Ask the Right Questions
For those of you who are trying to sell, sell, sell by pushing homes on people there is a good chance you’re doing more damage than good. If that’s the approach you take you will need a large pool of buyers because your conversion rates will decrease.
If someone walks into a listing of yours the first thing you want to do is establish rapport, and ask ‘so what brought you in today?’ This is a simple question that will help you discover the buyer’s motivation. They will tell you why they are there, and it helps them realize what they are there for.
Asking buyers what they are looking for and what they want in a home is going to help you determine whether or not it’s an appropriate fit.
Follow up Properly in Real Estate
Whether you are following up with buyers or the buyer’s agent you’ll want to make sure you are prepared to decode the message when you’re given feedback.
What you shouldn’t do when following up with potential buyers. Don’t be rude. Don’t be angry. Don’t be sensitive. Ask politely for feedback and make sure people know they can be blunt with you because you appreciate the truth. Let people know they don’t have to worry about hurting your feelings!
Stay Strong on your List Price
If you follow all of the tips above there is no reason you shouldn’t stay firm on your price. Anyone who is interested in your home is interested at the price you have it listed. So while your neighbors may have fallen a bit on their price during negotiations there is no reason you have to. Stay firm and see what happens.
If you do everything professionally and politely there is always the opportunity to go back and accept the buyers offer you had already declined.
Final Thoughts:
Selling your home for more money than your neighbor’s is something you can accomplish by using the tips from this article. We did it.
We had significant help from our local real estate market appreciating and selling faster, however had we not known with full confidence what the local trends were, we may have sold them for $10,000 less. The initial offer was appealing to my seller. Knowing the right price from the get go is important, and being confident in your marketing and selling strategies will help you to stay strong on your price.
With these 11 tips you will be confident in your approach, and you will increase your percentages of selling homes for the most money on the street!
At Raleigh Realty, we sell homes in Raleigh for 99.4% of list price and in 12 days on average.
These stats don’t happen by accident, they happen because we are intentional about our marketing and selling strategies. We learn from some of the best Realtors®, and apply the techniques they use to get homes sold fast and for the most money.
We are so confident in our work ethic, marketing and selling strategies that you wont have to find a way out of your contract with your Realtor, we will happily part ways if you aren’t pleased!