Do you need to sell your house in Farmers Branch, TX fast?
Your next decision involves how you will put your house up for sale. However, the method you choose will have a lot to do with determining how long the sale takes.
5 Mistakes to Avoid When Selling Your Farmers Branch, TX House
Selling a house is a complex process, and there are many steps involved.
Making an error at any point along the way can have big consequences down the line. Let’s review a few common mishaps that can pop up, and how to avoid them.
1. Getting Emotional About The Sale
Many of us tend to get attached to our homes in one way or another. This is especially true if you’ve lived in your residence for a long time, or if you have especially fond memories of holidays, births, and other major life milestones there.
On the other hand, strong negative impulses may have you ready to get out of the house as quickly as possible. It could be divorce, the passing of a loved one, or an endless parade of costly repairs that have you ready to move on.
Regardless, it’s essential to set your feelings aside when the time comes to sell your house. It’s a business decision, and one with big financial implications.
Your emotions can cloud your judgment when considering offers or making arrangements to prepare for sale. Either way, an emotional decision could end up costing you at closing time.
2. Hiring an Agent – Or Not
This is a tough one, because it’s essential to the overall sale process, and your success can hinge on it.
Using a real estate agent or broker can take a lot of the pressure off of you. A good agent will take care of listing, marketing, and negotiating with buyers.
But that help comes at a price – typically around 6 percent of the final sale total.
Going it alone, also known as “for sale by owner” or FSBO, can save you a lot of money and keep you in control of the sales process, from start to finish.
However, you’ll have to put in a lot more time and effort, and you still might end up selling for a lower price than you would with an agent on your side.
Either way, it’s important to do your homework and carefully research the pros and cons of using an agent before you decide.
3. Setting an Unrealistic Price
Everyone wants to get the most bang for their buck when they sell a house, condo, duplex, townhouse, or other real estate.
But just because the house down the street sold for an eye-popping amount doesn’t mean you can or will get the same result.
You will, of course, want to consider the final sale prices (not list prices) of other homes in your neighborhood, ZIP code, and city when you price your home. But there are other factors buyers will consider as well.
What schools are zoned to your address? When was your house built? What features does it have? What is its current condition? How big is the yard?
Considering these and dozens of other factors will help you find the right price to attract buyers, and keep your own expectations in check.
4. Expecting the Asking Price From Buyers
Speaking of expectations: while it’s important to get the initial list price right, you shouldn’t plan on getting that amount, either.
In a typical market, most buyers will be angling to get a better deal. They’ll want to see how much you’ll be willing to shave off the price to address their concerns about any issues the house may have.
Depending on the age and condition of your house, you may need to be prepared to settle for less than the first asking price you set.
However, in a hot sellers’ market, the list price really is just a starting point. You can be quickly inundated with eager buyers trying to outbid each other. If you’re lucky enough to be selling in those conditions, congratulations!
5. Cutting Corners with Photos
There are plenty of times when taking too many photographs can be a bad idea. Selling your house isn’t one of them.
You may be tempted to just use a few pictures of your house as viewed from the street, living room, kitchen, and bathrooms, and call it a day.
But in the digital age, buyers are eager to do their preliminary house-shopping online, and they’ll want to see everything they can before they decide to request an in-person showing.
Make sure you photograph the house from every angle, inside and out. Show off the spacious backyard, the smartly-designed kitchen, the comfy bedrooms, the tidy garage – everything you can think of!
While quantity is important, quality is even more so. Just 10 great-looking photographs will do more to market your house than 100 bad ones. Nobody wants to sift through blurry, out-of-focus, crooked, or poorly-lit images just to get a rough idea of what your house looks like.
How to Sell Your Farmers Branch, TX House for Top Dollar
Getting the most out of the sale of your house depends on a number of factors. Let’s review a few.
Choose the Right Time to Sell
This is pretty straightforward: generally speaking, you’ll want to avoid trying to sell your house in the winter, especially around the holiday season.
Instead, aim for springtime, when more homebuyers are shopping. Some experts say the sweet spot is around early May.
Of course, your circumstances may mean you can’t wait that long. You can sell your house fast in Farmers Branch, TX by working with a cash investor, such as Local Cash Buyers.
Use Strategic Price Points
Have you ever noticed that the prices of many products aren’t advertised with whole numbers?
For example, a car dealership won’t list the price of a new truck as $35,000. Instead, the window sticker might read $34,999.
Or, you might catch a promotion for a mobile phone deal, enticing you to add a line for $49 per month. Why not $50?
It turns out, there’s a psychological advantage to pricing this way when it comes to consumer products. We’re more likely to focus on the fact that the item is “under $35,000” or “less than $50” than on the difference being just $1.
More importantly, keeping this in mind when pricing your home lets you attract the right kind of buyers. Most house shoppers will start their search online, and with a specific price range in mind.
Think about how high buyers in your price range might be willing to go – and how low, too. The final offer is always negotiable!
Offer Buyer Incentives
With a little creative marketing, you can really sweeten the pot for any prospective buyer.
For example, in a slower market, offering to pay for closing costs can entice a buyer to solidify a deal.
You can also look into pre-paying for basics like internet service or water and trash for the first three months (or more), to ease the buyer’s transition into their new home.
3 Questions To Ask Before Selling Your Farmers Branch, TX House
A well-informed seller is a successful seller. With that in mind, here are a few questions you should answer before putting the “FOR SALE” sign in your front yard:
How Much Will it Cost to Sell My House?
It can be easy to forget that selling a house comes with its own set of costs.
For example, if you hire a real estate agent, they’ll want to be paid. That’s up to 6 percent off the final sale price, in many cases.
Then there are “carrying costs” at play throughout the process. These are expenses associated with keeping the house up while you remain its legal owner: insurance, taxes, utilities, HOA dues, landscaping, and so on.
Finally, there are moving costs. Since selling means you’ll definitely be moving yourself (or your tenants) out of the house, you will need to budget for truck rentals, hiring movers, and perhaps paying someone to clean up after you’re moved out.
What Do I Need to Disclose to Buyers?
First, make sure you’re familiar with seller disclosure laws in the State of Texas.
Every seller must complete a Texas Real Estate Commission Seller’s Disclosure Notice, and must do so honestly. Knowingly hiding anything can result in serious legal problems for you.
However, it’s important to note that you won’t get in trouble for not disclosing a problem you were unaware of.
For example, we spoke with a home-seller who did not know his 1950s-built house had lead-based paint on some walls. It wasn’t until the buyer’s inspection tested the paint that this was discovered.
Because the home-seller honestly didn’t know about it, he wasn’t in any legal trouble. However, he did have to renegotiate the selling price with the buyer, to compensate for the cost of removing the paint.
What Should I Do if the House Isn’t Getting Good Offers?
This is a sign that something’s not quite right. Sometimes, it will be due to factors beyond your control, like a soft market or a sluggish economy.
Other times, there will be a few things you can adjust to make your home more attractive to buyers. You may need to freshen up online listings with new photos, or throw in some incentives, like “repair credits”, before lowering the asking price.
Regardless, the longer your house is on the market, the harder it can be to sell. Buyers who see a house that’s been listed for several weeks or months without selling will assume there’s something wrong with it.
When that happens, you might want to consider giving Local Cash Buyers a call. We can buy your Farmers Branch house, fast!
How to Sell Your Farmers Branch, TX House Fast in 3 Easy Steps
There are lots of reasons you might want to sell your house fast. Maybe you’re moving out of state for a new job. It could be you’re tired of dealing with tenants. Or, perhaps you have inherited a property in probate.
If time is of the essence, here are three steps you can take now to sell more quickly.
1. Tidy Up from Top to Bottom
This may seem obvious, but we’ve seen homeowners who didn’t bother doing anything to prepare for a sale.
Start with the front yard, driveway, and front porch. These are the very first things prospective buyers will see; you don’t want them to be immediately turned off. Mow the lawn, remove weeds and debris, put away garden hoses and children’s toys, sweep walkways, and so on.
Inside, make everything as clean as possible. Keep the floors swept and vacuumed, toilets scrubbed, faucets polished, and kitchen sink free of dirty dishes.
Even the smaller details are important. Don’t leave piles of laundry sitting around, or beds unmade. If you’re already in the process of packing, keep boxes out of the way – and out of sight, if possible.
2. Pick Your Price
When it comes to selling fast, it’s better to go a little too low instead of too high. Overpriced homes will tend to stay on the market longer, while lower prices will attract more potential buyers.
One trick to consider: research prices of other homes for sale in your area, and target something just below that.
For example, if the median house price in your part of town is $300,000, you can try listing for $299,000 and get the attention of buyers who are limiting search results to a maximum price of $300,000.
3. Marketing 101
If you’re going without an agent and selling on your own, you’ll want to get the word out that your house is up for sale.
An easy and free way to start is posting on social media. Ask your friends and family to help spread the word. Think broadly: Facebook; Twitter; Pinterest; Nextdoor; Instagram; Snapchat; Tumblr; and so on.
When you create your posts, of course you’ll want to have great-looking photos that show off your home’s beauty and features. But the text content is important, too.
Besides highlighting perks like the location, appliances, and recent improvements, you may want to create a sense of urgency in buyers. For example, tell house shoppers you will only accept offers by a certain deadline. (And stick to it!)
Another Way to Sell Your House Fast in Farmers Branch, TX
There’s another method you can use that guarantees a fast, easy sale. Local Cash Buyers has its own three-step process to get your house in just one week:
- Research – We learn more about the property you’re selling and schedule a brief visit.
- Offer – We make a no-obligation, written cash offer within 24 hours of visiting your property.
- Close – When you accept our offer, we close in as little as 7 days.
By selling to us, you’ll get your cash immediately and walk away from your house with no hassle. Your house will be off your hands in a matter of days instead of waiting for weeks or months for a sale to go through.
Ready to sell your Farmers Branch house fast for cash now? We can help! Give us a call at 469-250-0018 or fill out a form. We’d love the chance to buy your Farmers Branch, TX house, condo, townhouse, duplex, or apartment complex!
Farmers Branch, TX Real Estate Market at a Glance
New data show houses in Farmers Branch are staying on the market for about 35 days. Your home could take longer or sell more quickly, depending on many factors.
The median sale price of Farmers Branch houses is about $325,000. Sale prices can be higher or lower depending on the house’s size, age, neighborhood, amenities, condition, and many other criteria.
We buy houses in these Farmers Branch ZIP codes: 75234, 75244