Five tips to sell your home for more money in today's market

1. Researching

Let's talk about researching before you decide on a price. We don't want you to be disappointed or have unrealistic expectations. Numbers tell us the story, so make sure you sit down with an agent to go through the market data. What has sold in the neighborhood? What upgrades are there, and how big is the lot? What's going on with trends? Listen, the numbers do matter, and there's totally a trend, so make sure that you price your home appropriately and not by gut, and really follow the numbers, so research does matter.

2. Home Improvements

Carefully consider home improvements. I know a lot of people are telling you that a fixed up home sells for a lot more money, and that is true, but in this market, maybe you don't need to spend a lot of money, because it might take too long, and you might not recoup it in today's market. So there are little things that can be done that don't cost a lot, and there are some things that can cost more. So make sure you're working with somebody who really understands the return that you're going to get on some of the investments that you're making.

3. Home Staging

Number three, stage your home. There's a whole array of staging. It could be from decluttering, it could be just from moving things to the garage, and it could just be as much as bringing in professional furniture. Listen, according to research, the homes that are staged sell 73% faster than homes that are not staged. And there could be a wide array of staging, could be virtual staging, could be, you know, decluttering, or as I said, furniture. So staging does matter.

4. Curb Appeal

Curb appeal. Curb appeal does matter, and even though we are in California and your grass may be brown, just like everybody else's, when a buyer drives up, they still want to feel like it's inviting. So cleaning it up, adding mulch, and making sure that, you know, the trim is trimmed up and cleaned well is really important.

5. Marketing

Marketing matters, especially in this market. When your home's been on the market a little bit longer, it's really important that it looks good online. What does that mean? It means that you've done good photography, it means that you've done the preparation, it means that you've done the staging; and it means that you've done the upgrades. Otherwise, today's buyer could move a little bit right. So what does that mean? It means marketing, it's like everything. It could be internet, it could be mailers, it could be open houses, it could be phone calls. Everything matters in today's market.

Now, if you want more information, click on the link below, we're running seller seminars where we'll share data about what's actually going on in the market, and we can have a face-to-face to really dive into what your plans are.