Tips for Selling Your Old Home Faster

As a home builder in Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth, we know how exciting it can be to move into your new home. You’ve likely been searching and planning for a while, and you’re ready to fast-forward to the moment where you just finished unpacking in the new home you’ll live in for years to come. The last thing you want is anything delaying this process or holding you back. One of the key steps to moving is selling your current home. It can be very stressful and a financial burden if your house stays on the market for too long. Here are some tips for selling an older home faster to give you the best chance of a stress-free move.

Hire a photographer

Unless you have a professional quality camera and lighting equipment, hiring a photographer to show off your home is an important step to helping it sell quickly. More than ever before, people are shopping for homes online, especially on their cell phones. You might think a great location or school district will help sell your home, and eventually it will, but the photos make the first impression. If that initial glance doesn’t capture anyone’s attention, buyers won’t get to see everything your old home has to offer. Also, decide on your favorite pictures, and make sure your audience sees them first.

Keep the house extremely clean

Keep your house cleaner than any normal house should have to be. Especially be sure to dust surfaces regularly. Buyers love to touch the kitchen countertops and other surfaces when they’re touring a home, to get a feel for the place. A dusty table or countertop can leave a poor impression that distracts a potential buyer from the good things about your home. Places like the garage and basement are important to clean as well, even though they might not be a cleaning priority in your everyday life. It’s hard work to keep your house squeaky clean while you’re selling it, but if you don’t, it can take even longer to sell.

Set the right price

When you’re selling golf clubs on craigslist, it’s not a bad idea to start with a high price and settle for a lower one later on. But you may not be able to afford to play the waiting game with your old home. When buyers see a home outside of their price range, they’ll usually just keep scrolling unless they’re unusually drawn to your photos. Even then, many buyers won’t expend the effort of making a lower offer if they think you’re stuck on a higher price. It’s more advantageous to start with a realistic price, or even a slightly lower one. The first month or so is  a key timeframe where your listing is likely to get the most traffic, so you want to capitalize and not scare people away. Furthermore, with the right price you’re more likely to get multiple offers, which you can then negotiate into the best deal for you.

Stage your home properly

When you show your home, the goal is for the buyer to see themselves and their family living there, not to see you living there. It’s best to depersonalize the space, putting away things like portraits, family photos, religious or political decorations, or children’s toys and artwork. You want the buyer to see a clean, blank refrigerator and imagine their child’s report card hanging there. 

Natural light is your friend, so be sure to open all the blinds and drapes before your home is shown. Some rooms are more important than others for buyers. Make sure your master bedroom, kitchen, and living room are pristine, because those are the most memorable rooms that people care about the most. Lastly, in general you want your house to be free of clutter and abundant in open space. That might even mean moving some furniture into storage, and it definitely means not leaving anything lying around on the floor. 

As you look forward to your new home in Houston or Dallas-Fort Worth, selling your old home can be a real burden. Keep these tips for selling an older home in mind and your odds of an easy sale will be much greater.

More Home. Smart Choice.

Every HistoryMaker home reflects our “More Home. Smart Choice” mission—to provide the foundation for your most meaningful memories. We maximize functional space and include smart features that live the way you do. With intelligent construction methods, energy efficiency, and integrated home technology, building a HistoryMaker home is simply a smart choice.

If you’re just getting started on the journey to a new home, check out our new homes for sale in Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston, as well as homesites and floor plans we can build for you. Sign up to get the latest updates on our growing list of homes and communities.