When you think of selling your home, do you picture one great offer — or do you envision buyers competing over your home? By strategizing and preparing your home for the market, you may be able to create a bidding war that helps you sell your home for more than its listing price. Here are insights you can use to draw in multiple offers as you sell your Minnesota or western Wisconsin home.
1. List a pristine home
We live in a world where HGTV reigns supreme and buyers are drawn to homes that appear straight out of their favorite program or home décor magazine. To draw in multiple offers, you’ll need to go past the de-cluttering process. Focus on staging your home and getting your home’s exterior and interior into peak condition.
Not every home needs — or will benefit from — major upgrades, but most homes can gain an advantage with evenly trimmed hedges, fresh paint and new, modern fixtures. Your agent can help you prioritize necessary fixes that will increase your home’s resale value. Here are the home upgrades with the highest ROI in our market.
2. Share your home updates
In the months leading up to the sale, share an album of your upgrades and home improvement projects on Facebook. Your friends and neighbors will think you’re just sharing your daily activities but once you list, they’ll have long-term, insider knowledge of your home’s condition they can share with their networks! In today’s low inventory market, word-of-mouth news about high-quality listings can really pay off for sellers.
While social media can be a great tool to promote your home, be sure you coordinate with your REALTOR® and never share details about showings, offers or negotiations on social media.
3. Price it low to sell for more
Most homes will have a listing price range, and to get the most offers, you’ll want to price your home at the bottom of that range. The rationale of this strategy is that buyers will flock to homes that are priced lower than market value. Once buyers see the home in person, they may be willing to counter-offer because they’ll understand it was listed as a “steal.” When you have multiple buyers with this same mindset, you can sell for more.
If that seems too risky for you, chat with your Realtor to determine the best pricing strategy. Some sellers prefer to stick with a higher price and hope for fewer, higher offers. There’s nothing wrong with this plan as long as it’s still priced in line with what the market is willing to pay for it. Your agent can explain market conditions to ensure you understand the best plan for your listing.
4. Use high-quality, professional photography
Talk to your Realtor to see samples of their listing photography. To incite a bidding war, you’ll need top-of-the-line photography that shows off your home’s best features online. Remember, starter homes are in high demand in our market and bidding wars over lower-priced homes are pretty common. Don’t settle for low-quality marketing materials just because your home isn’t in the luxury bracket.
5. Determine a roll-out plan
Work with your Realtor to finalize a “grand opening” roll-out plan. One way to garner high interest is to not allow showings for the first few days in favor of a larger open house on the home’s first weekend on the market. This way, you’ll draw in more potential buyers and can schedule showings one after another in the following days. Your agent may also host “broker opens,” which is when fellow agents and brokers tour the home without their clients to get a feel for the property.
Once you allow your home to be booked for showings, it’s critical to be flexible about their timing. Nix the 24-hour or 48-hour notice requirement and consider adding a lockbox to your home so buyers (with a licensed agent) can come by at their leisure. It may seem odd to have your home toured without much advance notice, but you won’t incite a bidding war by guarding your home like Fort Knox.
6. Maintain realistic expectations
While the above guidelines will set you on the path for popularity, it’s important to remember that not every home is destined for multiple offers. A professional Realtor is your best resource for determining a plan that will help you succeed from before the listing all the way to the closing table. Talk with your agent about local selling trends in your neighborhood to determine the most realistic expectation for your home’s selling price.
Ready to sell?
Spring market is here, sellers are in control and buyers are eager for high-quality listings! Call, email or chat today to get in touch with a local expert who can advise you on how to get multiple offers and a higher closing price.
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