Everyone understands the difficulties involved with purchasing a house. However, what is far less documented is the struggle so many go through when attempting to sell their home.

While selling your home for the first time can be a real struggle, knowing exactly how to go about doing so in the right manner can really help you make the right decision along the way, including determine how much to list your home for, how to attract visitors and, most importantly, how to close the deal.

The following is a five step guide on how to sell your home for the first time.

Choose The Best Time to Sell Your Home

When selling a home, the first thing to know is that timing is everything. Listing your home at a time when others simply are not searching for a new home can cause the house to stay on the market for longer than is expected, and your home runs the risk of becoming more undesirable the longer it stays on the market.

However, if you choose the right time to sell your home – a time when people are actively searching for a new home in your area – then you may be able to sell your home quickly, or even get multiple bids on your home and end up selling the house for more than you expected initially.

So what is the best season to sell your home? Unfortunately, there isn’t a universal answer to this question. In most cases, the best time to sell a home is in the spring after the weather warms up or in the summer before the new school year begins. However, if your home is in a location that stays warm all year long, you may be better off selling your home in the winter. As you can see, this largely depends on your home’s location. That’s why Brian of Schambs Property Management thinks it’s best to do your research and get an advice from the professionals.

Get The House Ready

After conducting research and determining when the best time to sell your home is, it is time to get the house ready for sale. In general, you should give yourself two full seasons to get your house in shape, although you may be able to do it in just one if you simply cannot wait.

In other words, if you plan to sell your home in the summer, you should spend the winter and spring getting your house ready to attract buyers during the summer season. If you keep your home well maintained all year long, then you may not need to do much at all to get your house ready to be sold.

However, if your home is in need of serious repair, be sure to make the home attractive to the potential buyer – meaning be sure to properly landscape, clean up the exterior of the home and fill in any cracks in the driveway. Additionally, consider replacing any outdated appliances around the home. For instance, if the front door is old, you may want to replace your front door.

Accurately Price The Home

Once the home is ready to be sold, it is time to determine the price point, which is one of the biggest most important decisions you will make along the way.

In order to get a fair, unbiased understanding of how much your home is worth, consider having an appraisal done of your home by a real estate appraiser. They are able to tell you exactly how much your home is worth based on how much other homes similar to yours have sold for within the past year. They also take into account any improvements that have been made, such as adding an outbuilding, adding on a pool or laying new flooring.

After receiving an honest valuation of how much your home is worth, you can then determine whether or not you want to price it higher or lower than the valuation. Additionally, this is the time you may need to consider hiring a realtor, who should be able to help you attract visitors and close the sale, ensuring the buyer has all of the proper financing and documentation in order to purchase.

Attract Visitors

After choosing the right moment to sell your home, getting your home ready to be sold and accurately pricing the home according to the valuation, you are then tasked with attracting visitors.

As mentioned, the easiest way to attract visitors to your home is to simply hire a realtor to do it for you. However, if you are a go getter that believes you can sell your home without any outside assistance in the matter, then be sure to list your home everywhere you can think of, including all online sites such as Zillow.

When visitors come for a visit, be sure to give them the complete experience and have the home completely organized and have the yard well landscaped. If you are still living in the home while you are attempting to sell it, be sure to have everything arranged nicely and decorated. You can actually use the opportunity to show the potential buyers what their house could be like if they made the purchase.

Close The Deal

Last and possibly most importantly, you have to close the deal. If you only have one offer, be sure to verify that they have the appropriate loan necessary, are able to make the down payment and have all of the necessary documentation to make the purchase.

Once again, hiring a realtor to sale your home for you makes it easy to ensure the sale is done according to plan and there are no hiccups along the way. However, you may be able to do it yourself and keep the realtor fee for yourself if you have faith in your abilities.

In the event you have multiple offers, be sure to listen and communicate well with all potential buyers, keeping all options open until the final sale is made and completed. It is important to ensure that the potential buyer with the most appealing offer is able to close the deal before notifying other potential buyers.