3 Best Practices for Selling Your House This Year

A new year brings with it the opportunity. If you’re considering a move, you’re likely juggling with a mix of excitement over your next home and a sense of attachment to your current one.

A great way to ensure you’re feeling confident in your decision to sell your home is to keep these three best practices in mind.

1. Price Your Home Right

The housing market shifted in 2022 as mortgage rates^[1] rose, buyer demand eased, and inventory increased. As a seller, you’ll want to recognize how the market looks different now from last year and the year before, and price your house appropriately based on where the market is today. Greg McBride, Chief Financial Analyst at Bankrate, explains:

“Price your home realistically. This isn’t the housing market of April or May, so buyer traffic will be substantially slower, but appropriately priced homes are still selling quickly.”^[2]

If you price your house too high, you run the risk of deterring buyers. And if you go too low, you’re leaving money on the table. An experienced Reator® can help determine what your ideal asking price should be. Find your Realtor in our Directory.

2. Keep Your Emotions in Check

Today, homeowners are living in their houses longer. According to the National Association of Realtors®, since 1985, the average time a homeowner has owned their home has increased from 5 to 10 years^[3] (see graph below):

This is several years longer than what used to be the historical norm. The side effect, however, is when you stay in one place for so long, you may get even more emotionally attached to your space. If it’s the first home you bought or the house where your loved ones grew up, it very likely means something extra special to you. Every room has memories, and it’s hard to detach from the sentimental value.

For some homeowners, sentimentality makes it even harder to negotiate and separate the emotional value of the house from fair market price. That’s why you need a Realtor® to help you with the negotiations along the way.

3. Stage Your Home Properly

While you may love your decor and how you’ve customized your home over the years, not all buyers will feel the same way about your personal touches. Make sure you focus on the first impression that potential buyers will have, so it appeals to as many buyers as possible. As NAR says:

“Staging is the art of preparing a home to appeal to the greatest number of potential buyers in your market. The right arrangements can move you into a higher price-point and help buyers fall in love the moment they walk through the door.”^[4]

Buyers want to envision themselves in the space so it truly feels like it could be their own. They need to see themselves inside with their furniture and keepsakes – not your pictures and decorations. A Realtor® can help you with tips to get your house ready to sell. Read more about Preparing Your Home to Sell here and check out our infographic.

Let’s Get Moving!

A Realtor® can help you establish fair market value for your property, negotiate with potential buyers, and ensure your home is fully prepared to be seen and sold. Don’t let sentimentality or the perceived difficulty of selling stand in your way – enlist the help of a professional to be your expert real estate home-selling guide!

Visit our Find a Realtor® Directory and let’s get moving!