You want to sell your Philadelphia house, and you want to get top dollar.
Excellent! Time to go to work…
How Do I Maximize The Sales Price For My House In Philadelphia?
Here are some tips on how to get your home ready to sell if you’re looking for top dollar that the market will bear:
*NOTE: These instructions are targeted for Sellers looking to list their home the traditional way with a Realtor, with the hopes of getting full retail value for your house sale. However, if you don’t want to do the all these repairs listed below… or don’t have the time or money, you can still sell your Philadelphia house fast for a fair value in a win-win sale that’ll save you time and expense.
Tips to Maximize the offer amount you receive for your Philadelphia house:
1) Clean, clean and clean. It can’t be too clean! Even vacant houses will accumulate dusty and dirt, so keep with the cleaning! And don’t forget to clean the inside and outside of your windows to maximize the daylight coming in and the view looking out. If you’re not a up for the clean task, outsource the task, and have ensure the house is cleaned weekly until you sell.
Cleaning includes putting all of the knick knacks and stuff away. This includes toys, magazines, shoes, Kitchen counter top items. You want the house to feel big and uncluttered.
Pressure wash the exterior if the siding and brick are covered in mildew. Consider pressure washing and staining the deck if the the temperatures outside average above 60 degrees.
Consider steam cleaning the carpets to remove stains and freshen the carpets.
Note: If keeping a tidy house is NOT your style, consider finding somewhere else to live while you show your house.
2) Review your house style, and consider neutral or today’s popular colors. You don’t have to paint everything off-white. In fact, some subtle colors can really help change the perception of spaces. A very light gray will help brighten up a dark kitchen, while a darker gray or blue-gray will help a bright bedroom to feel like a calm place to sleep (but be careful, very dark colors will also make rooms feel small).
Invest in high-quality paint (not the Lowe’s and Home Depot cheap stuff) and paint like a professional or outsource to a painting contractor. Buyers will pay more money for a property with just the right colors and very neat lines – it makes the home feel crisp and lively. The impact of color and light on a buyers subconscious is real – make it easier for the buyer to subconsciously “like” your house.
3) Fix or replace anything that’s broken. Most buyers will get a home inspection to find the major and minor problems with the house, and then use the opportunity to negotiate with you. As the seller, you’ll often end up paying more if you try to hide neglected maintenance from the purchaser – and of course you don’t want to be guilty of fraud.
Save your receipts to document recent repairs. If you tackle major repairs, keep in mind that Pennsylvania has mandatory Seller disclosure laws, so don’t try to hide problems with the house.
It’s often a good use of money to hire a home inspector to come through before you put the property on the market. If you ask in advance, they’ll often charge you a tiny rate to come back after you’ve done a bunch of minor repairs and deliver you a clean bill of health. Prospective buyers love to see an independent report on the condition of the house – it makes them feel very comfortable with the purchase.
4) Make only necessary improvements. This is not the time to make upgrades. The biggest mistake people make when getting their house ready to sell is over-improving. They often spend too much money on customized frills that can’t be recovered in the sale.
It’s important to be mindful of which improvements will produce a return on investment to avoid wasting money. Besides painting, the area of the house that typically has the best return for improvements is the kitchen.
5) Get expert opinions. While interviewing potential Realtors, ask them their opinions on what needs to be done to prepare the house for sale. A good realtor will make judicious recommendations, being mindful of your out-of-pocket costs. Real estate brokers who will help you price your property, but be honest with them. If you’re going to market the property on your own, tell them up front about your intentions. Great Realtors are rare – let them show you why they are better than the competition.
6) Have a really great marketing plan. Again, great Realtors earn their value by doing this work and spreading the advertising expenses across many clients. It’s expensive and time-consuming to start from scratch on your own, but if you’re already a marketing expert you’re ahead of the pack.
If you’re not, spend the time listening to what the best brokers do to sell houses in Philadelphia – just to educate yourself on the options.
7) Get a cash offer. We buy houses all over the Philadelphia area, and we do all the work so you don’t have to deal with any of this stuff.
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Don’t Want To Do The Things Above Yourself? But Still Want To Sell Your Philadelphia Pennsylvania House Fast?
While everyone wants to get as much as they possibly can from their house sale… not everyone can do the things or wants to do the things required to sell it at full retail value to an end buyer.
Doing the repairs, cleaning the property up, upgrading the property, marketing the property… those all take money and can take lots of time.
If you have the funds to do these things... AND you can wait the 3-9 months it takes to sell houses in this market… then you’ll be better off financially to do those things then list it on the MLS (the main property listing service that real estate agents use).
If you don’t have the money to make the repairs… AND can’t wait months to sell your house… then you may be a perfect fit for our local Philadelphia house buying service. You can submit basic info about your house over here on our website, we’ll evaluate your house, we’ll make you a fair all-cash offer on your house, and you can decide if it’s a fit for you.
Take a look at what we’ll pay for your house in its current condition, versus the time, repair expense, holding cost, and hassle involved with doing it on your own.
So if you’re still asking “what do I need to do to sell my house in Philadelphia“… now you have 2 solid options.
Either…
- Fix the property up and get it all nice and ready with the steps above to sell it at top dollar
- Let us do all of the work and we’ll make you a cash offer on your house in AS-IS condition. This saves you time, money, and gets the hassle off of your hands.
If you need to sell a property near Philadelphia, we can help you.
We buy properties like yours from people who need to sell fast.