You may have plans to relocate to another city to take advantage of a great job opportunity, to improve your quality of life, to be closer to family or to enjoy many other benefits. Once you have decided to relocate to a new area, you understandably would prefer to sell your current home before you move forward with a new chapter in your life. There are no guarantees that you will be able to accomplish this goal, but there are a few helpful steps that you can follow to encourage the desired result.

Make Thoughtful Repairs and Upgrades

When buyers tour your home, they will certainly focus on its style and features. In addition, the quality and condition of appliances, fixtures and more may be obvious. Very old appliances, stained and ripped carpeting or other issues may give buyers a negative impression. Walk through your home as if you were seeing it for the first time, and focus on all areas of concern that immediately jump out at you. Improving these issues now can help you to present your home in the best light.

Hire an Experienced Real Estate Agent

Some homeowners believe that all real estate agents will more or less produce the same results for them. After all, all agents will place a sign in the front yard and add the listing to the MLS. A Skilled and experienced real estate agent uses proven sales and negotiations tactics in your favor. They may help you to attract a buyer faster and to negotiate better terms than an inexperienced real estate agent may.

Stage Your Home

You may think that staging a home means removing all of your items and having someone bring in entirely new items to give your property the look of a model home. A staged home is actually one that is free of personal items, that highlights the home’s best attributes and that detracts from its flaws. There are many free resources that you can use to stage your home yourself if you do not have funds available to pay a professional staging expert.

Set a Reasonable Asking Price

If you put yourself in a buyer’s shoes, you may understand the importance of pricing a home right. Buyers usually begin by searching for homes within a specific price range and in a desirable area. If your home is too high or too low for the area, your listing may not even register in their search. In addition, buyers will then compare size, features, and style of the various homes to find properties that are appealing and that represents true value for the money. Many buyers disregard homes that are priced suspiciously low. Your real estate agent may suggest a reasonable list price.

Many factors impact the amount of time that a home is listed for sale. While market conditions will play a major role, each of these factors can also impact timing.