Learn The Best Ways to Sell a Home in Southwest Florida
Looking to sell a home in Southwest Florida fast and for top dollar? If you’re a first-time home buyer or haven’t sold a home in years, you may want to consider studying up on the home selling process.
Your home is likely your largest asset, and selling a house is a huge decision. For this reason, it’s worth educating yourself so you can reduce your stress, take control of the process, and capitalize on your biggest investment.
In this in-depth guide, our team at Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty Group of Southwest Florida will share several tips to help you sell your property fast and for the best price possible.
We’ll also cover why our real estate team is the best choice to help you sell a home in Southwest Florida.
What We’ll Cover
- First, Know Why You’re Selling Your Home
- Do Your Research Before Setting an Asking Price
- Hire a Realtor in Southwest Florida
- Make Your House Appealing to Home Buyers
- Understand What Home Buyers Are Looking For
- How to Handle Lowball Offers
- Consider Selling Your Home For Cash
- Work With Us to Sell a Home in Southwest Florida Fast
First, Know Why You’re Selling Your Home
Many home sellers don’t realize their reason for wanting to sell a home in Southwest Florida actually impacts the direction and outcome of the sale.
Your reason for selling influences how you approach the home selling process, including what asking price you set and how much time, money, and effort you’re willing to put into preparing your home for sale.
Some of the most common reasons for selling include:
- Moving because of a new job
- Trading up to a larger house
- Downsizing to a smaller home
- Looking for a smaller mortgage payment
- Already having an offer on another home
- Desiring a change of scenery
- Needing to be closer to family
- Going through a divorce
Once you’ve clearly defined your reason for selling, it’s important that you don’t disclose it to any potential home buyers. This is because it can impact the outcome of the negotiations and put you at a disadvantage when it comes to getting the best price for your property.
And in the worst-case scenario, it could deter the buyer from going through with the sale altogether.
Instead, if a home buyer asks why you’re selling your home, you should keep the reason vague and simply say that your needs have changed.
Below, we’ll take a look at what potential home buyers might think if you share your actual reason for selling your property.
Moving For a New Job
If you’re moving for a new job, it usually means you have a certain deadline to sell your home. If a home buyer knows this, they’ll know that you’re desperate to sell within your time frame.
As a result, they may start out by submitting a lowball offer because they know you don’t have much time to negotiate.
Trading Up to a Larger House
Moving up to a larger home might seem like a harmless enough reason for selling. However, it may cause home buyers to take a second look and evaluate whether the property is too small for them, too.
Downsizing to a Smaller Home
You may be downsizing because you’ve just become an empty nester or are going through a divorce. Whatever the case, letting home buyers know this could cause them to reevaluate the property. They may wonder if the property is too large for their needs as well and question how much upkeep is involved in caring for it.
Looking For a Smaller Mortgage Payment
If the home buyer finds out you want a smaller mortgage payment, they may take a closer look at the home’s asking price and whether or not they can afford the mortgage.
It’s important to keep in mind that buyers can see what you paid for the home, and they can use this information to find out whether they’re getting a fair deal. This is why it’s crucial to know what your home is worth before selling.
Already Having an Offer on Another Home
If a potential home buyer finds out you’re moving and already have an offer on your next home, they can use this to their advantage during negotiations.
Similar to moving for a new job, they’ll know that you’re under pressure to sell off your current home before you buy the new one so you don’t end up owning both at once.
As a result, they may start by putting in a lowball offer because they know you need to sell by a certain deadline.
Do Your Research Before Setting an Asking Price
If your goal is to sell a home for top dollar, you’ll want to find a home buyer willing to pay as close to your asking price as possible. For this reason, setting an accurate price requires the help of a professional realtor in Southwest Florida.
Your realtor will ensure you don’t price your home too high or too low. Pricing too high means you run the risk of home buyers overlooking your property. On the other hand, pricing too low means you might miss out on thousands in potential profit.
One of the biggest factors that influences your home’s asking price is what type of neighborhood you live in.
Subdivision Homes
Living in a subdivision makes it easier for home buyers to look at the prices of recently sold and currently listed homes in your area. Using this information, they’ll judge if your home is fairly priced.
However, what they can’t know is whether your home has had any upgrades or additions that make it worth more than other listings in the area.
They also wouldn’t necessarily know whether you’ve added new appliances, flooring, or other features at first glance. As a result, they may give you lowball offers.
This is where your realtor comes in. They’ll market the home and show why it’s worth more than others in the area. Your realtor will also know how to set an asking price for your unique situation that takes into account every aspect of your property.
Homes in Older Neighborhoods
Older neighborhoods are more established and change over time, meaning that homes have more variability.
This makes it harder to find homes that are truly similar to yours. Only an expert realtor, who has extensive experience in Southwest Florida neighborhoods, can help you come up with an accurate price.
These realtors have the most up-to-date information on currently listed homes in the area, which ultimately gives them the best chance at coming up with an asking price that gets you top dollar.
Hire a Realtor in Southwest Florida
As mentioned above, hiring a realtor in Southwest Florida to help you set an accurate asking price is key. But how exactly do you select a realtor experienced enough to sell your home fast and for the most amount of money?
Nearly every agent promises they can sell your home fast– but not all of them can deliver. This is why you need to take some time to interview several realtors before choosing one to work with.
To learn which questions to ask a realtor during an interview, take a look at our in-depth guide on Questions Real Estate Agents Hate.
Should You List Your Home as For Sale By Owner?
Some homeowners may consider selling their homes without an agent to avoid paying a commission. However, listing your home as for sale by owner (FSBO) can often backfire and end up costing you more money in the long run.
This is because it’s much more challenging to price your home in a way to get it to sell fast and get top dollar at the same time. In fact, The National Association of Realtors surveyed FSBO homeowners and found that two-thirds of them wouldn’t do it again. The main reasons were:
- Setting an asking price
- Marketing the home
- Dealing with liability, legal concerns and inspections
- Navigating time constraints
If you do decide to continue forward with listing your home without a realtor, you’ll need to start by figuring out how much your home is worth. The best way to do this is by checking the recently sold and currently listed homes in your area over the past six months.
This information can be found by visiting your local city hall and searching through public records.
Another strategy is visiting open houses in your neighborhood. Take note of the property’s listing price. If you really want to sell your own home quickly, then don’t price it higher than your competition.
In addition, take note of features like the home’s floor plan, location, upgrades, lot size, and overall condition.
If the home is listed for a higher price because it has brand-new appliances and a new roof, consider doing the same for your property.
To learn more about how to sell a home in Southwest Florida on your own, check out our guide on “How To Sell Your Home Without An Agent And Save The Commission.”
Make Your House Appealing to Home Buyers
It’s no surprise that home buyers consider the aesthetics of a home before deciding to purchase it. This is why sprucing up the appearance of your home is one of the most important tips for home sellers.
Appearance is a critical factor in the home-buying process, so it’s important to put some time and money into making your home look nice.
Most obviously, this means making sure your home is spotless– inside and out. So consider hiring a professional cleaning service, general contractor, and landscaping company to take care of dirt, stains, repairs, and overgrown yards.
Keep in mind that your home is on the market alongside newly constructed homes– not just other resales. For this reason, investing in your home’s appearance is worth the cost in the long run, even if it seems expensive upfront.
Understand What Home Buyers Are Looking For
Just like it’s important to understand why you want to sell a home in Southwest Florida, it’s equally important to understand what home buyers in your area are looking for.
When you know a home buyer’s motivation, you can use that information to your advantage during the negotiation process.
For example, it probably doesn’t need to be said that the majority of home buyers are looking for the highest-quality property for the least amount of money.
But is the home buyer looking to move quickly? What’s their time frame for closing the deal? If they’re looking to move fast, you can use this to negotiate more effectively and get your ideal asking price.
In addition, work with your realtor to find out whether the home buyer has pre-approval and if so, how large of a loan they’ve been approved for.
This way, if they give you a lowball offer, you can counter by having your realtor question whether they’ve been approved for a large enough loan.
How to Handle Lowball Offers
Pretty much every home seller should expect to receive lowball offers after first listing their home. However, the home buyer making the offer doesn’t actually expect the seller to agree to this amount.
Almost invariably, the lowball offer is lower than what both you and the home buyer know they’ll end up paying.
This is why it’s important to detach yourself and not take the lowball offer personally. Instead, evaluate it as you would any other offer. Look at whether it:
- Lists the offering price clearly
- Provides a sufficient down payment
- Shows the mortgage amount
- Proposes a closing date
- Mentions any special requests
From there, see whether the offer meets your criteria or not. This will provide a starting point from which you can negotiate and make a counter offer.
Come back with an offer that’s just under your asking price. Your realtor will help you decide how much. This shows the buyer that you’re not considering their original offer, and you’re confident about what your home is worth.
It will also have the benefit of weeding out home buyers who can’t actually afford your home. When you only deal with home buyers who make serious offers, you increase your chances to sell a home in Southwest Florida fast.
Consider Selling Your Home For Cash
If your goal is to sell a home in Southwest Florida fast, then you should consider selling it for cash.
Selling a home for cash means the deal closes faster because you don’t have to wait for the buyer to be approved for a loan. And with cash in your pocket, you’ll have the freedom to purchase a new home without taking on debt.
However, many home sellers struggle to find cash buyers in their area. This is another reason why working with the right realtor in Southwest Florida is key.
Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty Group of Southwest Florida has an extensive database of cash buyers ready to purchase your home.
With our marketing system, we can match you up with interested, pre-qualified cash buyers almost instantly.
Work With Us to Sell a Home in Southwest Florida Fast
Our effective marketing system is only one reason why you should work with our team to sell a home in Southwest Florida.
Our realtors at Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty Group of Southwest Florida have years of experience in the market. During that time, we’ve developed a reputation for selling homes faster and for more money than other realtors.
But you don’t have to take our word for it. Check out just a few statistics about our team:
- We sell houses 50% faster than average agents
- Our database has over 23,582 pre-qualified home buyers
- We sell homes for 7% more money than average agents
- We often sell homes before listing them on the market
You can’t sell a home any faster than that!
On top of that, we offer several seller’s guarantees that protect you during the home selling process.
This includes our Seller Cancellation Guarantee and Guaranteed Home Sale Program, which guarantees your home will sell for top dollar and within your time frame.
If you want to learn more or sign up for one of our free home evaluations, give us a call at 239-880-3563 or fill out the form below.
Get ready to start packing!
