There is one thing a seasoned rehabber can tell you with certainty: finishing the work on a property is only the beginning. Once the work is complete, the home still needs to be sold to make a profit. The process of getting your property sold quickly starts well before you finish your work. From the moment your offer is accepted, you should be working on getting your property sold. Every day that you hold the property costs you money. This means that you need to push the process along while still providing quality work. If you want to get your property sold as quickly as possible, there are a few things you should be doing. Having said that, here are four simple tricks to sell your next rehab faster:
1. Do the right work: Before you start any work on the property, you should consider your target market. When you think about who your market is, it will help you understand what needs to be done. All rehabbers need to produce a quality product, but quality doesn’t have to mean expensive. If you are looking to attract first-time homebuyers, they are typically not interested in top of the line finishes. You can still deliver quality, but do it in other areas. By doing the right work for the market, you will attract the greatest number of buyers. Conversely, if you over-improve the property, it will go unsold for a prolonged period of time. Spend time looking at comparable sales and figure out what works and what doesn’t. Throwing money at a property doesn’t always mean it will make it appealing. Doing the right work will have the greatest impact in getting your property sold as quickly as possible.
2. Find the right real estate agent: As soon as you purchase the property, you should start looking for a real estate agent. In a perfect world, the agent that sold you the property could also handle the listing. If there is a conflict or there was no agent involved, you need to find one. It is important to remember that not every real estate agent is the same. Some work primarily as listing agents, while others focus on buyers. You may have a great buying agent, but that doesn’t do you much good when you are selling. The right agent knows the market and understands which improvements generate the most value. They know how to advertise your property and have a pool of contacts they can reach out to. They should also be willing and able to show your property when buyers request, and know how to hold a good open house. There are many great real estate agents in every market, but they may not be the best fit for you. Take your time and find an agent that you feel comfortable with. The sooner you can get your Realtor to the property, the quicker the selling process can be accelerated.
3. Pricing: Don’t expect buyers to pay a premium for how far you brought the property. How you price your property is one of the biggest factors in generating interest. The first thing almost all buyers look at is the price. In pricing too high, you lose a large segment of people that will never step foot in the property. They will never know all of the wonderful work you have done. The minute a buyer or real estate agent sees that a property is overpriced, they will have a tough time coming back to it. It is important to know that buyers have psychological pricing barriers that should not be crossed. Instead of pricing the property at $205,000; you should consider lowering it to $199,000. This $5,000 reduction will attract more buyers and may end up pushing the final price higher. If you think like a buyer, understand the comparable sales, and listen to your real estate agent, your property will sell quicker.
4. Market your property: Once you decide on a real estate agent, let them do their job. That being said, this doesn’t mean you can’t find ways to market your property. Anything that you can do to attract buyers should be done. Start by utilizing social media. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram can help promote your property as quickly as anything else. You can also send an email to all of your friends and family. Finally, you should focus on the immediate neighborhood by placing for sale signs in the local area. You never know where or how you are going to find a buyer. With the way social media has taken off, you can reach more people in a much quicker amount of time. Let your real estate agent focus on print advertising and the MLS. The more ways you can market your property, the greater chance you can find a buyer.
It is also important to treat every showing, email, phone call and open house like it will be the one that produces a buyer. Having a great property is not enough to get it sold. In many areas, buyers still control the market. Knowing that they have options should push you to do the little things to generate interest. The quicker you can get your property sold, the quicker you can move on to your next project. Time really is money when dealing with rehab properties.
