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3 Best Practices for Selling Your House This Year

A new year brings with it the opportunity for new experiences. If that resonates with you because youre considering making a move, youre likely juggling a mix of excitement over your next home and a sense of attachment to your current one.

A great way to ease some of those emotions and ensure youre feeling confident in your decision is to keep these three best practices in mind.

1. Price Your Home Right

The housing market shifted in 2022 as mortgage rates rose, buyer demand eased, and the number of homes for sale grew. As a seller, youll want to recognize things are different now 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 isnt the housing market of April or May, so buyer traffic will be substantially slower, butappropriately priced homes are still selling quickly.

If you price your house too high, you run the risk of deterring buyers. And if you go too low, youre leaving money on the table. An experienced real estate agent can help determine what your ideal asking price should be.

2. Keep Your Emotions in Check

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

3 Best Practices for Selling Your House This Year | Keeping Current Matters

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 evenmoreemotionally attached to your space. If its 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 its hard to detach from the sentimental value.

For some homeowners, that makes it even harder to negotiate and separate the emotional value of the house from fair market price. Thats why you need a real estate professional to help you with the negotiations along the way.

3. Stage Your Home Properly

While you may love your decor and how youve customized your home over the years, not all buyers will feel the same way about your design. Thats why its so important to make sure you focus on your homes first impression 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.

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 real estate professional can help you with tips to get your house ready to sell.

Bottom Line

If youre considering selling your house, reach out to a local real estate professional to help you navigate through the process while prioritizing these best practices.

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