So you’re thinking about selling your Rhode Island house, and want to be sure you get top dollar.
Excellent!
…But “What do I need to do to sell my house in Rhode Island“?
The real estate market can be overwhelming to navigate alone, especially here in Rhode Island…I’ve put together some tips on how to get your home ready to sell if you’re looking to attract flocks of interested buyers to your doorstep:
*NOTE: These instructions are geared towards sellers who are looking to get full retail value for their house sale. However, if you don’t have the time or money to do the things listed below… you can still sell your Rhode Island house fast for a fair value in a win-win sale that will save you time, money and mental stress.
1) Clean, clean and clean. Even vacant houses get dusty and dirty, so keep it up! Nothing short of gleaming perfection will impress buyers. If you’re not a total clean freak, hire someone who is to help you out until you sell – or give me a call and I can make recommendations for affordable local cleaning companies in our area.
If you or your family tend to make a mess, consider finding somewhere else to live while you show your house and have it listed on the MLS. Maybe you could even bribe your cleanest friend to trade houses with you? Nonetheless, keeping everything immaculate really helps buyers feel comfortable in your space and entices them to make offers. I can say from experience that nothing stops people faster from offering on a house than feeling grossed out while inside.
2) Cultivate a cohesive and neutral style. You don’t have to go painting everything off-white. In fact, some subtle colors and contrast can really help change the perception of rooms in your home – for example, a soft yellow will help brighten up a dark kitchen, while a deep dark blue or green will help a bright bedroom to feel like a calm place to sleep (be careful with dark colors, they can also unintentionally make rooms feel smaller).
Spend the money to get higher-quality paint and professional help. Subconsciously, people will pay more money for a property with just the right colors and very neat lines free from scuffs and stains – it makes the home feel better built and cleaner, even though it’s just paint.
First impressions are extremely important, they are your opportunity to really “wow” buyers and entice several offers. Fresh paint can really boost the visual presentation of the inside and outside of your home to buyers seeing it for the first time. “Curb appeal” is just as important for the inside of your house as it is the out, as buyers enter each room, being greeted with fresh paint will ensure your property stands out among the competition.
3) Fix or replace anything that’s broken. Yeah, it might feel like a waste of money to spend an extra couple hundred dollars on a dishwasher that someone else might just pull out and replace again. However, several buyers will get a home inspection and use the report as an opportunity to negotiate with you and ask for concessions or repairs. 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. Scratch-and-dent stores and thrift shops can be great options for finding discounted appliances to serve your purposes, a quick Google search should point you in the direction of local stores offering such products.
Make sure you stay in compliance with all the laws and disclose any items/fixtures that will not convey with your property.
Several times I advise my clients to hire a home inspector to come through before putting 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 inspection report on the condition of your house – it makes them feel comfortable with the purchase and that you as the seller have nothing to hide.
4) Make only necessary improvements. Aside from cleaning, paint, and fixing anything that’s broken…I often encounter people making the mistake of over-improving when getting their house ready to sell. They often spend too much money on customized frills that can’t be recovered in the sale. This is the reason I suggest hiring a qualified home inspector to do a walk-through prior to listing so that money can be invested in the most efficient ways.
Paint is about the only safe investment – it’s easy to overspend on almost everything else, and it’s easy to get ripped off by unscrupulous contractors.
It’s important to know what improvements will produce a return on investment and which expenses will end up being a waste money. Shoot me a text or call anytime and I’d be happy to suggest local home inspectors or do a walk-through myself and advise you on improvements that will be most beneficial 401-527-0667.
5) Get expert opinions. You should interview a few 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, don’t waste valuable time and be misleading about your intentions. Great brokers are rare, but the ones who are make more money for their clients than they earn themselves.
6) Have a really great marketing plan. Again, great brokers earn their value by doing this work and spreading the advertising expenses across many clients. It’s pretty 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 Rhode Island – just to educate yourself on the options. Creating awareness in your immediate neighborhood and amongst friends and families is a great way to start creating buzz yourself.
7) Get a cash offer. We buy houses all over the Rhode Island area, and we do all the work and logistics so you don’t have to deal with any of this stuff yourself.
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Don’t Want To Do The Things Above Yourself? But Still Want To Sell Your Rhode Island House Fast?
While everyone wants to get as much as they possibly can from their house sale… not everyone can do the things or want 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 and added stress to your home sale.
If you have the funds to do these things... AND you can wait the 3-9 months it takes to sell your home 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). Attracting buyers, showing the house, signing contracts, and eventually closing the sale can be a lot to handle, however it may end up netting you more overall as opposed to a cash sale.
If you don’t have the funds to do these things... AND can’t wait months to sell your house… then you may be a perfect fit for our local Rhode Island home buying company. You’ll 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, and you can decide if it’s a fit for you. If you don’t like our offer we are happy to negotiate and discuss further to find a potential common ground to get your home sold.
My company and network of professionals can close FAST (often times within 7 days) if you need us to.
Take a look at what we offer on your home for not doing any repairs or cleaning versus the time, expense 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 Rhode Island“… 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 Rhode Island, we can help you.
We buy properties like yours from people who need to sell fast for any number of given reasons and it brings me great joy and pride when sellers put their trust in me.