Many experts are predicting that the housing recovery that began last year will continue to gain momentum in 2013, which means selling your home may become a bit easier. However, regardless of the market, there are ways to sweeten the deal for potential buyers, making your home more attractive than others and helping you get the best possible price.
Closing Costs
When a home sale goes through, there are several costs to be paid at the closing. These fees, including title service, recording fees, attorney fees and more, often run into the thousands, and someone - either the buyer or the seller - has to pay them. In some cases, they can become a major sticking point in a potential sale or can kill the sale altogether. For the most part, it's become common for buyers to ask the seller to provide either closing cost credits or pay the costs entirely, so you can eliminate that potential sticking point by offering to do one or the other up front.
Home Maintenance Services
We all lead busy lives, which often means some of the more routine tasks around our homes get pushed to the bottom of our "to do" lists. So why not pre-pay for home maintenance services, such as cleaning, snow removal or landscaping, on behalf of potential buyers for a period of time? Think about it: by taking these tasks off a potential buyer's already crowded plate - at no cost to them - you might just give them enough incentive to go from potential buyer to buyer.
Pre-inspection
After buyers go under contract on a home, they'll pay for an inspection out of their own pocket. But you can get a head start on that by having your home inspected before listing. Knowing about potential problems ahead of a traditional inspection can save you a lot of money in repair costs, and will eliminate the need for negotiating potentially thousands of dollars in credits with a buyer later on. If, for some reason, you can't make all the fixes, you can factor in the cost of repairs when pricing your home. Plus, most buyers are looking for a home that's "move-in ready" and won't require a lot of repairs, so a home that's already passed an inspection with flying colors is a real bonus and can be advertised as such.
Warranties
For a small fee, you can purchase a one-year transferable warranty to cover the appliances within a home, including refrigerators, stoves, and washing machines, that may fail within the first year the buyer is in their new home. That kind of peace of mind is a big deal for potential buyers and could make your home stand out among others on the market.
Other potential deal-sweeteners could be offering to help with financing (if that's feasible), or including some of your personal property - particularly the "good stuff," such as stainless appliances, a large, expensive TV, or a riding lawnmower.
Going above and beyond what homebuyers have come to expect will not only get you more visibility and traffic, but could also get you a better price when you sell your home - in some cases, a much better price.
