5 Tips for Selling Your Home in the Fall

Written by Anthony Lamacchia

After an unusually busy summer for real estate many are wondering what the fall will be like. All signs point to a robust fall. Although the market has settled down since the spring rush and inventory is higher than spring selling your home is still achievable.

In order to maximize the amount your home sells for we have 5 Tips for you:

Spruce up your Curb Appeal

A home sale begins with the buyer’s first view of the house from the outside, whether they are driving up to see the home, driving past, or even viewing the home online. It is important to get the exterior of the home looking its best. In the spring everyone is eager to get outside and clean up the beds, rake the lawn, plant flowers and mulch the beds. By summer the weeds start and begin to take over. Bushes can also become overgrown. Weeding, trimming and planting seasonal flowers such as mums to add color will really go a long way. Also keep up with cleaning the leaves as late fall sets in.

Accommodate Earlier Showings

As we get deeper into fall and the days get shorter more buyers will want to see your home before dark. No matter what the season it is always important to be as accommodating as possible to buyers. However it is even more important in the summer and fall to allow people to come in when they want to because you are competing with more homes for sale. You can expect to have later afternoon showing requests and less evening requests.

Price it Right

Prices certainly increased since the beginning of the year. The biggest increase occurred when inventory was excessively low in the early spring. However inventory is up over 50% since then so there are very few bidding wars and homes are taking more time to sell. These days buyers have more access to home sale data than ever before so they comparison shop and know when a home is priced correctly. Every fall many home sellers look at what homes sold for over the summer and base their prices on those sales. What they forget to look at is when that home went under agreement. If it was in March April or May when housing inventory was much lower that explains a higher sale price. If your home is priced too high, buyers won’t even look at the property let alone make an offer. Remember if you don’t price it correctly you could be holding on to the house through the winter.

Make it Move-In Ready

Buyers are typically more willing to buy and do home improvement projects in the spring than the fall. So it is best to take care of all the small improvements and repairs that you can. If the home needs new carpet, put it in. If a couple rooms need a fresh paint job, get them painted. The same goes for repairs. Replace damaged screens or dripping faucets, repair scratches on floors or cabinets, and replace broken tiles. Fixing problems now gives you a competitive advantage over other sellers not willing to take the time. Staging your home correctly also makes a huge difference and presents the best features of the home as well as the home’s potential. For great staging tips read our blog on 5 Staging Secrets Professionals Use to Sell Homes Fast.

Keep it Cozy

You want home buyers to feel right at home when they visit. Before showing your home, fill the home with pleasing aromas of the season by burning a cinnamon-scented candle or baking pumpkin cupcakes. It is also important to keep the house warm, many homeowners turn down the heat to save on energy costs, but you don’t want buyers leaving early or feeling uncomfortable because they’re cold. Seasonal decorations can also be a nice touch but be sure not to overdo it. Remember that in the fall the days get shorter so when you have showings in the late afternoon or early evening make sure you have adequate lighting so the home looks bright and comfortable. Leaving more lights on at night even when you don’t have a showing can be a good idea since you will get drive by’s especially shortly after you list the home for sale. During the day open all the blinds to let in as much natural light as possible.