There are a number of reasons you may want to sell your home quickly. Whether you’re hoping to avoid making two mortgage payments, or if you are moving a long distance and have a limited time to close on your old home, it can become imperative to sell quickly.

Many homeowners in a rush to sell their home are at a loss for what they can do to increase their chances of selling quickly without substantially lowering the price.

If you’re in a competitive buyer’s market it can be even more difficult to make a quick sale. Fortunately, there are things you can do to help expedite the selling process. In today’s article, we’ll show you how to do just that.

Read on for tips on selling your home faster so you can move on to focusing on your new home.

Presentation matters

To give yourself the best chance of attracting buyers, you’ll want to focus on cleaning and staging your home.

Many sellers leave their belongings in the home and simply fill up their closet and basement while selling their home. A better approach is to rent a storage unit to keep your belongings in. This will make sure you can showcase the size of your closet and other storage areas in viewings and in your photography.

When it comes to photography, using high quality photos that show off the lighting and spaciousness of your home will attract more leads on your home. Spending money to hire a photographer for the day can save you valuable time and give you quality, marketable photos of your home.

Rethink your pricing

If you need to sell quickly, the easiest way to do so is to make sure you’ve priced your home reasonably. Many sellers have a tendency to aim high, thinking that they will be haggled down by a buyer.

However, fewer people will reach out if your home is outside of their budget. Set your home price close to its market value and make adjustments accordingly.

Add quick curb appeal

Curb appeal is the measure of how welcoming and desirable your home looks upon driving by or pulling into the driveway. This can be achieved with landscaping, paving the driveway, and cleaning the house’s siding.

However, you don’t have to spend thousands to clean up the outside of your home. Sometimes simply mowing and edging the lawn and adding fresh mulch goes a long way toward improving curb appeal.

Another thing to consider is the best time to take outdoor photos of your home. If you have a great view or sunsets, try taking photos at different times of the day to show off all your property has to offer.

Remove personal items

You want your home to appear livable--not lived in. Make sure family photos and other personalized items have been removed for real estate photography, open houses, and viewing.

Similarly, if you have any rooms painted colors that others may find jarring, re-paint them in a neutral, calming color. And, if any of your walls are painted a dark color, brighten them up to make the room appear larger.

This approach stands true for the driveway and garage as well. You want potential buyers to imagine how they could use the space--not how you’re currently using it. Make sure your vehicles and outdoor equipment are out of sight in your photos and during showings.

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How a home seller engages buyers is key. If a seller allocates the necessary time and resources to connect with buyers, he or she can boost the likelihood of enjoying a successful property selling experience.

Now, let's take a look at three tips to help you engage buyers and speed up the house selling journey.

1. Create an Effective Home Listing

An effective home listing can make a world of difference for any seller, at any time. Because if you can provide buyers with plenty of details about your home in your listing, you could make it easy for buyers to understand your house's full potential.

Typically, it is a good idea to write a clear, concise and simple-to-understand home listing. You should include accurate information about your home in your listing, and you should avoid stretching the truth.

You also may want to incorporate high-resolution images of your home into your listing. That way, homebuyers will know what to expect when they view your house in-person.

2. Upgrade Your Home's Curb Appeal

If your house boasts amazing curb appeal, buyers may be instantly attracted to your residence. And as a result, you may receive many buyer requests to view your house as soon as your residence becomes available.

To improve your house's curb appeal, you should mow the lawn, trim the hedges and perform other lawn care tasks. In addition, you should fix any cracked or chipped home siding.

You may want to hire lawn care and home improvement professionals, too. With these professionals at your side, you can quickly bolster your house's curb appeal.

3. Remover Clutter

If your home is filled with antiques, paintings and various knick-knacks, you may want to remove these items for the time being. In fact, if you have a clutter-free residence, buyers may fall in love with your house as soon as they walk through the front door.

Oftentimes, it helps to rent a storage unit before you list your home. If you have a storage unit, you can keep assorted personal belongings safe while you try to sell your house.

For those who want to eliminate excess items, you can list these items online or host a yard sale. You may want to consider donating any unwanted items to a charity or giving them to family members or friends as well.

Lastly, as you get set to add your house to the real estate market, it may be beneficial to hire a real estate agent. This housing market professional knows what it takes to engage buyers. Thus, if you are searching for help as you craft a home listing, a real estate agent is happy to assist you. On the other hand, if you have any concerns or questions as you navigate the home selling journey, a real estate agent can instantly respond to them.

Engage buyers throughout the home selling journey – use the aforementioned tips, and you could reap the benefits of a fast, profitable house selling experience.

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Photo by Steve Buissinne via

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Most are familiar with the key components of a mortgage: how much you're borrowing, what your interest rate is, how many years you'll be paying your mortgage back. There are many, however, who do not understand some of the finer details, including what prepayment penalties are and how they may affect you when you're buying or selling a home. 

What are Prepayment Penalties?

In the simplest terms, a prepayment penalty may apply if you pay off your mortgage early. Prepaying can mean either making additional payments that bring down your balance quicker, refinancing your mortgage, or selling the home and therefore paying off the balance of the loan. The reason banks apply these penalties is to recoup some of their lost revenue when years of interest are not collected due to an early payoff. 

Not all mortgages come with penalties and those that do often specify when and how the penalties will apply. For example, many borrowers will not be penalized if the prepayment results from selling the home, but will apply from refinancing or from making additional payments. Others have a limit to how much can be paid early via additional payments during any given year. It's also common for prepayment penalties to only apply during the first several years.

Avoiding the Harshest Penalties

For first-time mortgage applicants, it pays to take the time to find your lender before you choose a home. That way, you'll have plenty of time to read all the documentation, ask questions, and consult an attorney to ensure you're getting terms you can agree to in good faith. Keep in mind, however, that mortgage contracts are not final until you've selected a home and have documents drawn up specifically for that purchase. You may want to have an attorney present during the closing to make sure all the final paperwork matches your expectations.

For sellers, it's best to understand whether prepayment penalties will apply long before contemplating the sale of your home. However, if you missed the opportunity to do your due diligence when signing the mortgage documents, it's not too late. Start by talking with your lender to understand which, if any, penalties you may be subject to. If the penalties are steep enough, now may not be the best time to sell or you may want to keep these expenses in mind when pricing your home. Others may be able to port their mortgage to a new home, or transfer it to a new property to avoid penalties. 

Getting Help

No matter which side of the deal you are on, a qualified real estate agent can help you navigate the process to make sure you're getting the most from the arrangement while also working around tricky situations. To learn more or to get started, feel free to send in your inquiries, so we can get started on your homebuying or home selling journey today.

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In most homes, the base lighting is drab and dull, often doing little to light up your life. Thankfully, it is quite easy to transform the lighting in your home and create the perfect atmosphere for your everyday activities. All you have to do is follow these four tips and watch as your efforts turn the lights up to 11 in every way possible.

Take a Cooler Turn

The reason your home’s lighting may not be knocking your socks off is its base temperature. Most homes have a rather warm light temperature of 2700K, which leaves everything looking a bit yellow. This is especially apparent as you try to take pictures inside, as they turn out washed out and grainy.

So, for a quick fix, all it takes is a switch to cooler bulbs, typically marked 3500K to 5000K. To go one step further, layer the lights in your room by using different temperature ranges and intensities, allowing you to customize the lighting to your mood and activities.

Replace Your Shades

If the light fixtures in your home are bumming you out, you may feel inspired to make a switch. Unfortunately, that step usually requires some wiring work, which could put you at risk of electric shock.

To make a big change without the risk, simply look to replace the shades instead. Using the original shade shape and size as a guide, select the colors and materials that make your heart sing to transform the lighting in an instant.

Embrace Task Lighting

Chances are that your lighting woes link directly back to not having enough light for all your tasks. Your kitchen might be too dim for cake decorating or perhaps the dining room lacks the light needed for building models.

Thankfully, fixing this problem is as easy as setting up task lighting in those key areas. You can choose from magnetic LED fixtures to articulated lamps that clip on your desk, giving yourself just enough light for every task.

Go with a Smart System

One of the biggest changes you can make is going with smart lighting systems in your home. By simply switching to smart bulbs, you can change the color and intensity as you wish, forever altering the ambiance in your living space. In fact, you can even set the changes ahead of time and ensure your lighting lives up to expectations every hour of the day.

In addition to creating the perfect atmosphere, your smart bulbs can even save you money by switching off automatically at each preset time. And since they are LED, they use 75 percent less energy than incandescent lights when you do have them turned on.

By following these four tips, your home’s lighting will be forever changed and for the better. You can continue to make adjustments as you wish to customize your living space to your needs and preferences. The sky is the limit in what you can do when you set your mind to optimizing your lighting.

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