You want to sell your Virginia house, and you want to get top dollar.
Excellent!
But “What do I need to do to sell my house in Virginia“?
Here are some comprehensive tips on how to get your home ready to sell if you’re looking for top dollar that the market will bear:
- NOTE: These instructions are if you’re looking to get full retail value for your house sale. However, if you don’t want to do the things below… or don’t have the time or money to do the things below… you can still sell your Virginia house fast for a fair value in a win-win sale that’ll save you time and expense.
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.
If maintaining cleanliness isn’t your strong suit, consider temporarily relocating while you show your house. Perhaps you can arrange a house swap with your cleanest friend? In all seriousness, keeping everything immaculate really helps buyers feel comfortable and at home in your space. There’s nothing that will turn away potential buyers faster than feeling uncomfortable or grossed out by the condition of the property.
Pay special attention to kitchens and bathrooms, as these are the rooms buyers scrutinize most closely. Don’t forget about windows, baseboards, and other details that often get overlooked during regular cleaning routines.
2) Cultivate a cohesive, neutral style. You don’t have to paint everything off-white or beige. In fact, some subtle colors can really help change the perception of spaces and make them more appealing – 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 (but be careful, dark colors will also make rooms feel smaller than they actually are).
Spend the money to get high-quality paint and professional help. Subconsciously people will pay more money for a property with just the right colors and very neat, clean lines – it makes the home feel better built and more professionally maintained, even though it’s just paint.
Optical illusions are real, and psychologists have studied this phenomenon extensively. Don’t believe me?
Look it up. And don’t neglect the outside and just do the inside, or anything else that’s unbalanced. Curb appeal matters tremendously, and the exterior of your home creates the critical first impression that sets the tone for everything else.
3) Fix or replace anything that’s broken. Yeah, it might feel like a waste of money to spend an extra couple hundred bucks on a dishwasher that someone else might just pull out and replace again. But really, quite a few buyers will get a home inspection and use the opportunity to negotiate with you on price. 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.
Make sure you stay in compliance with all the laws and disclosure requirements in your state.
It’s often a good use of money to hire a home inspector to come through before you put the property on the market. If you ask in advance, they’ll often charge you a reduced 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 report on the condition of the house – it makes them feel very comfortable with the purchase and reduces their perceived risk.
Address any major issues like roof problems, foundation cracks, plumbing leaks, or electrical issues before listing. These are red flags that will either kill deals or result in significant price reductions during negotiations.
4) Make only necessary improvements. The biggest mistake people make when getting their house ready to sell is over-improving. They often spend too much money on customized frills and personal preferences that can’t be recovered in the sale price.
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 who prey on sellers trying to maximize their home’s value.
It’s important to know what improvements will produce a return on investment to avoid wasting money. Focus on cost-effective upgrades that appeal to the broadest range of buyers rather than niche improvements that only appeal to specific tastes.
5) Get expert opinions. You should definitely find at least a few decent real estate brokers who will help you price your property correctly, but be honest with them about your intentions. If you’re going to market the property on your own, don’t make enemies by lying about your intentions or wasting their time. Great brokers are rare, but they make more money for their clients than they earn in commissions through strategic pricing and marketing.
Interview multiple agents and ask them about their marketing strategies, recent sales in your area, and how they plan to position your property. A good agent’s expertise can be invaluable in navigating the complexities of the Virginia real estate market.
6) Have a really great marketing plan. Again, great brokers earn their value by doing this work professionally 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 Virginia – just to educate yourself on the options available to you. Professional photography, virtual tours, social media marketing, and targeted advertising can all make a significant difference in how quickly your home sells and at what price.
7) Get a cash offer. We buy houses all over the Virginia area, and we do all the work so you don’t have to deal with any of this stuff.
Don’t Want To Do The Things Above Yourself? But Still Want To Sell Your Virginia House Fast?
While everyone wants to get as much as they possibly can from their house sale… not everyone can do the things or wants to do the things required to sell it at full retail value to an end buyer who’s securing traditional financing.
Doing the repairs, cleaning the property up, upgrading the property, staging it properly, marketing the property effectively… those all take substantial money and can take lots of time that you may not have available.
There’s also the uncertainty factor – even after investing all that time and money, there’s no guarantee your home will sell quickly or for the price you’re hoping to achieve. Market conditions in Virginia can change, and you could end up waiting longer than anticipated.
If you have the funds to do these things... AND you can wait the 3-9 months it typically takes to sell houses in this market through traditional channels… then you’ll likely be better off financially to do those things and then list it on the MLS (the main property listing service that real estate agents use).
If you don’t have the funds to do these things... AND can’t wait months to sell your house due to financial pressures, relocation needs, or other circumstances… then you may be a perfect fit for our local Virginia house buying service. You’ll submit basic info about your house over here on our website, we’ll evaluate your house’s condition and market position, we’ll make you a fair all-cash offer on your house, and you can decide if it’s a fit for your situation.
Then we can close FAST (often times within 7 days) if you need us to, or we can work on your timeline if you need more time to make arrangements.
Take a look at what we’ll pay you not to do anything versus the time, expense and hassle involved with doing it on your own through the traditional selling process. Sometimes the convenience and certainty of a cash sale outweighs getting a slightly higher price months down the road.
So if you’re still asking “what do I need to do to sell my house in Virginia“… now you have 2 solid options to consider based on your unique circumstances.
Either…
- Fix the property up and get it all nice and ready with the steps above to sell it at top dollar through traditional channels with an agent
- 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 so you can move forward with your life.
If you need to sell a property anywhere in Virginia, we can help you regardless of the condition or situation.
We buy properties like yours from people who need to sell fast for all kinds of reasons – divorce, inheritance, relocation, financial difficulties, or simply not wanting to deal with the traditional selling process.