If you spend weeks working on the house and advertising, but can't get anyone to come look at it, you may need a little help. Without people calling your phone and coming to see the house in person, you will never have a sale. This article has been written to help you draw interest and get people to come see the house in person. Take a look at these seven important tips to sell your house faster and get the most money out of it. If you are still stuck, give me a call for a free consultation. Please note that I am an advisor, not a realtor.

ONE: Price matters.

This is simple. Look at the tips below first, and if your best efforts to advertise your property aren’t making the phone ring, your house is probably overpriced. Consider how you are pricing your house. When you compare your house with others that sold in your area, open the pictures of those houses and see if your rooms are as up to date as their rooms. Look at their list of improvements. If you want to get the same amount as a neighbor, make sure your house looks similar in value inside and out. 

Consider how many bedrooms and bathrooms there are, the square footage, basement, garage, pool, and the yard. Consider the condition of the driveway, and even the trees, and landscaping. If all things are not equal, you will need to adjust your value accordingly. And you cannot compare a house built in the 50's with a house built recently. Even if they are close in proximity, they won't compare on an appraisal. Houses in different neighborhoods or on the other side of the railroad tracks or river won't compare either. All differences must be considered.

TWO: Pictures are critical 

Your pictures absolutely matter! Remember, the goal is to get people to visit. After decluttering and cleaning, turn on every light and open every window during the brightest time of the day. You want the room to look big, so think deep and wide. In other words, put yourself or your camera all the way against the back wall to get the deepest shot, and zoom your camera all the way out to get a wide shot of your rooms to make them look wider and more spacious. Count it a bonus if you can also get the space from the floor to the ceiling, especially if you have high ceilings. And by all means, get the dog bowls and baby chair out of the picture. 

When it comes to posting pictures in your ads, two extremes can stop the phone from ringing. That's too many pictures, or not enough pictures. Let me explain.

#1) Too few pictures. 

You might as well write - DON'T BUY ME - on your ad if you are only posting one or two pictures. Buyers immediately think something must be wrong in the other areas of the house that they cannot see. When there are zero interior pictures, buyers think it must be a hoarder house or a major fixer upper inside. Why else wouldn't a seller show off the rest of the house? You cannot sell it if you don't get people to drive out and see it, so don't scare your potential buyers off by making them think there must be something wrong. 

#2) Too many pictures. 

Believe it or not, when people see every square inch of the house in pictures, nothing is left to the imagination, and that can leave buyers uninterested. What is left to see? They think they've seen it all, and if any part of their life is not fulfilled according to those pictures, they think it would be a waste of time to come see it in person. Ten pictures are generally plenty. Sometimes just five will do the trick - one outside and four inside. Remember, the goal is to draw people to the house. Show enough good traits inside and out to create curiosity and interest so they come see it. One, two or three outside, and four to eight inside from the best parts of the house, and you should be golden. Small stuff matters.

Don't scare buyers away by ignoring the little details. Patch up the nail holes, add a fresh coat of paint, and clean the scuffs off the walls and furniture. Get the stains out of the carpet and clean the trim work and corners. Even if everything isn't new, it can look fresh and clean. For DIY projects, make sure you watch plenty of videos, so you know the do's and dont's before you get started. If you aren't sure, it might be best to hire a certified handyman.

THREE: More space equals more money!

Remove clutter and show plenty of open wall space, open counter space, and open shelf space in the pantry and the closets, even if you haven't moved everything out yet - find a way to make space. Open space makes a room look bigger and more spacious, and people pay more money for more living space.

If you really want to give a buyer confidence, get it inspected by a professional home inspector, 

and show off the healthy home report.

FOUR: Curb appeal makes a difference

Go outside and take a good look from the street because curb appeal is important. After all, this is the buyer's first impression of the house. Give buyers an aesthetically pleasing view of tranquility and great style. Straighten up the flower bed, add a layer of fresh mulch, consider cleaning or painting the mailbox, power wash the outside of the house, and clean the windows. Always shoot for a clean look. Keep the bushes trimmed, pull the weeds, cut the grass, clean the siding and gutters. 

FIVE: Staging matters

If you want to stage the house with some of your own furniture, I would advise you to do so, but tastefully. Make sure the bedspread is nice and it matches the curtains. If you need to move out and take your furniture with you, you can use AI to add staging to your pictures. It might be worth the money to hire a professional designer to help tastefully stage the property inside and out. For more information on staging, visit How Much Does It Cost to Stage a House—And How Much Will You Gain? (realtor.com).

SIX: Improvements are great, but don't overspend.

Make sure you get the biggest bang for your buck while preparing your house for sale. Why spend $10,000 on upgrades that will only increase the value of your house by $5,000? Paying for higher quality could leave you disappointed in the return on investment. Clean up the clutter and think “neutral” and let the buyer add their own custom touches after the purchase. Even with exceptional craftsmanship and talent, it’s difficult to exceed what the market is paying.

NEED ANOTHER OPTION?????????

Perhaps you would love to do all of these things, but you don't have the time, the resources, or the money. There are other options such as selling the house quickly for cash. Most investors will buy your house immediately for 70% of its value minus the cost of repairs, and that's a HUGE LOSS just because you need to sell it right away and will not be fixing it up first. Let me help you. 

Before you settle for a huge loss, or a short sale or foreclosure, please give me a call for a low pressure, no obligation, free consultation. There are other great options, and they can be life changing. Make the best decision for your future by making an educated decision. 

My name is Jamie, and you can reach me at 502.418.4819. I can't wait to hear from you!

Curious if you’d be better off with a realtor? Let this guide help you!

You’ve heard the saying, “You get what you pay for.” Realtors add some great value to your transaction, and you will pay a decent price for their work. Realtors match buyers with new homes about as perfectly as the best dating website matches two people to fall in love, and perhaps with more success. Plus, realtors have experience with these transactions and can walk you through the good, bad and ugly of it all right up front so you know what to expect each step of the way. They also have experience with contracts, and they have access to pre-written contracts that are already drafted with your protection in mind. Great realtors can be worth it if you can wait for the process from start to finish.

Depending on the market and how well the house is priced, selling the house with a realtor could take several months. Once you have a contract signed with a buyer, the financing process usually takes one to two months before you finally pass the keys and collect your check.

I would love to introduce you to a realtor in your area if you need one. 

If you can't wait months to go through the typical selling process, please give me a call for a low pressure, no obligation, free consultation. There are other great options that can be life changing. Make the best decision for your future by making an educated decision. 

My name is Jamie, and you can reach me at 502.418.4819. I can't wait to hear from you!

No Fret! 

You might be surprised at the things we can do to help. 

Just call me and we can cover some options for you.

~ Jamie

Need a better option?

How would you like an option that relieves you of the mortgage payment, puts some extra cash in your pocket each month, and relieves you of dealing with the maintenance, upkeep, and repairs of the house? Does it sound too good to be true?

But that option does exist.

Yep! Stop cleaning and repairing. Move on with your life. Let it go. Walk away. Focus on your next steps in life while collecting a little extra cash each month from your house. 

AND THE BEST PART? You make tens of thousands of dollars more in the process! 

How it works

Simply put, you let me lease the house from you with the option of a future purchase. You are completely hands off, and your house is working for you just like an investment in the bank. It's like "mailbox money" or a monthly pension!

Benefits include:

• You collect monthly income on your house. This is called passive income because the house is working for you.

• You walk away from the house AS IS. No repairs necessary. You can simply take your belongings and walk away from it as it is.

•  You take advantage of your house’s future value! House values increase with time, right? The price and timeline are locked in as part of the agreement up front so you know from day one how much you will get for the house at closing. Since your mortgage payoff is being paid down over this period, your final proceeds will continue going up! When the lease is over, that is when you collect the bigger profit from your home equity at the closing of the sale of the house. 

• The timeline is up to you. You choose your terms.

Who takes care of selling the house, making repairs and paying your mortgage every month? 

That’s where I come in. 😊 

I am your property manager and your best friend throughout this experience. 

And you don’t pay me for my service. Instead, I pay you. 

Do not confuse this with a rental property. Renters will not be in the house. Buyers will. They take care of the house because they intend to keep it. They take ownership in the property the moment they take possession. And IF they do complain, I handle it without ever involving you so you can focus on other more important things – like your life. I monitor the condition of the house; I ensure that the repairs are completed; and I deal with complaints.

YOU MIGHT BE A CANDIDATE FOR THIS IF... 

you need to relocate quickly and won't be in the area to go through the conventional sales process.

you don't have the money and equity to fix up the house before you move.

you inherited a house and want to get more out of it.

you owe too much on the house and need the extra money to pay off the mortgage and/or liens.

you are getting behind on payments, need time to repair your credit before buying again, and could use some extra cash each month.

you are getting married and both of you have a house, so you need to figure out what to do with your extra house.

you’ve wanted the monetary benefits of owning a rental property without worrying about the repairs, maintenance, missed payments and nagging renters, and the wear and tear on the house.

you simply want more out of your house in the long run instead of settling for less today.