4 Surefire Tips For a Successful Home Sale

At Elegran, we’ve combined our decades of expertise and compiled data to round up the best tips for a successful home sale. From real estate photography to home staging services, these tips can increase your home’s value, speed up the selling process, and maximize your profits.

1) Hire an All-Around Real Estate Advisor

We prefer the term “real estate advisor” at Elegran rather than “agent,” as we feel it best captures the essence of this highly important role.

All-around advisors can help you devise a solid pricing strategy, so your home can avoid becoming “stale,” which is any property that lasts more than 30 to 90 days on the market.

In addition, they have cutting-edge resources at their disposal that make the home selling process a breeze. These include top-tier marketing materials, access to a network of talented real estate photographers, and the know-how to get your home in front of the right buyers.

Most importantly, an all-around advisor has a firm grasp over the minutiae of a large real estate deal, from negotiating offers and disclosures to avoiding pitfalls along the way.

2) Invest in Additional Real Estate Photography Services

Most real estate agents include a photo package with the listing. While these wide-angle photos of the property might be enough to generate some initial interest, a few surprising stats about the future of real estate marketing may convince you to up your photography game altogether.

For starters, video content is on the rise, with 39% of real estate agents preferring it over still photos and 360 tours. Additionally, a whopping 81% of marketers found a direct correlation between video content and a boost in sales, according to Wyzowl’s marketing stats in 2021.

This is why it’s so important to invest in photography services that go beyond the basics and capture your home in all its glory. Video tours, for instance, can showcase your personality and offer potential buyers a preview of the home that may leave them wanting more. Drones, meanwhile, can capture stunning aerial photos and videos of your home’s exterior, showing off that brand new roof or demonstrating how the property looks from multiple angles, which is something a standard photo package can’t always achieve.

“Virtual dusk” or twilight photography may also add pizzaz to your listing. The best part? Photographers don’t have to race against time for the perfect shot — they can simply achieve this effect in post-production. That way, you can offer buyers a glimpse into what the home might look like at sunset when the sky is painted in beautiful pinks, oranges, or lavenders.

3) Consider Virtual or Home Staging Services

Home staging is the process of giving your home a human touch by adding decor, rearranging furniture, and making it look stunning for listing photos or an open house.

This is different from virtual staging, which is the digital practice of filling in empty rooms with graphic elements or replacing unsightly furniture and decor with digitally enhanced images.

Why would you consider either one? Well, 82% of buyers’ agents agree that a staged home helps their clients envision themselves living there, which can lead to more (and better) offers.

When deciding whether to stage the home virtually or traditionally with furniture, note that traditional staging requires a larger investment, with furniture packages averaging $5,000 for a 1,500 square foot home. By contrast, virtual staging is more affordable, ranging between $25 to $200 per room.

Tip: When uploading virtually-staged photos, be sure to disclose in the listing that the images are not of the actual furniture pieces in the home. This way, you can prevent any confusion that may arise as buyers click through the images on the listing.

4) Make a Few Small Improvements

Doing minor improvements around the home, including these simple DIY projects, may add value to your property and impress potential buyers without breaking the bank.

Basic upgrades include reglazing your bathtubs, sprucing up dull surfaces or countertops with Epoxy resin, and installing crown molding for a timeless look. If you’re not sure which upgrades to focus on, run it by your real estate advisor or contractor who can offer some guidance based on your home’s layout, market conditions, and more.

Alternatively, plug your vision and budget into an online calculator that can estimate the return on investment for each improvement you wish to make.

Let’s Recap

Before you list your home on the market, work with your real estate advisor to devise a fail-safe pricing strategy, so you can avoid your home sitting on the market too long.

Additionally, invest in extra real estate photography services that’ll wow potential buyers and make them want to schedule a visit right away. If you have the budget, consider home staging — whether it’s traditionally with furniture or virtually with graphic elements.

Lastly, making a few small improvements may increase your home’s value. So keep these surefire tips in mind before you list your home on the market. Doing so will set you up for a super successful sale, saving you time and money in the long run.