You want to sell your Chicago house, and you’d like to get top dollar.
But “What do I need to do to sell my house in Chicago“?
Here are some tips on how to get your home ready to sell if you’re looking to maximize the sale price.
*NOTE: These instructions are relevant if you’re looking to get full retail value for your house. We are an Illinois licensed real estate broker and would be happy to help with listing on the market if this is the path you choose. However, if you would prefer to avoid the steps below – or you don’t have the time or money – you can still sell your Chicago house fast for a fair value off market.
1) Clean, Clean, and Clean. Even vacant houses get dusty and dirty, so it’s important to keep the spaces clean. Focus on wiping the surfaces throughout, cleaning the glass on the windows, sweeping / mopping the floors, and keeping any clutter and personal items on display to a minimum. If you’re not too keen on cleaning, hire someone to help. A clean home shows best and really helps buyers feel comfortable in your space.
2) Cultivate a cohesive, neutral style. You don’t have to repaint your entire house off-white. In fact, some subtle soft colors can really help change buyers perception of a space. For example, a popular greige (mixture of grey and beige) will help brighten up a dark kitchen, while some neutral variant of blue or green (think pale aqua or sage) will help a bright bedroom feel like a calm place to sleep. Just be careful with going too dark with your color choice – the darker you go, the smaller the room may seem. Keep in mind the exterior is just as important – if not more- than ths inside as it’s the first thing buyers seem when approaching the home. You can easily spruce up the outside by painting the front door (getting a little more bold with this is OK!), ensuring nothing is damaged / ripped / broken (siding, windows, window frames, brick, etc.). And if the season permits, mow the lawn and plant a few evergreen bushes and / or perennial flowers in front with some mulch.
3) Fix or replace anything that’s broken. Yes, 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. In truth all retail homebuyers will obtain an inspection, and based on the findings in that report, they may use the opportunity to negotiate the price down. Keep in mind the areas that make the biggest impact on a potential buyer are bathrooms and the kitchen. So if you’re limited with funds, try to focus on those key spaces. As the seller, you’ll often end up paying more if you try to hide neglected maintenance from the purchaser.
Something you might consider is hiring a home inspector yourself to come through before you list the property on the market. If you ask in advance, they’ll often charge you a tiny 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 more comfortable with their decision to purchase.
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 details and fancy frills that won’t be recovered from the sale. It’s all too easy to overspend when it comes to home improvement, and all too common (unfortunately) to get ripped off by unscrupulous contractors.
Knowing which improvements will produce a return on investment to avoid wasting money is key. For more insight into our top recommendations for improving the home (in simple ways to create beter ROI upon sale) before listing it, please email us.
5) Get expert opinions. Find a few decent real estate brokers who will help you price your property and be honest with them. If you’re going to try to market and sell the property on your own, just let that broker know. Great brokers are rare, and the best ones make more money for their clients than they earn.
6) Have a really great marketing plan. Again, great brokers earn their value by doing this work on your behalf. It’s expensive and time-consuming to start from scratch on your own, but if you’re already a marketing expert, well, you’re ahead of the pack.
If you’re not, spend the time listening to what the best brokers do to sell houses in Chicago – if only to educate yourself on the options.
7) Get a cash offer. We buy houses all over the Chicago area, and we do all the repair work for you so you can avoid everything in this blog post if you’d rather take that route. 🙂
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Don’t Want To Do The Things Above Yourself? But Still Want To Sell Your Chicago IL House Fast?
While everyone wants to get as much as they possibly can from the sale of their house, not everyone can (or wants to) do the things required to sell it at full retail value to an end buyer.
Doing the repairs, cleaning the property up, upgrading the property, marketing the property – these all take money and a substantial amount of time.
If you have the funds and patience for this, and you are willing to wait the average time of 3-6 months that it takes to sell a house, then you’ll be better off financially to go ahead and list it on the MLS (Multiple Listing Services) with an agent.
If, however, you don’t have the funds to do these things – or you simply prefer the path of least resistance and/or can’t wait months to sell your house, then you may be a perfect fit for our local Chicago house buying service. Simply submit basic info about your house over here on our website. We’ll evaluate your house and make you a fair all-cash offer. Then you decide whether or not to take the deal.