Staging, market research, Realtor relationship keys to selling home quickly

It was a fairly easy process for Lisa Lewis to sell her home.

The Spokane resident, who was to closing on the sale of her home at the end of April, examined market trends and worked with an experienced broker to maximize the appeal of her property.

It’s the third home Lewis has sold in 10 years. So, what’s her advice to ensure a seamless home-selling process?

“Make the home look neat and spacious, and listen to your Realtor, because they know how to sell a house,” she said. “It’s important.”

Sellers should have their home in what’s described as “parade ready,” meaning it should be organized and clean, said Gina Mosey, a broker with RE/MAX Inland Empire.

While removing clutter from a home helps to facilitatei a sale, staging the property can also be valuable, Mosey said.

Lewis agreed that staging a home is important, as well as removing extra furniture to make rooms appear spacious.

“It’s very important for buyers to be able to visualize things in your home,” she said.

Mosey said leveraging technology in the home-listing process doesn’t necessarily help a home sell faster, but it can assist real estate agents in showing the property at its best.

“If that means using the means of 3D photography, video walk-throughs, or drone photography, then a broker may opt to use that,” she said. “As a rule, sellers do not pay for those services, those are part of a broker’s marketing plan for listing a home.”

It’s important for homebuyers to listen to their real estate agent’s suggestions as well as discuss logistics and timing for selling a property.

Mosey, who listed the Lewis property, conducted a market analysis on similar homes that sold in the area as well as properties in escrow.

“So, we had an idea of price per square foot and came up with a (sale) price in mind,” Lewis said. “Before listing, we met again and decided to increase the price. We got very lucky. Our house sold in one week, and we had three offers.”

Sellers should also consider closing and home inspection costs for the property. The average cost to sell a home in Spokane priced about $237,000 is $18,439, which includes $4,219 in transfer taxes and $14,220 in real estate agent commission, according to data from Zillow.

At some point, sellers were buyers, so it helps to keep enjoyable aspects of the home shopping process in mind, including how a residence is staged, Lewis said.

“It’s just really important that you stop and think about what you want to see when you look at other houses,” she said.