Selling your home fast is the dream when moving. Nobody wants to be lumbered with their property for too long and these tips are there to help you sell your house fast.

1. Curb Appeal Matters

First impressions make a difference, so a house with patchy grass, overgrown bushes and chipping paint will not make a great first impression. Because some paint was chipping, we painted the outside of our house. We trimmed bushes, weeded, added new mulch and in the planters located in the front of the house, we put new flowers.

In the spring of 2016, we actually had sod installed, so when in the fall we decided to sell the grass looked good. Yes, you may have to invest a bit so that the exterior of the house, however, if it gets potential buyers at the door, then it will have been money well spent. Also, if outside of your house is in good shape, buyers will like the fact that it is something less that will have to be spent on the house once they move in.

2. Take Care of All Necessary Repairs

Even if it is minor, for example, chipped paint on the baseboard, a leaky faucet, etc. can cause the buyer to believe that the house isn’t being maintained in other areas as well. This is why we took on several small projects; yes I will admit that we had been putting them off. Fortunately, however, my husband is handy so to make these little repairs we did not have to hire anybody. And several months before we decided to sell our house, we had already taken care of two bigger repair projects.

We hired someone, in the spring of 2012 to repair a section of the backyard’s fence that was run-down and a major eye-sore. It was around that time that we also acquired the services of an electrician to look over all of the wirings in our 100-year homes, replace several light fixtures, fix any issues and add outlets to some of the rooms.

3. Stage the House

What staging involved is deep cleaning the house as well as decluttering, depersonalizing and moving the furniture around in a way that makes the house as appealing as possible. StagedHomes.com and The International Association of Home Staging Professionals did a survey that showed that on average, 95% of homes that are staged sell in twenty-three days or less. So the walls in the stairway which were a bit scuffed got painted as does the ceiling in our sunroom and kitchen because they had a few satins.

All of our family photos which were on walls, shelves and tables were packed. Since we had a storage unit already, we cleaned out closes and all of the items that we were not using regularly got stored. The kid’s craft room which of course was packed with toys, art supplies and a homemade craft table which was covered in glitter glue and paint was turned into a sitting room. The goal here was to make our home seem as if it was ready for a catalog or magazine photo shoot.

You can look at our 7 Things Home Buyers Hate slideshow for some assistance on pinpoint fixes you may have to undertake in your home. On HomeGain.com these are also a helpful home improvement checklist. That being said, if Martha Stewart´s touch is something you lack when trying to stage your home, you can seek the assistance of a professional stager, this could cost you from a few hundred dollars and on up to several thousand. This will help you sell your home quickly.

4. The Price must be Right

Prior selling it, we had our house appraised, this way we knew what its market value was. The price that we set was a bit above the appraisal value — however, it was below the prices of comparable homes that were for sale nearby. And our house was being sold by owner. Therefore a real estate agent´s commission did not have to be factored into the price. The goal here was to sell fast — not to make a significant profit — this was because we had an offer on another home and it was contingent on this house being sold.

5. Know Your Competition

When selling your home and setting your price, it is crucial that you know what the competition looks like. At Trulia.com, Zillow.com, or Realtor.com you can look over the listings in your area. If for the most part the homes are comparable in location, age, and size to yours and they have granite countertops and hardwood floors while yours has Formica and carpet, you will have to either set a lower price of making the needed updates to raise the price. If however, the opposite is true, you may be able to set a price that is a bit high and show potential buyers how your home contains more features than comparable homes. The most important thing, however, is that you must be willing to negotiate.

6. Spread the Word

When it came to selling our second home, this was an essential element before we had even put up a “For Sale” sign. On Facebook, I posted that shortly we would putting our home on the market. As I waited outside my children’s school, I let other parents know that I was selling the house. In a PTO meeting I mentioned that due to the offer I had made on another home being accepted, I had to sell my home. Only a day after this meeting, the mother-in-law of one of the other board members of the PTO called me. Three days later we showed her the house, it was on a Friday, and on Sunday we received her offer, right at the appraisal value.

Even if you are working with a real estate agent, it is important to let as many people as you can know that you are selling your house. Someone who may not even be looking for a new home and will not be looking over real estate listings may have been secretly longing for your house and would love the opportunity to purchase it.