Have you outgrown your current home or just want to change locations? Has the time come to go from homeowner to home seller?

If your answer to any of these questions is a yes, then you’re definitely ready to sell. Selling a home can feel just as overwhelming as the process of buying it — but it doesn’t have to be. You can opt to sell your home to Bungalo through a quick, simple and transparent process and pricing structure or follow our tips below if you choose to sell to other buyers.

Either way, we can help you streamline the sale without your house sitting on the market for months on end.

Choose how to sell your home

If you choose to sell your home through the traditional real estate process, your first course of action is to start the process of putting your home on the market so you can sell it. After all, that’s how you’re going to find interested buyers.

To do this, you need to decide which route is right for you to sell your home. For many, the go-to is through a real estate agent. The simplest way to find an agent is to search on the internet and find potential matches that work for you.

This means searching through real estate agents’ sale histories and professional designations to make sure that they have the expertise and skills to list your home and sell it — as efficiently as possible. However, agents do earn a real estate commission, which is usually 5 to 6% of the total sale price.

The real estate agent earns this fee due to their experience and professional network, which allows your home to be shared with more potential buyers than if the agent weren’t helping you sell. Some homeowners choose to save money on those fees by bypassing a real estate agent and selling the home themselves. Selling your home by yourself is known as “for sale by owner,” or FSBO. Opting out of a professional guide, such as an agent, can save you money, but it can also cost you time.

A real estate agent not only shares your home with a wider audience, but they know how to negotiate and close on details that you’ve probably never experienced before. This can help you secure the best offer without worrying that you’re under or overpricing your home.

Neither of those options are perfect, so Bungalo created a new and improved way to sell your home. Our service is designed to streamline the homebuying process, making it quicker and simpler than the traditional methods described above. Through this process, you don’t have to worry about finding the right real estate agent or worry about getting your home ready for market. Not only does Bungalo provide all cash offers, we also only charge a low 3% service fee instead of paying the standard brokerage commission to a listing and buyer’s agent that could total as much as 6% in a traditional real estate transaction. If you’re interested in learning more, check out our how-it-works guide.

If you choose to sell through a real estate agent, follow the below best practices to prepare your home for market:

Prepare your home for the market

It may seem obvious that your house has to be ready to sell when you put it for sale, but many homeowners don’t realize what steps need to be taken to ensure a quick listing through the traditional home selling route.

Although current housing market conditions are out of your control, there are important preparations you can make that will get your home sold sooner rather than later. These include:

Make a checklist and set a timeline

Figure out how long you want to focus on selling your home. The usual process can take between two to four months, according to Bankrate, and that’s without considering external factors, such as market conditions, unanticipated repairs and/or price negotiations.

At this point, you want to give yourself a rough estimate of how long you want to take with each step of the home selling process. This can keep you on track and help you visualize each step of the sale.

However, if you choose to sell to Bungalo, our average process takes about 21 business days — from scheduling to closing! You won’t have to worry about a long timeframe or home selling next steps.

Determine your home’s market value

One of the biggest mistakes a home seller can make is over- or underpricing their home. When you list your home, you want the home price to roughly equal its worth, so it’s a huge plus if you get a pre-sale home inspection.

It may be tempting to charge more, but it’s essential to remember that you also don’t want to lose out on potential buyers or make them suspicious of your home’s listing. When a house is on the market for too long, a buyer is likely to wonder why it’s not selling — they could start thinking that maybe it’s overpriced or has hidden damage or other negative attributes.

Meanwhile, if you invest in a pre-sale home inspection, you’ll have the validation of your home’s worth and also learn of any potential issues that may cause speed bumps during the sale.

Make home upgrades that add value

There are some basic home improvement projects that can make a big impact on your home’s value and appearance — without breaking the bank. You don’t want to commit to a lengthy or expensive renovation project before selling, but you should consider some simpler investments that will attract more interested buyers and increase your curb appeal.

Important reminder: If you sell to Bungalo you don’t have to make renovations — we buy homes as is. Once purchased, our Construction and Design teams assess and renovate each home to ensure the next homeowner will love it for years to come.

If you choose to go through the traditional real estate route, below are some of our recommended projects:

• Landscape your front and back yards
• Apply fresh coats of paint to the interior and/or exterior
• Upgrade your kitchen appliances
• Renovate your bathrooms
• Replace carpeted flooring with wooden flooring
• Get your home professionally cleaned

(For more inspiration on how to increase your curb appeal and improve your home’s value, explore other articles on our blog.)

Once you’ve considered these options, you should then schedule professional photos to be taken of your property. The better the quality of your photos, the more likely buyers will want to come to your open house or inquire about your property.

Collect all required documents to sell your home

Paperwork can be a big headache for those looking to buy or sell a home. However, if you’re working with a real estate agent or using an immersive platform like Bungalo, you won’t be left to figure out the necessary documents alone.

For the basic documents, keep a folder or binder handy with the following, if you have them:

• Deed document
• Any mortgage or financing documents
• Original home appraisal (from when you purchased the home)
• Homeowner’s insurance records
• Original title report
• Pre-listing home inspection
• Appliance and upgrade/addition records

Because each state or city may have its own requirements, it’s also important to check local laws and regulations to ensure you have what you need before you list your home. As you start your home selling journey, you want to have as much prepared as possible beforehand, so as to minimize any chances for issues or problems down the road.

More strategies that can help you sell your house fast

Now that you’ve chosen how you’re going to list your home and what steps you need to take before listing, it’s time to learn the other secret of the home selling process: choosing when to list your home and what price to set it at.

On the one hand, you want to sell your home during a high-demand time, as that increases your chances of interested buyers and adds an incentive to buyers to purchase quickly — before someone else makes an offer on your home. This competitiveness is great for the seller as it will speed up the sale. However, it will also increase the competition between your property and comparable homes on sale in the area. This could mean trouble if your home hasn’t been adequately prepared or presented on the market and it could be overlooked by buyers — this is another great reason to follow our suggested pre-listing tips or better yet, come to Bungalo for a quick, transparent, fair-market offer.

So, when is the best time to sell your home?

Across the U.S., the best time to sell a home is in June and July, per NerdWallet. During these two months, houses typically sell for the highest prices, which is great for home sellers.

Yet it’s important to remember that your local area may not follow the national trends. For areas such as Florida, Texas, Arizona and Southern California, houses may not sell as well during those months, which are prone to extreme weather, such as excessive heat, hurricanes and/or tornadoes.

Your real estate agent, as well as your own regional research, can help guide you to the best season or month to sell in your area.

When is the worst time to sell your home?

In contrast to the summer months, it’s usually not best practice to list your home in winter. NerdWallet specifically highlighted January and February as the months consistently with the lowest selling prices between 2015 to 2019.

Again, this may not apply to certain regions where it’s still possible to sell well in the “colder” months because they are still temperate and enjoyable.

Listing your home during an “off-season” won’t make or break your home sale. But it wouldn’t hurt to put your best foot forward by listing your home during months that are proven to be popular among buyers every single year.

Set a realistic price to attract buyers year-round in a seller’s market

If you want to sell your home sooner rather than later, it may not be practical to wait around for the best-selling month in your area. But you don’t need to panic — you still can get some great offers quickly if you set a realistic and fair price for your home.

Aside from geographical and seasonal selling data, it’s important to check in with the housing market as a whole. Because we’re in a seller’s market, with high demand and fewer listed houses, it’s actually a consistently good time for houses to be put on sale despite the time of year.

Due to this, you definitely shouldn’t underprice your home just to make it sell faster. The market is already competitive, so as long as you set a realistic price, you should be able to attract interested buyers.

To determine the best price, consider factors including:

• Your home’s original appraisal value
• The pre-listing home inspection report
• Listed prices for comparable homes in your neighborhood

This will help you settle on a fair and reasonable price to get your house sold faster.

What you should absolutely do when it comes to selling your home

Even if you want the home selling process to go as quickly as possible, it’s also critical that you follow best practices that will prevent any unnecessary problems that could ultimately slow or restart the process down the road.

To ensure a speedy and successful closing, here are practices you should consider implementing:

• Schedule repairs that will add value to your home. By adding improvements and upgrades, you’ll be able to attract more buyers and increase your chances of negotiating an attractive selling price, without wasting time and effort.
• Increase your curb appeal. Buyers want to purchase homes that they can picture themselves living in. Add flowers, clean your gutters and/or landscape your front yard to make the exterior of the home look as welcoming as possible.
• Use professional photos. Nothing can turn a buyer away faster than a dimly lit or poorly framed photo of a home. For many buyers, this is their first perception of your home and they need to be excited by it. Professional photographers know how to capture spaces accurately and show them in their best light — take advantage of that.
• Prioritize buyers who are preapproved. If you’re looking for serious offers, take time to consider buyers who have been preapproved for a mortgage or other financing options beforehand. This will let you know that they can most likely follow through on their offer, especially compared to buyers who aren’t preapproved.
• Allow potential buyers their own home inspections. If you’ve done a pre-listing home inspection, there shouldn’t be any surprises if the buyer wants to fund an additional one for safety. Any necessary repairs should be fixed before the house is listed anyway.

As real estate experts, Bungalo can help

You can avoid all of the above, from repairs to open houses, if you elect to sell your home to Bungalo, plus you will receive a cash offer and have the opportunity to lease your home back from us for up to one year. If you have been searching for a more flexible, simple and seamless real estate experience, Bungalo is the place for you.

To discover how we’ve turned the standard home selling methods into a modern, easy-to-use platform, explore our website and learn about us here.

This article is meant for informational purposes only and is not intended to be construed as financial, tax, legal, real estate, insurance, or investment advice. Bungalo always encourages you to reach out to an advisor regarding your own situation.