To sell a house for the most money and in the shortest timeframe possible, you'll want to ensure you utilize the tips within this article. We are sharing just eleven, so if you have some of your own, please drop us a line in the comments section below to help readers. 

Hiring a top local Realtor is a great place to start before preparing your home for sale because they can assist you every step of the way. Chances are that if it's your first time selling a house, you won't know where to begin.

You'll want to enlist the help of a professional Real Estate Agent to get started. It's a bit intimidating going to the market as a seller, and going without the right strategy can prevent your home from selling and keep you from getting the most money possible.

1. Positive Mindset When Selling Real Estate

Whether selling real estate in Raleigh, NC, or anywhere in the world, you can only control what is within your control. You have the ability to be happy, energetic, and positive or to be sad, lazy, and negative. Which do you think will help sell your home?

A positive mindset is one of the most critical aspects of selling real estate. A negative mind shuts down and stays closed when problems occur. Negative owners and Realtors say, ' This home will never sell,' 'I'm too tired to sell this house,' and 'I don't want to answer the phone.' When the going gets tough, a negative mindset shuts down.

A positive mindset embraces problems and approaches them in the exact opposite manner. When you keep a positive mindset, you can literally handle anything life throws at you. A happy person creates positive energy, which directly impacts their activity levels and allows them to sell real estate fast and for top dollar.

When hiring a local Realtor, you will want to ensure it's someone who you can work with and can stay positive. Many great Real Estate Agents spend time in the gym or exercising, and that's where they can blow off steam. They are ready to tackle the following challenges when it's time to work.

2. Prepare Your House to Sell

Want to sell your house for more than your neighbors? Take the way you prepare your home for sale seriously. 

First, make your estate look great by adding improvements like new floors or making the home look great from the inside when selling your home for the first time. Then, prepare for professional photography and video marketing.

If you have a Realtor walking into your house and taking photos with the latest iPhone, you should be nervous. The iPhone takes incredible pictures, and many Realtors can do a terrific job with the photography and video marketing they create. More often than not, an iPhone is not the way to go.

The likelihood of your home selling at or above the list price is 52.2% higher when you use professional photography. For sale is not a destination, sold is. Sharp photos put sold signs in front yards. For every home we list for sale in Raleigh, NC, we hire professional photographers to get the job done right.

As a homeowner, you can create an incredible first impression when buyers see it. Guess where they're most likely to see it first? Online. Make it count with great photos. Where do they see it second? When they pull up. Great landscaping and curb appeal matter when selling your property.

3. Know Your Local Real Estate Market Trends

To sell real estate for top dollar, you'll need to know your local market trends and compare that to your competition with the other available homes for sale. Information is power when selling homes.

If your local market experiences a recent appreciation of 10% in less than sixty days, with homes selling 30% faster, then you know it's appropriate to price your home for more than you would if it was a declining market.

4. Hire a Top Local Realtor 

Selling a home alone is a way to save on the commission you would normally pay to a Realtor. You'll make less money by trying to save on the commission you'd normally pay a Real Estate Agent for many reasons. You get the highest profit when selling your home using best-selling strategies and professional marketing.

From professional photography, videos, and online marketing to asking the right questions to discover a potential buyer's pain points and motivation. Maybe they have a long commute or are looking for more space because the family is growing. Tap into the motivation causing them to look at homes and help them figure out if it's the right fit. Don't force it on them.

If you're going to sell your property for more than the home across the street, you will want to hire a local Real Estate Agent.

5. Make Adjustments to Your Estate

By making adjustments to your home, you can increase your return on investment. There are a lot of significant, low-cost home improvements to increase your home's value. If you're selling a home at a luxury price point, you'll have to be sure the main living areas are in their best condition. You can't sell a million-dollar home with a crappy kitchen. What you can do is make an adjustment.

One of the first things you must do is discover your weak spots. Then, assess your neighbor's homes and whether or not they shared the same weak spots when their home sold. If you discover that their home didn't have the same weak spots and that it will reflect on the price, you'll want to make the adjustment.

Good Real Estate Agents will be comparing your home to the comparable properties in the neighborhood. So it could take a $5,000-$10,000 remodel to raise your home value by $15,000 to $20,000. 

If you walked into a home with the kitchen on the left for $280,000 and then into a different house for $299,999 with the kitchen on the right, would you spend the extra $20,000?

6. Market Your House Unlike Anyone Else

To sell your property for more than the houses on your street, you'll want to ensure it's marketed correctly. There are a lot of strategies that Realtors use to market homes, placing it on the MLS and letting it syndicate out to tens of thousands of websites is not marketing.

You should use prospecting techniques and work hard to sell your listings. Don't sit on the couch and wait for the phone to ring. You want everyone to know that your home is for sale, that includes your neighbors.

7. Set the Right Price from the Get-Go

One of the fastest ways to ruin the value of your home is to overprice it. You'll attract the type of Real Estate Agents who won't be honest with you or don't understand the harmful effects of overpricing a home. Do you want your home to sit, or do you want it to sell? 

If you're listing your home for sale, be ready to sell it at a price that causes someone to buy it.

A Realtor friend was honest with a seller earlier this year about his unrealistic expectations for the price of his home in Holly Springs. Instead of understanding that she was helping him by being upfront and honest, he took it personally and felt insulted that she thought he was overpricing it. So he hired the Real Estate Agent to price it where he wanted.

A typical mistake sellers make is pricing their home far above its market value. Sometimes, it takes a while for them to realize it is potentially too late to save it from the DOM (Days on Market). Many buyers and agents may write a home off simply because of the number of days on the market. They assume something must be wrong with the home.

8. Create a Pressure Tank of Buyers

What's your 'go to market' strategy when you list a home for sale? Do you have a particular day and time? When we sell homes in Raleigh, we list them on Thursday and market the heck out of an open house during a two-hour time frame that first weekend. This creates what we call 'a pressure tank of buyers.'

People want to buy what others want and have. Multiple people show up to see a home simultaneously, creating a sense of urgency and demonstrating social proof that other buyers are interested.

A product is given a social value in business, whether an iPhone, a Tesla, or a home. Do you really think Apple runs out of iPhones every year? Of course not. They know exactly how many iPhones they will sell and limit that number so they can market 'how fast we ran out of them!'

This type of buzz creates a social value for their product. People start talking about it: 'Wow, did you hear Apple sold 5 million iPhones the first weekend, they are sold out!' Then, magically, a few days later, there are millions more.

9. Ask the Right Questions 

For those of you who are trying to sell, sell, sell by pushing homes on people, there is a good chance you're doing more damage than good. If that's your approach, you will need a large pool of buyers because your conversion rates will decrease.

If someone walks into a listing of yours, you first want to establish rapport and ask, 'So what brought you in today?' This simple question will help you discover the buyer's motivation. They will tell you why they are there, and it helps them realize what they are there for.

Asking buyers what they are looking for and want in a home will help you determine whether or not it's an appropriate fit. 

10. Follow up Properly in Real Estate

Whether you are following up with buyers or the buyer's agent, you must ensure you are prepared to decode the message when given feedback.

What you shouldn't do when following up with potential buyers. Don't be rude. Don't be angry. Don't be sensitive. Ask politely for feedback and ensure people know they can be blunt with you because you appreciate the truth. Let people know they don't have to worry about hurting your feelings.

11. Stay Strong on your List Price

If you follow the tips above, there is no reason you shouldn't stay firm on your price. Anyone interested in your home is interested in the price you have listed. So, while your neighbors may have fallen a bit on their price during negotiations, there is no reason you have to. Stay firm and see what happens.

If you do everything professionally and politely, you can always go back and accept the buyer's offer you had already declined. 

FAQs 

How can I make my house sell for more? 

Some of the best ways to make your house sell for more money are by finding a trusted real estate agent, investing in home improvements, getting a pre-listing inspection, and staging your home. 

Can you sell a property for more than its value? 

Yes, selling a property for more than its value is possible, but it is easier to do so in a seller's market since there is higher demand. 

How do you make your house stand out when selling? 

The best ways to make your home stand out when selling are cleaning and decluttering, repainting, making repairs, and hosting an open house. 

Final Thoughts

You can use the tips from this article to sell your home for more money than your neighbor's. We did it.

We had significant help from our local real estate market, appreciating and selling faster; however, had we not known the local trends, we may have sold them for $10,000 less. The initial offer was appealing to my seller. Knowing the right price from the get-go is essential, and being confident in your marketing and selling strategies will help you stay strong on your price.

With these eleven tips, you will be confident in your approach and increase your percentage of selling homes for the most money on the street!

At Raleigh Realty, we sell homes in Raleigh for 99.4% of the list price in 12 days on average. 

These stats don't happen by accident, they happen because we are intentional about our marketing and selling strategies. We learn from some of the best realtors and apply the techniques they use to get homes sold fast and for the most money.

We are so confident in our work ethic and marketing and selling strategies that you won't have to find a way out of your contract with your Realtor, we will happily part ways if you aren't pleased.