Selling a house can be a complicated and lengthy process involving a number of critical steps, and it can often become more than a little chaotic. All of this usually results in a lot of stress for sellers. But it doesn’t have to be that way. With some preparation and the right strategies, selling your house can be made a lot less stressful. So to help you out, here are 5 hacks to help take the stress out of selling your house in Pennsauken.

1. Set Goals and Know Your Objectives

No matter what you’re doing, setting goals and knowing your specific objectives always make the process more navigable and smoother. So in selling your house in Pennsauken, you need to begin by determining exactly what you want to accomplish and why.

“Before you start with any of the necessary steps in selling a home,” industry insiders caution, “list down your objectives and goals first. This will help you make smarter decisions, and you’ll also be able to understand what you want to accomplish. These goals will be set not only for your own sake but also for everyone else who’ll be involved in the process. Once your goals are set, your real estate agent, representative, family, and prospective home buyers will understand your needs at the end of the bargain. With proper goals and effectively sharing them with people around you, you’ll be able to maneuver your way through your house sale with no stress at all.”

2. Keep an Open Mind and Remain Flexible

Keeping an open mind and striving to be flexible can also go a long way toward reducing stress when you’re selling your house in Pennsauken. A little flexibility and willingness to comprise will serve you better stress-wise than being rigid and intractable in your wants and demands, especially during negotiations.

“Even if you have some fixed expectations that are part of your goals, sometimes, you must bend them a little to fit the market and align with your . . . needs. Although it’s equally important to make sure you also gain a good deal, the best way is to meet your [buyer] halfway. To refrain from getting frustrated, it’s essential to always be open to the possibility that your expectations might not be realistic.”

This is an area where your Pennsauken can be a huge asset. Your agent can guide you and help you determine exactly where you should and shouldn’t be flexible. To discover more about how an agent can help reduce stress in this way, call (856) 861-6000.

3. Get the Pricing Right

And, certainly, you’ll experience far less home-selling stress when you know you’ve got the price right. The trick here is to avoid either pricing extreme when selling your house in Pennsauken – pricing too high or pricing too low.

When it comes to pricing, the thing you have to keep squarely in mind is that what you think your house is worth has little to do with what it’s actually worth according to the market. And, too, if you price too low in order to get a quick sale, buyers may think something is wrong with your house and skip right over your listing.

According to top real estate pros, “[s]some sellers are simply too proud to listen to the market about what their home is worth, and they list it too high. Don’t fall into this trap just because you wish it were worth more. Your list price can actually have an inverse relationship to the actual, eventual sale price. . . . [I]f you list it just a tad lower than its fair market value, you are more likely to get multiple offers. List too high, though, and you can end up with no offers or only the dreaded lowballs.”

The best course for stress-reducing pricing is to have your agent perform a comparative market analysis to determine fair market value. Then, you can price accordingly and know that you’ve got it right. To find out how this is done, contact a Pennsauken agent at (856) 861-6000.

4. Make Sure the Buyer Can Actually Close the Deal

And you definitely don’t want to think you’ve got a sale locked in only to get to the closing table and find out your buyer can’t actually deliver after all. So to get rid of this worry and the resulting stress in the latter stages of selling your house in Pennsauken, make sure you take the appropriate steps early on.

Don’t just take a buyer’s word that she can come up with a down payment or get financing. When you get an offer – and before you pull your listing – do some research to ensure the buyer can close the deal.

Here are some of the things you should do . . .

Make sure the buyer has been pre-approved and has a pre-approval letter.“ Make sure that the letter is a pre-approval, not a pre-qualification. The difference is, a pre-approval should state that the letter’s author has actually reviewed the buyer’s credit report and found it meets lending guidelines. You’ll also want to know that the mortgage rep has verified that the buyer has the assets and income it will take to obtain a mortgage. If the letter doesn’t say so, you might want to have your [agent] give the buyer’s mortgage broker a ring and give the approval the smell test.”

Make sure the buyer is serious and has some skin in the game. “Is the buyer offering an earnest money deposit? How many days do they need to finalize their loan, and are they willing to beef up their deposit afterward? If they have no funds to deposit up front, chances are they’ll struggle to close the loan. And if they are willing to increase their deposit to 2 percent or 3 percent of the purchase price after a reasonable (15 days, plus or minus a few) loan contingency period, you can at least project that you’ll be able to breathe easier shortly.”

Also, consider the type of loan a buyer intends to secure, which you should be able to determine from the pre-approval letter. For example, is the buyer planning to use an FHA loan? In that case, will your house meet all the FHA requirements? Be sure to look into these details.

5. Choose a Local Agent With a Good Record

Finally, as we’ve indicated several times, a good Pennsauken agent will be able to help you reduce the stress involved in selling your house. The tricky part here lies in determining the quality of the agent, and that means doing some research. You’ll need to check out, a minimum, the agent’s sales track record and her list price to sale price ratio. Or to make it easier, you can go with an agency known for experienced, successful agents. So if you want to take the stress out of selling your house in Pennsauken, contact us today at (856) 861-6000.