Moving to a new home is one of life’s most stressful events, and that stress can be compounded for someone who’s looking to sell their existing house quickly. Knowing what home buyers are looking for is key for home sellers who are on a crunched timeline. Opendoor worked with thousands of buyers in Phoenix and dug into the data to provide local insights about what buyers want, so these tips can help homeowners sell their homes in record time.
Here are the top 5 tricks to sell a home faster in Phoenix:
1. Optimize Open Houses: Home buyers value flexibility. Our data shows that the peak time for home visits in Phoenix are between 1 and 3 pm. Thursday was the lowest traffic day and Saturday and Sunday were the highest.
2. Timing is Everything: It’s no secret that the most popular time to sell a home is in the spring and summer months. People who want to sell quickly, but have a little wiggle room should consider putting their homes on the market in September which saw the highest numbers of home buyers in 2018.
3. Price Accurately: It may be tempting for a home seller to list their house for an overly ambitious asking price, but they should recognize that the longer the house stays on the market, the more their move will be delayed. The average days on market for a home in Phoenix is 72 days, which would add nearly three months to a home sellers timeline.
4. Cosmetic Fixes are Key: Don’t underestimate the power of a coat of paint. Opendoor sells hundreds of homes a month and we see stronger interest in homes with new paint, carpet and appliances. Investing in a deep clean, lawn care, and fresh, neutral-colored paint can be instrumental fixes to get a home up to the standard of today’s buyers. Hiring local tradespeople for painting and lawn care, or even a TaskRabbit to help declutter, can speed up the timeline for accomplishing these tasks. If a seller is on a time crunch, and can’t complete repairs, Opendoor can handle everything for them.
5. Know why Buyers are Moving: The top reason why Opendoor customers in Phoenix moved in 2018 was because they were downsizing (18.6%). Nearly the same amount were moving to upsize into a bigger home (18.4%). Less than 10 percent of home sellers were moving because of retirement or because they needed the cash equity in their home. Understanding why people want to move can help a seller target the right buyers.
