The Definitive Guide to Selling Your Home in One Week or Less

For whatever reason, you’re ready to sell your house, and you want it done quickly. Maybe you found the next home of your dreams and need to move fast. Maybe you want to cash in on your investment. Perhaps you don’t want to deal with the long waits and endless walk-throughs. No matter the reason, you can sell your home in less than a week if you follow some critical steps to get there.

First, you have to understand what it means to sell your home fast. “One week” means from the time you list to the time you receive an offer. So set your expectations accordingly. Before you list, you will have some work to do, and after you accept an offer, it will still take some time to close, usually between 30 and 45 days.

Before you do anything else, clean your house. It sounds silly and obvious, and I’m sure your house is clean, but now you need to deep-clean it. You want your home to look like a model home. That means making the small improvements you’ve been meaning to get to but haven’t been a huge deal to you as the homeowner. It means getting into your grout and your baseboards. It means fixing, patching, repairing, and potentially doing some touch-up painting.

If you’re struggling with getting a deep clean done because you’re busy or don’t have the expertise, get professional help. Your realtor should have a great house cleaning service on hand who can come in and get this work done for you. We want potential buyers to see the sparkle and shine of their potential new home.

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. It’s an adage for a reason. To sell your home quickly, you want to nail that first impression, which means improving your curb appeal. Power wash the house, the driveways, and the walkways. Fix any cosmetic issues on the outside of your house. Get your landscaping done to make sure your lawn and garden are welcoming to visitors. You want potential buyers to want to come inside and be excited by what they might see. They should be thinking, “If the outside is this amazing, imagine how great the inside will be.” Now you’ve got them primed to make an offer before they even set foot inside.

Now that you’ve cleaned up and fixed and repaired, it’s time to depersonalize and stage your home to sell. That may mean painting your home in neutral colors. Take down family photos and other specific, personalized items. You want anyone who walks through your house to picture themselves in your house, living their best lives tomorrow.

If your home is ready for a walk-through, it must also be ready for pictures. Your realtor should have a professional photographer or two who can come in and catch your home in its best light from the best angles and make even the quirkiest of spaces look inviting and interesting. Professional photography helps you sell your home fast and at a higher price point. Do not skip this step, and do not think you can do it yourself. Professionals have years of experience and expertise. Hiring one is not an expense. It is an investment that will get you results.

The difference between for sale and sold is often due to excellent marketing. While there are various reasons to work with a realtor, one of the most important is access to highly skilled marketing. How your home is marketed is critical to selling and selling fast. Marketing a home for sale means taking professional photos to highlight its best features, writing elegant home descriptions, getting your home in front of the most eyes both online and in person, and more. Every marketing effort taken should aim to catch potential buyers’ attention.

If you want your home to sell fast, you must price it to sell. This is another area where a real estate agent will come in handy. They will tell you the exact right price to list your house that will ensure it sells fast but that you don’t leave any money on the table. Because you also don’t want to price so low that you either miss out on money or your potential buyers think something is wrong with it. Particularly when it comes to luxury homes, like Naples and Long Beach real estate, your buyers will skip over your house if they think they are losing quality by paying too little. Pricing your home right, and pricing it to sell, will get it sold quickly.

If you want your home sold fast, you will have to be flexible with your schedule. Many potential buyers will only have time in the evening or early morning, and you want to be available to them so they get in, get out, and make an offer. Remember, it’s only a week.

Finally, and most importantly, work with an experienced realtor. Almost every issue addressed in this article will be easier and smoother if you have an expert realtor on your side. They will have the network, the resources, the knowledge, and the negotiation skills to get your home prepped, staged, listed, and sold on your timeline. Trust an expert to get your home sold.

If you’re ready to sell your Long Beach home and want it done quickly, reach out today. With more than 15 years of experience in luxury real estate, I have several systems, networks, and resources at my disposal to make the real estate process effortless for you. I am here to exceed your expectations and know exactly what to do to sell homes fast.