Tricks to Sell Your Home Faster During The COVID-19 Pandemic

If, at the beginning of 2020 you were thinking about selling your home you’d be forgiven for approaching the situation in the traditional, standard fashion. However, 2020 has been anything except a standard year. Between the rapidly approaching Brexit deadline, continued austerity measures and the emergence of COVID-19, 2020 will likely go down in history as a year we’d rather forget.

Selling a home can be difficult even without a pandemic, but how do you find a buyer for your house fast when lockdown and social distancing are constantly standing in your way? In this blog we’re going to look at tricks to sell your home faster during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Choose a local agent – avoid online

While the prices of online agents may seem attractive and competitive, if you want a fast house sale you are better off with a local agent who has a vast amount of experience selling in the local area. The benefit of an agent with local knowledge is that they will have sold comparable properties in the past, and will help you decide upon an asking price that will get a potential buyer’s attention.

Promote your listing

No matter which agent you use, you will find your property available on various property portals such as Rightmove. While a promoted listing is not usually necessary, during the pandemic you are more likely to gain interest on your listing if you can make it stand out.

Hire a professional photographer

Many people don’t realise how important the photographs of their home are during the selling process. Some people choose to take the photographs themselves with no prior photographic experience but more often than not, it will be the agent that organises the photoshoot.

Unfortunately, neither of these choices will live up to the results you will gain from a professional photographer. Through the use of wide-angle lenses and perspective, a photographer can make your home look luxuriously spacious and classy and definitely a step above the quality of your standard listing photos.

Keep it clean

Even before the pandemic, it is always advisable to keep your home clean for the sake of photos and viewings. However, whereas simply being ‘tidy’ used to be enough, potential buyers are more likely to judge a home for its lack of hygiene – and this may deter them from making a viewing appointment.

Try to sanitise all surfaces, especially balustrades, light switches and door handles especially.

Allow visitations with face masks – or provide agent with key

During the pandemic, many people have refused to allow visitation to their property. While this is a good idea from a safety point of view, it will be an utter disaster from a selling perspective.

When a viewing is requested, it will either be yourself or your agent who shows the potential buyers around. If you are showing people round yourself, then make sure that you have hand sanitiser and disposable face masks at the entrance and try to maintain social distancing. Of course, Most agents will have a procedure in place to deal with viewings and will impose limits on viewings themselves – but having a plan in place regardless is always a good idea.

Emphasise tax duty cut

Ensure that your listing makes a clear point that to purchase your home before 31st March 2021 means that the buyers will not have to pay any stamp duty during purchase, and is therefore a bargain. For those who understand the costs involved in selling a home, this may encourage them to delve further.

Contact your conveyancer or solicitor early

It’s always a good idea to make sure your paperwork is in order as early in the house buying process as possible. During the COVID-19 pandemic, however, it is even more important. With so much competition from other vendors looking to sell, you don’t want to give a potential buyer any reason to go elsewhere – and making sure that there is no delay in the paperwork will always work in your favour.

Are you interested in selling your house for cash? Why not ask National Homebuyers for advice, as we buy any house. Call 08000 443 911 or request a call back to find out how much you could get for your property before it’s too late.