We are in a market now that feels like two markets: One where a house gets multiple offers the first day and the other where a house lingers on the market forever.

Want to know the 2 things that will put you in the better half of this market? Price and Presentation…..If you get those two things right, you don’t need anything else to sell a house. Those are the hardest things to get right though, so most realtors focus on the minor things like open houses, fancy brochures, TikTok videos….you know, you’ve seen it all too. See, if you don’t know what price a buyer will consider fair for a house nor do you know how to make the listing stand out among other similar houses, that’s all you have left.

I once sold a house for a friend who lives out of the country. He trusts me and knows I know what I am doing. He gave me free reign to get his place sold.

He had rented it out for a few years, so it was a little rough on the eye. It needed a fresh vibe or we just weren’t going to be able to sell it for anywhere near its potential.

Soooo, I had the house painted and the carpet cleaned. We replaced the flooring in the kitchen and bathrooms. We then had the main rooms staged with furniture that would appeal to the typical first time buyer.

Want to know what happened next? Well, we sold it. Yep. Didn’t take long either. Multiple offers too.

Was  this a special house? Not really. Did we price it too low? Nope. Can this be duplicated? Yes and no. See, what made this such a success was that the seller was willing to do everything I told him to do in order to sell his house. I hate to say this, but what ultimately makes a sale successful is the seller. No amount of advertising or positive thinking makes a house sell. The best realtor can’t sell a place that doesn’t show well. It really takes a good seller who is willing to take the advice of a good realtor.