5 Key Tips to Help You Sell Your Home Faster

African Americans reported spending $47,953 to sell their homes as of 2022, including this yr. According to a recent report by Clever Real Estate, these sellers could have sold their homes for an extra $50,000 had they used different strategies.

The study involved 1,014 Americans. who sold the home between 2022 and 2024, including 91 Black Americans, to gather information in regards to the home selling process and related costs. The survey was conducted in May 2024.

Jaime Seale, the creator of the report, assured BLACK ENTREPRENEURSHIP evaluation of multiple findings related to Black Americans. According to Seale, the everyday homeowner in 2024 spent about $54,616 on the sale, with 42% saying the price was higher than expected.

For black sellers, 95% said they’d have made different decisions about selling their home in the event that they had known the true costs. Many imagine they might have made an even bigger profit with a wide range of strategies. These include waiting for more offers (30%), accepting one other offer (27%), negotiating more with the client (26%), listing the house at a better price (24%) and negotiating commission with their agent (22%).

“When their home goes on the market, most sellers are so focused on how much they expect to make that they forget that selling the home also costs money—a lot.”

Seale shared that the high costs of selling a house, including the commission that eats into profits, are making income much lower than it was just a few years ago. She noted that 34% of black sellers said they’d wait until home prices rose to sell.

“Despite less favorable market conditions, we found that retailers still believe they could make a significant profit if they just took a few cost-cutting measures,” she said.

The excellent news is that 73% of black sellers made a profit, earning a mean of $111,500. That was greater than the common profit of $100,000 for about 64% of sellers. Searle identified that black sellers who used an agent and made a profit sold their homes for $30,500 greater than those that made a profit and didn’t use an agent.

Meanwhile, the most important expense for home sellers is often the true estate agent’s commission. Searle explained that currently, under the commission model, sellers are accountable for paying about 5% to 6% of the ultimate sale price of the house—split evenly between the client’s and seller’s agents. For an average-priced home, she says, that may be as much as $21,600.

She emphasized that the majority of the expenses, including price reductions and repairs, are related to selling a house and are lower for black Americans than for the final population. “The typical value of black-owned homes in the U.S. is 18% lower than the typical value of white-owned homes,” according to report.

Cutting costs on selling a house can depend upon the vendor’s priorities and the compromises they’re willing to make. Seale says that buyers who prioritize selling quickly might want to put money into repairs that can make their home more appealing and attract more buyers, but they don’t need to spend money on repairs in the event that they’d moderately get monetary savings and aren’t in a rush to sell.

While these can increase the prices of selling a house, Seale suggested five ways homeowners should consider to sell their home faster:

1. Stage your own home to highlight its best features and help buyers imagine themselves living there.
2. Hire knowledgeable photographer. (*5*) advises Seale.
   
3. Work with an experienced real estate agent to set a competitive price. Overpricing can scare away buyers and extend the selling process, while underpricing may end up in lost potential earnings.
4. “Offer buyers concessions, such as paying some of their closing costs. This will widen the pool of buyers, especially those who are struggling with affordability,” Seale notes.
5. If you don’t want to compromise, iBuyers or We Buy Houses will quickly make offers. However, most of them pay well below market value for homes.

Seale says sellers could also be willing to accept additional costs depending on the circumstances, akin to needing to sell quickly or relocating for work.