Real estate investing 101 : Selling a house (flipping or otherwise)

Selling a property can be very exciting, but it can also be a pride-swallowing siege. Here are some tips on retailing a house (as opposed to just dumping it "as is," which is what some investors do with long term rentals).

• Do NOT attempt to sell a house with a tenant in place
  This never goes well. First, you're mostly limiting your audience to investors, who don't want to pay much. Second, the tenant does not want to help you. They won't keep it as clean as it needs to be, and often are horrible about allowing access to potential buyers. Unless you're in extremely dire straits, boot the tenant FIRST, then sell the house.
• Don't be cheap. Spruce up the place!
  Retail buyers are a big pain in the butt. They want their potential home to be perfect - clean, smelling nice, and with good curb appeal. Often, especially with a long term rental, the landscaping is in rough shape and the house is very dirty. It can be pricey to really clean up a place, especially on the exterior. But spend the money. You'll be glad you did.
• Stage the house
  If you're trying to retail a house, it needs to make buyers feel warm & fuzzy. That's tough to do w/ a vacant house. Yes, staging can be pricey but it's worth it. It will lower your market time and increase the sales price. Obviously there are exceptions -- for example, if you're in a very hot seller's market or the property is very low end.
• Price it aggressively
  The single worst thing you can do is overprice a property. My advice is figure out what your "happy bottom" is (i.e. the lowest price you'd take where you have a smile on your face) and add no more than 2% to arrive at a list price. In my world, time is at least as valuable as money, and the more aggressively you price a property, the faster it will sell and the less hassle you'll have.
• Let bad or unserious buyers walk
  During contract negotiations, you get an insight into the type of buyer you're dealing with. Do they REALLY want to buy? Are they going to be a pain in the butt throughout the entire process? As soon as you sign a purchase contract, all the leverage goes to the buyer until closing. They can make your life miserable with repair requests, delays, loan issues, etc. I will generally let a bad buyer walk, rather than deal with eventual hassle & headaches.
• Listen to the house
  If you're going to renovate a house to sell it, don't do a "brute force Home Depot" renovation. Use finishes that fit with the style of the house & the neighborhood. If you're fixing up a midcentury modern house don't use run-of-the-mill traditional type cabinets/floors/etc. Give yourself the best chance to really grab buyers, even if it means spending a few more bucks.
• Your first offer is usually your best offer
  Obviously there are exceptions to this rule (such as bad/unserious buyers, mentioned above), but in general, I've found that it's fruitless to hold tight to a price & let your first buyer walk, hoping to get more from future buyers. Heck, I've even had the same buyer return a month later & offer me less! Remember, time is at least as valuable as money. Get a deal done (with a solid buyer) & move on.

About me

When in doubt...

1. Be patient
2. Don't be [excessively] greedy
3. You can't win 'em all