Even in today’s strong sellers’ market, selling a fixer-upper home fast can be challenging.
Getting top dollar for a home that sits on the market can be challenging. Above all, you want to sell a fixer-upper home fast.
First impressions matter with every listing. But with a fixer-upper, it’s crucial to lead with your best foot forward, promoting the property using all the marketing tools at your disposal.
So, in this article, we’ll share with you 12 tips for how to sell a fixer-upper home fast.
All right, let’s jump right in.
12 Tips for Selling a Fixer-Upper Home Fast
A successful listing will use the best real estate marketing tools available.
So, here are 12 tips for creating a successful listing that will sell a fixer-upper home fast.
1. Create a Marketing Plan
Real estate sales professionals frequently upload listings without a sales strategy or marketing blueprint.
Without a well-defined plan, the efforts of a sales agent can appear disorderly or random. Refrain from falling into this category – ensure you formulate a comprehensive marketing strategy for each of your listings.
An effective marketing plan should encompass the two following components:
- Pricing Strategy – determine the optimal price range for maximum appeal
- Communication Strategy – what tools will help you to connect with your target audience
The above is even more critical when trying to sell a fixer-upper home fast. Your pricing needs to reflect the home’s condition and needed repairs.
Furthermore, pinpoint your intended demographic within your plan – who are the most likely purchasers for your listing?
For instance, as you contemplate the property, envisage the categories of buyers it might resonate with:
- Individuals who can make their own repairs
- First-time home buyers who don’t mind the need for elbow grease
- Prospective buyers within a specific financial bracket
- Buyers attracted to particular neighborhood amenities
Possessing a well-crafted marketing plan and an accurate understanding of your audience will significantly enhance your ability to make the sale fast!
2. Insist on the Best Photos Possible
First impressions are significant. In today’s digital age, buyers heavily depend on the internet, patiently scrolling through hundreds of listing photos in pursuit of their ideal home.
Remember that your listing has a short window of opportunity to seize a potential buyer’s interest.
Capturing alluring photos can be challenging for any listing. How much more for a home in need of repairs and updates?
For this reason, it’s vital to have exceptionally superior listing photos. Allow these statistics to underscore the point:
- 97% of home buyers rely on real estate photos to help them narrow down which homes to see in person
- 87% of homebuyers claim that images are the most valuable feature of a listing
- Listings featuring professional photos are shared 1,200% more on social media
- 68% of buyers say that great images were what made them want to visit the home
Therefore, ensure your listing photos are picture-perfect with professionally edited images. There is no substitute for carefully edited photos.
And read this article to learn more about choosing the right real estate photo editing service.
3. Use Virtual Staging to Make Repairs and Updates
Virtual staging employs sophisticated photo editing methods to digitally revitalize any listing by incorporating furniture and stylish design accessories.
But virtual staging becomes even more critical when trying to sell a fixer-upper home fast.
Virtual staging easily facilitates virtual repairs, seamlessly concealing imperfections. By digitally enhancing spaces, you can show even a fixer-upper in its best light.
By using high-quality listing photos, virtual staging can do any of the following:
- Place furnishings and artwork to fill vacant spaces
- Eliminate items, declutter, and depersonalize each room or area
- Implement color alterations, updates, and necessary repairs
Surveys indicate that virtual stating is a highly effective real estate marketing tool:
- Staged homes sell 75% faster than those that are not
- 83% of staged properties sell at the asking price or above
Want to see what virtual staging looks like? Then look at this article — What Is Virtual Staging in Real Estate? (Examples Included).
4. Make the First Few Listing Photos Count
The adage, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” is well-known, yet in home hunting, that’s exactly what many buyers do.
Like a book’s cover, the first few listing photos must be captivating and enticing.
Lead with at least 5 outstanding photos of the home’s best features and rooms.
Also, recall that the primary listing image is the buyers’ first encounter and serves as the thumbnail on platforms like Zillow.
Make sure to prioritize an exceptional primary photo to influence your listing’s clickthrough rate.
5. Make the Most of a Single Property Website
A single property website is a dedicated real estate site with a unique URL highlighting a single property.
Here’s an overview of a single property website’s key features and advantages:
- Abundant listing photos, videos, virtual tours, floor plans, and property details
- Prominent “Schedule a Showing” Call to Action (CTA)
- Neighborhood info and amenities
- Mortgage calculators and financing tools
- Seamless social media integration
- Custom branding and agent contact
- Downloadable property flyers
- In-depth property presentation with no distractions
- Improved Google ranking and specific search results
- Incorporates lead-capture technology
According to a recent survey, single-property websites receive 55% more traffic than other listing sites.
6. Feature a Virtual House Tour
A virtual house tour is a convenient way for buyers to walk through a property using their computer, tablet, or phone.
This realistic online experience is the next thing to being there in person, as the following numbers demonstrate:
- 54% of buyers won’t even consider seeing a house if it doesn’t include a virtual tour
- Homes with a virtual tour get 87% more views
- And listings with virtual tours closed 31% faster than those without one
Using a virtual tour can help sell a fixer-upper home faster by showcasing the listing’s full potential.
For more information, take a look at this article on how to create a virtual house tour.
7. Also Include a Video Tour
A real estate walk-through video tour guides the buyer through the entire property, usually featuring narration and music.
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), video tours improve search results by 157%.
Take a look at the following dramatic statistics:
- Video ads are 2X more likely to connect a buyer emotionally to the property
- 31% of sales agents use video tours to improve SEO.
- Video tours generate 1200% more shares on social media
- Real estate listings that feature a video receive 403% more inquiries than listings without one
- Zillow reports that listings featuring video tours sell on average 14% faster than listings without one
And video tours offer the following benefits:
- The real estate photographer or agent directs the video tour so it highlights the home’s best features
- Use a video tour to point out the necessary repairs and updates to help sell your fixer-upper home
- Lastly, video tours are easy to use – simply hit play
Check out the following article for a deeper look at how easy these videos are to use – how to shoot a real estate video.
8. Offer a Floor Plan on the Listing
Floor plans are a widely embraced marketing asset in real estate, helping home buyers understand a property’s dimensions and layout.
These plans usually include room measurements, door openings, and wall lengths. This information assists potential buyers in gauging space suitability for their furniture.
Knowing the layout of a property can help sell a fixer-upper home faster.
Buyers value floor plans and are now an anticipated inclusion in every listing, as the following data shows:
- 64% of buyers expect to see floor plans on every listing
- And 51% of buyers say that floor plans helped them decide whether to see a home or not
Therefore, make your buyers happy – use floor plans for every listing.
9. Promote the Listing on Social Media
Don’t neglect to harness social media for effortless and often cost-free outreach to a vast audience.
Promoting your listings through social media yields several advantages:
- Buyers can effortlessly share listing photos and links with their contacts
- Amplified visibility for you and your real estate business among potential clients
Incorporating social media is an exceptional strategy to expedite house sales – even for fixer-upper homes.
10. Use Drone Photography to Add Drama
In the sea of listing images buyers encounter, the striking visuals truly catch their eye.
Drone photography offers an ideal avenue for capturing awe-inspiring aerial photos and videos, ensuring your content stands out and commands attention.
Aerial photography has surged as a premier real estate marketing asset in recent years, an expectation of buyers and sellers from their sales agents.
To illustrate:
- 70% of agents report that drone photography has been more critical since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic
- 83% of sellers and buyers want a real estate agent who uses drone photography
Drone photography captures dramatic photos of the property and provides clients with a view of the neighborhood and surrounding area.
And dramatic images will help sell a fixer-upper home fast by helping buyers overlook the property’s flaws and problems.
11. Be Honest With the Listing Copy
NAR surveys show that a listing’s property description ranks as the second most critical aspect, as indicated by buyers.
Language wields the potential to drive property sales, making compelling and persuasive verbiage essential. You can use the listing copy to help sell a fixer-upper home fast.
A potent listing description should encompass the following:
- A welcoming portrayal of the property’s finest attributes
- Crucial property details like room count and location
- Insights into recent enhancements or renovations
- A decisive call to action, prompting showings
And use the listing copy to honestly explain the fixer-upper home’s condition, helping set buyer expectations.
If composing the ideal description proves challenging, explore the AI tools now available, leading us to our last tip.
12. Let AI Help You Sell a Fixer-Upper Home Fast
Artificial intelligence (AI) harnesses robust technology and advanced software that mimics human intelligence. Astute real estate professionals have already embraced this technology.
In terms of real estate sales, AI adds value across various domains:
- Enhancing pricing accuracy for properties
- Expertly refining photo editing and virtual staging
- Orchestrating flawless virtual tours
- Pinpointing the right buyer demographic
As noted in our previous tip, AI’s capabilities even extend to crafting compelling listing descriptions.
Now, armed with these potent 12 tips to speed up the sale of fixer-upper homes, you might be curious about where you can find them and for reasonable prices.
AgentUp Offers the Tools to Sell a Fixer-Upper Home Fast!
How do you sell a fixer-upper home fast? Partner with AgentUp!
We offer a full array of effective real estate marketing tools at affordable prices. And these tools are designed to sell listings fast – even fixer-upper homes.
And there’s more. AgentUp can also help you hire full-time or part-time virtual real estate assistants to help you implement and use these powerful tools to sell all your listings quickly and for higher prices.
So, why wait?
Reach out to AgentUp today and learn what we can do to help you grow your real estate business.
Thank you for reading. We hope you benefited from this post on 12 tips for selling a fixer-upper home fast.
