Learn How to Sell a House in Southern California

If you want to learn how to sell a house in Southern California successfully, you need to educate yourself on the home selling process. With the proper knowledge, you’ll be able to sell your home fast and for the most amount of money possible.

At Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty – Rudy Lira Kusuma Real Estate Team, we believe in giving every home seller the information they need to make informed choices. In this free guide, we’ll give an in-depth explanation of the three main steps involved in selling a house in Southern California.

You’ll learn how to protect and capitalize on what’s likely your largest investment, reduce your stress, and handle the selling process like a pro. Most importantly, you’ll learn how to get your home sold fast and for top dollar.

1. Understand Why You Want to Sell a House in Southern California

Deciding to sell a house in Southern California is one of the most important choices you’ll make in your life, since a house is a huge asset.

Understanding the motivation for selling the home will determine how you approach the process. For example, your timeline, asking price, and how much time and money you’re willing to invest in preparing the home.  

If your goal is to sell your home for more, then once you pinpoint your reason for selling, you need to keep it to yourself.

Sharing the reason you’re selling with potential buyers, no matter how harmless it seems, could deter them from buying.

For example, if the buyer finds out you’re looking to sell because you already have an offer on a new home, they’ll know you’re operating under a certain deadline. They can use this knowledge to their advantage on the negotiation table to try and get you to lower the asking price.

Instead, if a potential buyer asks why you’re selling, keep it vague and simply say it’s because your needs have changed.

Below, we’ll take a look at several common reasons for selling a house in Southern California and what potential buyers might think about each one.

Getting a New Job

Moving because of a new job means you probably have a specific deadline for when you need to start. As a result, you might be under some pressure to get your home sold quickly.

A potential buyer might pick up on this desperation and submit a lowball offer, knowing you don’t have much time to negotiate.

Upgrading to a Larger Home

If you communicate to potential buyers that you’re moving up to a bigger home, it might change their perception of the listing.

They might start wondering if it’s too small for them, too, and start considering other options. This could extend the sale of your home and 

Downsizing

Similarly, if you need to downsize to a smaller home, it could influence the buyer to question whether the listing is the right fit for them.

They might wonder if the home comes with too much maintenance and whether they’d be better off with a smaller place.

Wanting a Smaller Mortgage Payment

Potential buyers will be able to see the amount you originally paid for the home, so if they know you’re moving somewhere with a cheaper mortgage, they might wonder if the home will be too expensive for them, too. 

This is why it’s important to know what your home is worth. That way, if the buyer tries to negotiate for a lower price, you know you can stand firm in the original offer. This will also help weed out buyers who can’t really afford the home.

Already Having an Offer on Another Home 

As mentioned above, if you made an offer on your next home and it was already accepted, this means you’re under a certain timeline to get your listing sold and move. 

The buyer will know that you want to sell fast because you don’t want to be stuck with two homes before you move.

2. Set a Listing Price to Sell a House in Southern California Fast

Every home seller wants to sell their listing fast and for top dollar. Well, these goals start with calculating an accurate listing price.

If you want to sell a house in Southern California fast, your listing price should be competitive but fair. Of course, your goal is to sell the home as close to your asking price as possible, so you don’t want to scare buyers away by accidentally pricing your home too high.

Likewise, pricing too low will mean you’ll be risking thousands of dollars in a successful home sale.

So, how can you make sure your home is priced perfectly? The best way to come up with a listing price is by working with an expert real estate agent. 

Real estate agents have access to up-to-date information about recent home sales and listings in your area, as well as extensive knowledge of the local housing market.

They’ll use this information while also taking into account all the factors that make your home unique, like its location or features.

Homes in Subdivisions

If you’re selling a house in a suburb, it’ll be much easier for you and your real estate agent to find comparable sales in the area and come up with an asking price. 

However, living in a suburb also means it’s harder for buyers to notice any unique features about the property that make it worth more than other homes in the area.

Buyers tend to assume that all homes in a suburb share the same floor plans and layout. They don’t consider that the home might have unique features, upgrades, or improvements that justify a higher asking price.

This is why it’s important to know what your home is worth. If a buyer makes a low offer on your home, be prepared to demonstrate what makes your home stand out from others in the area.

Homes in Older Neighborhoods

Older neighborhoods tend to have more variety among homes. Homes could differ in minor or substantial ways, meaning it’s harder to find one that’s exactly comparable to yours.

This means it’s even more important to work with a real estate professional to come up with a pricing strategy that will get you top dollar while still being fair to buyers. It will also be essential to emphasize all the unique features of your home that might appeal to buyers.

For Sale By Owner (FSBO)

Of course, it’s possible to sell a house in Southern California without a real estate agent. Some home sellers choose to go this route to save money on an agent’s commission. However, selling a home for sale by owner is much more challenging than working with an agent.

In fact, The National Association of Realtors surveyed FSBO home sellers and found that two-thirds of them wouldn’t do it again. The main reasons included:

• Setting an asking price
• Marketing strategy 
• Liability and legal concerns
• Time constraints 

This shows FSBO home sellers struggle to price their homes accurately, much less in a way that will get the home to sell fast.

So how can FSBO home sellers price their homes if they choose to list their homes independently? While they don’t have the same access to resources as professional agents do, they have a couple of options for determining the asking price.

First, FSBO home sellers can research online to see the price of recently sold homes or to find out what current listings are going for. Ideally, home sellers should consider prices over the past six months.

Home sellers can also visit their local city hall to find public records on recent home sale information in their area.

Visit Open Houses

In addition, something that all home sellers should do is visit open houses in their community.

This is a good strategy for learning about your competition, seeing how they’ve prepared their homes, and how much they’re asking for.

Observe features of the homes like:

• Floor plans
• Condition and appearance
• Size of the property
• Location
• Improvements, upgrades, or other add-ons
• Asking price

Remember, if you’re serious about selling a house in Southern California fast, don’t price it high unless it has more to offer than other homes in the area.

3. Find a Realtor in Southern California

So, if a real estate agent is key to setting your listing price, how exactly do you choose one to work with?

Not all agents are the same– not all of them have the tools, network, or experience necessary to sell a house in Southern California fast and maximize your profits at the same time.

When interviewing agents, there are a number of key selection factors you should consider. 

Namely, you should focus on the agent’s numbers, such as: 

• How many homes they’ve sold
• How much they sell them for
• How long their homes spend on the market before selling
• How many positive reviews they have

Take the time to interview at least five different real estate agents, and ask them these questions and find out about their experience and knowledge working in the community.

Spending time to find a professional real estate agent will go a long way to making sure you get a good asking price for your home. But it will also ensure you have a stress-free experience with the home selling process.

4. Invest in Your Home and Prepare it to Sell

Appearance is key if you want to sell a house fast in Southern California. After all, purchasing a new home is partly an emotional decision– buyers will consider how the home makes them feel and will imagine what it’s like living in it.

To this end, it’s important to get your home clean and repair everything, whether it’s a minor fix or a larger structural issue. 

Hire a professional cleaning service to take care of stains, discoloration, odors, and all the hard-to-reach places in your home. Hire contractors to make any necessary repairs.

Also, consider making any upgrades to your home to modernize it or add features that appeal to home buyers, like A/C, heated floors, or brand-new appliances. 

Remember, you’re not just competing with other resale homes. Home buyers will also be considering brand-new ones that have the latest technologies.

By investing the time and money into your home to prepare it for sale, you’ll walk away with a higher profit after closing. 

5. Know What Motivates the Buyer

If you have an idea of what motivates potential buyers, you can use this to your advantage to get your asking price.

It goes without saying that buyers are looking for a property that meets all their needs at the lowest possible price. But try to find out their timeline for moving in, how much of a down payment they can make, and how much they’ve been qualified to borrow.

You can use this information to weed out buyers who can’t afford the asking price for your home. That way, you won’t have to worry about dealing with any lowball offers.

Focusing on the most serious buyers will ensure the house sells within your ideal time frame.

What to Do if You Get a Low Offer 

If the first offer on your home is lower than your asking price, don’t panic. 

It’s common for the first offer from a buyer to be low. In fact, it’s pretty likely that the buyer knows this initial offer is below what they’ll end up paying for the home in the end.

So, what should you do when faced with a low offer? 

First, remember to keep your emotions in check and not take anything personally. It’s easy to get wrapped up in your emotions during the home selling process, especially if you’ve spent years living in the house.

So try to be detached, and evaluate the low offer as you would any other offer, even if you know you won’t accept it. Consider different aspects offer like:

• Whether there’s a sufficient down payment
• The mortgage amount
• The proposed closing date
• Whether there are any special requests

Use these factors as starting points for your negotiation and counteroffer.

Your counter offer should ideally be right below your asking price. Your real estate agent can help you decide what the counter offer should be or whether to stand firm at the original price. Sticking at or just below the original price lets the buyer know that their lowball offer wasn’t taken seriously, and you plan on sticking to the original price.

They’ll have to decide whether they can purchase the house for that price or whether it’s above their budget. This way, you’ll be able to walk away with top dollar because you’ll only be negotiating only with serious buyers who can actually afford the property.

Consider Cash Buyers

One trick to help you sell a house in Southern California fast is to sell it for cash.

Working with a cash buyer means you can close the sale much faster than with typical buyers. This is because cash buyers are using their own money to purchase the house– they don’t have to waste time getting approved for a loan.

Cash buyers may also be more willing to purchase the home in its current condition, so you don’t have to worry about making upgrades or improvements.

Our Real Estate Team is the Best Choice to Sell a House in Southern California

Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty – Rudy Lira Kusuma Real Estate Team has all the resources you need to sell a house in Southern California fast.

Our extensive database is full of potential buyers, including cash buyers, who are ready to buy your home now. With this database, along with our marketing strategies, we can match your home up to a buyer almost instantly– sometimes before it’s even listed on the market.

How can we do this? Our database only includes pre-qualified buyers, and it automatically sorts out the ones who are the best prospects for your home. 

In addition, our award-winning team has a proven track record of selling more homes for more money than other agents in the area, and we have the facts to back it up:

• We sell houses 27% faster than average agents 
• Our database has over 62,000 pre-qualified buyers

Lastly, we’ve made working with us as risk-free as possible. Our Guaranteed Home Sale Program and Seller Satisfaction Guarantees means you can relax knowing that you’re protected, and the sale of your home is in safe hands.

If You’re Selling a Home in Southern California Fast, Reach Out to Us

Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty – Rudy Lira Kusuma Real Estate Team is the best choice to begin your home selling journey.

Contact us below to get started with a free home evaluation.

You can call us at 626-789-0159 or email us at [javascript protected email address]. Or, simply fill out the form below, and our team of professional agents will get back with more information.

We look forward to working with you. Get ready to start packing!