3 House Flipping Tips for Selling a Home in One Day

The Scituate, Massachusetts house flip turned out to be a very exciting rehab for me.  Aside from all the "usual" exciting house flipping stuff (brush nickel fixtures, new decks etc.) this property proved exciting because of how quickly it sold once it hit the market.

For the first time in my house flipping career I was able to sell a home within the 1st day on the market.  For me (and hopefully you too) that is pretty exciting stuff!

Needless to say selling a flipped house in less than 24 hours is unusual-especially in the New England real estate market.  Believe me when  I say I have held onto some house flips for way too long over the years.  The holding costs associated with these particular house flipping projects can really add up quickly.

Perhaps selling a home within 24 hours is more common in other areas of the United States or world.  If you know of any hot real estate markets where homes sell within 24 hours, I would love to hear about it in a comment below.

As mentioned above, selling a home within 24 hours does not happen often for yours truly.  Yet I do think certain house flipping strategies my team and I used on the Scituate house flip really helped motivate the buyer to act quickly.

Below are my top 3 house flipping tips for selling a home during the first day on the market.

3 House Flipping Tips for Selling a Home in One Day

1)  Price the property ahead of the market

Just about every buying decision people make hinges on price.  This is true for the grandmother purchasing bananas at the grocery store, as well as for a first time home buyer thinking about purchasing a 2 bedroom house.  The grandma will compare the price of the bananas with the farm stand down the road, and the first time home buyer will compare the price of the house with other homes in the same market.

More than any other factor, price is almost always the main determinant in how quickly a flipped house will sell.  Pricing competitively is one of the most critical house flipping tips around.

I would recommend taking a look at other homes in the area of your house flip.  Keep a watchful eye on any local sales trends and become an educated seller.

Being an educated seller means you understand the demand in your specific area.  Demand varies wildly from town to town, and even from neighborhood to neighborhood.  In my area, one house may have much more demand than another house located just yards away because of a view of the ocean, access to the beach etc.

Find similar houses for sale, in similar areas with the same characteristics of the house you have just flipped.  What are these houses priced at?  How long have they been on the market?  An insider house flipping tips is to make note of the difference between the list price and final sales price of these homes.

Take a look back 3 months, 6 months and 12 months.  Study the prices and time spent on market of homes like the home you are selling.  Make note of any sales trends - i.e. sales increasing and prices rising during the spring/summer and falling during autumn/winter.

Align your price according to your findings and price your house flip competitively.  Pricing right is, without a doubt, one of the most important tips for selling a home.

2) Turn your house into a home 

Lately I have posted quite a few house flipping tips posts about the benefits of staging a house.  I have had some really awesome experiences recently with staging properties, so I figured I would once again mention the staging house flipping tip here-why not?

Utilize a staging company and an interior decorator to create a home out of your house flip.  Shoot for making the house into a model home with exceptional design and comfort a priority.

You want potential buyers to feel like they could walk in and immediately begin their lives in the house.  Make the house super comfortable and make sure the house smells great.

If someone is going to buy a house the first time they see it, the house needs to look like it is already a home.  They must "feel" as if they could move right in and they must overwhelmingly want to do so.

3)  Create some Buzz

Another great tip for selling a home is to create some "buzz" about the property.  Your odds of selling a home quickly increase dramatically if you can generate a ton of interest prior to putting the house on the market.

Social media and the online scene has altered (in a good way) how to generate interest in a house.  Lay the groundwork with your social communities well before putting the house on the market by tweeting about the rehab process, posting impressive photos to Facebook and creating online conversations and relationships with anyone who shows interest.  Having a Twitter and Facebook friendly realtor can help.

Promote the area the house is located in.  Is there a beach, park or other attraction nearby?  What about the area is most interesting?

Buzz is also created by pricing a house competitively and turning a house into a home via professional staging.   Do you have any house flipping tips about how to create buzz?  If you do I would love to hear about it in a comment below.

See you at the top!

Mike