Hard Money Lender Advice: Price Property Correctly from the Start to Sell Fast
We at LendingXpress work with a lot of real estate investors. While being a hard money lender is really different than working with people who are buying a house to live in, there can be overlap! It’s easy to get emotionally attached to a property you’ve spent months of your life working on. Unfortunately, this can lead investors to make mistakes when it’s time to sell. These mistakes lead them to have to spend more money on interest on their hard money loan. If they don’t course-correct in time, investors can end up losing money on a deal. Here’s a list of some common mistakes that result in a property not selling as fast as it should. Keep them in mind, keep your expectations in check, and you’ll probably be able to sell your properties in a good time frame.
The most common reason a property won’t sell is because it’s priced too high. It is super tempting to add up the time and money you spent improving a property and factor that into the price. However, you have to be realistic about what properties in your market are selling for. It’s a bummer when you have to sell for less than you had planned on. But it’s better to bite the bullet and list it for the market rate. The property will sell faster and you’ll be able to move on to your next project.
Take the Time to Spruce Up Your Hard Money Loan Property to Make It Shine
Making sure the place is spotless is also important. If your contractors don’t clean up when they’re done, you’ll have to do it. You might even consider different contractors for your next project! A clean space with bright lighting is simply more inviting than one that has drywall dust, drop cloths, and other debris everywhere.
Once the place is clean, it should also be staged. It will depend very much on the competitiveness of your market whether you should hire professionals or not. Talk with your Realtor about that. In many markets, simple staging is enough. For a house, this means furnishing the living room, dining room, kitchen, and master bedroom at least. In a commercial space, the entry area and any major spaces should have appropriate furniture. In other posts we’ve discussed ways of doing this on a budget. Touches like fresh flowers can help brighten up a space and make it more memorable.
Contact LendingXpress to find a hard money lender who can partner with you on real estate investing ventures!