How to Sell Your Home in Cleveland: A Guide
Lucas Grohn
Senior Manager of Sales at Truehold - A Thought-Leader in Real Estate
Looking to sell a home in Cleveland, Ohio? You’re in an excellent position to find home buyers—while the rise in interest rates has affected market rates and priced first-time potential buyers out of many other markets, Cleveland’s low housing cost is attracting attention.
To land the right buyer and the offer you want as a homeowner, you’ll need to stay in the loop on the Cleveland house market, get your property ready to sell, plan out marketing, and partner with the right agent or home seller.
Understanding the Cleveland Real Estate Market
In the week of May 6, 2024, the highest-priced home sale in Cleveland, Ohio closed at $3.2 million—but that’s an extremely rare outlier.1 During that same week, 80 other homes sold with an average price of $166,117.
Compared to the current nationwide median sale price of $420,800, that makes Cleveland quite affordable.2 In fact, a recent study of the 50 largest U.S. metro areas put Cleveland in first place for the lowest increase in median home price from 2000 to 2023, at 78%.3
At a county level, 2024 home prices are reacting to the typical seasonal shifts for Cleveland: peaking in June, July, and August, and bottoming out in January and February.4 Median sale prices thus far this year have come in at:
- January: $145,000
- February: $160,000
- March: $163,900
Median sale prices should reach close to $200,000 in June 2024.
Talk to your real estate agent about micro-trends in your neighborhood. They should provide you with a comparative market analysis (CMA) to help with pricing for potential buyers, plus a neighborhood-level analysis of the average number of days on the market, the number of homes selling at, over, or under listing price, and sale prices.
Preparing Your Home for Sale
There are a few options when it comes to sale prep. You can:
- Sell as-is to a cash buyer
- Spend an average of six months and $5,400 on minor repairs and upgrades5,6
- Invest in major projects designed to increase your home’s value
The most common minor upgrades are repainting, carpet cleaning or replacement, and landscaping. Talk to a real estate agent before considering major changes—few allow you to recoup the time and cost involved.
Learn more about Truehold's flexible sale-leaseback
Click hereMarketing Strategies to Sell Your Home
Marketing should be a key part of vetting potential real estate agents before you sign with one. What can they do for you to attract the largest buying pool and reach the right home buyers to sell your home quickly?
Make a Plan
Your real estate agent—or the homeowner, if you opt to go the for sale by owner (FSBO) route—needs to create a written plan of marketing efforts. These days, that includes a mix of old-school and digital methods.
The basics include:
- MLS (multiple listing service) placement for Ohio state and regional MLS databases
- A web page on the agency’s site and any reciprocal brokerages
- Social media posting on the agency’s sites
- For Sale yard sign and flyers for neighbors
- An open house and sell sheets for visitors
Ask whether they can also provide:
- Professional photography and videography services
- Digital and social media paid advertising
- A virtual or 3D tour
Know Your Value
Make sure you navigate how to determine your home’s value. Focus on your property’s features and advantages at the marketing stage. This could be high-efficiency windows and appliances, convenient public transportation, a nearby park—whatever makes it a delight to live in your house and neighborhood to entice a potential buyer.
For instance, Niche’s 2024 grades and ratings for Cleveland include7:
- “A” for outdoor activities, commute, nightlife, and diversity
- #11 out of 229 for cities with the lowest cost of living
- “A” for Menlo Park Academy and Shaker Heights High School, and “A-” for the Cleveland School of Science and Medicine
On Cleveland’s Best Neighborhoods to Live In, their top five are8:
- Tremont: Affordable, diverse, and close to downtown
- Downtown: Versatile, with a variety of cultures, and full of attractions
- Ohio City: Safe and peaceful with a great vibe
- Kamm's Corners: Community feel with diverse neighbors and beautiful homes
- Detroit Shoreway: Accessible, safe, with great parks and restaurants
Navigating the Selling Process in Cleveland
Ohio doesn’t require you to engage either a real estate lawyer or agent to sell your home, though an agent is the most common choice to walk you through the process.
The Ohio Department of Commerce requires all sellers to complete a Residential Property Disclosure form to detail all "material matters relating to the physical condition of the property" that you’re aware of.9
With a cash buyer, you’ll usually start with an in-home or virtual visit, receive a preliminary offer, permit a home inspection, sign a final contract, set a closing date, and complete the sale with a title insurance or legal company.
A traditional sale adds several steps including:
- Home cleaning, organizing, updates, and staging
- Agent interviews leading to signing a listing agreement
- Setting a sale price and start date for listing and marketing
- Days to months of property showings
- Reviewing and negotiating an offer before signing a sale agreement
- Negotiating post-inspection concessions
- Reducing the listing price if you don’t get an acceptable offer
- Reviewing and signing paperwork through closing day
Utilizing Truehold's Sell and Stay Transaction
Rather than prepping your home for sale and waiting for a buyer’s financing to come through, you can sell your home as is to Truehold through a Cleveland sell and stay transaction, with a closing day scheduled at your convenience.
A sell and stay transaction with Truehold offers flexibility on a move-out date. Instead of handing over the keys with the deed, you can unlock your equity, debt-free, and keep living in your home as a renter. We cover property tax, property insurance, and essential repairs.
Learn more before you commit to a traditional sale by calling (314) 353-9757. A Truehold representative will reach out to break down the details, answer any questions, and see if Truehold's sell and stay transaction is right for you.
Sources:
- Cleveland.com. 10 most expensive homes sold in Cleveland, May 6-12. https://www.cleveland.com/realestate-news/2024/05/10-most-expensive-homes-sold-in-cleveland-may-6-12.html
- FRED. Median Sales Price of Houses Sold for the United States (MSPUS). https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MSPUS
- Cleveland.com. Cleveland cited as major metro with lowest home price increase over 20 years. https://www.cleveland.com/realestate-news/2024/03/cleveland-cited-as-major-metro-with-lowest-home-price-increase-over-20-years.html
- Cleveland.com. What months have and lowest home sales prices? https://www.cleveland.com/realestate-news/2024/05/what-months-have-and-lowest-home-sales-prices.html
- Zillow. What Is the Average Time to Sell a House? https://www.zillow.com/learn/average-time-to-sell-a-house/
- CBS News. Here's how much home sellers spend to spruce up their property before listing them. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/home-improvement-steps-before-selling-house/
- Niche. Cleveland. https://www.niche.com/places-to-live/cleveland-cuyahoga-oh/
- Niche. 2024 Best Neighborhoods to Live in Cleveland. https://www.niche.com/places-to-live/search/best-neighborhoods/t/cleveland-cuyahoga-oh/
- Ohio Laws & Administrative Rules. Section 5302.30 | Property disclosure form required for all residential real property transfers. https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5302.30
Lucas Grohn
Senior Manager of Sales at Truehold - A Thought-Leader in Real Estate
Lucas Grohn is a Senior Manager of Sales at Truehold, leading a team of local market experts and overseeing the brand’s sales outreach strategy. Lucas has been a thought-leader in the real estate industry for more than a decade. He got his start working alongside institutional investors and has since found himself in a myriad of different roles.From being a Managing Broker, to training new agents at some of the country's most well known real estate brands (Redfin, Zillow, RE/MAX). He spends his free time hanging with his family on the beach in Georgia and taking pictures of two daughters (1&4).
