Selling a hunting cabin requires the same preparation that selling land or selling a house would need. You should have adequate knowledge of the real estate market to know the best time to sell your hunting cabin in New York. You also want to make sure your property is attractive enough to quickly close a sale since you’ll want to get your money fast.
The quickest way to get a property off your hands without fixing anything is through cash home buyers. These service providers buy houses and cabins as is, regardless of their condition. If that’s not an option, you can go for the traditional method of selling your property through the real estate market.
To get started on selling your hunting cabin, we’ve prepared three things you must do to ensure a clean sale. Consider the following steps to sell hunting cabins successfully:
1. Gather Important Documents
Organize all documents related to your NY hunting cabin. When selling any property, you should have a file of the property’s information. Important documents and details include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Deed: Prepare the title to your NY hunting cabin as proof of ownership. You want potential buyers to be certain they are buying from a legitimate seller. Ownership deeds are the best way to show you are ready to transfer your NY property to a buyer.
- Tax Bills: Be sure you have a copy of the latest tax bill related to your cabin. Potential buyers aren’t keen on hidden costs. Some sellers may take advantage of buyers by charging them extra tax fees attached to the property. Speak with a trusted accountant when assessing your cabin’s tax matters.
- List of Upgrades: This list should detail all renovations and installations your NY hunting cabin has undergone. Every upgrade should have a date. The more recent an upgrade, the higher your cabin’s value is. Be sure to keep the receipts of the upgrades you spent on your property.
- List of Amenities: This list should detail the items and systems in your cabin. If you intend to include kitchen appliances like fridges and coffee makers when you sell your cabin, your property’s value increases. Meanwhile, existing systems like your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning can also raise your property’s selling value.
- Water Details: Potential buyers will want to know about your cabin’s running water situation. Be sure to include details on your cabin’s water pump system so potential buyers know that your cabin is functional. Relatedly, you should have documents detailing your cabin’s water quality. This would include lab test results from a professional water testing company.
- Drainage Details: Like your cabin’s water details, you should include your septic tank details. Potential buyers want to ensure that the property they are buying has adequate sanitation.
- Handling Instructions: These instructions should guide the potential owner on maintaining the cabin. This includes opening and closing instructions to prevent any accidents from occurring in the cabin.
- Miscellaneous Items: Your hunting cabin may include vehicles like bikes or boats that you may want to include or sell separately. Make an inventory of such items to help identify your cabin’s worth.
If you have other documents associated with your hunting cabin, be sure to include them in your file. Any missing document will cause delays in transferring the title to your potential buyer, thus delaying the sale.
2. Revamp Your Cabin
Revamping your NY cabin involves decluttering and renovating. Potential buyers are more likely to close a deal when your cabin looks good as new. Although they know that they are buying a pre-owned property, they will prefer buying something they can easily imagine personalizing as if no one owned the cabin before.
Declutter
Go through your hunting cabin and sort out your belongings. Find out which items you can trash and which ones you can include as bonuses when a buyer takes your cabin. A cleaner property is easier to sell and makes it appear larger. When potential buyers see that your cabin has a lot of free space, buyers can imagine themselves making the cabin their own.
Decluttering includes outside of your cabin. The real estate equivalent of cleaning the outside of your cabin in the woods is fixing your lawn for curb appeal. Sweep away fallen leaves, remove dead tree branches around your property, and scrape off moss hanging from your roof. This clean-up is also useful when you need to take photos of your cabin when putting up a listing.
Renovate
Regarding renovations, recall how we mentioned that upgrading your cabin boosts its value? You can upgrade your property by replacing light bulbs, fixing windows, rewiring your cabin, and installing new flooring. Going through all these features also helps you identify which systems in your cabin need fixing. You wouldn’t want potential buyers to discover faulty floorboards come time for presenting your cabin.
Consider painting walls a neutral color, as well. The neutral color is an important detail since this counts toward the potential buyer’s preference. Neutral colors make it easier for potential buyers to imagine what color they would prefer when they buy your cabin.
3. Get a Professional Appraisal
The previous two steps are preparatory steps for increasing your cabin’s monetary value. A professional appraisal is what sets an actual price that you can present to the NY hunting cabin market. Average house appraisals in New York cost between $300 and $1,500.
Licensed appraisers can help put a price on your NY hunting cabin by assessing the improvements made to the property. This highlights the importance of keeping receipts. You want to prove to the appraiser that your property has been upgraded.
At the same time, a clean property is likely to get a higher appraisal simply by appearing well put together. Your cabin’s setting is the first thing that potential buyers notice, so you want to make its setting appear enticing.
Professional appraisers also have experience in the cabin selling industry. They have the resources to compare your property’s value against other properties that have been sold in your area. They can review those properties and craft the best competitive prices to ensure a successful sale.
Conclusion
The best tip we have for preparing to sell a hunting cabin is to think like a buyer. What would a hunting cabin buyer look for? They would want to see official documents and a property that they can imagine themselves making their own.
Selling your cabin involves a lot of cleaning, both inside the cabin and outside the property, and revamping. Revamping your property is about upgrading your cabin’s systems and fixtures to increase its selling value. To set an appropriate price on your cabin, you need the expertise of licensed appraisers.
Need help selling your hunting cabin in NY? Contact us today!
