What To Do Before Listing Your Home

Are you a first-time home seller who is unsure of what to do before listing your property? Are you not sure whether you should hire a real estate agent to help you? Sell your home fast and for top dollar by following five easy steps.

Most sellers’ goal is to get the highest sale price possible for their property, however, what they fail to realize sometimes is that selling your property is not as easy as many people make it seem. It is not just putting up a sign in front of your house that says for sale and offers are going to start falling from the sky. It takes a lot more work than that if you want to sell it fast and for top dollar. Here are five critical factors you need to consider before listing your property:

1. Declutter/Depersonalize: One of the most common mistakes homeowners make when listing their property is leaving the home AS-IS. They think that because they like their current decoration, so will everyone else, which is incorrect. If you plan to live there while listing the property, make sure you declutter it and put away all personal items, including photos, your kids’ artwork, things you use every day. Everyone is different, so you have to ensure you stage your home correctly; remember that the person who will buy your home is picturing themselves living there. They do not want to see all your personal items getting in the way of their fantasy.

2. Do some work in the house: Are there any things you need to swap out or fix? Can you do some landscaping to your backyard? Are the kitchen and bathrooms outdated? Modern kitchen and bathrooms can alone sell a home. In fact, these two will play a significant role when pricing your home. Buyers will willingly pay more money for a property with a modern kitchen and bathroom. Throughout the years, I have noticed many people who choose to ignore some of a property’s defects just because they happened to like how the kitchen and bathroom looked compared to other properties they have seen. My point is if you want to significantly increase the value of your home, pay attention to how the kitchen and bathroom look. Our main goal is to increase your property’s value by making sure your house looks as new and as appealing as possible for any potential buyers.

3. Deep clean, TWICE: You want to ensure that your house is ready when you start showing it. Make sure that the house looks spotless at all times. If you have kids, try scheduling a time to show the property when they are not home so you can make sure everything is clean and ready. I was showing my buyer a house that was a total mess one time. Kids were running around, clothes and toys were thrown everywhere. He did not even go through the whole house before telling me he was not interested. His mind was set from the beginning; he did not want to buy a place that looked like that. As I mentioned before, while buyers are looking at your home, they are picturing themselves there, and no one wants to live in a dirty or messy house.

4. Repaint the walls, if necessary: Are your walls dirty or painted in vivid colors? If they are, please repaint them. Use neutral colors that will attract the attention of the majority of the people rather than a couple. Using neutral color makes such a big difference. I have seen people who have walls painted in colors like bright green, red, or blue, and let me tell you, it is an automatic turn-off for many of the buyers I have worked with in the past. There is nothing wrong with these colors; however, you want your house to be an excellent fit for most buyers and not only for some of them when listing your property. If you do not want to pay someone to do it for you, buy the paint and do it yourself. It is a great way to save money if you have other things to do around the house before listing it.

5. Price it right: This is the last and probably most crucial step. When you are ready to list your home, make sure you get a comparable market analysis from a professional. By doing this, you will avoid overpricing or underpricing your home. One of the most common reasons houses sit on the market for longer than usual is overpricing. Most of the people who own property believe their property is worth more than what they usually are, so I recommend you get in touch with a local real estate agent who can give you their honest, professional advice free of charge. Comparable market analysis is one of the things real estate agents do on a daily basis. Good real estate agents know what is currently selling, what is not, and the reasoning behind it, so make sure you set up an appointment with them so you can show them your home and answer any vital questions that may have an impact on the price of your property.

Bonus Tip: Hire a local real estate agent you can trust. Ask around, see what agents your friends or colleagues recommend. Selling a home is stressing so having an expert who you can trust next to you will make all the difference in the world.

Selling your home may be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, emotional and financial transactions of your life, so you want to make sure it goes as smoothly as possible. Following these five factors will ensure that you property is ready to be listed, however, once it is for sale, the work does not end there so you want to have someone that will help you every step of the way and will ensure you do not leave money on the table.

If you want to sell your home and want me to do a FREE comparable market analysis, have any questions, or want to share your experience selling your home, get in touch!