If you’ve decided to upgrade to a different home or need to relocate, it can be an exciting time. While you’re likely thinking of talking with a realtor right away to get your home on the market, you should resist the temptation. In fact, there are eight main actions that you’ll want to perform before listing your house for sale.
1- Get Rid of Clutter
First and foremost, you need to prep your home before you plan on listing it. A good place to start is by getting rid of clutter. Excess storage boxes, magazines stacked up in the corner, and other items can all make your home look messy. It’s hard for potential buyers to picture themselves living in a place that has all of your clutter hanging around. You want to aim for minimalism when it comes to prepping your home for potential buyers.
2- Deep Clean
When you’re living in a place, it can be easy to overlook dirty spots as you’ve gotten used to looking at them. Typically, they’re one of those places that you constantly tell yourself you’ll get to later when you have the time. Now is the time to get a deep cleaning of your entire home. You may want to consider hiring a professional to do the cleaning service.
3- Handle Neglected Maintenance
When you finally get under contract with a buyer, they’ll likely have an inspector come into your home and assess any problems. The inspector will notate any neglected maintenance on their inspection report. This can cause the buyer to try to renegotiate pricing with you later on in the closing process. To avoid this issue, you would tackle any neglected maintenance issues. From leaky faucets to cleaning your gutters, do it all.
4- Gather Repair and Renovation Dates
When a buyer looks at your home, they’re going to want to know how old your furnace is, the age of your roof, and when you put on that home addition. Instead of guessing, it can be in your favor to go back through your receipts and other paperwork to determine when these items were installed.
5- Consider a Pre-Sell Inspection
While it’s common practice for buyers to get a home inspection, it’s becoming more widely popular for sellers to get a pre-sell inspection. The same concept applies when an inspector comes into your home and notes any problems with its various components. However, the main advantage of a pre-sell inspection, is that you can identify problems and have them addressed before your home goes on the market. This leads to a much smoother sales process for everyone involved.
6- Boost Your Landscape Appeal
Your home’s curb appeal is one of the biggest factors that determines whether a potential buyer chooses to look at your home or not. If your landscaping is lacking, it can be hard to get buyers to bite. Investing in a little paint for your front door and adding some foliage can be a great way to boost your property’s curb appeal. The more enticing you can make the outside of your home, the more prospective buyers you’re going to get interested in looking at your property.
7- Look at Other Real Estate Listings
A great way to get insight into what your home may sell for and whether or not it’s going to be desirable to others is to look at existing real estate listings in your area. Start by assessing what the homes look like. Are they all newly renovated? What features of their curb appeal stand out as desirable to you? What prices are they asking?
8- Research Real Estate Agents
The last thing that you want to do is research potential real estate agents in your area. Look for an agent with many good reviews and multiple listings. An active real estate agent is going to be someone who knows the market well and will go the extra mile to help you get top dollar for your home.
In principle, a real estate agent will help you to rent out your house quickly, if necessary, and for good prices, and the better the house is maintained, the higher the price, of course.