You’ve Decided to Sell Your Home - Now What?

Greetings to All,

This is my first post for New Homes Realty, Inc.  I have much to share from my experiences assisting both home sellers in making their homes show their best, and new home buyers in creating a beautiful, liveable space that accounts for the family’s needs and preferences.  We’ll kick things off by addressing what needs to be done before a home is ready to sell.

There is much involved in the process of transitioning from current abode to new home.  So how do you make it through with your sanity intact?

Start by putting your home up for sale well in advance of beginning your search for a new home, especially in a buyer’s market.  Sell your existing home first, then, you’ll now exactly how much money you’ll have to invest in a new home.  When you do find the home of your dreams and want to make an offer, you can do so freely, without the condition of selling your current home.  Not to mention that you won’t risk burdening yourself with paying two mortgages at the same time until your house sells.

Taking a proactive role in selling your home will not only make you more comfortable with the process, it may help the sale progress more smoothly and quickly.  Follow these steps to help you get there:

Educate yourself.  Check out one of the free home price monitoring services on the Internet.  Enter your street address and zip code, and these services will display your home’s estimated value, the estimated values of comparable homes in your neighborhood, and sale prices of homes sold in your neighborhood within the last year.

Check out your competition.  Visit open houses to see what is available in your neighborhood.  Find out how long the homes have been on the market, and take special note of the homes’ features and their overall condition.  Then you’ll know exactly what you’re up against.

Start preparing your home for sale.  Roll up your sleeves.  If you really want to sell your home as quickly as possible and get the highest possible price for it, you’ll need to work for it.  In the current market, buyers are looking for updated, well-kept, move-in ready homes.  If you do the work for them, you’ll reap the rewards at closing.  Where do you begin?
 

Declutter

Get packing!  Buyers are looking for bright, open and airy spaces, and clutter is enemy number one.  When preparing your home to sell, less is definitely more.  Clutter makes spaces look and feel smaller.  Pack up any items that are unessential for everday living and place them in storage.  Pair down the clothing and stuff socked away in closets by at least one third.  Show potential buyers that the home has plenty of storage for all their stuff.  If you begin the sorting process early and tackle one storage space at a time, it will be less overwhelming.  And come moving day, you won’t be paying to move what you no longer need or want to your new home.
 

Depersonalize

Small items that personalize our homes, like books, collectibles, framed photos, trophies, diplomas and refrigerator magnets are distracting to potential buyers.  Realtors have shared that when touring a home, buyers have stopped to “oooh and ahhh” over the wedding portrait of the sellers’ daughter in her stunning, designer gown, or to peruse the seller’s book selections!  By removing personal items from view, we allow potential buyers to see themselves and their personal belongings in the home.  The focus then becomes the most marketable features of the home…as it should be.
 

Fix It

Many of us have projects or fix-ups that linger on to-do-lists until we can find the time to tackle them.  Wait no more.  Projects left unfinished and repairs left undone will be noticed by potential buyers.  Deferred maintenance will cause buyers to question the condition of the home’s systems and those things they can’t see as well.  Each problem they notice may lead them to reduce the price of their offer, if they make one.  Remember…do the work for them so you can get top dollar for your home.  But don’t take on any major, new projects until you consult a real estate professional.
 

Deep Clean

Clean, clean, clean.  Clean like you have never cleaned before!  Seriously, deep clean every room in the house, and hit all the chores that only get done once or twice a year (or maybe never at all…who likes to clean?).  In the kitchen, scrub the appliances, clean the oven and wipe down the cabinets.  Dust everything, including window blinds, ceiling fans, above door frames and vents.  Scrub the grout.  Wash the windows inside and out.  While you’re outside, wash off the front porch, wipe down the front door, shine the hardware and clean the bugs out of the light fixture.  If you don’t have the time, aren’t physically able, or just plain hate to clean…hire a cleaning service to do it for you.  If you can work it into the budget, hire them to come weekly while the house is on the market.  Yes, you have to keep it that way.

Now that you have a good bit of the work out of the way, it’s time to find a reputable, real estate agent to help market and sell your home.  The agent you ultimately bring onboard will be pleasantly surprised and pleased that you took a proactive role in preparing your home for sale! 

Stay tuned for tips on finding the right real estate professional for the job, and more great information to help you prepare your home for sale.

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