Selling a home is not as simple as throwing a sign in the front lawn and waiting for someone to buy the property. There are multiple things you need to do as a homeowner to get your house ready for resale, and they are all important. While you can try to sell your home without following these guidelines, you likely won’t find much success.

Home Evaluation

Having your home evaluated should be the first step you take after deciding to sell your home. This will help identify areas that may be reducing your home’s value so you can take care of those before selling, and it can also give you a ballpark estimate of how much you can receive for your house. Without knowing your home’s value, you may end up listing it for too much and not receiving any bids, or you may list it too low and receive less money than you should.

A home evaluator will assess the habitable area of your home, your region, parking space, the number of rooms and bathrooms, the age of the building, the amenities around your home (schools, churches, commercial areas, government services, etc.), landscaping and yard space, as well as the recent sell prices for homes in your area. Each of these things will affect the value of your home and the appeal to buyers.

Repairs and Improvements

While repairs and improvements may not always be the most economical way forward, they will likely earn you more money on your house than you’ll have to invest in the improvements. Many buyers do not want to purchase fixer uppers, and even small areas of improvement may be enough to dissuade a potential buyer from putting in an offer.

Improvements that should always be made before putting a home up for sale include paint and drywall touch ups, replacing worn out windows or broken lights, fixing broken appliances, faucets, and HVAC systems, and ensuring there are no code violations. More expensive improvements include roof repairs, driveway updates, replacing carpets, and fencing. All of these improvements will add a lot of value to your home and make the home more attractive to buyers. If people touring the home notice obvious issues with the lighting, or malfunctional systems, they may wonder what is lying underneath the surface. It’s best to correct these issues before a single buyer steps foot in your home.

Finding an Agent

A great real estate agent will often be the defining factor between selling your home for top dollar and losing money on the property. There are quite a few things to look out for when finding the best real estate agent for you. Agents with more than 5 years of experience in the area and a great closing record are the best options for every homeowner, as you can be confident in their expertise and ability to make a sale.

While first impressions aren’t everything, you’ll want to base your opinion on how you are treated from the very start. If you real estate agent isn’t returning your call for a few days, you’ll want to hand over the responsivity of your home to someone else instead. A great real estate agent will also have a plan for marketing your property. They should know what works and what doesn’t work in your area, and they should have many ideas for the best ways to showcase your home to prospective buyers.

Declutter

Decluttering a home before selling it can have a large impact on how potential buyers feel about the space, and how quickly you’ll start receiving offers. There are a number of reasons why decluttering can help your home sell, so let’s take a look.

Decluttering will first make your home look bigger and more spacious, two very attractive qualities to buyers. Having a lot of furniture and stuff laying around will make the space feel cramped and it will impede the flow of traffic. This will be off putting to buyers. Removing unnecessary furniture and miscellaneous decorations will vastly improve the appearance of your home. Removing extra items from your home will also raise the overall value and help buyers envision themselves there. As you remove your personality from the space, it allows buyers to imagine their furniture and decorations in the space. There is no faster way to sell your home than have someone else feel at home in it.

Decluttering will also make potential problems visible so you can fix them right away, it will keep buyers focused on the home itself and not all of stuff inside it, and it will protect you from liability. If a potential buyer trips on clutter in your home and gets injured, that responsibility will fall to you more often than not.

Stage the Home

Staging is almost essential for selling homes in modern markets. It is a process that can improve the value of the home and have buyers walking in already wanting to buy the property on first glance. A staged home has just enough furniture and decoration to give it life and warmth, but not enough to be distracting or for it to feel lived in. This allows potential buyers to envision themselves in the home with their own things. A beautifully staged home can also stand out in a busy market, especially when other homes in the area do not take the time to do this.

Professional Photographer

Professional photographs of your home can make the difference between sparking interest in a potential buyer and having your home overlooked. Since more and more people do their research online before ever stepping foot in a home, having professional photographs for them to look through at their leisure may be the only reason they end up reaching out to their real estate agent for a visit. The more high-quality pictures you have, the more interest you can generate.

If you’re looking to sell your home, reach out to the experts at the Terry Paranych Real Estate Group.