Like most things in life, when it comes to selling a home, home sellers must have a game plan. Creating a fast sale at a number that works for you requires much more than simply placing a “for sale” out in the front yard. That is why it can be helpful to take a look at the big picture to understand what needs to be done.
There are some essential tasks that home sellers must take of in order to get a house ready to sell. Some are easier than others, but each is important in the overall game plan.
When getting ready to list, home sellers will want to:
Declutter – Buyers do not want to feel like they are navigating a maze of piles and obstacles when touring your home. To prevent this, sellers will want to go through the home, room by room, and remove as much clutter as is possible. It can help to create three piles: one for boxing up to take with you, one for donating, and one for trash.
Depersonalize – Once the space has been cleared of clutter, home sellers will want to set to work on depersonalizing the home. The goal of this exercise is to remove any and all distractions that will prevent potential buyers from seeing themselves living in the home. It can be hard to project your future onto a place when all you can see is the current owner’s life.
Neutralize – While you might be a big fan of accent walls that really “pop,” your potential buyer’s might not have the same tastes. Instead of scaring them away with loud paint choices, consider painting all the walls in a neutral color. This way, even if the buyers aren’t fans of the neutral, they will still be able to see the space as a blank canvas.
Updates – What updates and how much money home sellers want to spend will vary from situation to situation. But regardless of your budget, there are small fixes that any seller can address. Now is the time to take care of all of those little annoyances that you have simply been living with over the years. We are talking about torn screens, squeaky drawers or cabinets that won’t properly shut. There is no issue that is too small for a home buyer to notice. Taking care of them beforehand helps your home to stand apart.
Liven Things Up – In the days leading up to your showings, it can be a nice touch for home sellers to add some live plants to the space. Not only do the plants add a little bit of color, but they create a sense of life as buyers walk from room to room.
Consider Staging – Studies have shown that homes that are staged sell both faster and for more money than homes that are not. While the extent of the staging will depend on your budget, there are multiple ways in which home sellers can leverage. You can simply hire a professional stager to perform a walk through and make recommendations (will cost a couple hundred of dollars) or you can hire the stager to focus on just a few rooms or you can get the entire house staged. Again, working within your budget will dictate what level of staging you want to undertake.
Selling a home is part art, part science. But the more work that home sellers can put in in the early stages, the better the position they will find themselves in once the listing is live.
