Whether it is a house you inherited from your parents or a house you personally built from ground up, letting go of a house can be both physically and emotionally challenging. However, getting your home ready to sell is one of the most important decisions you must make to get the best out of your home selling journey.

We all know that potential home buyers want the best or a home that resonates with their personal lifestyle and living goals. Taking your time to get your home ready for viewing and eventual sale may be all you need to make it sell faster and for the right price. In this article, we will highlight some surefire ways to get your home ready to sell in the shortest time.

8 Steps to Getting Your House Ready to Sell

Ultimately, there are hundreds of steps to follow when getting your home ready to sell. This checklist outlines eight (8) essential steps to make your home selling journey a walk in the park.

• Determine if it is the Right Time to Sell

Yes, just because you are ready to sell your home doesn’t make it the right time to sell. Before putting your home on the market, the first thing you should do is to research the current condition of your local real estate market. Take a look at some of comparable homes that have sold in your neighborhood to get an appropriate listing price for your home. 

Closely look at their features, location, and physical state and how they compare to your house in terms of value. A local Realtor should be able to provide you with this type of information.

• Find a Local Listing Agent

Selling your home requires the input of several professionals. One of such professionals is a local listing agent. Listing agents help sellers’ price, stage and market their property, show it off to prospective buyers and negotiate offers. Blueporch.com can help you find a Top Rated Agent near you! When choosing a listing agent, you should go for individuals with expertise in your local real estate market, has a laid-out marketing plan, and solid connections to potential local buyers.

• Repair and Update Your Home Structure

Before listing your home for sale, evaluate the physical state of your house main structure. Fix leaking pipes, broken roofs, cracked walls, or structural-related issues that may act as a turnoff for your potential buyer or reduce the value of your home. Remember, that your home buyers want a house with little to no repair issues.

• Clean and Declutter Your House

Giving your potential home buyers a great first impression about your home is very important. So, don’t let dirty walls, foul smell, dirty floors, overgrown landscape, or dusty environment make a bad one on your potential buyers. Before listing your home, give your home a deep clean. This could include, washing the toilets, repainting the walls, scrubbing the floors, rugs, and wiping down the wooden surfaces.

Additionally, decluttering your house before listing and throughout the selling period will go a long way in influencing your buyer’s decision. Decluttering your home helps your potential buyers to focus more on the actual space instead of the shoe racks or your personal items. You should consider renting a storage unit to keep your personal belongings during the process.

• Stage Your Home

According to reputable sources, staging a home can help it sell faster and for more money if done the right way. The good news is that staging your home is an easy and affordable process. Start by getting rid of clutters and rearranging your furnitures to give your home a spacious feel.

You should also de-personalize your home space by taking out personal photos, religious and sport memorabilia. An additional easy staging tip is to open the blinds on all of the windows to allow for ample inflow of light. The primary reason why you should stage your home is to enable your potential buyers visualize themselves living in your space.

• Hire a Professional Photographer

Thanks to online listing platforms, majority of your potential buyers are more likely to see your home first through online pictures before seeing it in person. So, it’s crucial that you include high quality pictures of your home selling features in your online listing.

Before putting your home up for sale, do well to hire a professional real estate photographer to capture pictures of your clean and staged home space. Keep in mind that your chosen realtor may offer this as part of their service.

• Decide on a Competitive Listing Price

Finding the right competitive asking price for your home can be a challenge if you are not familiar with your current local real estate market. A competitive listing price is one that is within the range of listing prices similar homes in your area are selling for, yet high enough to make you a sizeable profit. 

• Let Your Agent Handle the Rest

With most of the work done, the final step is to allow your agent handle the rest. Most of the time, your listing agent will upload your home listing on several local multiple listing service (MLS) websites, social media pages, and place a for sale sign on your yard. They will also interact with potential buyers and organize open house events for interested viewers.

More importantly, you should discuss with your agent on the appropriate time and date for interested buyers to visit your home.