How to Prepare Your Home Before Putting It Up for Sale

Preparing your home to get it ready to put on the market isn’t something you should leave until the last minute. Depending on what property issues you discover, and how long it takes to complete preparations, you may need a good lead time before contacting a realtor. However, by tending to any issues first, the realtor is more likely to look on the property favorably and put their best effort into marketing it.

While a realtor might still point out the odd thing that could be changed ahead of a listing, these are going to be far more minor than would have otherwise been.

Here are some tips on how to prepare your home for sale.

Take Time to Get an Inspection

While it’s usually the buyer that pays for their own inspection, the reality is that if there are any issues with the property, it’s best to know about them early on. Potential buyers will discover them through their inspector anyway, and then you’ll be shocked with what they find, along with the low-ball offer that follows along with it, if they make an offer at all.

By going the extra mile with getting a CLASS Home Inspection, the ball is in your court. Depending on what the findings are and the assessment of how much it might drop the property value vs fixing the issue, it’s then up to you whether to get the necessary maintenance completed first and list the home regardless and accept a discounted price.

Make It Less Lived In

While we tend to spread out in a home, the place eventually becomes cluttered and unmanageable. While you may not mind when every room has too much furniture, kids’ toys strewn about the floor or is generally untidy, a realtor and potential buyers who come to view the property will take in everything clearly because it’s all completely new to them.

If you find that you’re unable to see any clear issues relating to clutter and existing floor plans, get a neighbor or friend to visit and share their impartial view. They’ll spot things to sort out that you overlooked. People who either haven’t visited before or haven’t been recently are going to be more helpful than frequent visitors.

Get an Idea About Recent Comps in the Neighborhood

Just like any realtor will do, get up to speed on the recent real estate transactions in the neighborhood. This will give you an idea about what your property is worth.

If you’ve no objection to it, go so far as to visit several local properties that strike you as similar to your own. See how they’ve being staged, what interests you (or turns you off) about each property and what your overall impression was. Doing this will be highly informative before going through the same process yourself and may give you more ideas of things to fix.

Getting ready to sell a home and move on is exciting. Just don’t rush into it too quickly without doing your homework. You’ll get better results if you prepare well first.