So, you’ve decided to sell your home. Perhaps you’re moving to a new location to start a dream job, upgrading to a larger house because you’re planning on starting a family, or downsizing to a cozier place after sending the kids off to college. Whatever your reasons for wanting to sell, now is the perfect time.
With mortgage rates at a record low, there are many people eager to buy a home. You may be in a hurry to get your house listed on the market as soon as possible, but not so fast. Slow down for a sec. You want to do this the right way so you can sell your home at top price.
Central Willamette Credit Union wants to make the closing process as simple as possible for you. So here are some of our top tips for getting your house ready to sell.
Declutter Your Home
When a prospective homebuyer enters your house, they want to see clean lines, organized spaces, and appealing features. That means bulky furniture and trinkets have to go. Box up all your personal effects and rent a storage unit if you need a place to temporarily stow them away. You’re moving anyway, right? So this simply gives you a head start on packing all your things away.
Downsize as much as possible so buyers won’t be distracted when they walk into your home. After all, first impressions are key, and you want to make a positive, long-lasting one. Keep only the essentials in your house. Remove most of the clothes from your closet and items from your pantry, and be sure to clear out the garage. Neatly organize anything you decide to leave behind. You want to wow buyers with your space, not distract them with your belongings.
Tidy Up
Once you declutter your home, the next step is to make sure it’s neat and tidy. Give everything a little sprucing up. Paint the walls with a fresh coat, wipe down countertops and surfaces, polish the floors, and steam the carpets. If your space is in need of a deep clean, consider hiring a housekeeping service to do the heavy lifting for you.
Buyers want to walk into a space and envision it being their own. Think about when you walk into a store to make a purchase. You don’t want to buy a sweater that has a snag or tear. You want it to look brand new. Since a home purchase is one of the most important purchases a person will make in their lifetime, your home should appear immaculate. Don’t let an unkempt space keep you from getting the full listing price.
Stage Your Home
Buyers want to walk into a home and see a clean slate, a space free of personal effects that they can imagine becoming their own. But at the same time, your home should be dressed to impress. You want your space to have a welcoming feel and an inviting look to it.
If you can afford the investment, a professional stager can work wonders at transforming your space in a way that showcases its best features and maximizes its square footage. Not sure you have the money to spend on staging? Not to worry. Follow these tips and tricks to doing it yourself. You can even make it a fun DIY family project.
Invest in Good Lighting
You should showcase your home in its best light, quite literally. So invest in good lighting that will brighten it up. Since all the lights in the home will need to be turned on to showcase the home, buy some extra light bulbs to have on hand in case any burn out. Get a few extra lamps to place in any dimly lit areas. Open up the shades and pull back the curtains when you’re having an open house or know someone will be coming to tour the home.
Once you’ve done all the work of cleaning up and staging your home, you want to be able to show it off. Just as we want to be photographed at our best angle in high-quality lighting, your home should also be displayed in its best light as well. Investing in quality lighting will help your home look its best in listing photos as well as in-person.
Hire the Right Listing Agent
A listing agent will help you with all the essentials of getting your house ready to sell. For starters, a listing agent takes photos or arranges to have them taken professionally. This will get buyers interested in viewing your property. An agent also advertises your home, schedules showings, and hosts open houses for buyers to see the property.
A listing agent can also run comparables on your home to make sure it’s priced correctly. It’s incredibly important that you price your home based on its market value. Price it too high, and it could sit on the market for too long. Price it too low, and you would be selling yourself short by not getting as much money from the sale as possible. The right listing agent should also be able to make recommendations specific to your home that will help you sell it faster.
Selling a home can seem like a huge undertaking, but it doesn’t have to be that way. We have a ton of resources that will help you with getting your house ready to sell. Check out even more insider tips, from what time of year to sell your home to how to make a great first impression in order to sell your home fast and at the best possible price. With a little help and the right team in place, you’ll get your house sold in no time at all.
