Selling your house isn’t always easy. There are a lot of factors that go into a buyer’s decision to get them to make the move and sign on the dotted line. But luckily, there are some things that you, as the seller, can control to prep your home for a prompt and easy sale.
Let’s dive into some tips and tricks to help you cross items off the preparing your home for sale checklist. We’ll cover everything from how to stage your home to pricing strategies and more.
Preparing Your Home for Sale: Identify Repairs & Plan for Fixing Them
Depending on how long you’ve lived in your house or how old it is, you may not have much to do at this stage. But, if you know there are things that need repair, like your flooring or roof, windows, HVAC systems, or appliances, you may want to repair them yourself before putting your home on the market.
Some homeowners may choose to leave these repairs for the next owner to handle, but especially in the luxury market, buyers often want homes that are move-in ready. You may be able to sell your home faster—and for a higher price—if there’s no work that needs to be done and your buyers can simply move in.
A luxury real estate team can help you decide which repairs are worth doing yourself and which ones a buyer might be willing to do after they move in. If you have any quick and easy repairs or updates waiting to get done, you might want to just get them taken care of before listing your home for sale.
Preparing Your Home for Sale: Declutter and Depersonalize
When you open your home up to potential buyers, you want to make it as easy as possible for them to imagine themselves actually living there.
This means making sure that you remove any decor or items that are overly personal to you and your family and replacing them with stylish and timeless pieces. Think neutral colors, warm textures, and artwork that features nature or animals rather than people.
Part of this process is also a general declutter and clean. You can hire a crew to help with this or you can do it yourself, but either way, your home should be clean and spacious. Remove any personal items, make sure everything has a place, and do a quick clean every few days to avoid a time-consuming deep clean before your next showing. This will help buyers imagine themselves in your home, and will show it off in the best light possible.
Preparing Your Home for Sale: Professional Staging
Another way you can help potential buyers see themselves in your home is to get it professionally staged. A professional home stager can help you create a vision for your home and ultimately, help you sell it faster. Realtor.com found that homes that are staged generally sell 88% faster and for 20% more than homes that weren’t staged.
Small design and decor choices can make a big difference when it comes to staging, so you don’t have to spend a ton of money to have a big impact. Don’t forget the outside of your home as well. Cleaning up your yard, sprucing up your landscaping, and making sure the paint and lights on the outside of your home are cleaned up will also help your curb appeal make a great first impression.
Preparing Your Home for Sale: Create a Marketing Plan & Pricing Strategy
After your home is clean, staged, and ready to be shown, you have to make sure that you have a marketing plan and pricing strategy in place. Your real estate agent should have a marketing plan that’s customized to your home. IS Luxury can help you with creating customized plans that include print, digital, and social media so that you have the best chance of selling your home to the right buyer.
In addition to marketing your home successfully, you want to make sure that your home is priced appropriately. Your real estate agent will help you set a price that fairly reflects the value of your home while still keeping you competitive in the market you’re in.
Sell Your Home with IS Luxury
At IS Luxury, we can help with every step of preparing your home for sale. From staging all the way through to marketing and private showings, our agents will do everything they can do to get you the best deal for your home. Reach out to one of our agents to list with IS Luxury today!
