When you feel you are ready to sell your home and move to somewhere new you will probably be excited about the prospect. You will put your property on the market and wait for people to come round to see it, sell it, and then find your new ideal place to live.
However, it’s not always that simple. Selling your home can be very stressful, and it can take many months, potentially even a year or more, once you engage a realtor and start marketing the house or apartment for buyers to see.
One of the reasons a property may take longer to sell than others is that it just isn’t ready to be put on the market. This can be off-putting to potential buyers who can’t see themselves living in the property, or who feel there would be too much work to do on top of the stress of buying a home to make an offer. Therefore, it is crucial to get your home ready to sell before you put it on the market. Here are some things to look out for.
Declutter
One of the biggest issues when it comes to trying to sell a property is that it can be too full of your own possessions to allow for any potential buyer to imagine their own furniture and belongings in the rooms. It makes sense, then, to declutter as much as you can. You’re going to be packing everything up anyway, so making an early start and deciding what you want to keep, what can be sold or given away, and what can be put out in the trash will be helpful for everyone.
Of course, the last thing you want is to have boxes around your home once you have started the decluttering and early packing process. This will be uncomfortable for you and unpleasant for viewers. Searching for storage units in my area and hiring one for a short time to keep your boxes and furniture in while you’re showing your home can work wonders, giving you a clearer space to live in and potential buyers a much better idea of the property itself.
Little jobs
If you’re moving home, it is important to get round to all those little jobs that you have forgotten about or put off because you always seem to have other things to do. These things might not even be on your radar anymore as you have learned to live with them, but a potential buyer might be put off immediately; even if the problem itself is a small one and easily fixed, they might be worried it means there are other, larger problems within the property too.
By repainting walls, fixing dripping faucets, installing new outlets, oiling squeaking doors, rehanging a kitchen cupboard that has come loose, or anything else that is a minor annoyance and will take just a few moments to put right you could be saving yourself months on the property market.
The yard
Don’t forget your yard if you have one. This can be viewed as an extension of the house, and if you think of it as another room to declutter, pack away, and spruce up, you can see that there might be some work involved.
Keeping the lawn cut and the flower beds weeded, sweeping away leaves and jet washing the patio should it require it may be all it takes to sway a buyer into choosing your home over and above another.
