Home Selling Made Simple: Preparing Your House for Sale
Anyone who tells you there’s nothing to selling a house is fibbing! In all honesty, you will likely have a fairly lengthy to-do list. The thing you want to remember is to listen carefully to what your agent is suggesting needs to be done to prepare your home to be ˜parade ready’ for putting your home on the market for showings. Write out a to do list and break it down into manageable tasks. Most of the time home sellers think they’ll be able to get everything accomplished in a shorter period of time that just isn’t realistic. That’s when they get a little (or a lot) stressed. Your agent may be able to adjust your beginning listing date if this happens to you. It’s best to schedule extra time up front for completing all the necessary items in order to avoid becoming stressed.
Once you’ve priced your home, you must prepare it for sale by cleaning, de-cluttering, and making any improvements that will increase your curb appeal:
- Make any necessary repairs to the house.
- Hire a home stager, if necessary. Most home stagers will say less is more!You want prospective buyers to be able to see their things in your house so that they can form the emotional attachment you once felt- the emotional attachment that will cause them to fall in love with your home and make an offer on your house.
- If you happen to be a pet owner, it would be a good idea to have your little members of the family in a contained area or perhaps visit relatives while your home is on the market or take them for a walk while the home is being shown.
Does Your Realtor Use Online Marketing?
Times have changed, and so has real estate marketing.Nearly 90 percent of home purchases begin online, so you want to make sure your REALTOR®has a strong online presence and the skills and expertise to market your home well on the Internet.
Your agent should be an expert at:
- Identifying and using emotionally impacting advertising keywords that will bring the buyers to you.
- Taking many photos that show every feature and angle of your home for use in creating a 360-degree virtual tour to accompany your listing. Pictures are critical to shifting potential online ‘lookers’ to making that phone call to their agent to view your home.
Showing Your Home
Once you’ve got the home staged, photographed, and listed, you are ready to begin showing. This can be a challenge if you’re still living in the home, so it will help to get in a great frame of mind before people start traipsing through your home. Given the choice between allowing your REALTOR® to use a lock box and setting appointments, there’s no doubt that you’ll get more showings if you use a lock box.
You want to make it as EASY as possible for agents to show your home with very little notice.You and your REALTOR® will need to decide whether and/or how many open houses you will have. Whatever you do, make sure you’ve got other plans during all showings. Remember that your prospective buyers need to picture this home as their own. They won’t feel comfortable opening cabinets and speaking freely if you’re hovering about. You want to make things as comfortable and easy as possible for your prospective buyers.
Through it all, remember your end goal – selling your home and moving on to your next home.The more prepared you are both in your homes
readiness and your emotional acceptance of selling the more likely a potential buyer will come along and make an offer on your home.
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Thinking of selling your Phoenix home? Call us today to request your complimentary market analysis to determine how your home compares to others in your area.
Find out how we can help make the buying or selling process simple, stress-free, and enjoyable. Feel free to contact me by phone 602-595-8900
