Selling your home is an exciting time. With a bright future on the horizon and big changes on their way, it can be easy to forget some of the important details involved with selling.
Whether you’re thinking about selling in the near future, or you’re committed to selling fast, there are a few things you need to remember. Here’s a look at everything you need to know about preparing your home for sale.
Give Yourself Plenty of Time to Prepare
Selling a home is more than just making a split decision to put it up for sale and hope for the best. There are lots of moving parts and things you need to accomplish before the home is ready for the market. For example, if you’re planning to sell your home in the fall, you really should be getting ready now.
Between conducting repairs, staging, photography, and developing an effective pricing strategy, these things take time. By taking the time to properly prepare, you will ensure that your home sells quickly and for a great price too.
Learn more about selling your home with these other great selling posts:
- FAQ for Sellers
- 5 Resolutions Sellers Should Keep in 2021
- Staging Before You Sell: 5 Reasons it’s Worthwhile
Find a Local Agent You Can Trust
You don’t want to work with just anyone on what will probably be one of the biggest transactions of your life. You want to work with a local agent you can trust. When deciding to work with a real estate agent, ask questions like:
- Are you experienced with selling real estate in my area?
- Do you have experience selling properties similar to mine?
- Do you have any client testimonials that I can see?
- What can I expect from working with you?
For more advice on finding the right real estate agent, read our blog about it here.
Your real estate agent is your navigator through this busy time, and you need to make sure that you can work well together before committing to selling your home with them.
Sometimes You Need to Invest
While everyone dreams of having a big offer on their home, they sometimes forget that to make money, sometimes you have to spend money. Investing some time and money into things like staging, decluttering, storage, and repairs will probably help garner a better offer on your home.
However, this doesn’t mean that you should go all out with everything. Your real estate agent will be able to help you decide the best repairs and pre-listing to-dos to get the best return on investment. Check out our blog on the best value-based upgrades you can make here.
How to Accept Offers
In a busy seller’s market, like the one we’re currently in, it can get especially chaotic when the time comes to accept. For example, do you want to accept offers immediately after listing? Or, would you prefer to set an offer date? Are you open to bully offers? Do you want to incite a bidding war?
Not sure what we mean by “seller’s market?” Read our blog about it here to learn more.
As with the rest of your selling process, your agent can help you navigate these waters and organize offers so that only the best are presented to you. They can advise you on whether it’s best to accept an offer, reject it, or propose a counteroffer. Negotiating on your behalf, your agent will ensure you get the best possible offer. You can learn more about negotiating and what to do in a multiple offer situation on our blog here.
What Happens After the Offer is Accepted?
Once you’ve accepted the best offer made on your home, there is still some work left to do. Although the deal is pretty much confirmed, you will need to consider items such as seller and buyer agent commissions, legal fees, mortgage penalties (if applicable), tax adjustments (if applicable), and more.
If the offer contained some conditions, you will need to ensure those conditions are met before the closing day, and ensure that everything included in the sale is in good working order for the new owner.
Selling a Home Can Be a Long Process, a Professional Can Help
Preparing a home for sale and then going through the process of getting it on the market can be stressful. For some, the process is long and arduous. However, when you work with a professional real estate agent, you get to leverage their experience and efficiency into the sale.
You’ll always know what to expect, and will have a clear understanding of the process from start to finish.
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