Selling a home isn’t something we typically do very often. So when the time comes, and for whatever reason, you decide to sell your home, you may not know where to start. Here are ten easy steps to follow when you do make that decision to put your home up for sale.
Our present circumstances call for better planning and preparation a little more than usual. But this checklist will help guide you in the planning and preparation from beginning to “SOLD.”
When You Decide to Sell Your Home, Hire a Real Estate Agent Right Away
When you decide to sell your home, it’s time to start interviewing real estate agents to handle your listing. I always recommend asking friends and family for recommendations. But it’s also a good idea to research agent reviews while checking out their credentials.
Once you find someone you’re confident will do a great job for you, you will sign a listing agreement. Your agent will work on a plan of action with you and discuss improvements that may be needed as well as remodeling work they believe will pay off.
Your Agent will Help You Select a Date
Opinions on the best times to sell a home are many, and they are varied. And sometimes those opinions don’t even really matter. For example, you retire from your current job in August and find a new place to work in a smaller, slower-paced town in October. Then you start working the new job the first week of December.
In this scenario, the sellers knew they would be moving because retirement would require a smaller, more affordable home. So they started packing and researching agents in August.
They found a great listing agent. And with their help, the sellers selected April 1st as the date to put their home on the market.
Research Your Local Market and Determine a Target Price
Again, a great listing agent will present you with “comps” when you hire them. What are comps? They are comparable properties in the neighborhood or surrounding area where you live. Comparing properties similar to yours that have sold or that are listed near you helps you better establish an asking price confidently.
But there’s nothing wrong with visiting a few open houses, too. This kind of “research” helps you see what’s for sale near you. And it gives you ideas for staging your home.
Prepare Your Home to Sell
Next, your agent will discuss needed improvements and updates as well as remodeling work they believe will pay off.
Allow your agent to be brutally honest with you. Voice your concerns and ideas with your agent. But trust their expertise and experience. They will let you know what to paint, clean, repair, and update or remodel.
An extensive kitchen remodel may not pay off. But replacing worn out old carpet with trending flooring might just do the trick. Oh, and that avocado green dishwasher? Yeah. Replace it with a white or stainless steel dishwasher. And fix anything that is broken or not working.
Now, start painting interior walls with a neutral color. If washing walls is all that is needed, start washing. Update or repair anything that will turn off buyers.
Start Moving Out Four Weeks Prior to Listing
Really. Get a storage pod or unit and start loading boxes you’ve packed into it a little at a time. This helps prepare you for the upcoming move and your house for proper staging. Remember, a well-staged home sells faster! Pack personal items and extra mixing bowls, pitchers, containers, furniture you can live without.
Because the sellers began working in a new town, they rented a storage unit there. Each morning they packed the pickup with whatever was packed the day before and unloaded it into the unit. They started moving out in December and had almost everything moved out by April 1st.
Know Your Financials and Keep Cleaning and Decluttering Two to Three Weeks Before Listing
You need to know your financials. If you need help with this and your agent hasn’t already let you know that this information is needed, ask them for help. They’ll tell you where to go and what information you need to gather from whom.
- Get your loan payout information for your mortgage
- Know how much you owe so you can figure out what your sales proceeds will be
- Clear up liens on the property if there are any
And keep cleaning, decluttering, and packing. You want your home to look as much like a model home as possible. And a good agent will provide the services of a home stager and professional photographer to market your home well.
- Pack personal items
- Make sure furniture makes sense for the space
- Keep painting and/or cleaning
One Week Before Listing, It’s Time to Market Your House
It’s time for your home’s glamour shots! Follow the home stager’s advice before picture day. You want your home’s glamour shots looking so good, they’ll make you have second thoughts about moving.
Your agent will create an engaging, accurate, and appealing description of your home. What made you fall in love with your home when you bought it? Share that in the description.
The Big Day – Listing Day!
Make sure your agent puts the “FOR SALE” sign up in your yard and stocks the flyer box with flyers. Your house should be listed on all the major online real estate sites, too.
Keep It Clean Until There’s a Contract
Until the house is actually SOLD, you must live keep it clean. Keep counters and other flat services free of clutter and put everything put away. Wash, dry, and put away whatever you use at meal time.
The sellers sold their home in just two short weeks, but they had being “on the ready” for a walkthroughs down to a science. They were ready to walk out the door even when a buyer’s agent requested to drop by “in a few minutes.”
Dishes were done. Bathrooms were clean. And everything was wiped down. Floors were swept. Carpets were vacuumed. And a checklist was placed in a laundry basket by the front door. Here are some of the items in the basket:
- Garbage bags to remind them to take out all the trashes
- Decorator towels for each bathroom, folded and ready to be hung.
- Same for the kitchen
- Clean throw for the overstuffed chair
- Purse and keys
- Coupons and snacks to eat while they were out of the house
- Grocery and errands lists to conquer while they were gone, too
And they never forgot to take the dog with them.
Get Excited About How Quickly the Offers Come In
Your agent will receive feedback following each showing. And the sooner you sell, the higher the price you’ll receive for your house. So if you’re not seeing a steady flow of offers or interest, consider adjusting the price.
Celebrate the Sale!
When you decide to sell your house, there is a lot to do before you list it. But when you follow the plan laid out to you by your listing agent and consider their suggestions, the end result is a SOLD sign soon after it lists.
Before you decide to sell your home, contact me, Charles D’Alessandro, your Brooklyn Real Estate Agent with Fillmore Real Estate. With over 30 plus years as a Brooklyn real estate agent and broker, I can help you navigate the selling process from list to close.
Our office is completely shut down and committed to your safety during the COVID-19 health crisis in compliance with the State of New York public health policies. I can be reached by phone at (718) 253-9600 ext. 1901 or by email at charlesthebrooklynrealtor@gmail.com.
Charles D’Alessandro
Your Brooklyn Real Estate Agent
718-253-9600 ext. 1901
The post 10 Easy Steps to Follow When You Decide to Sell Your Home appeared first on Brooklyn Real Estate Blog.
SOURCE: Brooklyn Real Estate Blog – Read entire story here.