Before selling your home, here is a list of the top 10 tasks to do before selling a home. Paying attention to these 10 tasks can greatly simplify your selling experience and minimize the frustration and complexity often associated with selling a home.
Check The Mortgage.
Before meeting a listing agent, call your current mortgage lender and get
the most up–to date pay off figure. Knowing your loan amount upfront
will help us know what options and strategies to discuss when we meet
for an initial listing appointment. Whether your home has equity or you
need to do some rearranging because of potential foreclosure, we are
experts in all kinds of residential real estate. We’d be happy to help you
sort through the details of listing your home for sale to achieve the best
results for you.
Identify liens and disputes.
The easiest property to sell is the unencumbered property. But that’s not
always possible and the more a seller can tell us in advance about liens
and other issues the better. When a house is listed for sale, a title
company will pull the history of that property and any item attached to
that house will show up. We want to know about any issues like liens or
property disputes prior to listing so we can help you deal with them
before the house hits the market. Think about any tax issues, disputes
you have had with contractors or other problems that could have allowed
a creditor to put a lien on the house. Likewise, be upfront about disputes
with neighbors, especially if they regard property lines, because it’s
easier to settle those matters before listing the property.
Hold off on making improvements.
While it’s tempting to add value to your home ahead of listing, it’s better
to hold off on improvements until you’ve hired your agent. What you
think will net a return on investment may not be what’s trending in the
market. Your Realtor will know what the buyers in your area are asking
for and, more importantly, what they will pay a premium to get. Working
with an agent to determine what upgrades to make also has the benefit of
objectivity. Sellers are always tempted to go overboard, but they
shouldn’t because they’re moving. If you run those decisions by an
agent they’ll help you stick to what’s necessary and keep you from
making choices that are specific to your tastes, which might not appeal
to local buyers.
Declutter.
Consider getting rid of, packing or storing 30% of your stuff in
preparation for showing your home. That means stashing away extra
chairs, storage boxes, plants, magazines, CDs, clothes, knickknacks,
exercise equipment, small appliances and books.
De-Personalize.
This is one of the most difficult things for many sellers to do but also
one of the most important when selling your house. De-personalizing a
house by alleviating personal items, family photos and knickknacks
allows potential buyers to imagine placing their personal items in the
home and living there in the future.
Take stock of your upgrades.
While sellers shouldn’t make improvements in advance of hiring an
agent, they should have the details on any upgrades they’ve made.
Provide a list of upgrades or improvements that have been made to the
home during the course of ownership such as room additions, new carpet
or flooring, upgraded appliances or a new furnace. We take all of this
into consideration when determining the right sales price for your
property. We can also use this information in our marketing material that
goes to potential buyers to show the additional value of your home.
Find Manuals.
Locate all the important papers you’ll need to entice a potential buyer.
The operating manuals for your appliances and HVAC system, notes
about the paint colors you used on your walls and any applicable
warranties are important to have on hand.
Check your schedule.
Give some advance thought to your schedules. We want to maximize
the times your property can be shown to prospective buyers because a
home that is easy to show always sells faster. In some cases, you may
have to make some small adjustments to their lives during the listing
process. Family schedules may need to be changed slightly to
accommodate showings and if a pet lives in the house you will want to
have a plan for the animals during the showing times or an alternative
for critters during open houses or last minute showing requests.
Scheduling and planning is important so that we can best represent our
clients listing while also keeping the lives of our clients as normal as
possible during the sale of your home.
Ready to learn more?
I’m here to help!
Janna McRoy 208.889.9242
Janna@SolidGroundRealEstate.com
