4 top tips for preparing your home before listing
The decision to sell your home can be a long process, but once you’ve made the decision, you may be tempted to impulsively list it. We like to suggest you pause, take a breath to make sure you’ve really thought things through, and then plan out the next steps carefully, preferably with a reliable Realtor on your side to guide you through the process. Before a property even hits the pages of our listings, we guide our clients through the following four stages of preparing to list their property to make sure it’s ready for viewings, offers and with the goal of hammering that sold sign into the lawn.
Work from the outside-in
If the thought of getting your family home ready for listing is overwhelming you, we like to suggest you start from the outside-in. Look at your home with a fresh set of eyes, clean up the curb and work on welcoming potential new owners from the moment they pull up to your viewing. Take a read of our seven staging tips for more ideas or contact our team for professional, no strings attached advice.
Do repairs then roll out the carpet
If you’re hoping to get top dollar for your home, you’ll want things to be move-in-ready for the new owners. It will be up to them to renovate or not, but it’s essential to take care of any big repairs ahead of listing your property. Having repairs checked off will help you have peace of mind and confidence in your sale, and will help potential buyers swing to the “sold” side of the fence quicker knowing they don’t have any big projects ahead of them they may not want to deal with.
Put your home in neutral
When you’re preparing to list your home, we like to suggest you do a walk-through of each room and do an initial de-clutter and de-personalise. Take personal photo collages off the walls for safe-keeping and replace them with neutral art prints or simple styling elements that can help open a potential buyers mind up to the possibilities of the space. We always suggest a professional home stager to our clients but this simple step of a walk-though can really help get your listing on the go.
Appease the senses
The sound and taste senses can be focused on pretty simply once your property is listed. During viewings, you and your realtor can make sure you have light music playing or a fireplace crackling in a living room chocolates or mints can be put out as a thank you to those who visit your open house.
Once your home is staged, repaired and ready to hit the market, it’s most important to make sure it’s appealing to potential buyers entering your property on all sensory levels, with the next big step being the “smell” of your home. Make sure you really focus on eliminating any potential bad odours, especially if you own any pets or have an exercise space in your home. But don’t be swayed into air fresheners. Many people are allergic and will have a hard time walking through your home without being distracted or wondering what it is you’re trying to hide! One thing that worked particularly well for a friend of mine was she always baked a batch of fresh chocolate chip cookies before open houses, it made the house really feel like a home.
Want more help when preparing to list? Give our team a call today and set up an appointment to discuss your plans we one of our agents.