Updated: Aug 11
Home sales are projected to rise in the coming years after the turbulence caused by the pandemic. The pandemic disturbed every business, and the real estate business is no special. As the world is slowly settling down, people are again starting to invest in properties or buy a home for themselves. Gen Z and the Millennials are entering the market lately and investing in various properties. Given this demand, this is the right time to sell the property if you wish to.
When you decide to sell your house for whatever reason, you expect it to fetch you great money. But if you want good money, you need to ensure that the condition of your home is great along with a well-developed area. Even though your house isn’t in great condition, you can do minor renovations and repairs and spruce the entire house to make it a lost aesthetic and appealing. All you need to do is do a little research on how you can improve the curb appeal of the property with minimum budget and maximum returns. To help you better with this, we have decided to list down some of the ways through which you can make your house ready to sell.
Fix the right price:
You might think what’s the big task in pricing the home, but it is the deciding factor in selling your home quickly. You might have some price in mind, but how do you know whether it’s the price that buyers are comfortable with? For that, you need to do your research. To fix the price, find out what the comparable homes in your locality are pricing and proceed accordingly. You also need to ensure you stand apart from the competition so that the buyer is interested in buying your property. But how do you fix the price that helps to stand out from the competition? It’s not that difficult, though.
Visit open houses:
If you attend an open house, you will get to know how homes are being priced presented. Sometimes you can even overhear what the expectations and opinions of the buyers are.
Online research:
Some millions of homes are sold every year, and most of them are listed online. By browsing on the internet, you can get a basic idea of how you can fix the price.
By visiting open houses, you get to know how to fix the price and also help you to formulate a more effective presentation for your own home. Online research can also help too. By both these methods, you can glean out the best possible price.
Draft a disclosure statement:
A disclosure statement entails all the defects of the home. Although the buyers get the home inspection done by themselves, you need to be honest with your disclosure statement to ensure there are no further complications. To provide an honest disclosure statement, you may need to get the home inspection done by yourself.
You don’t need to be worried about disclosing the defects of the home to the buyer because the buyer would find it anyway through their inspections. On top of that, an honest disclosure statement would mean that the deal can proceed more smoothly. The disclosure guidelines vary from state to state. You’ll mostly need to report on major appliances like the furnace, dryer, water heater, etc. The other issues related to pests or any basement issues should also be mentioned.
Hire a handyman
Some minor repairs here and there can make a lot of difference to your home. Squeaky doors leaky taps aren’t going to impress the buyer, it’s your job to fix them by yourself or hire a handyman. An ideal repair checklist should include:
Paintings:
Painting your home is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to enhance the aesthetics of your home. A minimum budget has a great impact. Research about different color combinations and find out which colors are most likely to impress the buyer. In such cases, light and neutral colors are mostly preferred.
Fix broken pieces:
You can find broken and damaged pieces anywhere in the home, Maybe your door is broken or your basement has some leaks, fix all these broken items to ensure the house is maintained properly.
Spruce up the kitchen:
The kitchen is the most used space and is likely to be spoiled early in the entire house. Replacing the cabinets or painting them can improve the overall appeal of the kitchen.
Here the main motto is to fix the issues that can be noticed easily and needs immediate replacement or repair. Also, ensure there are no electrical faults, every light switch and bulk should work. You can even stock on more light bulbs as they are needed when you show your house to potential buyers.
Consider a deep clean:
Cleanliness and good odor are the first things anyone notices when they enter the house. Throughout the selling process, make sure your house is clean and neat. A deep cleaning process would help you get rid of all the dirt and bacteria and also help the entire house to smell good. It means cleaning toilets, steam cleaning the carpets, mopping floors, wiping down floors, etc. During the deep cleaning process, ensure every nook and corner of the home is properly cleaned.
Some other items that should be considered while deep cleaning is a refrigerator, windows, garage cans, dishwasher and shower stall, etc. Before the deep cleaning, ensure you make a note of everything that needs special focus and care.
Focus on improving curb appeal:
Focus on both the interior and exteriors of your home to maximize the curb appeal. Before your home goes on the market, ensure the exterior appearance is decent. To enhance the curb appeal, ensure you focus on certain aspects like:
Entrance hall and doors:
To make the best first impression, ensure the entrance is decent. The porch should be freshly painted and cleaned. There should be no creaky steps, any loose boards, etc. The entrance door should be strong and attractive.
Get rid of mulch and dead flowers:
Lifeless mulch and dead flowers are the biggest turn-offs for any potential when they first visit your property. So, ensure your garden and exteriors are well-maintained, and if needed, add some fresh mulch and flowers frequently.
Cut uneven trees:
Trees are great, but when they give a wild appearance, they should be cut down. Hire a professional landscaper to ensure everything is even and cut down the trees and shrubs if needed.
The driveway should be even:
A cracked and badly-maintained driveway isn’t a great sight. Replace the old concrete and ensure the driveway is smooth.
Declutter the entire home:
Organizing and decluttering the space can make the entire home look great. When your home is clutter-free, buyers can focus on the aspects that they need to instead of focusing on overflowing closets and knick-knacks. Arrange the furniture and store the bulky items somewhere else so that the small rooms can also seem bigger.
Professional pictures are a must for listing:
You might get most of your leads online, for that, you need to have professional photos of your home to impress potential buyers. Without good-looking pictures, potential buyers might overlook your home. If needed, hire a professional photographer and get some nice pictures to accompany the online listing. These days most of the sales are happening online, so a professional agency would help you get the pictures that can help you gain more traction online and attract potential buyers. Considering all these benefits, the cost can be negligible.
Stage your home:
Staging your home can help you sell the home for a better price and more quickly as well. Staging your home is not so costly, it’s affordable and worth the money. But when staging the home, ensure you spruce up the curb appeal by doing all the needful. You can improve the curb appeal by painting the house(both interior and exterior), deep cleaning, grass cutting, doing minor renovations and repairs, landscaping the yard, and keeping the entire home organized and clean.
When you stage your home, ensure you depersonalize everything in your home. When potential buyers come to your house, they want to click pictures for reference. If they find personal pictures and other stuff of yours, it would be uncomfortable for them to click the pictures. After this, organize everything in your home and focus on lighting. Lighting is one of the key things you should focus on because it creates a mood and focuses on spatial relationships. All in all, focus on the positive aspects of the home.
Rent a storage space:
While you declutter and organize your belongings in your home, you may need a storage unit to store the bulky items. A storage unit can help you declutter the house, which helps to provide more open space. An open house can help the buyer to imagine themselves and their belongings in the house. You can move out the extra furniture into the storage units as well. A storage unit is very affordable, and it’s worth your money because you can store whatever you want.
If your home is filled with big bulky items, it may give the impression that the home is small and congested. Leaving out the heavy items would clear out the space. Having a storage unit nearby can help you declutter the home while staging the home.
Pick one among real estate agents or FSBO
When you decide to sell your house, you have two options: Either sell it with the help of FSBO or through a real estate agent. Both have their pros and cons. Let’s first discuss the pros and cons of real estate agents.
Pros of hiring real estate agents:
They are thorough professionals:
You may be selling your house for the first time or maximum for the second or third, but a real estate agent might have done it hundreds of times. They understand the real estate market well and suggest the best possible price and way sell your house. They help you till you sell your home.
They have better connections:
Because they belong to this industry, real estate agents might have a wealth of potential buyers. These connections help you speed up the process.
Better sale price:
Real estate agents know how to get the best value out of your property and help you sell the property for the best price possible.
Cons:
- They are a bit expensive: It’s obvious that when you have so many advantages, you have some disadvantages as well. The commission can be expensive, and rightly so because they do lots of work behind the scenes.
- They are too busy: The other problem with real estate agents is that they are too busy with other projects that they might not provide personalized service to you.
Pros of FSBO
- No compensation: This is probably one of the biggest reasons why people choose this route. This is expected because commissions at times get overboard, and it’s hard to pay huge amounts of money to agents.
- Competitive pricing: In this route, you can fix competitive pricing because the commission is out of the way. Competitive pricing works when the market is extremely competitive.
- You have total control: Because you haven’t heard of any real estate agents, you have the total control to fix the price and go forward with the deals. You have lots of resources online through which you get lots of leads as well.
Cons
- Lower profits: Most of the homeowners are not salesmen, and they don’t know marketing tactics to sell the house for higher prices. So, in this case, the profits might be lower unless you do your research and get the house sold for a relatively higher price.
- More paperwork: When you sell your property, there will be lots of paperwork. You will get to know when you go the FSBO route.
- More effort and time needed: Showing your home to potential buyers all by yourself can be a time-consuming task. You need to arrange home tours and stage your home without any professional guidance.
Pull-out polarizing items
Polarizing items mean religious or political memorabilia. Many people usually have strong feelings and opinions on political and religious aspects, so you don’t have to be pre-judged by your potential buyers before they buy them. Not everyone is emotionally weak and triggered easily, but you never know what type of potential buyers visit your home, so it’s better to remove them. The best solution to this is to pack all these items and dump them in the storage units.
Related questions
How do you get your house ready to sell?
You can get your house ready by fixing lot issues, cleaning the house, and finding the best ways to sell the property. Keep reading to know more.
- Fixing the issues: Fixing those minor repairs can improve the condition of the home in a big way. Squeaky doors, plumbing problems, electrical issues, and basement leaks are some of the repairs you can focus on. To can even paint the entire house as it is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to increase the home’s overall appeal.
- Cleaning the house: This is also one of the easiest and cheapest ways to improve the overall look of the home. Deep cleaning and power washing can help your home look cleaner and smell good. Bad odor and cleanliness can be the biggest turn-offs to your potential buyers, so ensure you fix these two aspects. A deep cleaning process can help you get rid of dirt and bacteria. Cleaning should also include mopping floors, steam cleaning the carpets, cleaning the toilets, etc. Before the deep cleaning, ensure you quickly jot down everything that needs a special focus.
You can also focus on things that help to enhance the curb appeal of the home. Invitingly arrange your porch because it’s the first thing any buyer notices when they enter your home. Dust any furniture which may be on the porch. If needed, remove the cushion covers and wash them thoroughly. Remove any dirt and debris from the toys, books, and other objects from the porch. Sweep the cobwebs and other dead leaves towards the porch corners.
Best ways to sell your property:
You can either hire a real estate agent or do it all on your own. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. For instance, hiring a real estate agent would make the job easier for you since they know how to sell your house for the best price possible. But the downside to it is they can be expensive at times, and it’s hard to get personalized service from them as they are always busy with several real estate projects.
If you do it all by yourself, you have total control throughout the process as there are no middlemen involved. You don’t need to pay heft compensations to the real estate agents as well. But the downside to it as the entire process entails lots of paperwork which demands lots of time and effort. The profit by selling your home might also be lesser because you are not well aware of the marketing tactics to get the best price for your home.
How much should I spend to get my house ready to sell?
No matter how much you spend, ensure you get at least an equal amount of returns when you sell your house. Try to invest in upgrading and renovating a few aspects of the home that helps improve the demand for your home. For instance, minor kitchen upgrades would get you around 80 percent return. A major kitchen renovation would get you around 90 percent returns, likewise, do your math and invest carefully.
Before you start fixing the issues, make sure to make a list of all things you want to focus on. For instance, focusing on costly low returns will have high returns. This means deep cleaning, taking care of landscaping and porch, which would help to improve the curb appeal.
How can I increase my chances of selling my house?
To have your home stand apart, you need to focus on the USP(unique selling point). Try to list down what’s special in your home that attracts the buyers and focus on improving those. For instance, small repairs like electrical issues, plumbing problems, and other basement leaks should be your main focus. By fixing these issues, you can confidently claim that your home’s condition is great. Focus on sprucing up the kitchen, arranging the porch, and making the entire exterior and interiors of the house look neat and clean. In this way, you can attract more buyers.
Once you fix minor issues and clean the entire property, focus on ways to market your home. You can hire a real estate agent who is well experienced and can sell your house to the best house possible. Before hiring an agent, make sure you know what they offer. What is their marketing plan? How would they fix the price? And the entire process till they sell the home. You can market by yourself also, but it takes more research, time, and effort. You can take good pictures of your home in a way that attracts potential buyers from home sales websites online so that you get more traffic. There are some other ways to market as well, all you need to do is a little bit of research.
