If it’s springtime where you live, and you’re about to put your existing home on the market, congratulations on your timing. Spring kicks off the traditional buying and selling season in residential real estate, and you’ll likely attract more interest than other times of year.
But don’t think it’s difficult to sell your home during another season. It’s perfectly doable any time, especially if you must make an unplanned move due to career, personal or family reasons.
With that in mind, we’re offering a few top-line suggestions for what TO DO to sell your existing home, and what TO AVOID DOING. Cruise our helpful website for more detailed info. It’s fully stocked and constantly expanding, and you’ll find all sorts of helpful gems that delve deeper into the how-to, nitty-gritty.
This post is the one you should print out and stick to the refrigerator. Read on for our top at-a-glance things TO DO and TO AVOID DOING if you’d like to sell your home.
TO DO
Use a real estate agent. Unless you are one, or someone in your family is one, it’s probably best to seek professional help. A real estate pro knows your market in granular fashion. Their knowledge, experience, and guidance will give you a roadmap of what happens, should happen and what shouldn’t. You can research your heart out online, but selling a home is one of those ventures where a pro can give you a noticeable edge.
Clean like nobody’s business. It’s a daunting task to prepare a home for sale even if you and everyone in your household are neat freaks. Cleaning, de-cluttering and perhaps renovating is how you can help your real estate agent. Start with de-cluttering — peel back those layers so you know what to tackle next — then address the cleaning part. Our tip? Schedule tasks and check them off when complete. It’ll keep you going.
TO AVOID DOING
Staying home during showings. Buyers generally prefer viewing your home through their perspective. They don’t want to listen to an owner chirp about how a house might be a perfect fit — another reason to work with a real estate agent. Your pro can answer any questions, plus provide peace of mind by being on-site, even a Wednesday at 11 a.m. Which is yet another reason to work with an agent. That way, you don’t have to leave work to show your home.
Overpricing your home. Your asking price should be in the ballpark of similar homes for sale in similar neighborhoods. Wouldn’t you rather spark a bidding war than continually lower your target simply to get buyers to bite? And yes, this is another reason to work with a real estate pro. They know this stuff forward and backward, plus all the reasons why your home should be competitive in your current market.
