Selling your home in 2018? The home selling season is right around the corner and there is so much to do to prepare.
You’re probably thinking that spring is the best time to sell, and you have plenty of time to get your house ready. But spring comes early in the property market and home sales start heating up in February.
There tends to be less competition at that time, so homes listed ‘For Sale’ early in 2018 will typically sell faster and higher than their asking price than those sold later in the season.
Here are some things you can do NOW to make sure your home is ready to sell when buyers are ready to buy and make sure your home puts its best foot forward when 2018 rolls around.
- Make a Schedule. Set February 1st as your go-to-market date and work backwards from there, listing all of the things that will need to be done to get your home ready ‘For Sale’. Then put them on your calendar and start knocking them out.
- Have a Home Report or Professional Estate Agent’s inspection done on your house. This should be the same kind of inspection that your buyers will have done once their offer is accepted (or in Scotland, before your property is marketed), but it is well worth it. It will identify everything that needs fixing, and then you can take the time to get multiple quotes and schedule the work. It’s better to find out about them in advance and get them taken care of than to have your buyers hold your property sale hostage over the works required and price reduction they want.
- Researching your home’s value. A local Professional Estate Agent will have the pulse on the current market. Together, you can review how much comparable properties have been selling for and how long they lingered on the market. The Agent can provide a realistic idea of what your home is worth, and how fast (or long) it could take to find a buyer.
- Home Staging. Have your Professional Estate Agent walk through the house with you and point out low cost updates or changes that you can make to maximise your home’s appeal. This could include rearranging the furniture, applying a fresh coat of paint, removing wall-to-wall carpeting or light fittings.
- Get rid of the Clutter! Undoubtedly you will have lots of stuff that needs to be packed away, donated, or disposed of, and dealing with it can be very time-consuming. Plan to tackle one room (and its cupboard) each weekend. Sort everything into four piles: give away, throw away, sell, and keep. Be ruthless.
Selling your home is a big undertaking. Doing these five things now will get you well on your way to a successful home sale and help you maintain your sanity in the process.
To find out your current market conditions be sure to contact your local AMAZING RESULTS!™ Professional Estate Agent today.
And, you can find one at AMAZINGRESULTS.com too.