So you’ve made the decision to sell your home–but what do you do now? Although selling your house seems like a cut-and-dry process in theory, it can be confusing, emotional, and downright difficult in practice. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
We’ve compiled the best advice available to help you understand everything that you need to know to sell your house. We hope these helpful tips give you a successful, better home sale experience to get you through the process as effortlessly as possible.
Selling a home requires a lot more time, effort, and dedication than it may seem at first. In order to have a successful home sale seem effortless, there are a few things that you should understand. Read our helpful tips below to learn everything you need to know to sell your home.
Get Your Documents Ready
When you first purchased your home, you may have noticed that this process requires a substantial amount of paperwork. To no surprise, when you sell your home, paperwork is a common theme as well.
Before you begin the process of selling your home, it is important to gather all of the appropriate documents needed to make the best decisions about your home sale. A few documents you might want to have handy include:
Having these documents ready for potential sellers will save you plenty of headaches down the road!
Give Your Home Some TLC
When you are going through a home transition, you may already be dreaming of moving into your next home–but don’t forget that potential sellers are going to be dreaming of moving into your home themselves! Before you begin the process of listing your home, it is important to give your house some attention.
Make Simple Updates and Repairs
How long have you lived in the home that you will be selling to a new owner? A few years? A few decades? Chances are that times have changed more than a little since you made the house your home. There are likely many improvements and updates that you can make, for a small cost, to make your home more attractive to potential buyers. Think of adding a fresh coat of neutral paint, repairing broken light fixtures, and updating your kitchen appliances for a fresh, updated look.
In addition, consider hiring an inspector to look around your home and alert you of any necessary repairs before you begin the selling process. An inspection could reveal damages or updates that need to be made before you go under contract–saving you time, money, and headaches down the road.
Hire the Right Real Estate Agent
Hiring an experienced real estate agent has many advantages over selling your home yourself. A commission fee for your home is a small price to pay for their sales expertise, network and wealth of knowledge that they can provide. The right real estate agent will know exactly how to show your home to highlight its best assets, and will seek quality buyers for you to ensure that your home is seen by those who would have the most interest in making an offer.
In addition, real estate agents can help you understand all of the legal documents that come along with buying and selling homes. With the right real estate agent, your home may stay on the market for less time, and you may end up making a larger profit than you expected.
Ensure the Price is Right
One of the most important factors for selling your home is ensuring that your home is priced right for the current market, for your location, and for what you have. Although you may feel that your home is priceless, a real estate agent can help you determine an ideal price for your home.
If you ask too much, you run the risk of your home remaining on the market for too long without a buyer–and days on the market are a red flag for potential buyers. If you price too low, you can miss out on thousands of dollars! Pricing your home is a science of sorts, and recruiting an expert to help is a sure-fire way to keep your home on the right track.
Expect the Unexpected
Just like when you first purchased your home, selling your home comes with some unexpected costs. Unfortunately, it is impossible to plan for every scenario, but you can prepare yourself for the inevitable. Before you go through the home sale process, save up a small account to take care of incidental costs, which might include home repair costs, inspection report costs, and many others.
Enhance Your Curb Appeal
Your landscape is the first thing that potential buyers will see when they come to visit your home, and you only get one chance at a first impression. If your landscape isn’t saying the right things to potential buyers, you could lose out on a great home sale!
To really enhance your curb appeal, consider doing some light landscaping work yourself–like mowing and trimming, and spruce up your flower beds to really make your home pop. In addition, make sure that potential buyers aren’t put off by potential home pests by handling minor pest control problems yourself.
Although you can do landscaping and pest control yourself, by far the best results will come from hiring professionals to take care of it for you. Gecko Green offers pest control services to help keep your home pest-free, and landscaping and tree and shrub care services to help boost your curb appeal and ensure that your landscape is giving off the right first impression to potential buyers.
Call Gecko Green today for a free quote on pest control services, lawn care, and tree and shrub care in your area!
By following these simple tips, you will be well on your way toward selling your home effectively and efficiently. Good luck!