Getting ready to put your house on the market? We reached out to our advertising agents for their help in preparing this abbreviated list. While their lists varied slightly, here were the most mentioned “must dos.”
Set Your Selling Price.
First and foremost, do your homework on the value of your home. Take a look at comparable sales in your neighborhood to figure out your appropriate listing price. Our agents say this is something your agent should help you do, which leads us to our next recommendation.
Find a Listing Agent
Those in the know highly recommend hiring a professional real estate agent to list your home.
Give Your House a Deep Clean
First impressions mean a lot. So, don’t let foul smells, dirty floors or dusty surfaces make a bad one on a potential buyer.
Declutter the Home
When a home is clutter-free, buyers can focus on the actual home instead of the excess junk, accessories and overflowing closets.
Call a Handyman
Make sure anything and everything that needs to be fixed (think: locks, hardware, leaky faucets, running toilets, cracks in the walls, broken appliances, squeaky doors, etc.) is fixed before listing a home. Otherwise, buyers may think your home hasn’t been well taken care of.
Paint the Walls
Especially if you have bright colored walls. When repainting, consider neutral colors that make the house appealing to a larger audience.
Touch Up Your Home’s Exterior
Clean up junk in your exterior, keep your lawn mowed and trimmed and make any needed exterior repairs.
Depersonalize Your Home
They say this one can be particularly important for African-American homeowners. This means putting away most framed photos, bulletin boards and personal items (think photo albums, magazines, toys, awards, etc.) throughout the home. If you have a lot of African or African-American art, you might want to put that away as well.