Are you thinking about selling your house? Before you put your house on the market, here are five tips you should consider:
1. Hire a Real Estate Agent
When you're not feeling well, you see a doctor. When your sink is leaking, you call a plumber. If you're thinking about selling your house, hire a real estate agent.
Within real estate, there are numerous different fields. There's residential and commercial real estate. There's sales, leasing, and property management. If you're selling your house, it'll probably be in your best interest to start with a residential real estate agent. What I'm trying to say is, hire an agent that best suits your needs.
A real estate agent will:
- Help you price and market your house
- Assist you with contract negotiation
- Guide you through the selling process
2. Showings
The best way to show a house is when it's vacant.
If you're still living in your house, that's okay. However, it's important you accommodate Buyers on their showing request. The reason is, if you have too many restrictions to show your house, some Buyers may steer their attention to other homes on the market.
Lastly, if you're still living in the house, while your home is on the market, don't forget to lockup all your valuables.
3. Clean and Declutter
The two easiest things you can do to prep your house for sale is to clean and to declutter. When a house is clean and decluttered, it'll show much better. Wipe down the windows and the counter tops. Vacuum and and sweep. There isn't much to it.
When it comes to decluttering, sell it, give it away, or put it in storage. When it comes to showing your house, less is more.
4. Curb Appeal
There's not much you can do if you're living in a condo or a townhouse. However, if you're selling a detached single-family home, a little curb appeal can work wonders.
You don't have to make your yard look like the conservatory and botanical gardens at the Bellagio hotel and casino in Las Vegas. However, doing some light landscaping, like cutting the grass, raking the leaves, and trimming the hedges could make your house more attractive.
5. Touchups
When you clean and declutter, you'll probably start to notice the obvious blemishes of the house. If you have the time and resources, it might be to your best advantage to fix some of these items. These tasks can be changing out all the dead light bulbs, to installing new carpet, to a new coat of paint.
If you do decide to do some light home maintenance, make a list and stick to it. When you repair a house, it's easy to keep going-and-going.
-RO